Meross Add Smart Power Strip to HomeKit Lineup
Meross seems to be releasing a ton of HomeKit compatible products at present, with the latest product being the Smart Power Strip, which has been around previously, but with only Google and Amazon compatibility. The updated model comes with three separate Type B North American outlets along with four USB ports.
In many ways, this is no different to other offerings from the likes of Eve, Vocolinc or Koogeek, with the exception of the four USB ports (Vocolinc, Koogeek and Eve offer two, three, and zero ports respectively). The three outlets are individually controllable, but only via HomeKit or via Siri, as there are no physical buttons to turn individual outlets on or off, with only one master switch to turn the strip off completely. The Strip comes with a fire-retardant housing, a heavy-duty 6ft (1.83m) power cable, and an overload protection circuit.
As with all Meross products, the power strip uses 2.4GHz WiFi, and along with HomeKit support, it can also work with Amazon Alexa and Google Home, as well as Samsung SmartThings, just like the previous iteration. The strip’s input and output capabilities are 100-250V at 50/60Hz, which is good news for countries like the Philipines, which use US plugs but have 220-240V power. A single outlet has a maximum load of 10A, or a total of 15A for all combined outlets. The USB ports can provide 5V/2.4A from a single port or a total of 5V/4.0A for all four ports combined. None of the USB Ports are ‘smart’ however.
The strip is available on Amazon.com now, priced at US$35.99, although there’s a US$3.00 discount coupon currently available, bringing the price down to just US$32.99. As the non-HomeKit version looks identical, make sure you choose the one that states that it’s HomeKit compatible.
