Turning “dumb” appliances and devices into smart devices is pretty easy thanks to smart plugs. And if you’re in the market for one that works with Google Assistant and your Google Home, here are the best ones you should buy.
Before we get started, take note that all of the following smart plugs can do the basics, like turn on and off remotely from your phone, timers, schedules, scenes, etc., as well as obviously work with Google Assistant for voice control.
In addition, we only focused on smart plugs with a stackable and compact form factor—some smart plugs on the market are very bulky and you can’t use two in the same outlet. All of these models, as seen in the photo above, can plug in side-by-side in either a wall outlet or a power strip.
With that said, let’s dig in and focus on what makes each of our picks stand out!
Sonoff S31 Smart Plug ($19)
Perhaps the cheapest smart plug we’ve seen that’s worth looking at is the Sonoff S31, which retails for just $19. The great news is that the low cost doesn’t give you less features.
First off, the plug comes with energy monitoring, which you usually only find in select higher-cost smart plugs. This lets you keep track of how much electricity your devices are using, but the Sonoff lets you do more with this, such as enable overload protection—If a certain threshold of power, current, or voltage is met, it will kill the power. This is a feature that’s hard to come by in a smart plug.
The S31 is also really easy to set up with Google Assistant so that you can control it with your voice from your Google Home, which is perhaps the ultimate use for a smart plug—you can control fans, heaters, and lamps with nothing but your voice!
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Source: How-To Geek
