Unboxing

Products

Smart Plug Socket

And the Smart Power Strip.

The single plug socket is good for 10 amps. It is smaller than the Wemo and Sonoff plugs I've reviewed. It has built in power monitoring - which is handy.

The surge protector is curious. You get three regular plug sockets - each of which can be switched independently - but there is no power monitoring. There are also 4 USB sockets - they get switched on and off as a block. You can get 4 amps out of the sockets, with a maximum of 2.4 on any individual one.

Oddly, there are no mounting holes on the back of the strip - so it needs to rest on a flat surface.

App

Usually smarthome apps are crap. The OEMs do the bare minimum to get things working, and stuff their products with invasive permissions. I'm delighted to say that Meross are different.

The app is well laid out, uncluttered, and spelled properly. The only permission it asks for is location - to control presence detection - and the app still works if you refuse it.

The app is available on Google Play - again, better than a lot of other manufacturers who make you download an APK from a random server.

You can set up timers and various other scenes from the app. You can also monitor energy usage and switch on individual plug sockets.

Alexa

Amazon's Echo is still a pain to set up. You have to manually add a skill, sign in, then configure it, then hope it works.

Once done, it's lightning quick. You can rename the switches from "switch 1" to "kitchen fan" - or whatever.

Tech Specs

The plugs only work on 2.4GHz WiFi - as they're not transferring loads of data, that's fine.

As soon as I connected the plug, I was prompted to do a firmware update. Good to know that they get published - but there was no changelog.

There is a link to the GPL on the website, but it doesn't go anywhere.

There's no API - so you're stuck with the app or a voice assistant.

Conclusion

I love these. They work quickly from the app and Alexa. The surge-protector strip's USB ports are particularly useful. And they're the same size as regular extension sockets.

But - and this is the problem with all smart plugs - what will you use them for? There are only a limited number of devices which are plug activated. A fan, air freshener, air heater, lamp. What else?

Most devices are low-power when on standby - so a WiFi switch isn't going to save you much energy.

If you can find enough gadgets to plug in, then these are excellent value for money. You can buy the smart plug socket for £14 and the smart power strip for £24.

Discount codes!

Readers of my blog can get 25% off a Meross smart plug using the code: JELZOHP9 (Valid until 28th August)

A couple of months ago I was giving a talk in Romania - the organisers had set up a technology expo showing off some great local start-ups.

One which caught my eye was TinTag.

Terence Eden is on Mastodon

@edent

Tintag is pretty clever. BLE beacon but has built in Qi recharging. Very useful. thetintag.com
#DevTalks pic.x.com/sjizdew274

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I've previously reviewed the Chipolo - which is a similar beacon/tracker. So I thought I'd give this one a go.

At the airport last week, I put the Chipolo on my luggage and was able to detect when it came onto the baggage carousel. I used the buzzer to quickly locate my bag. These BLE beacons work with any modern smartphone and are quickly becoming indispensable.

So, how does TinTag stack up against Chipolo?

Pros

• Blinken Lights!
• No need to create an account.
• Buzzer.
• Waterproof.
• Sturdy.
• Wireless Charging.

Cons

• Cost is €29 / £22 + shipping. That's €5 more than the Chipolo. Although you do get the charging pad and USB cable.
• Lanyard hole is a little small.
• 4 month battery life which requires an overnight charge.
• Yet another app to install!
• No open source API that I could find.

Verdict

I think I prefer the TinTag to the Chipolo.

Yes, the TinTag is slightly larger - but it is sturdier and recharges using the same pad I use for my phone. Flashing LEDs are nice, and you don't need to register on the website to get all the functionality.

The app isn't brilliant - and I suspect BLE tracker support will eventually be built in to Android - but it does the job.

It's too big for a wallet or phone - but the perfect size for luggage, handbags, coats, and larger pets.

The TinTag is available to buy now.

The Chipolo is a multi-purpose Bluetooth Low Energy tag. It's like a high-tech version of one of those things which you attach to your keyring which will beep when whistled at.

As the box says, it will work up to 60 meters away. It'll beep when you lose it, and it can make your phone beep if someone moves it out of range - handy if someone is stealing your wallet. What's not mentioned on the box is the fact that it has a temperature sensor. No, I've no idea why either.

The contents of the box are sparse, but functional. Two batteries, a keyring, and a basic instruction leaflet.

Let's take a look at how it is set up and used.

The Chipolo Android app gets poor reviews, but the Chipolo team are very responsive and working hard on improving it. I found that the app crashed a couple of times and didn't seem particularly intuitive. It performs its basic tasks well enough - showing me how far away the beacon was and making it beep when triggered.

Cost

The base cost of the Chipolo is €25 each - plus €9 shipping! That feels like quite a hefty price - especially considering that generic BLE finder tags cost around €10 delivered on AliExpress.

If you buy a 9 pack, the Chipolos work out at €22.22 each. A reasonable discount, but they're not a cheap.

Update! You can get 20% off the price using my referral link.

Open Source

There are a couple of 3rd party Open Source packages, one for NODE-Red and an older one for NodeJS.

The only Open Source provided by Chipolo themselves seems to be for translating their website.

Final Thoughts

The Chipolo is quite a cool device. If you're constantly losing your keys or wallet, I can see how useful it could be. They also suggest that the tracker could be attacked to a pet's collar. But given how fragile the device is, the lack of range, and the fact it is not waterproof, it's hard to see it as a practical choice.

For the price, I'd have expected a much more robust device. It does feel like it will fall apart quite easily.

There are some rather "forced" features. I doubt anyone is going to shake the Chipolo to take a selfie - but it does show that it could work as a motion sensor alarm. I also struggle to see the use of the temperature sensor.

Theoretically, if you lose your Chipolo then other users' phones can sense it and automagically tell you where it is. Frankly that's going to rely on a critical mass of users which just isn't here yet.

It works and, providing the 6 months battery life prediction is accurate, should be a useful addition to my growing stash of gadgets.

You can buy branded Chipolo smart tags direct from the manufacturer.

You can get 20% off the price using my referral link

Eon were doing a special offer in their Energy Shop for a free PowerDown Plug worth about £15.  Here's the unboxing.