The WiOn 50051 Indoor Wi-Fi Surge Protector is a 900 joules smart surge protector that gives you surge protection for six outlets, 2 always-on and 4 WiFi-controlled. With this smart plug, you can control electrical devices from anywhere by using your smartphone. You also have the ability to monitor energy usage and costs.
All WiOn smart devices work with Amazon Alexa and Google Home, giving you voice control over turning devices on and off in your home. The setup is a bit clunky but it will work. All you need to do is download and enable the WiOn Alexa skill, and then check the Connect to Amazon Alexa box in the app settings. One thing to keep in mind that you can only turn on and off all 4 of your wifi controlled devices at the same time. You can’t turn them on or off individually. While some people may want that option, there are use cases where this works well. For example, you can use it to turn on and off your whole entertainment system, like AV receiver, speakers, blu-ray player, etc. To setup Google Assistance to use with Google Home devices, download the ECO Plugs app and check the “Connect to Google Home” option. Once connected, whether you’re using WiOn or ECO Plugs app, it saves your information in the same backend database.
This connected power strip also have a manual switch to turn the whole strip on and off. In addition, you can also press the small grey button on top of the strip to toggle the wifi outlets.
The free Wion app works on iOS 7 and higher or Android 4.0 and higher devices. The user-interface is a tad outdated but the app does work as expected. To connect the surge protector to your wifi network, plug it into your wall outlet and wait for the blue light to flash. Then go to your wifi settings and connect to the protector. Then open up the Wion app to enter in your network information. Once connected to your wifi, the blue light will remain steady. If it’s still blinking, you’ll need to go through the setup process again. One limitation to the Wion lineup is that you can only connect up to 12 Wion devices in your app.
Retailing at a MSRP of $49.99, you can usually get this power strip for around $30 or less on Amazon, making it very affordable to add wifi connectivity to your smart home setup.
