Jiří Filip Smart products are becoming more and more popular in the world, and those intended for households are no exception. Lights, doors, blinds, but also sockets, which are also some of the most affordable smart gadgets, can already be smart. And just one of these arrived in the editorial office for testing a few weeks ago. It's called PM5, it's from the Vocolinc workshop, and since I'm already very familiar with it, I can only evaluate it in the following lines.
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Pavel Jelic Technical Specifications
Of course, the classic European version of the E/F type socket with the standard arrangement of pins and sockets from the front and back arrived at our editorial office for testing. In other words, this means that you will have absolutely no problem connecting it if you use standard sockets at home. When connected to the mains, the socket offers 230V, 16A and handles a maximum load of 3680W – that is, the maximum that can be used to load the home electrical network, which is only a plus given that many manufacturers of similar products list a maximum of 2300W.
Since it is a smart socket, you can count on its compatibility with HomeKit from Apple, but also support for artificial assistants Alexa from Amazon or Google Assistant from the Google workshop, and thus Siri thanks to HomeKit. And it is HomeKit that will be of most interest to us as Apple users, along with the special Vocolinc application for iOS, as it will be the most used control platform for the vast majority of our readers. Like all other Vocolinc products, the socket connects to it very easily via the home 2,4GHz WiFi, which means you can do without any bridge that many competing products require for their functionality. But we will talk more about control via HomeKit and the application later.
In addition to the classic socket, the socket also offers a pair of USB-A ports located on its upper side. These offer 5V at a maximum current of 2,4A, which means that if you charge your iPhones through them, you will get a time +- identical to the classic 5W chargers supplied with all iPhones until last year. Personally, I find this a bit of a shame, and I would therefore prefer to see USB-C instead of one USB-A port and thus support for fast charging. On the other hand, it is clear to me that due to the effort to keep the price low, the manufacturer did not want to engage in similar gadgets, for which he cannot be blamed. And who knows, maybe in the future we will see a socket with a similar improvement from Vocolinac.
We must not forget the safety aspect of the product either, which is one of the most important aspects of an electric socket. Even in this direction, the PM5 is definitely not doing badly. The manufacturer provided it with double overload protection for both the USB ports and the socket. However, more detailed information is unfortunately not known, which is also a bit of a shame. However, the socket has all the necessary certifications and that is the main thing for the end customer.
In short, still to be processed. The entire drawer is made of plastic, which feels relatively high-quality and durable. So I would definitely not be afraid of any easier damage or abrasion that could occur during its use. On the bottom of the socket you will find LED lighting, which is especially nice at night and can be activated remotely (only) via the phone. On the front side, there are two light "notifications", specifically on/off and then connected/disconnected WiFi. Here it is perhaps a bit of a shame that, at least in the case of the "notification" for on/off, it is really only an informative element and not a control element that would be enough to touch for (de)activation. Instead, it is turned off through an inconspicuous button on the side, which, by the way, also serves to reset it. Sure, it's convenient even this way, but personally I find it more intuitive to tap on something that lights up and thus deactivate it than to try to turn it off somewhere on the side of the product. On the other hand, it is clear to me that the users of this product will not reach for the manual shutdown too often anyway, and therefore this thing can be forgiven with a narrow eye.
Testing
The first thing that you will not miss after unpacking the product from the box is connecting it to your smartphone, and therefore another product – in our case, the iPhone and the HomeKit platform. This is done very simply with a QR code that just needs to be scanned through the Home application, in which the outlet will be instantly available on your other Apple products logged in under the same accounts. The second option is to connect the outlet to the Vocolinc application, which will also "prescribe" it to the Home, but in the end you don't even have to use it, because the app replaces it, or even surpasses it. After all, with this particular product, I would personally recommend relying more on the Vocolinc application and doing only the most basic tasks through Home, as in the end it can't handle much more. While you can use it to turn off and on the outlet or turn off and on its night lighting, in the case of the Vocolinc application you can also measure the electricity consumption of the appliances connected to the outlet. Yes, it also has this ability, and I think that's what makes it a really great product.
An entire section is reserved for energy measurement in the application, in which you can set your price per kWh and thus monitor your consumption from a different point of view than just the consumed kWh. You can easily see how much you have "burned through" in a day, month or even a year - of course, depending on how long you have had the outlet. If you buy it now, i.e. in October, you will logically no longer measure the consumption of your computer from January to September. Apparently no one will even expect that from the outlet. What I personally like is that your consumption is also shown in real time, thanks to which you can get a good picture of everything you connect to your electricity network.
It probably won't surprise you that the socket also allows timing of its switching on and off, which is quite advanced. You can time everything exactly to minutes and hours, but especially to individual days. This means that if you have a habit of doing something on weekdays and you need electricity for it, you simply set it in the app and you can be sure that the desired action will take place from Monday to Friday, while the weekend will be skipped. Perhaps it's just a bit of a shame that there's a lack of a shut-off timer option, where you'd choose a limit of 4 minutes, for example, and the outlet would shut itself off after that. In this way, you have to set everything a little more complicated directly to the exact hours, which is generally more logical, but when you are making toast, for example, it would probably be better if you put "turn off in 3 minutes" into the app rather than "turn off at 15 :35”. But this is again a complete bug, which can also appear with future updates of the application.
Summary
I would not be afraid to say that the Vocolinc PM5 socket will put a smile on the face of many a lover of smart home gadgets or simply a person who enjoys such toys. This is a very interesting and useful product, which, in my opinion, can help save electricity in the home, but also in its simple automation. A pleasant bonus is the nice design, security and gadgets such as USB-A ports or night lighting, which can come in handy from time to time. Maybe it's just a bit of a shame that the best things have to be done directly through the Vocolinc app and not through Home, which its lovers would certainly appreciate more. However, if you will build your smart home entirely on Vocolinc, the truth is that you will be able to de facto replace the Home with the Vocolinc application, since you will group all your appliances in it. Even the combined use of Domácnost and Vocolinc did not bother me personally, and I believe that neither will the vast majority of you. So I definitely wouldn't be afraid to buy a PM5.
discount code
If you are interested in the socket, you can buy it at the Vocolinc e-shop at a very interesting price. The regular price of the outlet is 999 crowns, but thanks to the discount code JAB10 you can buy it 10% cheaper, just like any other product from the Vocolincu offer. The discount code applies to the entire assortment.
Damn socket for 999? IKEA drawer for NOK 250 Although I need a gate for NOK 700, but. Three of these sockets for 3000. 3 IKEA drawers 3×250+700 for 1450.