This review dives deep into the world of budget-friendly Tuya-compatible smart sockets, specifically examining three popular brands: Aubess, TNCE, and Elivco. We explore the performance, reliability, and overall user experience of these devices, focusing on their key features such as remote control, scheduling, and power monitoring. Our assessment is based on extensive testing and highlights both the advantages and significant drawbacks encountered during use. The goal is to provide a comprehensive and unbiased perspective to help consumers make informed decisions when choosing a smart socket for their needs.While these cheap smart sockets promise convenient features like remote on/off control and power monitoring, our experience revealed significant limitations. We discuss the challenges encountered with app connectivity, scheduling reliability, and the accuracy of power monitoring data. Particular attention is paid to the Aubess brand, which consistently underperformed compared to other options. This review will help you determine if these budget-friendly options are suitable for your home automation needs, or if investing in a more reputable brand is a worthwhile consideration.
Pros And Cons
- Slightly better than OBUS
- Works for most things
- Not very reliable
- Sometimes misses scheduled times
- Can have trouble connecting
Read more: AMI Meter Reading Guide: Understanding Your Smart Electricity Meter
Reliability and Performance: A Disappointing Experience
My experience with several cheap Chinese smart sockets, including the popular Aubess brand, has been overwhelmingly negative. These sockets consistently proved unreliable, frequently failing to connect to the smartphone app or correctly execute scheduled on/off commands. The power monitoring feature, while present, was also inaccurate and often lagged.
The Aubess brand, in particular, was exceptionally poor. It regularly missed scheduled times and demonstrated significant unreliability. This is a widespread issue, not isolated to my experience. I've used other brands, such as Itco, with somewhat better performance, but these too had considerable limitations.
App Functionality and Connectivity Issues
The accompanying smartphone app, often called 'Toya Smart,' presents its own set of challenges. Pairing the sockets to the app was a tedious and frustrating process. It frequently required enabling mobile data or Wi-Fi, and sometimes even turning on a mobile hotspot. The app itself has a tendency to 'forget' the connected sockets, requiring repeated pairing attempts.
Despite these hurdles, the app offers some useful features. Remote on/off control, scheduling, and even basic power monitoring are available. However, the unreliability of the connection significantly diminishes the usefulness of these features.
Power Monitoring Capabilities and Limitations
The power monitoring functionality is a key selling point of these smart sockets, but the accuracy is questionable. While it generally displays the current power consumption, it is often slow to update and occasionally fails entirely. I experienced this when trying to monitor a refrigerator's power usage; the socket did not register any consumption.
For less demanding applications, such as monitoring a phone charger, the monitoring worked reasonably well. However, for precise or critical power monitoring, these sockets fall significantly short. The data logging also occasionally showed inconsistencies.
Scheduling and Other Features
The app allows for the creation of detailed schedules, specifying the days and times for turning the socket on or off. While this feature generally functions, it's prone to failure, particularly with the Aubess brand, sometimes failing to execute scheduled actions.
Other settings include options for what happens when power is restored after an outage. These extra features add functionality but are ultimately overshadowed by the core performance issues.
Overall Assessment and Recommendations
In summary, my experience with these budget smart sockets has been disappointing. While they offer appealing features like remote control, scheduling, and power monitoring, their unreliability renders them largely unusable for anything beyond simple on/off tasks. The Aubess brand is particularly problematic; I strongly advise against purchasing it.
For a few dollars more, better quality and more reliable alternatives exist, making these budget options a poor investment. If you're determined to try a cheap option, I might suggest the Itco brand only if you can find it for $2-3 and understand the likely limitations. For reliable performance, consider spending a bit more on a more established brand with a proven track record.
