On our most recent IoT Podcast, Keith called in asking about Gosund products for his smart home. He’s already bought a few of their devices but isn’t familiar with the brand and wanted to know if we thought they would provide longevity and were safe from a privacy perspective.
We actually haven’t tested any products from Gosund which sells smart plugs, switches, and bulbs. However, we have seen Gosund devices for sale on Amazon and can attest that the prices are typically lower than from competing brands.
As a result, we can speak to how long these will last over time. But we do know something about Gosund that might be useful: They use the Tuya Smart Life platform as the back-end for cloud services.
Tuya is one of the largest, if not the largest, IoT platforms in the world, supporting more than 90,000 devices. No, you may not be familiar with Tuya and it is based in China, but it has many partner brands that you do know, such as Amazon, Brilliant, Lenovo, Microsoft, Schneider Electric, and Samsung SmartThings to name a few.
For that reason, we feel more comfortable with Tuya partner-products, such as those from Gosund, than from an overseas IoT company that we’re not familiar with.
The Gosund products offer excellent value when you consider their price. A single Wi-Fi smart outlet that works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant can be had for $6.99, for example. Need a pair of Wi-Fi smart switches? Gosund sells a 2-pack for $32.99. It’s hard to beat the Gosund product line on cost.
Overall then, we don’t see any reason at this time to steer away from Gosund products. They’re inexpensive compared to most of the competition, work with most major smart home platforms, and have the trust of other big brands that we trust in our homes.
If you’ve purchased Gosund products and have any experiences with them that you can share, let us know. Given the value and features they offer, it might be time for us to test a few of them ourselves.
To hear Keith’s question in full, as well as our discussion, tune in to the IoT Podcast below:
This smart outlet is a rather basic design from China. there are variations on the outer plastic casing. I have a similar set from another brand called Anbes. What makes either/any brand like this worth the purchase is Tuya/Smart Home. I’ve had very minor inconveniences over the past two years I’ve owned my Anbes devices, and that is to be expected. So I would personally recommend the purchase of the Gosund products as long as you use the Tuya app and Amazon Echo or Google Home.
I think it is interesting that we’d discuss yet another variation on Smart Life or Tuya Smart, which is an ecosystem based in China, but nobody ever talks about Shelly products. Is it because European products don’t have the flash or something? They’re price competitive with China, but with high quality & safety, privacy – plus full local control – and they’re compatible with everything. It is almost like media interests in the US have been avoiding the product line.
Good thing about the Gosund brand all of them works perfectly with Alexa or Google home. Also it helps lessen the electricity bill.
I don’t know about these. They’re cheap, I’ll give them that, and they connected, but a device was logged into my Google account shortly after setting these up. About a day or so . . . It was logged in when I was sleeping . . . . I’m curious if anyone else has had this problem, or weird things after setting these plugs up. It was a Nexus 7 device, and I’ve never used that device to log into my account. Please help me out. Was it the devices I connected, or perhaps, hopefully something else. I use a long long password, and two factor authentication. That’s why I’m so curious. Any help is appreciated.
Was this device logged into the Gosund app account? How did you get this notification? Over monitoring software? Your router? An email?
I went on WEB looking for groups involved with security issues like this on my inside network. These devices are going to be a way of life as they do make life more fun but they do come at a risk. That said, I am not the type that sees conspiracy everywhere and believe some companies have integrity even if they are in china. It would be interesting to monitor this device as you install it on your network and for several days after to verify it does not do anything strange.
I recently bought gosund color, led smart bulbs. I absolutely love this product, cheap yes but it simply works. Set up and interface with Google was one of the easiest things I’ve done. The light produced is 800 lumens the same as the big brands. The colors produced are rich and vibrant, The color wheel on there app gives a wide range of colors. This product is cheap but, man it just flat out works
I’d like to ask if Jeffrey got a response to his comment/concerns above? Did someone or something using his credentials to logon into his account? I bought these smart plugs recently and didn’t realize they ran over my network, I thought it would’ve used my Bluetooth on my phone instead of wifi. I’m concerned about security vulnerabilities this device/app may have? Is it secure? Can someone hack into it and get access to other things on my network or accounts?
Anything not controlled by you is controlled by someone else. That means that if CHINA is controlling the servers for the connectivity of these devices, and these devices are now on your network, then CHINA has a back door into your network.
Who cares that you’ve heard of Tuya… They’re still controlled by CHINA. Do you get that..? China is not your friend when it comes to your network. Anyone telling you that you can trust China with access to your network is just a clueless idiot and should not be writing a tech blog.
I have the same concerns but I would think someone has thought of this and has done some minimal testing. Has anyone? Better yet, I would think the Alexa APP itself has some form of account security to prevent bad behavior? Specifically, giving it my network password is an “Inside Threat” just like every other thing on my network, but WIN 10 is somewhat secure itself at each computer (user, password) so it is a bit safe but still can be “sniffed”. Giving it my “Alexa” password may be a different story. Thoughts?
