Smart plugs are one of the easiest ways to jump into the smart house madness, due to their simple connection and game nature, which makes "mute" devices instantly smart. As for the price, most smart jacks are around $ 20, but a recent wave of even more affordable options has hit the scene, promising the same for less.

The Gosund Mini Wi-Fi Smart Plug is one of the new cheaper alternatives, coming in under $ 10 and becoming even cheaper when purchased in packs of 3 or 4. I recently gave this accessible plug a spin and found it to work surprisingly. as announced, but getting there had some hurdles, and his experience in the application was certainly not the best around.

Smart sockets for the outlet

Gosund Mini Wi-Fi Smart Plug: Features

Gosund Wi-Fi Smart Mini uses a three-pronged electrical connection to the sockets of your homes, which is equal to the plug-in course. The "mini" portion of the plug refers to its size, which makes it capable of supporting only one device at a time, as opposed to the double sockets of the more expensive competitors. Gosund's jack is white, and the front is made up of the company's receptacle and branding, but is generally a device that will blend in with its surroundings.

Around the side of the plug is a small button, which is colored with the compact frame, which allows control of the device. The button itself houses an LED status indicator in the form of a standard electric symbol that lights up red or blue depending on the current status.

As the name implies, the Gosund Mini connects directly to the home network over Wi-Fi, without the need for an additional hub. This allows the jack to react to orders sent home or while traveling, through an app or voice assistant. In-app features include smart staples for connecting, such as timers and touch switches, which extend to voice assistance platforms as well.

Compact and not so bright

Gosund Mini Wi-Fi Smart Plug: What I like

Apart from the low price point of the Gosund Mini Wi-Fi Smart Plug, this smart connector has other great things. One is its clean, compact design, which makes it look more like a traditional device stopwatch or a remote control socket. The Gosund Mini has a circular frame, somewhat mimicking a standard North American outlet, which is unique to this category and makes it look good compared to the bulky designs of other manufacturers.

As with most smart devices, there are always the dreaded LED lights to report their status, and the Gosund Mini Wi-Fi Smart Plug is definitely no exception. However, I found that the brightness level is not shutter, because it fulfills its intended function, but it is not bright enough to wake up at night. Performance wise, the Gosund file offers answers to orders sent almost instantly, which is reliable and available every time in the accompanying application.

There are applications for that

Gosund Mini Wi-Fi Smart Plug: What I don't like

Despite its fantastic fantastic design, Gosund's plug still extends into the area above the other container in a standard double socket, which means that only one can be used at a time. On the connectivity side, even if Gosund Mini Wi-Fi Smart Plug supports Amazon and Google Assistant, it doesn't work with HomeKit. This is disappointing not only because of the lack of deep integration of iOS and Siri control, but also because it forces owners to use an application from a manufacturer for control, which is not always the best experience around.

Here's where things start to get a little weird with this connector. There are two different applications that work with it, both of which are displayed on the packaging and manually. Obviously, this was confusing to say the least, one app called Gosund being available and another called Smart Life, although they looked the same outside the brand. In order to connect and operate, we had to use the Smart Life app because the Gosund app had a bug with iOS 13 at the time. We also didn't like that the jack only works with 2.4GHz networks, which can cause problems if your router doesn't transmit the frequency separately from 5Hz.

Bottom line

Gosund Mini Wi-Fi Smart Plug

3
out of 5

At the end of the day, the Gosund Mini Wi-Fi Smart Plug is an affordable option that does its job, despite its somewhat unpleasant user experience. The low price tag of this plug transforms all your traditional devices into smart devices without breaking the bank. Alexa and Google Assistant support can also eliminate some of the shortcomings of the app, though iOS and HomeKit fans are left cold.

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