TP-Link Tapo P304M Smart Wi-Fi Power Strip Review

Introduction

Smart plugs are an excellent way to toggle mains power to your devices, but a smart power strip expands that functionality to multiple sockets. That’s ideal if you want independent control of multiple mains-powered devices, for example an audio or TV setup, or a workstation in your home office. The TP-Link Tapo P304M is a short, 13-amp extension cable with a smart four-way adaptor on the end. It’s surge protected, so it’s suitable for domestic IT equipment.

I’m expecting great things from this power strip, given that it’s basically a four-way version of the excellent Tapo P100M smart plug. It gives a good first impression, with a solid, slightly chunky body that feels resistant to twisting or bending. That’s linked to a moulded plug by a chunky 1.5-metre cable, suggesting this extension is well capable of handling its rated 13A maximum current – note that, as with all extension cables, this is shared across all four sockets.

Design and Features

• Four individually controlled smart sockets
• Compatible with Alexa, Google Assistant, Matter, and others
• Excellent app

The TP-Link Tapo P304M is thicker than a typical four-way extension block, and it’s a little longer – presumably thanks to the extra electronics inside. There’s a white light to confirm that the strip power is on and that surge protection is active, while each socket has a manual power switch, and a white power indicator light.

On the back you’ll find two dual axis screw mounts, so you can fix it to a wall in landscape or portrait orientation.

This power strip has a standard four-in-a-row configuration, although its sockets are placed slightly closer together than on the regular power strip I used for comparison. I found there was a particularly snug fit between moulded plugs and my power meter, but all of the plugs and adaptors I tried would still fit next to each other, so it’s unlikely to be an issue.

As with other Tapo devices, you add this smart power strip to the app by tapping the + symbol and following the prompts. You’ll need Bluetooth for the initial setup, after which the P304M connects to 2.4GHz Wi-Fi. That means you can control it from anywhere you have internet access, not just from within your own home.

Once added to the Tapo app, the TP-Link Tapo P304M appears as four separate plugs – you’ll be prompted to add a descriptive name and icon to each socket. You can simplify things by adding one or more sockets to your Favourites, or you could place one or more into groups, which makes it easier to turn them all on or off at once.

Each socket offers the same extensive range of features you’d get from a stand-alone Tapo P100M smart plug. You can use the app to toggle the power manually, create a simple on or off timer in one-minute increments up to 24 hours, or devise a daily schedule supporting multiple on and off events. There’s also an away mode, which toggles the power randomly – paired with a side light or similar, this could help give the impression that somebody’s home.

This being a power-monitoring device, you can also get an instantaneous reading of the energy being consumed by whatever’s plugged into each socket, plus a breakdown showing you consumption by day, month or year. You can even get a cost estimate if you enter your energy tariff details. Sadly, this only accepts whole-hour values, which isn’t ideal if your off-peak hours start or finish at half-past the hour like mine do.

Entering the settings for one of the sockets takes you to configuration choices for the block of four. Here you can set a night mode to shut off the LEDs between configurable times, choose the default on/off state of each socket when the strip’s power is restored, and set an auto off timer if wanted. You can also configure Charge Guard, which will shut off a socket when the power supplied falls below a certain value – ideal if you want to leave something charging, then have it shut off when it’s done.

A final option here is Power Protection, which lets you limit the maximum power available through each socket. I assume this could be used to help you prevent going over the adaptor’s three kilowatt maximum, but it’s much safer just not to connect devices that together could go over this total.

If you have other Tapo devices, you can use the app to link them to the TP-Link Tapo P304M in smart ways. For example, with a TP-Link Tapo Video Doorbell Camera D235, you could create an automation where one or more power sockets switch on if someone rings the bell. It’s possible to attach further conditions, for example so that this particular automation would only run during night hours.

In addition to all the features above, the TP-Link Tapo P304M is Matter compatible, so you can link it directly to a Matter controller. You can also connect it to Google Assistant, Apple Home, Smart Things and Alexa, so there’s almost no limit to the way you can integrate it with other smart home systems. All told, that’s an incredible range of features and controls. The only thing I can think of that’s missing is a couple of USB ports, although only a minority of users would need them.

Performance

• Fast, quiet switching
• Low power consumption
• Easy to integrate with other smart home systems

As I’d expect, the sockets on the TP-Link Tapo P304M toggle instantly when you press the button next to them. Switching is almost instant when you’re using the app, with each operation giving off a muted click or ping as the power relay closes or opens.

One advantage to combining four switches into a single device is that you cut down on electronics, which can in turn reduce power consumption. Smart plugs don’t usually use a lot of power anyway, but the P304M was below the range of my meter with up to two of its empty sockets switched on. I measured 1W of consumption once I’d switched on a third, and 1.3W with all four sockets switched on.

These measurements suggest a consumption of below 0.5W with all four sockets off, which is likely to be less than having four individual devices on standby. As such, the P304M could help you reduce background and standby power use in your home, but any savings would be likely to be minimal. In use I found that the area to the left of the sockets became very slightly warm when this power strip was operating, but the rest of its case stayed cool.

While a smart plug will ensure that any gadget can be disconnected from the power, and thus saving power, it won’t necessarily help you control them. Try controlling a simple device like a light or fan by switching it on and off at the power socket – if that test works, then you can do the same using a smart plug. More complex gadgets like a washing machine usually won’t spring into action just because you’ve turned the power on, although some will resume a cycle if they were half-way through. That’s worth bearing in mind if you’re considering a smart plug as a way to add smart control to dumb devices.

I found the TP-Link Tapo P304M was ideal for my TV setup, where I plugged the TV, games console, Blu-ray player and ambient lights into their own sockets. I added these to existing Alexa routines which turn all my smart gadgets off overnight or when we go out, and scheduled the TV’s power to come on automatically around the time my children get up, and off when they need to get ready for school. My partner and I could manually control the TV, Nintendo and Blu-ray at other times from our phones – there are widgets to help simplify this.

In this configuration I had little use for the Charge Guard feature, but I tested it by configuring the Nintendo’s socket to switch off after 20 minutes at less than 5W. This appeared to operate reliably once the console was unused and had recharged.

Brilliantly, you can use one socket being turned off to trigger a routine that switches off the others, which could be handy if you’re using the P304M for a desktop workstation. Here you could use Charge Guard to turn off the PC’s socket shortly after the PC is shut down, and have this trigger a smart routine to shut the other three sockets down – a handy way to avoid wasting power on unused peripherals.

I tested this power strip with Alexa and Google Assistant routines. I also linked it up to a Flic Twist controller, and used a connection via Matter to toggle each socket independently. Everything worked as it should and was easy to set up, although the power strip leaves Matter setup mode 15 minutes after being turned on, which caused a bit of head scratching at first.

Should you buy it?