This surge protector has some great features. Here's why I'd never buy it

Price When Reviewed

$49.99

Best Prices Today: Tapo Smart Wi-Fi Wall Outlet Extender (mannequin P306)

$34.99

$39.99

TP-Link’s Tapo Smart Wi-Fi Wall Outlet Extender has some nice options, in addition to one vital shortcoming that forestalls us from recommending it.

Tapo doesn’t make large guarantees for this product when it comes to its surge safety, however it does record a key function on the field: the power to warn you when it will probably not present surge safety.

If you’re contemplating shopping for Smart Wi-Fi Wall Outlet Extender for that function, don’t. Here’s why.

Most surge protectors use sacrificial MOVs (metallic oxide varistors) to soak up extra voltage from energy surges, and this one is not any exception. The factor is, MOVs put on out over time, dropping a few of their skill to soak up that extra voltage with every energy surge till they will not supply any safety in any respect.

Since the quantity and severity of energy surges will range based mostly on a variety of things, beginning with the standard of energy coming out of your utility, it’s unimaginable to foretell when a given surge protector’s MOV (or MOVs, because the case could also be) will put on out.

Michael Brown/Foundry

Some surge protectors will merely cease sending energy to their shops when this occurs, and that’s the perfect method in my view. Others will set off a purple or inexperienced “protection” indicator—sometimes an LED—to cease glowing after they can not supply safety.

The latter method is much extra frequent, and you need to periodically test yours to verify it’s nonetheless lit. The downside with the Tapo Smart Wi-Fi Wall Outlet Extender is that it doesn’t do both of these items. Its MOV will finally put on out and stop providing surge safety, however you’ll haven’t any means of realizing when that has occurred.

I verified this reality with TP-Link, and the producer replied that the absence of a safety indicator is because of the product’s “structural limitations,” however that it acknowledges this “as a potential area for improvement in future product iterations.”

I’d say that’s an understatement. It would have been higher to not embody surge safety in any respect than to have customers gamble as to when this one will cease providing safety with none warning.

Specifications

The Tapo Smart Wi-Fi Wall Outlet Extender isn’t all unhealthy information—offered you’re not shopping for it for surge safety. But earlier than we depart that matter, permit me to report a couple of particulars you discover gained’t discover on TP-Link’s web site.

Michael Brown/Foundry

This product’s surge protector aspect can deal with solely a most of 205 joules, however it provides 1,200 volts of clamping voltage, based mostly on a 6,000-volt surge on the line-to-neutral leg of the circuit it’s linked to. Thumbs up for that: Protection for the line-to-neutral leg is what’s wanted most in a correctly grounded house.

Compare that to the Philips 6-Outlet Surge Protector Power Strip, a “dumb” surge protector that provides as much as 720 joules of safety, however solely 500V of safety throughout the line-to-neutral leg of the circuit. The Philips product additionally lacks USB-charging ports, however it prices lower than half as a lot because the Tapo product.

I also needs to be aware, nonetheless, that the Philips product doesn’t have any LED indicators both. The key distinction is that the Philips product will stop to offer energy to its shops when its MOV wears out and may not present surge safety. An LED can be superfluous in that product.

OK, let’s flip our consideration to the remainder of the Tapo Smart Wi-Fi Wall Outlet Extender’s appreciable specs and options. It occupies the highest half of a duplex outlet, however essentially additionally covers the underside half. If you could have an old-school outlet with a center screw gap for the quilt plate, you possibly can take away the quilt, insert a offered screw into the middle of the Outlet Extender, and fasten it to that gap. You also can screw a offered submit into the again of the extender and plug that into the second outlet’s floor gap for added stability when plugging and unplugging units.

Michael Brown/Foundry

The Outlet Extender can deal with as much as a most of 1,875 watts, and every of its six shops places out a most of 15 amps. It’s geared up with one USB-C charging port and two USB-A charging ports on its right-hand aspect. These ship a most output of 5 volts and 3 amps, offering as much as 18 watts of quick charging. More particularly, single-port outputs are 5V/3A, 9V/2A, or 12V/1.5A.

