WiZ smart plug review: a basic but effective affordable smart plug
Two-minute review
The WiZ Wi-Fi-connected smart plug is a basic but reliable plug that will help automate your home. It’s not particularly feature-heavy — even some of the best smart plugs aren’t — but it does everything it says on the tin.
The 72.5 x 51.5 x 30.6 mm (H x W x D) plug is made of white plastic, and while it feels a little cheap, it’s robust and fits snugly into the socket. On the top, there’s a small LED light, which shows you when the device is switched on.
To pair it, you’ll need the WiZ app; both the original app and its newer version work just fine and are easy to navigate generally. The instructions for pairing the plug are a little vague (and confusingly refer to the plug as a light) and if you’ve never used a WiZ product, it’s easy to miss that you need to turn the plug on and off three times to enter pairing mode.
The WiZ Wi-Fi smart plug pairs exclusively with 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, so some dual-band users may find pairing difficult. However, Wi-Fi connectivity provides the ability to remotely control your device.
Once that’s done, the plug works swimmingly. I used it mostly to control my WiZ Indoor Security Camera, as I dislike the feeling of being watched in my own home; you can’t always schedule internal cameras to turn off when you’re in the house during the day. I also tried it with higher-load devices and tested the remote control feature while out and about, all of which worked perfectly well.
Within the app, there are no advanced features other than scheduling, which is a shame; even some of the cheaper competition, like the TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug Slim KP105, can do a few cool things beyond the basics.
For just $15.99 / £17.99 / AU$27.00, the WiZ smart plug is available directly from the WiZ store and on Amazon.
WiZ Smart Plug review: specifications
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How I tested the WiZ Smart Plug smart lock
- I tested the WiZ smart plug for 48 hours
- I used it with 4 different devices and used it with Alexa
- I tested WiZ’s various in-app settings and features
I used the WiZ smart plug for 48 hours, testing it with my indoor security camera, kettle, PC and dumb lamp. After downloading the WiZ app on my iPhone, I tried remotely controlling the plug, as well as setting it off on a schedule and using voice assistants.
I’ve been testing smart devices regularly for a year now but have been using them for far longer. I benchmarked this plug against my TP-Link plug, as well as using previous reviews on TechRadar to sense-check my findings.
Read more about how we test
First reviewed June 2023
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