Unpopular opinion: smart plugs are overrated for most home setups

I tried using smart plugs for my living room lamps and went through 3 of them in 6 months. One stopped connecting to wifi after a firmware update my son installed by accident on my phone. Another one literally buzzed so loud at night I had to unplug it from the wall outlet. Then the third one kept turning off my lamp at random times, like 2 PM on a Tuesday when I was home watching TV. I took them all back to Best Buy in Austin and got a refund for $45 total. Now I just use basic mechanical timers from the hardware store for $8 each. They click on and off same time every day with zero drama. Has anyone else had smart plugs just fail for no clear reason?

2 comments

2 Comments

allen.amy1mo ago

Wait, are we buying the absolute cheapest no-name brand here? I've got one on my coffee pot that's been kicking for almost two years without a single hiccup. Sounds like you got a bad batch or something, because mine's been rock solid.

paul_mason121mo agoMost Upvoted

My buddy Dave grabbed a 3-pack of those off Amazon for like eight bucks. Stuck one on his Keurig, it died in three months. He swapped the second one on his garage fridge, that one lasted maybe six weeks before it started humming and then just quit. He's still got the third one in a drawer, afraid to even try it. So yeah, maybe you got lucky, but his experience has been a total crapshoot.