Eve Energy (Matter) - Smart Plug, App and Voice Control, 100% Privacy, Matter Over Thread, Works with Apple Home, Alexa, Google Home, SmartThings

Edit - 5-10-2024: Will be purchasing more of these. Very happy with the product and the Matter over Thread protocol ---- Edit - 2-22-2024: Home Assistant has upgraded their Matter Server to include energy readings now. My review has been updated from 4* to 5* without hesitation. In the last four months of owning this, it stopped connecting to Home Assistant once. Instead of going through the whole recommissioning process all I had to do was delete it from Home Assistant and add it back, which took all of 30 seconds. Will absolutely be buying more of these when on sale. I would like to have one that isn't permanent so I can basically get an idea of what the heaviest users of electricity are and find vampire loads. With demand electricity pricing coming to my area, I'd like to be able to find these and reduce loads even further. ------- ORIGINAL REVIEW: Bottom line first: Would I buy another of these? Yes, but it's hard to justify until Matter adds energy monitoring to its standard. I think it's the combination of Thread+Matter+UL+Features that make it an easy choice for me. The Good: -- Once you get it on a hub, it's extremely easy to connect it to another service. This was the first Matter device I'd used so I didn't know how this worked. (See notes at the bottom for how I connected it to other services.) I'm extremely happy with how this works. No more moving devices or complicated manual bridging. -- Instantaneous switching on HomeKit and Home Assistant. Alexa is a bit slow for my liking, which is why I gave it 3/5 star rating for Alexa integration. Not sure if this is because I commissioned on HomeKit first and then added to Alexa. -- Thread. This is the service I'm going with from this point forward. I've been happy with this as I've been adding more Thread devices, but this seals the deal. I've had issues with every one of my WiFi devices even across different routers. It's just not reliable enough nor is it really where you want to put devices like this. No setting static IPs, no worrying about router placement, no worrying if the internet/cloud is down. Thread is its own local mesh network. -- You can use these to automate rebooting routers if your network goes down. Since Thread is its own network, you can setup a ping automation that sends a signal (LOCALLY!) to turn off the router's plug and turn it back on again in a few seconds. It's not ideal, but if you're away from home it's nice to have a backup. -- After commissioning it in my office, I unplugged it and moved it upstairs. It almost immediately reconnected. Maybe 3-5 seconds? With WiFi devices, this would take 15-30 seconds. The Ok: --(READ IMPORTANT UPDATE ABOVE) I wasn't aware (my fault, not Eve's) that Matter doesn't support energy monitoring... yet. Supposedly it's maybe coming in 2024. I guess we'll see. So, if you want to connect this to Home Assistant to monitor energy, you're going to be very disappointed (as of Nov 2023) with this fairly expensive switch. You can still monitor energy use in the wonderful Eve app. -- At $40, it's expensive as a platform. I think part of this is the cost of getting UL-certified and the quality of the product. Is it worth it? Maybe. I won't put a power-controlling device that isn't UL or FM-certified in my house. The Ugly: -- The initial setup, as others have mentioned, did not go well. It took me several tries to get it to connect through HomeKit. I have no idea what I ended up doing, but it just worked after a few tries. It's hard to know if this is a HomeKit thing, an Eve thing, or a Matter thing. Either way, yikes. A few important notes: --If you want to connect this to Home Assistant, you MUST enable IPv6 in the networking section of Home Assistant. I tried and tried to add it but I forgot to RTFM first. Once I enabled IPv6, it picked up _immediately_. --I had to connect this through HomeKit first. And I think that's the right way to do it the more I think about it. It's setup to be a broker that allows you to connect it to other services. First HomeKit, then Home Assistant, then Alexa. -- To connect to HomeKit, you open up the device, click "Turn On Pairing Mode" and copy the code it provides. My understanding is that this code is good for a minute, maybe a few. You then pair it as you would with any other service and when it asks for the code, you need to paste in this newly generated code. You'll get a notification that it was added to another service from HomeKit and you're good to go! Once you have connected it to another service, you can click into the device and select "Connected Services" to see which services are allowed to use this device. I've been able to connect this plug to --(READ IMPORTANT UPDATE ABOVE) For those of you with HomeKit Eve Energy, I would NOT update its firmware to Matter if you use it with Home Assistant. Wait for the energy monitoring standard to come out for Matter.

Very easy and convenient to use！ It connects my phone smoothly and works perfectly.

The future of smart homes has always seemed bright, but with Eve Energy's (Matter) Smart Plug, it feels like we're already there! Here's my experience with this exceptional product: 1. Easy Setup: Integration into my smart home ecosystem was seamless. The Matter Over Thread protocol ensures that this device remains ahead of the curve, providing smooth connectivity with all my other smart devices. 2. App & Voice Control: Eve Energy’s intuitive app interface made it simple to control my devices, set schedules, and monitor energy usage. The cherry on top? Voice control! Being able to control my devices hands-free has elevated my smart home experience to another level. 3. Privacy First: In today's age of constant data breaches and concerns over digital privacy, Eve Energy stands out with its commitment to 100% user privacy. I can confidently use the plug, knowing my data remains my own. 4. Durable and Stylish: Not only does this plug function beautifully, but it also looks the part. It's sleek, compact, and adds a touch of sophistication to any outlet, instead of being a bulky eyesore. 5. Matter Over Thread: The inclusion of Matter Over Thread is a testament to Eve Energy's commitment to future-proofing. The superior responsiveness, range, and low latency make a noticeable difference in day-to-day operations. 6. Energy Monitoring: One unexpected benefit was the ability to monitor energy usage. It's been an eye-opener, and I’ve started to become more conscious of my consumption patterns and even saved a bit on my energy bills. To sum it up, the Eve Energy (Matter) Smart Plug isn’t just another smart plug; it's THE smart plug for those who want the best of technology without compromising on privacy and performance. If you’re on the fence about upgrading or diving into the smart home world, let this be your first step. You won’t regret it! 💡🔌

