CNCT IntelliPLUG launches on Indiegogo

June 14, 2017 Paul E King 1 Comment

The CNCT IntelliPLUG exists, I’ve been playing with it for roughly two weeks now as part of an embargoed press release which should have gone out this morning, but I’ve been kind of busy ;)

So first off, the IntelliPLUG exists, it’s a WiFi-enabled power pass through plug that you can set schedules for, turn on and off from your phone, and also has Alexa integration (and hopefully more soon as they claim Google Home integration is already under way). It requires no investment in a home smart hub, just a 2.4ghz WiFi signal. You probably have that.

It also required no wiring, sawing, cursing, and shouldn’t take up anything more than the space of one standard plug plus a quarter inch or so.

Oh hey, it’s currently like $10 a plug on Indiegogo. I’m going to mention that here before I go on. MSRP is $60 for two plugs on initial release, but you know how that goes.

Astute readers of their Indiegogo page may note that the Featured level claims they’re MSRP $30 a pop, whereas every other level claims they’re MSRP $25 a pop. I’ve let them know.

Scenarios for CNCT IntelliPLUG use

Right off the bat I could think of two things I wanted a smart plug for. The first was something that would turn power off to the stove when I left so I wasn’t wondering if I left it on and was going to blow through 4 hours before it turned off. Sadly this isn’t it as this works on 120VAC and that stove is like a billion.

The second for me had to do with a Plant Air Purifier I have at the office. Here’s the thing – the Plant Air Purifier works pretty darn well at getting everything out of the air, however it blows through water like nobody’s business. With my schedule I may walk out of my office thinking I’m gone for 10 minutes and then get dispatched somewhere else leaving the purifier to dehydrate my plants over the week.

Besides having my purifier set to only power the purifier when I’m in the office if I leave early or am on the other side of town, I can just pop open the app and turn the plug off.

Got a device you’re paranoid about leaving on? Grab a CNCT IntelliPLUG and don’t plug in until it’s there. Get to the movies and wonder if you left the iron on? Pull out your phone and check/turn it off.

Pull into the house late at night, turn on the lights from the driveway.

Out for a night out on the town and see the babysitter invited their SO over? Remotely turn on and off lights or lawn sprinkler systems.

Since I saw an advertisement for a $60 product that just rebooted a cable modem and a router in sequence (why they need to be in sequence I don’t know,) I think you can do it with two of these set on slightly off schedules.

Pretty much anything a connected plug can do this probably can do.

Did I mention it’s $10 a plug?

What the Indiegogo?!?

Details of the campaign are this: they have a working product. They need money from pre-orders to get production costs down and order enough to control the world. The campaign ends in one month. August is expected ship date.

What’s wrong with it?

I’ve been using it for two weeks. I have no complaints at the moment. App needs a little polishing but actually looks pretty good to begin with, and once you integrate it with Alexa (and Home soon,) you shouldn’t need the app for anything but setup.

One point you might want to note is although you can use a CNCT IntelliPLUG in an outlet and another device can be plugged in, the current sizing looks like you cannot use two IntelliPLUGs per outlet. Just a little big. I can’t test as I only have one but I don’t see a way.

What would make the CNCT IntelliPLUG cooler?

Ability to become a nightlight. Bluetooth beacon. Temperature and humidity sensor. That said I don’t think that’s going to be possible in this tight of a space.

What don’t I know?

I’m currently unable to test if the power goes out and the WiFi isn’t on/doesn’t come back up whether the plug will continue with its scheduling. I’ll have an email in to the company later.