Apple's home automation service, HomeKit, has made it easier than ever to control home devices on your iPhone or iPad. One of our smart HomeKit compatible sockets is Eve Energy. It is a simple socket that you can connect to the wall, set it up in a few seconds, then connect the light or the device of your choice. Eve Energy boasts a number of features that contradict its simplicity.

Turn power on or off with a touch on iPhone / iPad or a command to Siri. Set up scenes and automation so that the Eve Energy smart card starts and stops according to your program. Set it and forget it.

Eve Energy sells for $ 40 and can be found at Amazon, Apple, B&H and other online retailers and in person. Although not available at Best Buy as of this writing, it can usually be found there.

Eve Energy: What's good

Eve Energy is easy to set up and start with home automation. Whether it's the first HomeKit-compatible device or the fifteenth, you'll love being able to control your home appliances with your voice or touch on your mobile device. If you prefer, you can press the button to operate Eve Energy manually. This button can be locked even for child safety. The best thing is that you can set Eve Energy to start and stop according to the schedule you have set, so you don't even have to think about it. In addition, it monitors your electricity consumption, which can save you money in the long run.

I connected a floor lamp to Eve Energy and set it to turn on and off at certain hours in the evening. That way, we don't accidentally leave our dog alone at home in the dark when we're outside (this happened once or twice before I received Eve Energy and we felt terribly guilty). It is also harder for potential burglars to find out if we are out of town. There are a lot of other potential uses for Eve Energy, which makes it worth buying more of them. For example, you can connect your coffee machine or bread machine to Eve Energy so that you can wake up with fresh, hot coffee and / or breakfast. Plug in your fan or humidifier and come home to the perfect climate. Set a night scene for your child with fairy lights and lullabies or a home scene for you with desk lamps and light strips.

Eve Energy supports both Bluetooth, which makes it more energy efficient. It also supports Thread. Thread technology has been developed for smart homes and increases connectivity between devices. Thread creates a mesh network, so the more Thread accessories you have, the more robust your network becomes.

You don't have to buy a special bridge or Eve hub, but you do need to set up a HomeKit hub, such as an Apple TV 4K or a HomePod mini, to use most of the features. In addition to the Apple Home app, you'll need to download Eve for HomeKit to set up Eve Energy and access all features. Eve for HomeKit allows you to control Eve Energy, set more specific programs, enable child lock, monitor power, adjust the status LED, and install firmware updates. The Apple Home app lets you control Eve Energy, set up basic appointments, and set up guest access.

Eve Energy is not the cheapest smart connector you can find. However, if you plan to buy more to use around your home, the cost can really add up.

I tried to use Eve Energy without a home hub. It works, but you can't do much, such as setting schedules or turning on and off while you're away from home. So I gave up and bought a HomePod mini (which is a pretty cool little device anyway) to take full advantage of my HomeKit devices.

Eve Energy: Competition

Belkin's Wemo is a smart plug of similar size, which costs a little less than Eve Energy and works with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, as well as HomeKit. Unfortunately, it does not offer energy monitoring as Eve Energy does and is not easy enough to configure.

To save even more, check out Meross or VOCOlinc smart sockets at great prices from our list of the best HomeKit compatible smart sockets. You won't get energy monitoring, but if you plan to put smart outlets everywhere in the house, you'll appreciate the lower price.

Eve Energy: Should you buy it?

You should buy this if ...

• You want to control an outlet through HomeKit
• You want to set up automations or scenes for your device of your choice
• Do you want to monitor the power consumption of your plug?

You shouldn't buy this if ...

• It is out of the price range
• You don't want to automate your home
• You don't want to deal with a home hub

If you want to finally try HomeKit or expand your HomeKit usage, Eve Energy is just the right product. It's great if you want to set up automations or scenes for any device or device that you can plug into a wall outlet. This is also the smart plug to buy if you want to monitor your power consumption. However, this is not the product for you if you are not interested in HomeKit or buying a home hub, such as a HomePod mini or an Apple TV. It is also not for you if the price seems too steep.

4.5
of 5

Although I was definitely concerned with home automation, Eve Energy was my first HomeKit compatible product and I love it. It does exactly what I need it to do. I connected a floor lamp to the Eve Energy smart plug and set it to turn on and off at certain hours. It just works. Although I am not a compulsive controller of energy consumption, it is nice to know that I can do this at any time. While I was "forced" (twist my arm, ok?) To buy a mini HomePod to use Eve Energy as intended, the whole setup was simple and I found it quite robust.