I want to love Eve. They’re supposed to be the plucky sidekick to Apple’s HomeKit. They’re trying to make all of the things that make your smart home work easily. That being said, I’ve been let down by a few of the last few Eve products I’ve purchased. This one was probably my last foray into Eve’s products. I purchased it to try and make a dumb light smart. It arrived new from Eve. When I tried to add it the first time, I received an error. No problem, I thought, I’ll factory-reset it and try again. I tried no less than 10 times to get it adopted into my home. In each try I tried different variations of trying to reset it with its button. None of them worked. This has been my experience with the last few Eve products I’ve purchased. The older stuff I have from them? They’re dependable and rock solid. The later stuff, like this smart plug, are just not worth it. Returned it, looking for something else, slowly drifting away from Eve.

We're slowly moving all of our home automation to platform agnostic components. Since the Eve Energy Smart Plug supports Matter over Thread, we can move from one platform brand to another without having to buy all new components or run several different apps. I also appreciate that since this is plugged into power, it serves as a Thread router node. We sprinkled a few of these around the house and they work together to make our Thread network stable. Too many brands are playing with home automation as sort of a hobby and have sometimes lost interest in maintaining or advancing their software, sometimes even abandoning hardware products altogether. I set this up through Apple Home (Homekit) and use an Apple TV as our hub. The process was straightforward and uneventful. The Eve Energy plug has been rock solid and has executed our automations without error. I've got a million and one problems with home automation but Eve hasn't been one of them! I guess a con would be that these are pretty price for what they do. If you shop around you can sometimes find them discounted during seasonal sales. Also the two-pack reduces the per unit price.

Great smart plug. Works well with apple HomeKit. I have multiple of these and rarely have any unresponsive issues that I see with many other plugs.

First things first, yes, the way you access the battery is a pain. I actually had to peel off the entire sensor in order to reset the device (same location as the battery), then clean the area, and apply my own tape. They should really adjust their design for the battery and reset button. I do feel the unit should be cheaper. I purchased this because I was considering switching to Apple Homekit for a home assistant and wanted something that would be compatible with multiple home assistants. This device worked well for homekit, but after using homekit I realized that it was not going to suit my family's needs in comparison to Alexa. I had connected these sensors to homekit first and Alexa as a secondary. After realizing that homekit wasn't going to work for us, I had to go back and factory reset each sensor. Once that was done, I connected them through Alexa as the primary assistant and still connected them through homekit (just on our phones) as another security measure. Overall, I am very happy with this setup. It was easy to connect and to create routines like when someone opens a specific door or window, alexa will say "_____ is open" and also send notifications to my iphone, watch, etc. I purchased a few more to put around the house and have been very pleased. Once in a while, we will get a duplicate announcement or notification through Alexa. Not sure if it's Alexa, the sensors, or a hiccup in the internet. But all of that is fine since 99.9% it has been working amazing. Going to get more Eve/Matter sensors for other things in my home as well. Highly recommend!

All smart home devices should take a lesson from Eve Energy. 1. Need a Hub, NO. 2. Need an App to download, NO. 3. Operate locally, no cloud need, YES. You should not need a smart device to go out to the internet, just to verify a command to turn on a light or switch. Way to go Eve, I purchased 8 of these and get very fast response time. I also love the power monitoring features as well. I have mine setup through Home Assistant but it also works great with Apple Home.

Excellent product. Very simple set up. Works great with HomeKit and it doesn’t fight with my dual band router. I went with this plug because most smart plugs require 2.4 ghz WiFi and don’t connect easily to my router. This plug eliminates that issue altogether. It has virtually no lag and stays connected. I plan to purchase at least one more.

Te pide que compres un router thread para funcionar, de lo contrario no puedes en enlazarlo a casa o a la app nativa de EVE, no lo recomiendo!!

I already have two smart bulbs, so I purchased this Eve smart plug just to see how it worked and set up with my Apple accessories. It pretty much sets itself up. I did download the Eve Energy app, but I think you only need HomeKit unless you want to monitor energy consumption. The Eve app doesn’t require any email activation or personal info.👍 I was mostly curious about the Eve Energy smart plug’s function as a timer. I plugged my apple watch charger into it and used the Apple HomeKit to start charging at 5:00 am and turn off at 5:40 am. It works perfectly…easy peasy lemon squeezy . I can control all my lights and Eve Energy smart plug manually from my iPads, iPhone and watch, or vocally by pressing the “Siri” button or any device set up to listen for “hey siri”. My HomePods will also control the smart plug. I know this Eve smart plug is one of the more expensive ones on the market, but works seamlessly in an Apple envoirnment.

A nice thread network extender. I use it mainly for energy consumption

This item will not work with a portable air conditioner as it trips when inrush current is pulled by a compressor. It’s a product that needs to be rethought. If you want to see how much energy your cell phone charger is using - then it might work for you. If you want to actually track the energy usage of large energy loads - it won’t work. Waste of resources. However, if you want to control a device like a light - it seems to work quite well.