Thank you for posting this. I was searching for the reason for the banner on their site last week, but didn’t locate this article at the time.
I presume that the Chinese company will rebrand and start selling under a new brand again - I haven’t had any issues with their products, but they do need to respect naming rights in the countries which they trade to.
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Yes, I hope so as well, I really love their smart plugs for ESPHome.
Luckily I made a purchase only a few weeks ago. So far around 10, v2 and v3 UK sockets are working well, and oldest now must be 2 or 3 years old. But only used for devices with a low loads.
Just tossing my 10 pence into the ring after I found you all via some googling.
My Athom Technology UK Smart Plug V2 keeps randomly switching off. Really not a fan of it. I only bought one to trial and had it monitor a kettle so I know when my tea is ready. I had big doubts because of the price.
It’s not up to the task. Will probably be retired.
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In fairness - a standard kettle is a huge load. It’s possibly rebooting because of the thermal load of 13A (~2700W) across the contacts. No way would I be using one with more than around 8 or 10A for much duration.
On the other hand, the plugs are rated for 16A, they shouldn’t make this claim if it can’t handle a kettle, which takes less than that and just for a couple minutes.
I will say, it’s an unusually powerful fast boil kettle. So good point.
It’s shutting down when not in use however. Just seems a bit janky. I’m tempted to move back to the Z-Wave plug. Much more expensive but more reliable.
I look at these small smart plugs and marvel at how any of them could handle high loads. There is too much going on in a small space; small solid state relays, small PCB chases. My v2 and v3 have been faultless but kept on very low amp duties, one device did fail from a software update. Slightly differently I have just had a Shelly relay fail; 7 to 8 amp Quooker tap (fancy hot water tap !). I thought I could risk it. Since the circuit is dedicated to the tap, I have the luxury of replacing the Shelly with a dedicated 20amp contactor.
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Just circling back to say, it seems a firmware update has fixed this issue.
I assume. It hasn’t restarted in a long time since I updated it. So to any other poor soul krumping through the forums:
An intermittent restart on an ATHOM Smart Plug UK Standard 16A preflashed with ESPhome could just be down to a firmware bug. Try upgrading it if you can.
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They still seem to be selling to EU customers on their own website but not via AliExpress anymore. Just noticed they also have a power monitoring plug without relay - but unfortunately I guess that it still is “invasive” monitoring (not with a clamp) so not advisable for critical loads.
I have 6-8 of these plugs around the house for 2-3 years, one failed. At a price of ~12 EUR one could argue it is more or less a consumable… 
It’s a damn-sight better than having the added relay in-circuit where it’s just increasing the probability of failure. I’d order one for my fridge except it’s not available in the Irish plug type. I wait in hope.
Not any more invasive that an extension cord, as far as I can tell. There is no relay in this plug. I use it on my freezer.
I wonder if the no relay version continue to pass through the power a) across firmware updates and b) when they fail.
My guess is yes?
Can anyone confirm a). By say powering a computer etc. Or if you have two you could plug one into the other, update firware in the inner one, and look at power stats for the outer one…
Sure because it can’t disconnect the load due to not include a relay 
That probably depends how they fail, for example if they have a fuse that blows it obviously should stop supplying power to the load… But does it even has a fuse? 
We don’t know (yet) 
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Don’t know for sure, but most probably the power runs through a measuring circuit. Should that fail / short-circuit it will either blow (like a Shelly) or trip your breaker.
Nevertheless, it is less probable than with a relay attached, which is more likely to fail (and one more part that can).
Best way is building it with a coil that measures the live wire. If that fails and trips the breaker your fridge is still out, but aside from it the power doesn’t run through the device, so it can’t disconnect.
It’s been a while but had another Athom plug failure the other day.
It failed in an off state.
But while connected to power it was still very warm.
I have five units remaining in service (I’ve had more failures than that), two on fridges, one on the dishwasher, one on the UPS for the internet router and Home Assistant server, the fifth is a partial failure but still functions as a power meter for the variable speed pool pump. I have never used them for switching, monitoring only.
We are moving home soon so they will all be retired.
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Just adding a voice to the chorus of failed devices (AU). Had mine for about 2 years and after a power outage (that likely also had a surge associated with it) 2/4 of my Athom plugs (ESPHome) have died.
I was considering getting the relay-less model because all I need is individual monitoring, but might reconsider based on all the reports in this thread.
Still on the look out for a reliable individual device energy monitoring solution. The IKEA INSPELNING looks great, but seems they have VASTLY underestimated the demand for this plug and can’t keep it in stock for more than a day at a time with months of lead time.
What reports did you read about the relay-less model? Could you share them with us?
This seems to be a lot of people’s new hope. But time will tell whether it will just join the long lineup of failures in this product category. I’m certainly watching that space though.
Apologies, I just meant of the Athom.tech brand itself. Obviously it’s still the same internals between them literally just missing the relay component - so very likely to fry again.