Sometimes the best smart-home gadgets aren't the ones that do everything—they're the ones that quietly solve one oddly specific problem better than anything else. That's certainly the case with the Fugetek USB Power Switch—a svelte, $14 smart stick that I have spent the last few weeks putting through its paces.
Fugetek's one-of-a-kind Matter-compatible stick promises effortless smart home connectivity for ordinary USB devices without the bulkiness found in your typical smart plug and power block arrangement. And while it mostly accomplishes its mission, its rather unique form factor limits its appeal, positioning it more as a niche offering rather than an essential product for most.
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Fugetek USB Power Switch: unboxing, design, and specs
With its small footprint and small price of just under $14, there's not much of an unboxing experience to be had with Fugetek's USB stick. Opening its tiny packaging yields only the USB stick and a brief manual/quick start guide—that's it.
Taking a look at the device itself, the USB stick measures 2.75 x 0.98 x 0.59 inches and features a dark, translucent plastic exterior devoid of logos or company branding outside of its Matter QR pairing code sticker. On the top is a single button used for performing a factory reset when held for 10 seconds, and underneath its shell is an LED status indicator light that shines green when the device is toggled on.
According to its manual, the stick's male USB-A port supports 5V, 1-3 amps for input, while its female port can output up to 10 watts maximum. This makes it suitable for USB appliances and devices of all types, including fans, lamps, diffusers, and more, but it is important to note that it doesn't support data pass-through.
Overall, I quite like the stick design and I appreciate how it can simply be slotted into any old USB port, but I do wish there was a female extension cable included. Without a cable, the device sticks out a bit far when in use—even in power outlets that have their own set of USB input ports—something that could be easily fixed by having the device and associated cords all in line.
Fugetek USB Power Switch: set up and smart home controls
As a "hub-free", 2.4GHz Matter-over-Wi-Fi device, pairing the Fugetek USB Power Switch was about as painless as it can get. Fugetek doesn't offer a mobile app of its own; rather, everything takes place via Matter ecosystems without needing an additional download or account—which I prefer.
After unboxing and inserting it into one of the USB ports on a wall outlet, it immediately entered pairing mode and was discoverable by my ecosystem of choice—Apple Home. From there, I only needed to scan the device's pairing code to get it connected, and all told, the entire process took less than a minute, which is always impressive.
The only "oddity" that I experienced was that the device initially appeared as a generic "Accessory" (with a generic name) on Apple Home's setup screen, which gave me a little cause for concern. However, the Home app eventually gave me the ability to assign it either as an outlet, light, or fan later on in the process, so no harm, no foul.
Since it is a basic on/off switch, the Apple Home app doesn't provide much in the way of controls or settings. You can toggle its power state by tapping the icon on its device tile, through Apple Home scenes and automation, and with Siri voice commands. Settings are limited to changing its appearance, room, and generating additional Matter pairing codes for Multi-Admin use.
Fugetek USB Power Switch: performance and reliability
Through daily usage over the past couple of weeks with a small lamp, the Fugetek USB Power Switch has completely met my expectations for a Matter smart device. The USB stick is extremely fast, executing power toggle commands with little to no delay, regardless of method.
The Fugetek USB Power Switch has also been extremely reliable. I have yet to come across any instance where the device has gone into a "No Response" state, and it has bounced back immediately from Wi-Fi router restarts, Apple Matter Controller updates, and even power outages without fail.
The same story rings true when it came to adding the USB stick to a secondary Matter ecosystem. Although I have pared down my smart home considerably to just a single ecosystem recently, I still use Google Home as a testing ground for Matter's Multi-Admin capabilities and to see if additional features are available through another platform.
Needless to say, through my previous experience with Apple Home, the Fugetek USB Power Switch passed the Google test with flying colors. I was able to add it successfully on the very first try without a performance hit, and while I didn't find different controls, I did like how it could be assigned as more device types through Google Home.
The USB stick's flawless performance and connectivity are almost certainly the result of Fugetek's decision to use tried-and-true Wi-Fi for the device's wireless connectivity. That said, as someone who is actively swapping out devices for Thread-equivalents for their smart home, I would like to see future versions (or separate SKUs) incorporate the latest and greatest mesh networking technology.
Should you buy the Fugetek USB Power Switch?
To sum it all up, while it is easy to set up, responsive, and affordable, the Fugetek Matter USB Switch feels like a product designed for a very specific type of person or application. If you are someone who looks at a USB device and thinks to themselves, "I wish that worked with Matter and Alexa/Siri/Google all without the bulk of a plug and power block combo", then Fugetek's USB Switch is tailor-made for you.
For everyone else, though, the stick can be quite the hard sell. There are tons of Matter smart plugs on the market today that offer the same basic functionality—plus more flexibility—in the same price range. And—depending on your setup—the lack of an included USB extension cable may actually make the device stick out from the wall just as much as a smart plug too, potentially negating one of its key benefits if you don't have one already on hand.
So in other words, by the time that you read this conclusion, you probably already know if there is a place for Fugetek's stick in your home.
(Images: Matter Alpha/Christopher Close)
