Suggestion for a future smart plug design

bluewolf10th

One of my major pet peeves about current smart plugs across all manufacturers is the fact that the inlet and outlet are in-line, increasing the distance required between the wall and any furniture that would be placed in front of the outlet (buffet table or large dresser, for example).

Would it be possible to design a smart plug with the outlet on one side of the device instead of on the face? This would allow for greater space saving since you would only need to space any furniture with the size of the smart plug, rather than the smart plug, physical plug, and power cord bend radius.

I do not know how this would impact internal design of the plug or any other features.

How would you all view this? Would a smart plug with a side outlet be more practical in your applications?

Siyo

bluewolf10th
Thank you for the detailed suggestion. We understand the issue you described. With a traditional front-facing outlet, the depth of the smart plug, the connected plug, and the bend of the power cord all increase the amount of clearance needed behind furniture.

A side-facing outlet could allow the connected cord to run parallel to the wall, which may make the smart plug much more practical behind dressers, cabinets, and other furniture.

We will share this idea with our product and engineering teams and study the feasibility of incorporating a side-facing outlet into a future smart plug design. There are several factors we would need to evaluate, including the internal component layout, heat dissipation, mechanical strength, electrical safety requirements, and whether the design would block nearby wall outlets. We would also need to consider whether the outlet should face left, right, or use another orientation that works in different installation environments.

Although we cannot promise a final design or release schedule at this stage, this is a practical idea that we would be interested in exploring for future models. We really appreciate you taking the time to describe the use case so clearly.

bluewolf10th

Thank you for the encouragement Siyo.

As I’m thinking about your possibilities of design limitations, I came to the realization that the new plug could actually benefit from being slightly thicker than the original design, as it could facilitate the connection with a wall transformer plug (“wall wart”).

As such, you could work the size of the plug into the design requirements. (Keep the height the same to allow for 2 smart plugs per wall outlet, while making the depth slightly greater to enable wall transformers even at a 90° angle from the wall.)

If we want to go for an even more premium design, we could make the wall connector of the smart plug rotate to allow for the output of the plug to be placed on either the left side or the right side according to the user’s wishes.

Again, I’m not a mechanical or electrical engineer, I’m just a QA tech with an electronics diploma. I can brainstorm ideas all I want, but your design team is the one to decide what is actually feasible here.