Year and year, more devices are making their way into the homes of the general populace — and all of them need sweet electricity to make them work. The problem lies in the myriad of chargers and cables that soon become difficult to keep track of, eventually being misplaced altogether.
To help manage the increasing amount of clutter these smart devices generate, a team out of Germany developed the Plugzr smart wall outlet. While Plugzr may look like an ordinary wall outlet, it’s Wi-Fi connectivity and built-in charging docks and rapid charging USB ports make it anything but. With the former, users can do everything from remotely turn on or turn off plugged in devices to gauge the amount of power each device is sucking up or also set devices to a schedule and even set scenes using the Plugzr companion smartphone app. Its built-in charging station is cleverly designed to offer users the versatility to charge almost any device with the height-adjustable, interchangeable USB-C, mini-USB or Lightning tips packaged with the outlet. And at night, Plugzr can serve as a nightlight to illuminate the midnight rush to the bathroom. European and US versions of the Plugzr start at about $44 and are slated to ship in April 2017. Its Indiegogo campaign is looking for about $56,000 by November 2017.
Compared to something like the Brightup smart lighting system the Plugzr is infinitely simpler, consisting of just one (or a few) outlets versus the former’s base station and however many outlets are needed. And when other products like SnapPower on the market that don’t offer nearly as many choices as the Plugzr, it makes what it does that much more attractive.