Satechi Dual Smart Outlet review: Double the smarts with separate controls

My house is peppered with a handful of different brands of smart outlets, all of them HomeKit compatible, but the one thing I'd been looking for is a dual smart outlet where each plug could be controlled separately. One that isn't so big it obstructed the second outlet in my wall. Satechi recently launched the Dual Smart Outlet, which meets both of my requirements and has the added bonus of offering power consumption data review.

• Two outlets in one
• Separate controls
• Thin profile

• Doesn't support 5Ghz Wi-Fi networks

Twofer

Satechi Dual Smart Outlet: The features

The Dual Smart Outlet by Satechi is a smart outlet that plugs into your current wall outlet using a three-prong system (it's grounded!). Once plugged in, each outlet acts separately from the other, so you can have one outlet running with a light on, but the other right next to it not running at all (thus saving some of that trickle effect on things plugged in but not in use).

There are buttons at the top of each outlet, which physically controls when you want power. It wouldn't be "smart" without device connectivity, too, however, and this outlet has smarts. It's HomeKit compatible, so not only can you control it from your iPhone, you can control it from your iPhone, your Home Hub (like your Apple TV or iPad), and with your voice by triggering Siri.

The Dual Smart Outlet comes with a companion app, which you can use to add your new outlet to HomeKit and customize it (like changing the name of each outlet or noting the room it's in). It also has a power monitoring feature so you can keep track of how many watts something is using, and how much it's costing you per month. Wondering if that box fan is a power hog? Plug it into the Dual Smart Outlet and track its power consumption.

Separate but combo

Satechi Dual Smart Outlet: What I like

I have a couple of dual outlets, but the problem is that the outlets are both controlled under one circuit. The Dual Smart Outlet's outlets run separately, so I can have one turned on while the other is off, or group each plug separately. Basically, I can have four smart outlets that operate independently plugged into one wall outlet, and that's a darn good deal.

I love that Satechi chose to design the Dual Smart Outlet to be thin, so it doesn't take up additional plug space. Many smart plugs overlap into the second wall outlet space, making it difficult to use the free outlet, especially if you want to use the second outlet to plug in another smart outlet. With The Dual Smart Outlet, you can plug two into the same wall outlet, creating four places to plug in your smart home stuff.

Low Wi-Fi mode

Satechi Dual Smart Outlet: What I don't like

This is not unusual and most smart home gadgets are like this, but the Dual Smart Outlet only supports a 2.4Ghz network, which means if your local wi-fi is connected to 5Ghz (if it's titled something like "ATT5G"), you'll get a notification that the outlet doesn't support your Wi-Fi. For most, that's easily fixed by switching over to the 2.4Ghz network on your phone just for the setup process, but not everyone knows that, and it can be easy to misunderstand compatibility.

Again, it's common for smart home gadgets to only support 2.4Ghz, but be aware that you may need to switch over to your standard network for setting up the Dual Smart Outlet.

Bottomline

Satechi Dual Smart Outlet: Conclusion

Even if your house is already full of smart outlets, you're still going to want to take a second look at Satechi's Dual Smart Outlet because it's got a thin profile and each outlet is controlled independently, making it much more versatile and customizable than most smart outlets.