This $49 gadget could save you serious money — and fight the rising price of everything

Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug mini
(Image credit: Kasa)

With the cost of everything from gas to groceries skyrocketing — and inflation at a 40-year high — finding smart ways to save money around your home could be one of the key ways to reduce the pinch of rising bills. And investing in a solid smart plug could be one relatively affordable way to get an insight into how much energy your household appliances and gadgets might be sucking up. 

TP-Link’s new Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug mini is $49 on Amazon for a pack of four smart plugs that now have Apple HomeKit support, as well as energy monitoring. Get these plugged in to key areas around your home, say in your living room where you might have a killer TV and PS5 could be set up and you’re set to gain a better look at how much power these devices are sucking up.

And thanks to Wi-Fi connectivity and a custom app, you’ll then have the ability to shut these devices off remotely if someone in your household has left them running. 

Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug mini with HomeKit: $49 for four @ Amazon

Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug mini with HomeKit: <a href="https://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?tsid=45724&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Famazon.com%2Fdp%2FB0B14C719T%3Ftag%3Dhawk-future-20%26ascsubtag%3Dhawk-custom-tracking-20" data-link-merchant="Amazon US"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">$49 for four @ Amazon
Now with Apple HomeKit connectivity and energy monitoring, the Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug mini is smarter and more capable than ever. For Android users, Google Home and Amazon Alex integration is also available. 

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Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug mini: <a href="https://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?tsid=45724&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Famazon.com%2Fdp%2FB07RCNB2L3%3Ftag%3Dhawk-future-20%26ascsubtag%3Dhawk-custom-tracking-20" data-link-merchant="Amazon US"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">was $29 now $26 @ Amazon
If you don't need energy monitoring or Apple HomeKit integration then you can get the standard Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug mini. And you can now get four of them for $3 less.

Smart plugs are pretty common these days, but the Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug mini is one of the few that not only packs in Apple HomeKit compatibility, but also includes energy monitoring; all at a price of $12.50 per plug. In fact it has earned a spot on our best smart plugs list, even before its update. 

And not only is there smart controls and energy monitoring, but Google Home and Amazon Alexa support is also on offer, should you have a smart home setup that’s not based in Apple’s ecosystem. 

This means that you can effectively bark a command, at the Google Assistant, Alexa or Siri, such as “turn on the light” and providing you’ve integrated the Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug mini into your smart home platform of choice, you can effectively control lighting and other smart plug connected devices with your voice. And all this can be done without needing a central smart home hub device. 

In short, this is one of the smart plugs to consider if you not only want to keep a closer eye on the energy consumption of your home’s devices, but also have more remote control over them and the devices connected to your power outlets. 

Roland Moore-Colyer

Roland Moore-Colyer a Managing Editor at Tom’s Guide with a focus on news, features and opinion articles. He often writes about gaming, phones, laptops and other bits of hardware; he’s also got an interest in cars. When not at his desk Roland can be found wandering around London, often with a look of curiosity on his face.