The price increase in technology is exhausting. With recent price increases across the Apple lineup, seeing items go down in price is becoming rare. The Amazon Basics smart plug is one of the rare exceptions holding the line. With Matter support and a price under $10, it may be my new go-to smart plug.

The key feature is its Matter support. For Apple Home folks, this means you can ignore that previous Amazon gear was Alexa only. Matter establishes a universal format, so this plug pairs directly with Apple just as easily as with Alexa or Google Home. No separate Amazon app needed. With a Matter-compatible Apple home hub like a HomePod mini or Apple TV 4K, the plug talks directly to your ecosystem over Wi-Fi.

Smart plugs are versatile building blocks. They automate appliances that can't be retrofitted — holiday decorations, heaters, dehumidifiers, coffee makers. The compact form factor fits a single socket, leaving the other outlet clear. Trade-off: it's 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi-only, not Thread-enabled, which can introduce latency. But at under $10, complaining is short-sighted. It's solid and just works.