In the world of the Internet of things, smartness is everything; from smart bulbs to smart doors and now smart plugs are no exception. I have a bad habit of leaving things on and was in a desperate need of something to counter this. So, I decided to give Gosund WP3 Smart Plug a try and here’s my review of it.
Build-wise, it’s compact, sturdy enough to withstands drops from a height. It’s made of high-quality plastic. It comes in white color and has a minimalistic aesthetic to it. The only button on the side functions as a power button.
The connection part wasn’t easy, partly it was my own fault. I didn’t read the instructions correctly and kept trying to pair it with my WiFi. This smart plug isn’t compatible with 5Ghz Wifi which I eventually figured out and then I switched to the 2.4Ghz Wifi on my Router and voila it connected. I hope they add the support for 5ghz soon. So now for the connection part.
- First, plug in the WP3 plug into the socket and turn on the power button. You will see the power button blink fastly in blue color. That’s the default connection mode. To switch to the other connection mode, just hold down the power button until it starts blinking slowly.
- Then head over to your respective app store and download the Smart Life app. Here’s the link to it. Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tuya.smartlife. Apple Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/smart-life-smart-living/id1115101477?mt=8.
- Open the app and register with an email address. Then click on the + icon on the top right corner. From there, select the Electrical Outlet option which will take you the Add Device screen.
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- It will prompt you with the default mode (Fast blink). Now make sure the led on the plug is blinking fastly, if not then hold down the power button for a while until it does so. Select your Wifi, enter the password and hit confirm. give it a couple of seconds and it will be connected. It will turn red once connected.
- For the AP mode, check if the power button is blinking slowly and if not set the plug on the slow blink mode. Then repeat the same procedure as mentioned for the default mode, enter your wifi and password and let it connect. The only difference here is that it creates a temporary hotspot something named like SmartWifi which you need to connect first and then it will switch automatically to your local Wifi.
- It will prompt you with the default mode (Fast blink). Now make sure the led on the plug is blinking fastly, if not then hold down the power button for a while until it does so. Select your Wifi, enter the password and hit confirm. give it a couple of seconds and it will be connected. It will turn red once connected.
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- Once connected, the plug will be visible in the app under All devices, which you can also assign to categories like Living Room, Bed Room, etc to keep them more organized.
- From there, you can turn on, turn off the plug directly or select a timer as per your need or even set up a schedule. The app also allows you to manage your account, add a bunch of other compatible smart devices to it.
- I tried using the voice command function in the app but it didn’t work at all. Although I am not a fan of voice assistants cause I hardly use it, I decided to gave Alexa a try to see if it really works. Surprisingly, it did. What you need to do is to open Alexa. go to the devices then select Add Device -> Plug -> Tuya. It will prompt you to login with your Smart Life app’s account, login with your details and then you can directly see your devices in the Alexa App and the voice commands works accurately.
The response time on WP3 is so quick. Whether you are using voice commands or controlling it with the app, the plug turns on/off instantly. If I have to rate this smart plug, I would rate it 9/10. So far, I have loved it and works perfectly fine, my only problem is the incompatibility with the 5Ghz wifi because every time I wanna use it I have to switch it to the 2.4ghz wifi. And one more thing that must be taken into consideration, that it’s not compatible with power-hungry appliances like Air conditioner, microwave which I feel needs this features the most so that’s a bummer.
If you are interested in buying this pack of two Gosund WP3 Smart Plug, click HERE to visit the Amazon link. It comes at a price tag of 18.99 so almost 9.50$ each which is good enough for a smart plug considering the features it packs for the price.
