I've amassed a collection of a number of the best smart plugs over the years. Smart plugs work by simply allowing or blocking power flow to turn connected appliances on or off. These affordable gadgets attach to your electrical socket and then connect to your Wi-Fi network. You can plug any of your outlet-powered devices like lamps, fans, and appliances into this middleman to control them from anywhere through an app or voice assistant.
The newest models are both much smaller and smarter with advanced energy monitoring and complex scheduling features. Yet smart plugs aren't so smart in my eyes. My biggest beef with what most would argue as one of the best smart home devices is that they cannot retain the settings of gadgets plugged into them once they lose power. There's a variety of devices with adjustable settings like the flashing modes on a string light to the brew strength of a coffee maker—a challenge since you can't select your preference because smart plugs don't do any more than enable or take away power flow to your gadgets.
Why can't a smart plug return devices to previous power states?
Smart plugs lack onboard memory or processing capabilities to store or recall what settings you've applied to an individual device. That's unfortunate since most older devices don't remember their state upon power failure. My older window air conditioning unit and Christmas tree lighting are two great examples of where this becomes a problem.
I can't just use a smart plug to have my older window A/C unit turn on to the exact temperature settings I want. Instead, I have to set it to 66 degrees by hand each night before I hop into bed. The smart plug turns the A/C unit off when the smart temperature sensor in my room detects that its reached 66 degrees. However, if I use the smart plug to turn on my A/C when the temperature rises, it sits in a selection standby mode that waits on a physical button press to manually select between a fan or cooling mode. Oftentimes this means my room gets uncomfortably hot by the time I wake up.
While a smart plug can turn my tree's string lighting on or off, I have to manually click the power button down three times each morning to enable the gradual color-fading effect I like. My tree doesn't just turn on to my preferred lighting effect preset. For a gadget with smart in its name, a smart plug really just a simple on-and-off switch that can't recall the previous operating mode of a connected device after a power cycle. So how can you get around that?
Look for devices with physical setting controls
Admittedly it's not up to the plugs to get smarter. Certain devices like air conditioners have built-in monitors to recall power states after they turn off. That way when a temperature sensor hits a desired temperature it can turn off and pick back up when it gets too hot.
In the meantime, you can simply opt for devices with manual mode dials, buttons, and sliders that you have to set in place to select a preset option. This leaves the device in its desired mode once power is restored. (Or pick up one of the best smart air conditioners). So for a heated blanket that may look like a slider on the "Heat on" setting. For a fan that might be cranking the dial to a numeric speed setting and leaving it there. And for a set of string lights that might be pushing down the button that corresponds with a gradual twinkling effect.
I've watched the prices of smart plugs come down over time. These are still the best way to easily and cheaply add core smart home functionality to your space including scheduling and remote management from anywhere. The options below are some of the best smart plugs you can buy right now. At least that's unless there's a category breakthrough model that remembers pre-selected modes and settings.
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