SONOFF S31 WiFi Smart Plug with Energy Monitoring, 15A Smart Outlet Timer Switch ETL Certified, Compatible with Alexa & Google Home, IFTTT Supporting, 2.4 Ghz Wi-Fi Only

Can be configured for ESPHome/HomeAssistant. Works great! I use it to monitor power usage to trigger "running" and "done" type notifications for my not-smart laundry and dishwasher, where i disabled the button and set the led to match the running state. Why this instead of zigbee? because the highish sample rate power number stream isn't so great for blasting through a zigbee network, that might have hops through battery powered devices. it's good to keep zigbee more event based rather than stream based, for latency and power saving.

This is a great power monitoring smart plug if you are willing to flash ESPHome to "uncloud" it. This turns it into a locally controlled device that does not "call home" or require proprietary apps to function. Easy to take apart and reassemble after modding. Fixes many of the pain points described by other reviewers (poor WiFi, app pairing issues). Otherwise for the sake of privacy you are better off with a Zigbee model like the S31 Lite.

I installed custom firmware in each of these. Love these specific models because they offer great value for the price - you can monitor power usage and control outlets. They're seemingly durable and offer great features.

Pairing this plug with the eWeLink app and getting it on the wifi proved to be more difficult than I expected. Initially pairing kept failing and I was trying to follow the instructions provided with the box. I was able to find the wifi network that it was broadcasting but then I couldn't get it to accept that network to finish pairing within the app. After googling I stumbled upon a help page for the eWeLink app and figured out the issue. I use Unifi equipment for my home networking. I have the APs setup to push all capable clients to 5GHz bands. Now I will say that I have a Kasa smart plug and was able to pair with it much easier. I think maybe the Kasa app uses bluetooth to discover the device and connect initially to push the wifi information over to it but it was very simple. The sonoff plug only operates on 2.4Ghz bands, which is common with smart home devices. What I had to end up doing is to temporarily turn off 5GHz radio on my wifi network so that my phone could pair with the device on 2.4. Once the device was paired I was able to reactivate the 5Ghz radio. The sonoff stayed connected at 2.4Ghz and capable devices reconnected to 5Ghz. If you can get past the pairing issues though there are three things this plug has going for it: 1. Its very cheap 2. It works with Home Assistant and Google Home. 3. It can monitor energy usage which is great for automations within home assistant Overall I would say it's a great deal at this price point. If I need to buy anymore now that I know about the 2.4Ghz issue setting it up should be a breeze. Hopefully my review might save someone a hassle.

Device comes with a very small multi-fold paper instruction which doesn't provide complete instructions for use. It does redirect you (via QR code) to a mobile App which also seems to be incomplete. The App refers you to the paper instructions (calling it a manual). The paper instructions refer you to the App and primarly provides directions on how to set the device in one of two pairing modes (Quickpair or Compatible). Quick Pairing promises to magically pair with the device if you enter your home 2.4GHz wireless network ID and password. Failure of QuickPair suggests Compatible mode. Compatible pairing mode instructions (paper) tell you to connect to the device's WIFI network, but the App immeditately prompts you to connect to a different network to proceed. Doing so fails the pairing. Even if the plug is sitting on top of the wireless router, it complains the Wireless network is too weak (even if the phone you a pairing with has a stong signal indicator). Each attempt to pair / cycle runs 3 minutes. I am a computer engineer and have been in I/T for decades. I have many other wireless outlets in my home that function well on their own custom applications and Alexa integrations. This device seems to be faulty (beyond presenting blinking blue lights). The blinking blue lights are pleasant enough, but do not meet the advertised description.

Instead of using the eWeLink app to control this outlet (which sends your commands off to a server in China) I was able to flash it with a custom firmware for local network control. I successfully flashed both ESPurna and Tasmota which allows control via http commands sent using a web browser on my local home network. I then used a custom driver to also monitor and control this device from my Hubitat Smart Home Hub. Works pretty well and is cheap too! I did have some issues with the WiFi signal disconnecting frequently with my home WiFi Router, but I was able to fix that by making some settings adjustments with my 2.4 GHz WiFi router.

This took me a total of 2 minutes in order to set up the device, connect a freezer to it and then see the power consumption of the freezer. I was then is able to easily connect it to home assistant through the sonoff integration. And then created automations to make sure that the device was always on and that the power consumption was over a certain amount over a given period of time to verify that the freezer was always working. This is super easy and a convenient way for me to verify that the contents within the freezer will stay good even if I am not at home. Highly recommend this device.

I recently discovered the SONOFF S31 smartplug, and I have to say, I am absolutely thrilled with this little device! While it's a great smart switch right out of the box, I highly recommend re-flashing it with custom ESPHome firmware to really unlock its full potential. After re-flashing and integrating it with my Home Assistant controller, I now have ten SONOFF S31 smartplugs throughout my home, all working together to automate my smart home experience. What's truly impressive about this smartplug is how cost-effective it is - I was able to outfit my entire home with these devices for a fraction of the cost of other smart switches on the market. One of the features that really sets the SONOFF S31 apart is its energy monitoring capabilities. With this functionality, I can track my energy usage over time, and use this data to create automations that notify me when the laundry is done or remind me when I left my coffee pot running. It's been a game changer for me in terms of managing my energy usage and reducing my bills. Overall, I couldn't be happier with the SONOFF S31 smartplug. It's the perfect cost-effective smart switch, once you re-flash it with custom firmware. And with its energy monitoring capabilities, it's a valuable tool in creating an efficient and automated smart home experience. Highly recommended!