Is there a sonoff (or ewelink compatible) device that will allow me to plug in my normal 3 prong appliances and switch them remotely?

Something like the attached but Ewelink compatible.

I used to buy the Sonoff Basic but then I still have to wire a janus and three prong plug to it and then it hangs off the wall socket and becomes expensive, time consuming and messy.

Hi

Unfortunately not, I would be great if they did one.

Aleks

Sonoff Africa

On 2022/10/27 at 8:17 AM, HeinDuPlessis said:

Is there a sonoff (or ewelink compatible) device that will allow me to plug in my normal 3 prong appliances and switch them remotely?

Something like the attached but Ewelink compatible.

I used to buy the Sonoff Basic but then I still have to wire a janus and three prong plug to it and then it hangs off the wall socket and becomes expensive, time consuming and messy.

Those are very good power monitoring plugs.
And if you are so inclined you can reflash them with tasmota and take full contol of them via home automation or phone app.
I have 5 vizia power monitor plugs and 2 sonoff powr2  monitors and 1 powr3 monitor and a sonoff spm with 4 relay/power monitors all tasmotized for home automation.
Never had any issues with any of them

28 minutes ago, Sonoff Africa said:

Hi

Unfortunately not, I would be great if they did one.

Aleks

Sonoff Africa

Yes please those plugin ones are super convenient to use all over the place.
Then I can switch from the vizia's to sonoff's for everything 🥰
I love all my sonoff devices, never any issues.

Edited December 8, 20232 yr by WannabeSolarSparky

Would this be compatible?

https://henractech.co.za/shop/smart-switch-double-adaptor-sa-3pin16a/

3 hours ago, Thunderdolt said:

Would this be compatible?

https://henractech.co.za/shop/smart-switch-double-adaptor-sa-3pin16a/

As far as I know those do not talk to the sonoff app.

Those are tuya based which use their own proprietary CLOSED controllers, firmware, software and app all feeding data to a central collection point where they then on-sell the data and usage patterns to major corporations and agencies.

If you value your data and privacy then avoid tuya devices or anything that is proprietary/closed source.
Sadly most of these types of devices flooding the SA retail space are tuya based. bneta, connext, newer vizia devices, qualitel etc.
Most of these are easily identifiable, look out for the words SMART LIFE then you know it's tuya based.

Try where possible to stick with sonoff (tasmotize them) or pure tasmota installed/installable devices

22 hours ago, WannabeSolarSparky said:

As far as I know those do not talk to the sonoff app.

Those are tuya based which use their own proprietary CLOSED controllers, firmware, software and app all feeding data to a central collection point where they then on-sell the data and usage patterns to major corporations and agencies.

If you value your data and privacy then avoid tuya devices or anything that is proprietary/closed source.
Sadly most of these types of devices flooding the SA retail space are tuya based. bneta, connext, newer vizia devices, qualitel etc.
Most of these are easily identifiable, look out for the words SMART LIFE then you know it's tuya based.

Try where possible to stick with sonoff (tasmotize them) or pure tasmota installed/installable devices

Tuya is just a framework, that developers (similiar to aws, just for iot devices). 

If you signup for a developer account, you can connect any of them to all apps and ha with ease https://iot.tuya.com/

 

But I do agree, my preference is sonoff over tuya based devices. But if sonoff doesn't have it, tuya is the best alternative. 

EDIT: Can also do this: https://github.com/rospogrigio/localtuya

Edited December 9, 20232 yr by Pho3niX90

On 2023/12/08 at 8:38 PM, WannabeSolarSparky said:

As far as I know those do not talk to the sonoff app.

Those are tuya based which use their own proprietary CLOSED controllers, firmware, software and app all feeding data to a central collection point where they then on-sell the data and usage patterns to major corporations and agencies.

If you value your data and privacy then avoid tuya devices or anything that is proprietary/closed source.
Sadly most of these types of devices flooding the SA retail space are tuya based. bneta, connext, newer vizia devices, qualitel etc.
Most of these are easily identifiable, look out for the words SMART LIFE then you know it's tuya based.

Try where possible to stick with sonoff (tasmotize them) or pure tasmota installed/installable devices

Do you have any sources for this?

7 hours ago, McGuywer said:

Do you have any sources for this?

Google searches, youtube, also loads info on the tasmota forum about tuya devices.

And a fresh reminder to read my signature 🤣

11 hours ago, Pho3niX90 said:

EDIT: Can also do this: https://github.com/rospogrigio/localtuya

Yes that is quite a good project I used it myself a few months ago to hack a bneta power plug. There are many similar projects to take ownership of tuya devices, some work some don't. Often when a project becomes very successful with taking over then tuyachanges their hardware/firmware to again block users from taking ownership.

Tuya devices are not bad and usually well priced, that is if you do not mind NOT fully owning your device or the data that it generates.

4 hours ago, WannabeSolarSparky said:

Yes that is quite a good project I used it myself a few months ago to hack a bneta power plug. There are many similar projects to take ownership of tuya devices, some work some don't. Often when a project becomes very successful with taking over then tuyachanges their hardware/firmware to again block users from taking ownership.

Tuya devices are not bad and usually well priced, that is if you do not mind NOT fully owning your device or the data that it generates.

Yeah like I said, tuya is an iot platform SAAS just like aws, azure etc. 

I do highly doubt they sell data, since they are a listed company. Their servers in Europe for example, would have major consequences and heafy fines under GDPR laws.

Local control of devices are seen as a security risk, as their protocols are made easily accessible for bad actors that do get into you wifi network. So the average user using iot devices that are open, on a simple network, are at high risk. 

If devices are preferred to be used on local networks, you need to isolate these device on it's own separate hidden SSID. These security measures aren't really talked about often. 

Getting back to why tuya would want to not have this, if Person A just bought a wifi plug, wanting to only use smart life, he definitely doesn't want to be vulnerable, and since tuyas platform is labeled as secure, it needs to keep changing and updating it's protocols. For the rest, they have developer accounts.

Edited December 10, 20232 yr by Pho3niX90

I thought there might finally be a solution so I ordered 5 of them on the 6th June:

https://www.geewiz.co.za/smart-plugs-switches/215619-geewiz-ewelink-wifi-smart-plug-16a-south-african-power-ac-plug-socket-works-with-alexa-google-home-now-with-energy-monitoring-meter.html

They have arrived and after trying them I read this review posted the day after my order:

By Michelle J. on  07 June 2025 (Geewiz EWELINK WiFi Smart Plug 16A South African Power AC Plug Socket works with Alexa / Google Home NOW with Energy Monitoring Meter) :

While the plug is a good switch, the energy monitoring is worthless. I purchased two, both are updated to the latest firmware. If I plug in a 2000w blow heater, the one reads 3100 watts, the other reads 900w. Such a gigantic difference.

If I use an Ellies Efergy plug, it reads just under 2000w, and my sonoff switch reads 1900w. So these geewiz plugs are really no good at monitoring.

Had I known it was this bad, and not just a couple percent off, which I was hoping was meant by: "*Please note that the energy measurement is just an estimate and might not be an accurate measurement." then I would not have purchased them. 

I had tried a Tuya version before (Connex variant) which was a little bit off, but decided that having yet another smart home app, especially one as bad as the Tuya was not worth it and returned that also. I would have been fine with a little inaccuracy for finally having a Ewelink solution.

Between the 5 units for the same 2000W heater on the same setting:
5099W
5904W
3531W
1553W
~2500W (forgot to screenshot this one)

It's a nice product barring this one critical flaw. If all you need to know if there is something drawing power then great, but if you are OCD like me then don't bother