One of the simplest ways to make your home feel more high-tech is by adding smart plugs to your outlets. These nifty gadgets let you automate an old-school coffee maker, set your lights to a schedule or control electronics with simple voice commands. And good news if you’re looking for this major home and life upgrade: The 2- and 4-packs of Amazon smart plugs are up to 30% off right now, making each plug well under $20. Reviewers call them the “best invention known to man,” for “making life easier,” saying that they’re so easy, “it’s almost impossible to mess up this installation.”
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Just plug it in, pair it with the app and you’re good to go.
According to so many reviewers, this specific smart plug design is surprisingly easy to use. Plug one in, open the Alexa app on your smartphone and it’ll automatically pair itself to your Wi-Fi.
Once set up, you just plug the device you’d like to control, like a lamp or a coffee maker. From there, you can place it on a scheduled routine, turn it on and off via a tap on your phone or even control it using voice commands. “These smart plugs are the best invention, making life easier,” shopper John writes. “You have the ability to turn your lights on and off from your smart phone, including alarms.”
The smart plug can automate anything and it has unexpected benefits, like saving your back and adding extra home security.
Former HuffPost Shopping writer Janie Campbell says that adding smart plugs to her home saved her so much energy, money and time.
“I can leave an appliance running, and turn it off while running errands,” she explains. “I can use my smart plugs for Christmas lights, or to make it appear someone is home for safety. I have a bedroom air purifier set to turn on one hour before my usual bedtime and to turn off in the morning, right as my living room air purifier is scheduled to turn on (doing this with a coffee maker or fan is an absolute no-brainer). Beyond automation and energy savings, I also use one so that I can turn a lamp on without having to strain to reach behind my couch to find its switch. For hard-to-reach outlets or behind-furniture outlets, they are an absolute game-changer. I can think of a thousand more uses.”
Another reviewer noted that it helps them avoid being creeped out entering a dark house alone at night. Shopper Rhonda shared that it’s helpful to avoid stumbling and falling in their home, given their vision challenges. “…It makes it so easy to walk into a room and tell Alexa to turn my desk lamp on and not stumble trying to find it,” they wrote. “I’m legally blind and so it’s difficult for me to see items around me.”
In addition to bringing convenience and safety, several reviewers note that this plug provides extra comfort.
A reviewer with fibromyalgia says the plugs have been “wonderful,” giving them extra control of their space and making it easier to sleep. “Now if Amazon could just invent a way to get my downstairs neighbor to shut up after 10 pm that would be amazing,” they joked.
Many use the plugs to turn lights on or off, start the coffee pot or adjust fans or heaters to ensure the perfect temperature, from the comfort of their beds. “…I no longer have to worry about getting out of bed to turn off the light,” one writes, “…This has been a game changer for me, as I no longer have to worry about wasting energy or running up my electricity bill.”
Nab a pack of these nifty plugs and smarten up your home without overcomplicating things. For more intel, peep these promising reviews and see how other folks love them.
“They make my life safer and easier. I have my living room lights turn on automatically just before sunset. And I have them turn off when I am supposed to go to bed. I want my home to look the same if i’m home or gone. No point in helping the would be burglers!” — Alligator girl
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“After wasting hours troubleshooting my cheap Tantan smart plugs (especially after my ISP merged my 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks), I finally gave up and bought these Amazon plugs. Best decision ever!
Setup was incredibly simple: 2 minutes and done. No fighting with third-party apps, no separate Alexa linking, no network connectivity issues. The Amazon Alexa app handles everything seamlessly.
The difference is night and day: While my old plugs constantly struggled with network detection after Xfinity merged my wifi bands, these Amazon plugs handle the 2.4GHz connection flawlessly. No more dealing with Tuya Smart app headaches or wondering why my devices won’t stay connected.
Worth every penny: Yes, they cost a few dollars more than generic brands, but my time has value. When it comes to smart home tech, I’d rather pay a bit extra for something that actually works reliably than deal with constant troubleshooting.
Bottom line: If you want smart plugs that work out of the box without the frustration, get these. Your sanity will thank you.” — Brandon Goldsmith“I wish I got this sooner!! We’ve all been there…the morning rush….getting yourself ready, getting the kids out the door and the dog out…then suddenly you’re at work, 30+ minutes away and panic – did I turn off my straightener?!? I’ve called in neighbors to check for me, but now I don’t have to! Total game changer. When I first got this, if I had that concern, I would hop onto my Alexa app and check to see if the plug was on and if it was, with a click, I turned it off and didn’t have to worry. I soon realized I can just set a timer to turn the plug off, daily, at the time I leave my house.” — Paula
Looking for more tech products? Here are some upgrades that HuffPost Shopping writer Tessa Flores says reviewers don’t regret buying.
Apple AirTag tracking device (19% off)
In addition to being water- and dust-resistant, AirTags have a wildly simple setup, and you can assign each one a name to keep your most valuable belongings sorted. Each tag can use ultrawideband technology to connect with a phone and provide accurate location monitoring, or automatically notify users when the AirTag is detected in Apple’s Find My Network app. Get it for up to 19% off.
A smart reusable notebook
The 36-page Rocketbook smart reusable notebook boasts technology that allows you to scan, send and save your drawings, notes or grocery lists straight to your phone using the free Rocketbook app. It comes with a special pen that mimics a true pen-to-paper feel, and with a microfiber cleaning cloth to erase the notebook’s content when you’re done.
Promising Amazon review: “This product is AMAZING. It functions like any normal notebook. It writes nice, not quite like normal notebook paper but pretty close. I love the grid and it’s very easy to take notes, make lists, etc. There are plenty of pages so it takes awhile before I even need to reuse the page. The app is easy to set up and use. It handled multiple logins for both personal and work accounts easily, which is something I’ve struggled with a bit in other services and it sends scans seamlessly wherever I need them. Lots of options for destinations as well, and I love that it auto-captures to do items and adds them to a list for me. It wipes of clean very easily and you can’t even tell the page had been used. I’ve had it for about two weeks now and am already regretting not buying it months ago. I constantly have multiple to do lists that I’m always having to rewrite, so this has saved so much paper already. I also always need paper on-hand for notes for my job, so this makes it easy to keep it all in one place and log what I need while erasing the rest. I’m super impressed with it, it has exceeded my expectations.” — Annalise
A pair of portable power banks
These two slim and portable power banks, which have well over 70,000 5-star reviews on Amazon, deliver lightning-fast charging power to most iPhone 15 models, Android devices, tablets and other electronics such as AirPods. Charge up to three devices at once using the two USB-A ports, one micro USB input and one USB-C port; each bank promises to charge an iPhone up to 78% in just one hour.
Promising Amazon review: “As a freshman in college, I have been running from class to class to class with a phone that runs out of battery very quickly. I take the train often so I needed to buy a charger and this was the best option and I do not regret buying it at all! It lasts forever and charges my phone and AirPods at lightning speed. It also charges relatively quickly so I do not have to worry about leaving it on its charger over night! This is absolutely perfect!” — Melle S.
The Real Deal: We use deal trackers and commerce experience to sift through “fake” hike-and-drop deals and other deceptive sales tactics. Products will usually be rated at least 4 stars with a minimum 15% discount. (And when there’s an exception, we’ll tell you why.)
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