Ecobee Switch+ Review - Review 2022

Being first is a distinction Ecobee takes seriously. Not only did it introduce the first Wi-Fi thermostat back in 2009, its latest model, the Ecobee4, was the first to feature embedded Amazon Alexa voice technology. Now the company is offset to embed Alexa tech in a light switch with its $99 Ecobee Switch+. The Switch+ is more than than just a smart wall switch that connects to your Wi-Fi and can be controlled using a mobile app: It can do everything an Amazon Echo does, such equally tell you the electric current news, conditions and sports scores, play music, and command other smart habitation devices. Information technology also works with Apple's HomeKit, Google Banana, IFTTT applets, and the SmartThings hub, and it will somewhen double as a remote room sensor for an Ecobee thermostat.

Design and Features

The Switch+ is a wall switch (which ways it must be wired to an electrical box) that uses two neutral wires (white), two load wires (blackness), and a ground wire (green). It's important to note that it can simply exist used in wiring configurations where the light is controlled by a unmarried switch.

The enclosure has a white finish and measures 4.1 past i.7 by 1.9 inches (HWD). It comes with a white plastic snap-on faceplate that measures 4.7 by 2.nine inches (HW), four wire nuts, ii mounting screws, and an installation guide. The confront of the switch contains a modest speaker, a microphone, an Alexa light bar, a motion sensor, and an on/off button. The pinnacle border of the speaker has a microphone on/off button that can be used to put Alexa into practise not disturb mode and an activeness button that can be used to interrupt an Alexa action, and the lesser of the switch holds a dark light. It likewise has a temperature sensor that will permit the switch act as a remote sensor for an Ecobee thermostat later a firmware update later this yr.

The Switch+ uses the aforementioned Android and iOS mobile app as Ecobee thermostats. It opens to a My Devices screen that shows all installed thermostats and switches. You can plough the switch on and off past tapping the seedling icon, and can admission the abode screen by borer the bar. The abode screen has a large on/off button with a calorie-free band that glows green when the switch is on and is gray when information technology'south off.

At the lesser of the domicile screen are three buttons. The three-bar button takes yous to a screen where you can edit the proper noun and location of the device and reset information technology to factory defaults. The Smart Features button opens a screen where you can enable and disable the Smart On, Smart Off, and Dark Calorie-free features. Smart On uses the motion sensor to automatically plow the calorie-free on when someone enters the room and Smart Off will turn off the light if no motility is detected afterwards a predetermined menstruum of fourth dimension (between 15 and threescore minutes). When enabled, the Night Light emits a soft white glow when the room is night. The microphone push is used to accommodate the speaker volume and enable Alexa sounds when y'all make a request. At that place's besides a listing of things that you tin can ask Alexa. Missing is an option to create lighting schedules and settings to dim the lights.

Installation and Performance

The Switch+ is adequately easy to install, but if you lot're not comfortable working with electric wiring you should hire a pro. If this is your showtime Ecobee device y'all'll have to download the app and create an account. To begin, I opened the app and selected Add together/Install Device from the main bill of fare, then selected Install Your Device. I chose the Switch+ from the carte and followed the instructions for installation.

Once I adamant where I was going to install the Switch+ I turned off the power to that circuit, removed the old switch, and connected the appropriate wires (the app offers illustrated instructions for identifying and connecting the wires). Once the switch was wired upwardly, I attached it to the junction box using the included screws, snapped on the cover plate, and restored ability. After a few seconds the calorie-free turned amber and I clicked Register, and then Go Started. The app found the switch immediately and I added it to my device listing. Next, I selected my Wi-Fi SSID from the listing, entered my password, and selected a product from the list. I confirmed my location and the switch installation was complete.

To set up Alexa voice control I opened the Switch's home screen and tapped the microphone button. I signed in to my Amazon account, linked the ii accounts, and promptly received a phonation notification from the switch that I take successfully linked information technology with Alexa. Once Alexa was up and running I tapped Set up Switch+ Smart Features. Here you tin can choose a location for the lights you lot are controlling (indoor or outdoor) and enable the Smart On and Smart Off options.

The Switch+ performed without a hitch. The Smart On feature never failed to plow the light on when someone entered the room, and the Smart Off feature worked well also. The light reacted instantly when using the app push and when using Alexa vocalism commands to plough it on and off.

The Alexa voice service also worked flawlessly, but music sounded noticeably tinny coming from the smallish speaker (it's about on par with an Repeat Dot). That said, it had no trouble agreement and reacting to Alexa commands from across the room, and controlled my other Alexa linked devices, including switches continued to a Vivint Smart Abode arrangement and a Haiku fan, without issue.

I created an IFTTT applet to have a Netgear Arlo Pro 2 camera record a x second-clip whenever the Switch+ low-cal turned on, and information technology worked every time. Although the Switch+ does not offering in-app scheduling, I was able to apace create on and off IFTTT applets based on the time of twenty-four hour period, and they as well worked perfectly.

Conclusions

At merely nether $100, the Switch+ is more expensive than other smart light switches such equally the Belkin WeMo Lite Switch, simply if you cistron in the cost of an Amazon device (the Echo Dot goes for $40), the price more than palatable. Information technology's fairly easy to install and tin can be controlled using a mobile app, and it has built-in motion and temperature sensors. The Switch+ supports Apple tree's HomeKit platform and works with other smart products using the SmartThings Hub and IFTTT applets, and it supports Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri voice commands. Ameliorate yet, it can do everything that an Echo or Echo Dot tin can practice. It doesn't offering dimming or scheduling, but its robust feature ready earns information technology our Editors' Choice.

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Further Reading

• Smart Microgrids: The Futurity of Sustainable Power
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• MIT'due south SprayableTech Creates Interactive Surfaces Anywhere
• How to Measure out Home Power Usage

Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/home-security-products/20139/ecobee-switch-review

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