You can relaxation your smartphone on prime of the outlet extender whereas it’s charging, and a lip on its entrance edge will forestall the machine from sliding ahead and off.

There are six grounded AC shops in entrance, three on either side and spaced 1.57-inches aside to accommodate no less than smaller wall warts or outsized plugs with out blocking adjoining shops. Only the three shops on the left-hand aspect are sensible plugs, and every one has an on/off swap and an LED indicator that glows when it’s on. The three shops on the right-hand aspect are always-on “dumb” plugs and don’t have buttons or LEDs.

An ambient gentle sensor on the prime of the extender’s face triggers a dimmable white, down-facing LED nightlight to glow. This function is extremely customizable within the Tapo app, based mostly on the extent of ambient gentle that may activate it, a time-and-date schedule, or perhaps a countdown timer. An LED beneath the ambient gentle sensors experiences the general standing of the machine (strong white when linked to the cloud, blinking orange when disconnected from Wi-Fi, and so forth).

Smart options

The Tapo Smart Wi-Fi Wall Outlet Extender connects to your 2.4GHz Wi-Fi community, with as much as WPA3 safety. Although it’s not Matter licensed, it’s suitable with all three main sensible house ecosystems: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Apple Home. It’s additionally suitable with Samsung SmartIssues, Siri Shortcuts, and IFTTT.

You’ll use the Tapo sensible house app to program and management the machine. This software program can also be used to regulate every part from safety cameras to sensible plugs, sensible bulbs, robotic vacuums, and different sensible house merchandise carrying TP-Link’s Tapo or Kasa Smart manufacturers. But you possibly can set up the app by assigning every part to “rooms” and designating “favorites” to make it simpler to handle every part.  

Michael Brown/Foundry

Widgets are offered for every of the Outlet Extender’s three sensible plugs, however there’s only one widget for all three of its USB ports. The widgets have energy buttons for toggling them on and off, or you possibly can faucet anyplace else on the widget to open a brand new full-screen window for extra granular info and management, together with scheduling.

You can set “away modes” that may randomly flip the assigned sensible shops on and off between outlined days and occasions. Plug a lamp into one, two, or all three sensible shops, and it’ll make your own home look occupied when you’re away from house. Separate countdown timers will flip all or any the assigned sensible outlet on or off after a given variety of hours and minutes has elapsed.

The sensible plugs don’t monitor power consumption, however they are going to report the variety of hours they’ve been energized for the present day, the previous seven days, and the previous 30 days.

If you could have different TP-Link or Tapo merchandise, you possibly can create routines that may trigger these units to set off one another—and without having a wise house hub. For instance, you possibly can have a TP-Link or Tapo safety digital camera set off a light-weight plugged into the Outlet Extender when it detects movement after sundown, after which routinely flip off after a programmed period of time. Or you possibly can create a shortcut button that dims your Tapo or TP-Link sensible bulb while you’re prepared for mattress and turns off any of the corporate’s sensible plugs, together with this Outlet Extender.

The extra suitable devices you could have, the extra you are able to do with this function. If you’re an IFTTT subscriber, in fact, you don’t essentially want Tapo or TP-Link merchandise to perform comparable targets.

Michael Brown/Foundry

Further studying: This assessment is a part of TechHive’s in-depth protection of the best smart plugs.

Should you purchase a Tapo Smart Wi-Fi Wall Outlet Extender?

In phrases of a multi-plug, the Tapo Smart Wi-Fi Wall Outlet Extender is a effective product. It expands any duplex outlet into three sensible shops and gives three extra “dumb” shops. You additionally get three fast-charging sensible USB plugs. So far, so good.

As a surge protector, alternatively, it virtually completely fails. Not realizing when a surge protector can not defend connected units from energy surges is worse than not having surge safety within the first place. Whether sensible or dumb, if Tapo’s Outlet Extender didn’t supply surge safety, you can no less than plug a single-outlet surge protector into one among its shops to energy a delicate machine—a pc, for instance—that you simply need to defend.

That stated, you need to by no means daisy-chain surge protectors–i.e., plug one surge protector into one other surge protector–as that has the potential to overload {the electrical} circuit to which they’re linked. An overloaded electrical circuit is a fireplace threat.