Okay, so I finally caved and got the Eve Energy Outlet after my old Z-Wave plugs decided to retire early (for the fourth time). First impressions? Setup was stupid easy. Like, scan-a-QR-code-and-boom-done easy. No weird button mashing or cryptic rituals. Major win.

The Thread tech is cool—my SmartThings hub recognized it instantly. But those manual buttons? If you’ve got both outlets in use, good luck pressing them without dislodging your plugs. It’s like playing Operation but with electricity.

Privacy-wise, I love that Eve doesn’t force me into their cloud or track my obsessive lamp schedules. But the app UX? Confusing AF. Sometimes it shows as one device, sometimes two. My ‘top outlet’ label somehow controls the bottom one? Magic… or just bad coding.

Longevity TBD, but after a year of flawless performance (Apple Home user here), I’m cautiously optimistic. Unlike some *cough* Google Home users who reported ghosting issues—yikes.

Verdict: If you want a no-cloud, Thread-powered plug and can tolerate quirky software, this is solid. Just maybe avoid Google Home for now.