Vocolinc Smart Outlet and Power Strip, smart plugs for HomeKit

We tested two new HomeKit compatible products from the Vocolinc brand that offer us all the advantages of HomeKit at a very competitive price. Vocolic Smart Outlet, a single smart plug, and Vocolinc Power Strip, a power strip with four individually controllable smart plugs. Two excellent options to start in the world of home automation or to continue with the automation of your home.

One plug or four plugs, you have to choose

Smart plugs are one of the most used accessories by those who want to start home automation, because of their versatility and because they allow a product that is not smart to become "smart". Connect a coffee maker, a water heater or a conventional lamp to a smart socket and you can control them from your iPhone or via Siri and your Apple Watch or HomePod, it's that easy.

The Smart Outlet individual plug has the usual shape in these products, although more compact than the ones I have been able to test so far. This is an advantage if you want to place it behind a piece of furniture, or if you don't want it to cover the other socket on the wall, something quite common when you place it in double sockets. a front led that tells you if it is on or off, and a button located at the top for manual on and off are the only elements that should be noted in this plug.

The power strip is the same type of accessory, but with four plugs. Each of them can be controlled independently, and they also have a physical button for manual control. There is also a general on and off button, something that seems like a very good idea but that I had not seen until now. Discrete white LEDs tell you if the plugs are on or off, and a dimly lit green one tells you the general status of the power strip. The discreet LEDs are important, especially if you are going to place it in a bedroom.

The power strip has safety protection against overloads, and both sockets use the WiFi connection to connect to our accessories center, essential to be able to control them from outside the home and make automations. WiFi connectivity allows you to place them anywhere in the home, an advantage over Bluetooth, regardless of the distance to the central. Of course, as usually happens with all accessories of this type, they are only compatible with the 2,4GHz band.

HomeKit compatibility

We could spend hours discussing which is the best home automation platform, but what is indisputable is that the only one that offers you 100% compatibility out of the box is HomeKit. There are no skills here, no languages ​​or unavailable functions. If an accessory is compatible with HomeKit, it is here and in Peru, and that is a great peace of mind for its users. You take the plug out of the box, plug it into a socket and scan the HomerKit code with the camera of your iPhone, a couple of configuration steps and voila, you have it working.

Now it is your turn to include it in environments and / or automations already created, or that you create new ones: You can control it from your iPhone, Apple Watch, HomePod, iPad, Mac ..., through the applications or through your voice through Siri… All the options are valid, and all of them 100% compatible with these Vocolinc plugs. There is only one function that you cannot perform from the Home app: energy consumption control.

For this you will have to use the Linkwise application from Vocolinc (link) that also allows you to control the plugs, like the Home app. The application does not convince me too much, although its operation is completely correct, but it has a design that does not enter my eyes, although that is something very subjective. The good thing, as always in HomeKit, is that you can choose, so we are not going to complain about having different options available.

Editor's opinion

Compatibility with HomeKit means being able to enjoy each and every one of the functions offered by Apple's home automation platform, without half measures. Automations, environments, remote access, control through Siri ... everything is available on this strip and on the Vocolinc smart plug, which also add Alexa and Google Assistant to their compatible platforms, so you don't have to give up anything. To this we add that the Vocolinc Smart Outlet is priced at € 24,99 on Amazon (link) and the strip Vocolinc Power Strip is 59,50 at Amazon (link). Hard to find something similar for this price.