The $20 Gadget Everyone Needs in Their Home

This is a great smart plug to start with. If you already have an Amazon Echo or even just a Prime account, it makes onboarding easy, and there’s only one app you have to keep track of. The price is a little steep at $25 for just one plug, but you can save when buying in bulk, with $40 for a pack of two. The downside is if you prefer to use Google’s or Samsung’s or Apple’s smart things interfaces, you will have to look elsewhere.

Kasa makes super-affordable smart plugs that work with Alexa, as well as both the Samsung Smart Things and Google Home apps. Use whichever you’re familiar with to set up and control your smart-plug appliances. It’s definitely a step in the right direction if you’re looking for something compatible with more smart-home standards.

There’s one more thing that needs explaining: Matter. Basically, Matter-enabled plugs will allow all your smart devices to talk to one another in “the same language.” Instead of being tied to one ecosystem, Matter lets you use the voice assistant or platform you prefer to control it and even allows you to use different assistants interchangeably. Getting set up with Matter on your app of choice is more time-consuming than using the Alexa plug, but that time investment is worth it in the long run.

These TP smart plugs are small and Matter supported. Plus, you can get three of these for the price of one of the Alexa-only ones.