Reco4life Wifi Smart Switch with Energy Usage Meter Remote Control with Home Automation APP for Iphone Android Wifi Smart Plug Socket

Recon4life Wifi Smart Switch uses an app to turn on and off. When it works it is great. However, half of the time it fails. I do not know if it communicates over local router, or goes to Reco4life servers so I'm not sure where the issue is. I have the switch on my basement, and wifi router in the first floor (with strong signal near Recon4life switch), so I doubt the issue is the wifi strength. In several occasion I went to basement to turn on and off manually. It may also be an application problem,or an issue accessing Recon4life account. I have this on Nexus 5 and issues happened in both Android OS 5 and 6. I have some concerns on the application side too. The application (Reco in Google Play) asks for several permissions that don't seem to be required for a switch application. It is not clear to me why it would need hone identity, logs, usb storage, pictures etc. Also when installed, it asked to be updated from a non-market site. I don't know if that version is better since I wouldn't install an application from an unknown side.The interface for on and off is confusing. It shows the current state, and expect you to press on it to change the state. So if you press on "Off", then it will start. Instead it should have shown state in a line, and then the turn on button clearly identified in the second line. This becomes even more confusing as on several occasions, when I pressed the button, it reported failure even though the switch actually changed the state The only way to find out the correct state is to exit the application and then restart it.I really want to like this switch, it is well priced, and seems to have all the right components (ease of first setup etc). Unfortunately I don't think it is there yet. If they support the open source home automation (such as OpenHAB, Home Assistant etc), or actually make a working application without getting lots of unnecessary permission I will revisit this review. Until then, I'm looking alternatives.

Poor communication. Says off a lot when its on. Couldnt verify the accuracy of the energy monitor part of it as it didn't say on long enough. I would say 2 out of 3 times opening the app. It showed it as off when it was in fact on. It was easy to set up but caused ip conflicts with my wifes laptop. Couldn't connect to wifi. After unplugging it it fixed the problem. Plugging it back in caused the ip conflict again. I'm sure this is an easy fix but don't have the time to mess around with it. Very large android application. Took awhile to download then instantly required a large update.

Setup is very good and easy. But the app usability is very poor / buggy. Yes I upgraded to the latest version v1.2.6 direct from them. After 2 hours of attempts it still doesn't work. I just want it to turn on at 6am and off at 11pm. My wifi signal is close and perfect. But it didn't turn off at 11pm. Too many unclear options in the app. And error "cannot set start time before current time" is strange. Yes on the same page I had ticked all weekdays. Beats me.

The app has really bad English, and the metering function doesn't seem to work at all. Over the past 6 days, I've used 49.93 KWh, which the app is able to tell me. However, the week view says I haven't used any electricity at all this whole week, which I know to be impossible. It should be able to do simple addition.

After downloading Reco4life's Android Reco app to interface with the switch, the installer asks the user authorization to proceed, noting that this application requires access to and control over services such as "Disabling the screen lock", "audio recording", etc.What the tarnation ? Why on earth would a simple data logging and switch control application ever need such services and expose the user's phone to such security risks ? So that it can listen to your environment and decide by itself when to turn off the TV and send the kids to bed ? Or to scare the crap out of the cat by turning on the A/C to the max when a train passes by ?There was no option to choose a different installation policy. Unacceptable security policy and holes.11.22.2015 REVIEW UPDATE: received an email from the company explaining that (1) audio recording is used for voice commands, (2) unlocking the login screen is for some features such as real time alerts or something, (3) but that the features requiring both accesses can be opted out after installation anyway. Good to know, understand better the reasons. Great response effort. I updated the title, and bumped it from 1 star to 3. Not more since I still thinks that giving control to apps to disable screen lock is a plain bad idea, and there is no guarantee that disabling the features in the app disables their initial subscription to the audio & lock services.

Great product worked with just down loading program on phone. Turns my A/C on in my Lake house so cool when I get there. Thanks RECO for great product at a good price.

Works for a while, then I have to reboot the wireless router, or power cycle the Smart Switch. My goal was to leave this on for days and review the data. I can't. I have checked the connectivity is continuous for other wifi devices in the same area, to the same router, so its pretty clearly the Smart Switch.

Loved mine so much bought Dad one as a gift!