I test smart home devices for a living and the smart plug I use for my Christmas tree is $8

Maria Diaz/ZDNET

As a smart home reviewer, I have a healthy variety of smart plugs and outlets in my home. There's also your garden variety of smart lights and smart light strips, as you can expect. But the Kasa Smart Plug Ultra Mini is the one smart plug I can't rave about enough. It's one of the most reliable ones I've ever tested, both in connectivity and voice control integrations. Plus, each one is 20% off, available for just $8, with a two-pack available for $13.

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I already had an older Kasa Smart Plug, but it's in use on one of my dumb thrift store lamps. But this new Kasa Smart Plug truly lives up to its Ultra Mini moniker, especially when compared to others. The Ultra Mini smart plug is so small it's almost adorable. As a result, it doesn't take up as much real estate on your outlet as other smart plugs, like the larger Amazon Smart Plug does, for example. 

It's so compact that you can easily plug in other devices right next to it, as it won't block adjacent outlets. It's also easy to set up, especially if you have Amazon Alexa at home. It uses Alexa Frustration-Free Setup, which lets the smart home assistant automatically add compatible devices detected in your home network. 

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With as many smart lights as I have at home, my Christmas tree has dumb, warm white LED lights and one single string of Govee String Lights. I already enjoyed the freedom of automation and voice control that the Govee lights offered, so getting a smart plug for the dumb lights was a logical step for me. 

You can set up the Kasa Smart Plug Ultra Mini in the Kasa mobile app, but I used the Tapo app, another smart home division by TP-Link, without issues. Then, Alexa found it and automatically added it to the Amazon Alexa devices at home. I then renamed it 'Christmas tree' and plugged in my traditional, dumb tree lights to it, and I can now ask Alexa to turn the tree on or off whenever I want. 

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Aside from reliable voice control, having the Kasa Smart Plug Ultra Mini lets me set my tree lights on a schedule, to turn on each day at the time the kids come home from school and off at bedtime. You can also set up automations for it, timers, and Away mode, in case you'd like to have a lamp automatically turn on when you're gone to make it appear that someone's home.

The Kasa Smart Plug Ultra Mini is on sale for $8 individually, but a two-pack gets you a bigger discount, available for $13.