The Eve Energy Strip is the latest addition to the company's family of smart home devices designed exclusively for use with Apple HomeKit.
It's a three-outlet power strip that can be controlled with Siri voice commands, the Eve mobile app, or using HomeKit Scenes and Automations, and it offers energy monitoring and surge protection.
That said, it's one of the more expensive smart plugs we've reviewed and it doesn't work with Android devices, nor does it support Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant voice commands or work with IFTTT applets like our less expensive Editors' Choice, the $79.99 TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Power Strip HS300.
Design and Features
With its brushed aluminum and black finish, the Eve Energy Strip offers a somewhat industrial design.
At 1.5 by 10.8 by 2.5 inches (HWD), it's a bit shorter than the TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Power Strip HS300 and the TrickleStar TS1110 PC Advanced PowerStrip +, but that's because it only has three outlets whereas the HS300 has six outlets as well as three USB charging ports and the TS1110 has seven outlets.
Like the TS1110, the Eve Energy Strip doesn't offer USB charging ports.
The strip has a 6.3-foot power cable and backlit on/off buttons for each outlet.
There are also two indicators that are illuminated when surge protection is functioning and when the source outlet is properly grounded.
On the side of the strip is a fuse that will pop out when hit by a surge.
To continue using the strip, unplug it and reinsert the fuse before plugging it back in.
The Eve Energy Strip contains a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi radio that allows you to connect it to your home network so you can control it with the Eve iOS mobile app, add it to HomeKit, and control it with your voice using Siri commands.
As with other Eve products including the Eve Room, Eve Motion, and Eve Energy, this device doesn't work with Android devices, nor does it support Alexa and Google voice commands or IFTTT applets.
It also requires an Apple TV or another compatible device functioning as a home hub to control it remotely.
The Eve app is linked to the Apple Home app and will control all of your HomeKit devices.
There are five buttons at the bottom of the screen that will take you to the various device screens.
The At A Glance screen displays all of your favorite HomeKit devices and lets you control them with a tap of their individual icons.
The Scenes screen displays tabs with all of the HomeKit Scenes that you've created using the Apple Home app.
Tap any tab to activate that scene.
The Rooms screen displays a list of all of your HomeKit rooms with all devices that are associated with each room.
Tap the room containing the Eve Energy Strip to access on/off controls for each outlet.
When you tap any outlet you'll open a screen where you can also turn each outlet on and off and create schedules to have each outlet turn on and off at various times on various days of the week.
This screen also contains power consumption, projected cost, total overall power consumption, and total cost for the entire strip with graphs showing usage and costs by day, week, or month.
You can input your current cost of electricity (per kWh) in the Settings screen.
Tap the Types button to view all of your HomeKit devices by type such as Smoke (detector), Temperature (thermostat), Air Quality (sensor), Power (smart strips and plugs), and more.
The Settings screen is where you go to edit your home name and location, set energy costs, create groups for different types of devices, invite guests to give them access your HomeKit devices, and add new accessories.
Installation and Performance
Installing the Eve Energy Strip is easy.
Simply plug it into an outlet, download the Eve mobile app, create an account, and tap Add Accessory in the Settings menu.
When the Energy Strip shows up in the list, tap it to pair it to the app and then use your phone to scan the HomeKit code on the bottom of the strip.
Within a few seconds the strip will connect to your HomeKit network and you'll be prompted to add it to a room.
In the next screen you can select the type of appliance that will be plugged into each outlet and give each outlet a name or you can do this later.
The entire process took less than five minutes in testing.
The Eve Energy Strip worked without a hitch.
Each outlet responded instantly to on and off requests using both the mobile app and Siri voice commands, and it had no trouble adhering to my custom on/off schedules.
I created a HomeKit Bedtime Scene to have one outlet turn off and another turn on and it worked as planned.
The strip's power usage readings matched the readings from a Kill-O-Watt meter, and the Child Lock feature did its job, preventing power loss due to accidental button presses.
Conclusions
The Eve Energy Strip is a decent choice for users who rely solely on Apple's HomeKit platform for their smart home connectivity needs.
It offers surge protection and each of its outlets can be turned on and off using physical buttons, with a mobile app, with HomeKit Scenes and Automations, and with Siri voice commands.
That said, the Energy Strip is expensive, it only has three outlets, and it doesn't work with Android devices or support Alexa and Google voice commands and IFTTT applets.
If you can live without HomeKit support, our Editors' Choice, the TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Power Strip HS300, gives you six individually controlled outlets, three USB charging ports, energy monitoring, and support for Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Microsoft Cortana voice commands, all for around $20 less than you'll pay for the Eve Energy Strip.
The Bottom Line
The Eve Energy Strip is a smart three-outlet power strip with surge protection and power usage reporting, but it only works with Apple's HomeKit platform.