Your comment “Anything not controlled by you is controlled by someone else.”, is not strong enough. If the APP is tied to your inside network, it can monitor some of your inside traffic and may gain access to your local Router (made in China). With this, it can “sniff” all of the traffic on your inside network and report to someone outside. Most people do not “VPN” inside traffic so you are now open to the threat. It is very hard to protect from “Inside Threat”.
I tend to agree with Carl. Let’s broaden the picture. Most people could not ID the chips on a motherboard for any device on a home net. Yet everyone has at least a few networked items from anywhere in Asia. Are we to say that because Tuya is based in China, they are not to be trusted? Facebook is based in the US, but I trust them about as far as I can throw Mark Zuckerburg.
Yes, China has bad actors. So does Russia, and the US, and Japan, etc. To be fair, I have been bitten with compromise in the past. I’ve dealt with the problem and moved on. As the bad actors are exposed, we deal with them. But I, for one, cross those bridges as they appear. I won’t blow them up from a distance because someone I don’t know uses them.
Just google “Tuya-Convert”. This lets you reflash any Tuya-based product (Tuya, Gosund, Smartlife, etc…) with a Tasmota firmware. Instead of having to connect to a Chinese server, you can connect them to talk to any MQTT you like — such as one you could run on an always-on Raspberry Pi at home. It’s really not as complicated as it sounds, and well worth the effort. With this, you can take advantage of the ridiculously low price of those devices and turn them into super safe, no-Chinese-server ones. Cool eh?
Appears with firmware change on the Gosund plugs this hasn’t worked since late 2019. I had purchased one before Christmas 2020 to try the process out.
Reflashing seems like it might still be possible when connecting to the circuit board directly, but opening the case is a destructive process.
I bought these. You have to download an app which you have to register for and submit a payment. That app says it will collect data (contact info, location, user content, data usage, etc) and it will be linked to you.
These plugs work only intermittently and require constant factory resetting and fuss. Despite the low price, they are not worth the aggravation. Perhaps the trouble I am having is the result of the ups and downs of the Gosund cloud which registers the device. My plug set-ups continually time out likely because they can’t be “registered. Lastly, try contacting Gosund Tech Support. Lots of luck. I’ve never been able to despite multiple tries.
Hi Stacey,
I used these devices (plug and bulb) for approx. 1-2 years and so far I’m very pleased. The phone app doesn’t have issues and the devices work reliably. I bought these because I wanted a cheap play/introduction with/to IoT devices and these were it. I’ve been pleasantly surprised wirh their reliability and I’m motivated to step into the home automation world (eek).
I’m also experimenting wirh home servers, so I have a TrueNAS server and can install Home Assistant. It doesnt pick up the Gosund so far, but now you’ve said a previously unknown word to me (Tuya), I might try that. Otherwise I’ll try some other self hosted management solution.
It’s quite an interesting area of tech though, thanks for the website.
Following this comment, I have noticed the small range of products by gosund, also their website is down – rarely a good sign!
I love this brand I had Wemo before and had lots of problems. I have smart switches dimmers switches and plugs they work flawlessly they are throughout my house and I have no regrets.
Unfortunately, I bought a couple of Gosund smart switches on Amazon in April, and Gosund is no longer sold on Amazon. The switches no longer work. Complete waste of money because I cannot find any support to help me now.
I always prefer to go through Amazon support chat when I need support for purchases made through Amazon. I don’t try to contact vendors directly. Example:
I bought a package of Gosund smart bulbs from Amazon in MAY 2021 because they were on sale. On OCT. 22nd 2021 I took one out of the box and had trouble setting it up so I contacted Amazon Support Chat, who put me in touch with the vendor directly through my chat. On OCT. 23rd 2021 I received an email from Amazon which said in part as follows:
“You have received a message from the Amazon Seller – TanTan Direct
View this message on Amazon Order ID: etc.
Count Product Name and ASIN
1 Alexa Smart Light Bulbs, Gosund 75W Equivalent E26 8W WiFi Led Bulb A19 RGB Color Changing Light Bulb Dimmable, Work with Google Home Amazon Echo, 2.4
ASIN: B08CXSJNLC
Hi Nathan,
Good day!
Sorry for the inconvenience. Do not worry, I am here to help you. I won’t let you bear any loss. … and which gave me detailed setup instructions to try again and if unsuccessful they say they are standing by the product which I assume would be either refund or replacement.”
And which also sent me to two “Gosund Official” Youtube videos.
I too use the Smart Life app rather than the Gosund app.
I always strongly advise friends to use Amazon Chat to get support, not to try it on their own.
To vendors, I squeak like a mouse, Amazon roars like a lion.
Does anyone else question that enabling Amazon Alexa to control a Gosund smart lightbulb requires permissions that include “Account details” ?
Avoid Gosund plugs at all costs. They are compete junk and not fit for purpose.
Gosund smart plug came on at a random time. How can I trust them? I can’t.