HiveActive Smart Plug with Signal Booster Feature, 1 Pack, White

I have bought many of the these plugs after being gifted a Hive hub and some other Hive accessories from my dad. I am now well and truly integrated into the Hive ecosystem, with multiple cameras, bulbs, and plugs setup and used regularly.These plugs have a nice neutral design to them which means if you have the plug somewhere visible, you don't need to worry about them being an eyesore. They also offer a manual push button switch in case you want to do things the old fashioned way.Ultimately though, these plugs come into their element when paired with Alexa, Google Assistant, or the easy-to-use actions you can setup in the Hive app. As an example, when I open the door to the house at night, I have a plug setup to turn on a lamp in the hallway. Likewise in the lounge, I have it setup so once the sun sets, our side lights will turn on automatically. These little bits of easy automation are the main selling point behind investing in these plugs.As other reviewers have noted however, these plugs do come at a premium, and there are many other lower priced options available which do the same thing, albeit from smaller name manufacturers. Whilst you lose some of the ease and function of the Hive app, functions like Alexa routines do allow you to do similar things if you're a little bit more savvy.I have made a policy of only ever buying these when they come on sale, where you can get them for closer to £20 instead of the £30+ normal asking price - this certainly reduces the sting as I gradually setup the whole house with them. This is the main reason I can't in good faith give these plugs a 5 star rating.Price aside, I can easily recommend these if you're looking to smarten up your home, especially if you already have Hive setup. They're one of the more user friendly options, and their smart look and good build quality do give them a slight edge over some of the cheaper alternatives.

Hive is a great system with a good user interface but devices come and go like the wind. Unfortunately, Hive software is just plain flakey and although the hardware is well manufactured, that can be variable too. The support people are very helpful and give plenty of TLC but you cannot fix these problems with support. II would much sooner they tell me the software is flakey than suggest I have had the hub running too long (like a week) without a reboot. Its simply poor design if the network gets its knickers in a twist so easily. I have spent literally hours reconfiguring and repositioned devices to try and make the network more reliable. (Lest I am accused of not knowing what I am doing, I would point out that I have a PhD in computer science and have spent 30 years working in software and networking)) I have servers running at work managing far more complicated networks that haven't been rebooted for years. Hopefully, some proper engineering effort will eventually prevail and reliable firmware will be issued.

Good quality item, led ring is a nice feature. But as with other systems you pay a HUGE markup for the name and being part of the Hive ecosystem. There are many cheaper alternatives on the market now. So companies like Phillips Hue, Hive and Nest are really overcharging for their branded products.

I'm sure if you are reading this that you have a Hive and that you are already remotely adjusting your house heating and hot water... well the Active smart plug is an excellent addition to make, in fact I have two of these. One is currently set up with a lamp and the second is currently controlling our outside Christmas Lights.They are easy to set up and programme using the Hive app. You can have each day scheduled separately or repeat a days schedule all week. You can easily also override the schedule by pushing the button to turn the item on or off and the schedule will continue without having to do anything else.So if a lamp is due on at 17:00 until 22:00, if you manually switch the active socket on at say 16:00 it will stay on until it's scheduled to go off at 22:00. Brilliant!!!

I bought this for my father who has a Hive controlled heating system but for my home I have chosen TP-Link smart plugs controlled by Alexa Echo voice prompts.Set up of this Hive plug is easy enough and setting schedules etc. is logical using the Hive app. The range is good and manual control works well too although I miss the voice capability of Alexa.My final observation that is that this Hive Smart Plug is quite expensive compared to the competition considering you have to have a Hive Hub for it to work - that's not true of my cheaper TP-Link versions which you can connect directly via any Apple or Android mobile device hence four stars.