Alexa-Enabled Ora WiFi Mini Smart Plug - 2 or 4 Pack Price: $29.99 - 54.99 Shipping Options:: $5 Standard Shipping Estimates: Ships in 1-2 business days (Wednesday, Sep 13 to Thursday, Sep 14) + transit Condition: New
I have 3 smart plugs made by 2 different companies, and I’m not overly impressed with them. I find most things that are plugged in aren’t well controlled by simply toggling power, except lamps, but I have Hue bulbs for those (because dimming is important). Things I would like to turn on/off with a simply toggle are either too power hungry (i.e. AC or dehumidifier), and/or don’t resume automatically once power is restored.
Outdoor string lights being the exception, except these smart plugs never seem to be rated for outdoor use…
Purchased 4 of these the last time they came up for sale. I’ve had no issues with them. I currently have a lamp, sound machine, and fan plugged in and interfaced with Alexa. The set up was simple.
Can these be controlled from outside the home? It says wifi, but does that mean the device you are controlling it with must be on the same network?
My wife wanted something like this for her hair straightener that she could disable remotely if she leaves the house without unplugging it (or to make sure that it’s not on if she isn’t sure).
I don’t have these but I do have two TP-Link smart plugs that I used from 200 miles away to turn lights on and off while on vacation. The grandkids loved watching my WiFi cameras while they turned lights on and off.
I bought several of these last time they were on Woot as well. The “Tuya” app works with these devices and has much more palatable permissions Tuya also works with Alexa, and will even control some of the cheap color changing wifi bulbs I got.
Overall, I like these quite a bit. The form factor is great, and they work quite well. I’ve also got several TP-Link outlets. Functionality/reliability is about the same on each, though these appear to support 10 AMPs, and the TP-Link is slightly higher (15?). I run my ACs on TP-Link, but these work great for lamps etc.
I can confirm functionality with the “Tuya” app works outside the home. In fact anything that works with Alexa or Google Home will work outside the home (they all use external servers to control your smart home devices). Though the Tuya app does not appear to support power monitoring (or didn’t the last time I looked, I use them through Alexa almost exclusively ).
I’d be just a bit leary of Woot’s reply to your question. When I bought these the last time the 4-packs were also unavailable so I had to purchase two 2-packs for a few dollars more. What Woot sent me was four single-packs (which weren’t even listed)! I do feel just a bit cheated, even if only for a few dollars.
If I plugged this into a Lamp can I still use the switch on the lamp to turn the light on and off. So if i dont have my phone on me and Alexa cant hear me. The plug will be behind my couch so it will be hard to press the button on the plug.
Do you know if I plugged this into a Lamp can I still use the switch on the lamp to turn the light on and off. So if i dont have my phone on me and Alexa cant hear me. The plug will be behind my couch so it will be hard to press the button on the plug.