Ring Outdoor Smart Plug
Cons
Using your phone to control pool pumps, lighting, appliances, and pretty much anything else outside is easy with the Ring Outdoor Smart Plug ($29.99). This weather-resistant connected plug offers two outlets that can be controlled independently of one another using the Ring mobile app or Alexa voice commands, and it works with other Ring smart home devices. That said, it requires a Ring Bridge to connect to your network, and unlike our Editors' Choice in this category, the $10.99 Wyze Plug Outdoor, it doesn’t offer energy reporting or support Google Assistant.
Bring Your Own Bridge
The Ring Outdoor Plug costs $29.99 when purchased on its own, but it requires a Ring Bridge to be connected to your home network and controlled with the Ring mobile app and Alexa voice commands. If you don’t already have a bridge (which is also required to group Ring smart lights together, and help other Ring devices interact with one another), you can purchase the Outdoor Smart Plug + Ring Bridge bundle for $49.99.
The plug uses a black IP66 weather-resistant enclosure that measures 4.92 by 3.14 by 1.96 inches (HWD). It has two three-prong outlets with rubber protective caps on the bottom, and a 7-inch three-prong cord on the top, along with two mounting holes. The front of the plug has a round LED indicator that is solid blue when the plug is connected and flashes blue during setup. There are buttons on either side of the LED that turn their respective outlets (left and right) on and off, and glow white when the outlet is on. The plug comes with a quick start guide and mounting screws.
As mentioned, the Ring Bridge is the same device used to control the Ring Smart Lighting System. You can only install one bridge per household, but it will control up to 50 devices including motion sensors, lights, and outdoor plugs. It’s a small white box that measures 2.34 by 2.46 by 0.79 inches and uses an RF radio to connect to the plug and a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi radio to connect to your network. It has a mini USB power port on the side and a pair of signal strength indicators on the face.
You can control the plug with the same mobile app (for Android and iOS) that's used to control every other Ring device, and link it to other Ring products such as a Ring Video Doorbell or Ring Floodlight Cam and have it react to motion triggers. It can also be turned on and off using Alexa voice commands and will work with other Alexa-compatible devices using Alexa routines, but it doesn’t support Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, or IFTTT. Additionally, it doesn’t offer the energy usage reports that you get with other outdoor plugs such as the Wyze Plug Outdoor and the iDevices Outdoor Switch.
The plug is added to the Lights group in the app and can be shown as two individual outlets that can be controlled independently of one another or as a single plug that controls both outlets at the same time. To access the plug, tap the Lights panel that appears alongside the Neighbors, History, and other accessory panels near the top of the screen. Here you’ll see the two outlets (in this case Outlet A and Outlet B) listed separately, each with a light bulb on/off button that is blue when the outlet is on and white when it is off. Tap an outlet to open a screen where you can view the event history, create on/off schedules, check the device health (signal strength, online status, firmware version), and add the outlet to a group of Ring devices.
Installing and Using the Ring Outdoor Smart Plug
Installing the Ring Outdoor Plug is easy. I already had a Ring account, but if you don’t have one you’ll have to download the app and create one. I tapped Set Up A Device in the main menu, selected Outdoor Smart Plug, and scanned the QR code on the plug. I selected Ring Bridge as my connection device, scanned the Bridge’s QR code, and verified that the blue LED was flashing. I then selected my Wi-Fi SSID and waited a few seconds for the bridge to connect to my Wi-Fi network, and returned to the Set Up a Device screen where I selected the Outdoor Smart Plug again.
Following the on-screen instructions, I inserted the Outdoor Smart Plug into a GFCI outlet, tapped continue, and waited a few seconds for the app to recognize it. After a quick firmware update, I gave each outlet a name and the installation was complete. The device was automatically added to my Alexa device list and appeared as two separate outlets in the Ring Lights list.
The Ring Outdoor Plug worked as intended in testing. It responded instantly to on/off commands using the mobile app and Alexa voice commands, and it followed my on/off schedules without issue. I created an Alexa routine to have one outlet turn on when a Eufy Cam E outdoor camera detected motion, and it worked every time.
A Good Plug If You're Already a Ring User
The $29.99 Ring Outdoor Smart Plug makes sense for users who already have a Ring ecosystem up and running, but if you have to purchase a bridge, it becomes an expensive choice. The dual-outlet plug performed well in our tests and is easy to install, and unlike Belkin’s Wemo Wi-Fi Smart Outdoor Plug, it offers independent outlet control. That said, it lacks the energy reporting and support for Google Assistant voice commands and IFTTT integrations that you get with our Editors’ Choice winner, the Wyze Plug Outdoor, which also costs less at just $10.99.
