HOW TO USE A MEROSS SMART PLUG
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To activate your smart plug, you first need to install the free Meross app on your phone or tablet. You can get the Android version from the Google Play Store at www.snipca. com/48945 and the IOS version from the Apple App Store at www.snipca. com/48946. Switch on Bluetooth on your mobile device and ensure you’re connected to a 2.4GHZ Wi-fi network – not 5GHZ (see the box below to learn why). Open the app, tap the User tab 1 then ‘Log in’ 2 and sign up for a free Meross account. Once you’ve registered, insert your new smart plug in a wall socket and switch it on.
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Tap the Home tab in the Meross app, then the plus button in the top-right corner to add your smart plug. Grant the app permission to access nearby devices and it will search for Meross hardware in your vicinity 1 . Select ‘Add’ next to your smart plug when the option appears. If the search hangs without detecting any devices, tap Smart Plug under ‘Please select a device you would like to install’ 2 and choose the model of your Meross plug – which is the Meross Matter Smart Plug Mini in our case – then tap Next.
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Check that the LED light on your smart plug is flashing amber and green 1 , to indicate that it’s in pairing mode. If not, tap ‘The LED is NOT blinking amber and green’ 2 , then press the power button on the device for five seconds to reset it. Tap ‘Got it’ to return to the previous screen and tap Next. The Meross app will now connect your phone or tablet to your smart plug – you may be prompted to turn on its Location service to complete the setup process. If the connection fails, tap ‘Start over’ and try moving your device closer to the plug.
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Once your Meross smart plug is set up, you can control any device plugged into it directly from the app. On the Home tab, press the power button for your plug to switch it off and on. To schedule a connected device to turn on and off at specific times, tap the Smart tab and select Routines 1 , then press the plus button in the top-right corner. Select ‘On/off on a schedule’, tap Smart Plug and press On. Specify the time you want to switch your device on, tap Next and give your routine an appropriate name, such as ‘Light on’ 2 . Tap ‘Save’ to confirm.
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To turn the device off at a specific time, create a second routine, but this time choose Off. Alternatively, select ‘Auto off after X min’ to set up a timer for the device.
If you want to use the energy-monitoring feature, tap the plug icon, which looks like a pause button. This will track the power consumption of any device inserted in your smart plug 1 . To work out how much it’s costing you, tap the three-line menu button
2 and choose ‘Electricity bill calculation’. Switch on the option then enter the kilowatt hour (kwh) unit rate of your energy tariff.
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It’s also possible to add a smart plug to your existing smart-home system without using the Meross app. With a Google Home system, open the Home app, choose Devices and tap Add. Because our Meross plug supports Matter, we’ve selected ‘Matter-enabled device’ 1 , but for non-matter plugs you can choose ‘Works with Google Home’ 2 . Scan the QR code on your smart plug using the camera on your phone or tablet. Agree to connect the device to your Google account and the Home app will find and connect to your smart plug.
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If you want to control your smart plug and connected devices using your voice, press the User tab in the Meross app. In the Integration section, select Amazon Alexa 1 or Google Assistant 2 (or Smartthings or Apple Homekit if you use those systems, though they’re not as easy to configure), and link your Meross account with the voice assistant. Follow the instructions to give your plug a suitable name, such as ‘Living room lamp’. This will enable you to control the plug using voice commands, for example “Turn on living room lamp”.
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You can add a smart plug to an Amazon Alexa smart-home system in a similar way. In the Alexa app, tap the Devices tab then the plus button in the top-right corner. Choose ‘Add Device’ in the menu that opens and tap the Matter shortcut 1 . You can then link the plug with your Amazon Echo device, so you can turn it on and off using your voice. For non-matter plugs, select ‘Plug’ 2 under All Devices and choose the brand of your smart plug. You’ll need to set up your device through the Meross app first, then connect your account to Alexa.