meross Matter Smart Plug, Energy Monitoring, Standby Killer, FFS Easy Setup

Why it's worth it

A compact Matter-certified plug that an Echo can find on its own, with live wattage and usage history in the Meross app. It's the easiest way to start tracking what a single appliance costs you without linking accounts or adding a hub.

Matter is the whole reason to buy this one. Meross ships it certified, so an Echo can find it without a skill, an account link or a bridge. Amazon's Frustration-Free Setup goes a step further: power the plug on, ask your Echo to look for it, and it lands in your Alexa app on its own. If you've ever fought a proprietary Wi-Fi plug through three screens of account linking, that alone is worth the switch.

The energy side is straightforward. The Meross app shows live power draw and keeps historical data, so you can leave the plug on your TV wall for a week and see what standby actually costs. Phantom loads usually sit somewhere between 5 and 50 watts — a cable box, a soundbar, a console that's only pretending to be off. That's the sort of thing you'll never spot on a utility bill and can't miss on a chart.

From our review of 6 smart plugs with energy monitoring for alexa, by David Sinclair, Managing Editor

What we like

• +Matter is the whole reason to buy this one
• +The energy side is straightforward
• +It's small, which matters more than it should
• +It keeps working when your internet doesn't

What to know

• –Setup isn't always the one-step story the box promises
• –The Alexa app will only ever give you a switch