Eve Energy

A good plug with an expensive starting point

At $39.95 for a single US plug, Eve Energy needs to do more than turn a lamp on. A pair of Tapo P110M plugs costs $23.99 at the checked offer and also measures energy. If price and ordinary switching are your priorities, we would buy the Tapo pair.

Eve's appeal is the way its extra controls fit together without an Eve account or cloud service. Its app shows consumption over time and estimates cost from your electricity tariff. That can help you decide whether a suitable appliance's idle draw is worth changing, rather than assuming every scheduled shutdown saves much money.

The plug can also store its own schedules and run them independently of your phone or internet connection. That is a useful feature for a lamp you want to follow the same routine every evening. Energy charts and these schedules are available in Eve's iPhone/iPad app through Apple Home, and its Android app through Google Home.

Small controls that make it easier to live with

The white, rounded plug has a physical button for ordinary on/off control. In Eve's app, you can disable that button with a child lock and dim or extinguish the status LED. An adjustable indicator is a welcome detail beside a bed, where a permanent green light could become irritating.

The US body measures 70 × 39 × 60 mm and is rated for indoor use at 120 V, up to 15 A/1800 W. It still puts an adapter between the wall and appliance. For a permanent installation where appearance matters more than portability, the two-socket Eve Energy Outlet is the tidier option, but adds electrical work.

Thread should already have a job in the house

Eve Energy needs a Matter controller and Thread border router; the plug does not replace either. As a powered Thread router, it can relay traffic for nearby battery devices. That is a useful second job in a room with Thread sensors, though it is no guarantee of better reception in every house.

Current firmware also sends standard Matter energy readings to Home Assistant and SmartThings. Those systems make a stronger case for the meter than Alexa alone, where Eve's feature table does not offer the energy view. The full Eve graph and schedule interface is still a separate app benefit.

Choose Eve for those particular controls and an existing Thread home. For an inexpensive meter, or a first smart plug with no Thread equipment already available, its premium is difficult to justify.