Avatar Controls Triangle Smart Power Strip – Review 2020
The
Avatar Controls Triangle ($34.99) is a uniquely shaped smart power
strip equipped with three outlets that can be individually programmed and
controlled with your phone and with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice
commands. It also has three USB ports for charging smartphones, tablets, and
other devices with USB ports, and you can use IFTTT applets to have
third-party devices trigger the power outlets. If you’re want more outlets, energy usage reporting, or surge protection, we recommend the pricier TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Power Strip HS300. But if you’re looking to save space or money, the Triangle is a good alternative.
Design
and Features
Aptly
named, the Triangle Smart Power Strip has a triangle shape and stands 2.3
inches high. Each side of the triangle is 4 inches long and the power cord is
58 inches long. Each side of the strip contains a single three-prong outlet
and there are three USB charging ports on the top, along with a backlit power
button and LED indicators for each outlet. This is strictly a power strip and
lacks the surge protection that you get with more expensive strips such as the TrickleStar TS1110 PC Advanced PowerStrip + and the TP-Link Kasa HS300. It also lacks an
energy reporting feature that tells you how much power each outlet is
using.
You can control each of the
Triangle strip’s three outlets with the same mobile app (for Android and iOS) used to control the Avatar Mini Wi-Fi Plug and the Avatar Smart Wi-Fi Bulb,
but there are no
individual On/Off buttons for each outlet. When you install the Triangle, it
gets its own tab on the mobile app’s home screen, along with other installed
Avatar devices. Tap the tab to open a screen where you can turn each outlet on
and off. There’s also a button for turning the USB ports on and off, but they
cannot be individually controlled; either they are all on or all off.
Tap
the pencil icon in the upper right corner to add the strip to a group that
allows you to control several devices at once, share mobile access to the strip
with other users, update firmware, and check your Wi-Fi signal.
There are three buttons at bottom of the home screen. The Smart button takes you to a screen where you can create Scenes and
Automations. Scenes let you create a button to control multiple devices at the
same time, and Automations let you turn the strip on and off based on things
like weather conditions, time of day, and sunrise and sunset. Tapping the Me
button takes you to a screen where
you can enable push notifications, run network diagnostics, get instructions
for Alexa, Google, and IFTTT configurations, and access a FAQ database. The Home button brings you back to the home screen.
Installation
and Performance
Installation
was quick and easy. As was the case with the Avatar Smart Wi-Fi Bulb, the
written installation instructions that came with the Triangle strip were for another
product (the Avatar Smart Mini Wi-Fi Plug), but I decided to follow them anyway.
I already had the Avatar Control app installed on my iPhone, but if this is your
first Avatar device, you’ll have to download the app and create an account. I
tapped the plus icon in the upper right corner of the home screen to add a new
device, selected Socket (Wi-Fi), and pressed the power button for five seconds to
reset the strip. I confirmed that the LED was rapidly blinking green, entered
my Wi-Fi SSID and password, and within seconds the strip was added to my
network. It was also automatically added to my Alexa device list.
The
Triangle strip worked well in testing. Each outlet responded instantly to
On and Off requests using Alexa voice commands and when using the mobile app.
The strip followed my automations to have the outlets turn on and off at
specific times of the day, and my IFTTT applet to have an outlet turn on when a
Ring Stick Up Cam detected motion worked perfectly.
As is the case with other Avatar Controls devices, the
in-app instructions for linking the plug to your IFTTT account are incorrect.
They direct you to connect to IFTTT’s Avatar Controls channel, which doesn’t
exist, at least not at the time of this review. Instead you have to connect
to the Smart Life channel to create an applet that works with the power strip.
The company is planning to launch an Avatar Controls IFTTT channel in
the future, but no date has been provided.
Conclusions
You can use the Avatar Controls Triangle Smart Power Strip to turn lamps, coffee
makers, and other small appliances into smart devices that you can control with
your phone. It’s compact, installs in minutes, responds to Alexa and Google voice
commands, and it can interact with other smart devices using IFTTT applets. That
said, it only offers three outlets and it doesn’t tell you how much power it is
using. You’ll pay more for the TP-Link Kasa
Smart Wi-Fi Power Strip HS300, but in return you get six individually
controlled outlets, three USB charging ports, voice and IFTTT support, and
power usage reports.
