You probably know ecobee as the industry leader in smart thermostats.
I’ve reviewed the ecobee3 and ecobee4 and they blow away the competition.
But with this product they’re branching out into a new category of smart lighting.
This is the ecobee Switch+ and although it’s a fantastic smart light switch, the little
plus in its name is a bit of an understatement.
It not just Alexa enabled but has Alexa built in just like the ecobee4.
Their goal is to provide voice control throughout your entire home and what better place to
do that than your light switch.
Ecobee was kind enough to send me this device for review and in this review we’ll go over
its features to see if the Switch+ is the right smart light switch for you.
Let’s get started with the most interesting aspect and that’s the Alexa integration.
If you’ve used an Amazon Echo this is a very similar experience.
You can ask Alexa questions, set timers, buy things, play games, and even stream music.
It features far field microphones and cloud based wake word verification just like the
ecobee4.
That means that in a relatively quiet house Alexa can still hear you even if you’re
on the other side of the room.
And if the Switch+ thinks you said Alexa but isn’t quite sure, it’ll send that small
voice sample to Amazon so their powerful cloud servers can decide.
All of this takes place in a matter of milliseconds.
Because this is hardwired into your walls, it no longer feels like you’re talking to
a device on a bookshelf or counter, but that you’re actually talking to your house.
And as you install more switches throughout your house that idea is propagated even further.
The Switch+ uses Amazon’s ESP for spatial awareness so that if you have multiple Alexa
devices around your house only one responds.
The only real downside here is that this is a third party Alexa device and will lag slightly
behind on new features.
As Amazon creates new features for Alexa they’re introduced first on their own devices.
Then after some time they’re usually made available to third party devices like the
ecobee4 and Switch+.
But ecobee has already proven their eagerness to adopt these features with the ecobee4 and
as Amazon makes these new features available to third party devices you can expect them
to be added to the Switch+ very quickly.
The biggest limitations currently are that they can’t participate in whole home audio
synchronization or Amazon’s drop in intercom feature.
Both of those would be an outstanding feature to have integrated into each room’s light
switch.
Granted the music quality isn’t great, but for background music like you’d expect at
a restaurant or dentist office it’s fine.
The intercom feature would be super handy though if you had a Switch+ in each bedroom
and the main living areas.
If you want a break from Alexa there’s a built in mute button on top and the Switch+
lights up red when Alexa is muted.
If you’re the type that leaves Alexa muted most of the time then just know that the red
light isn’t going away.
However, with the ecobee4 it used to stay red at all times and later through a software
update they changed it so that the red bar goes away after a few minutes and you’re
only left with a red microphone icon on the screen.
So maybe they’re figure out a less obtrusive option here as well.
Beside the mute button is a hardware button to summon Alexa or interrupt her if she’s
talking.
This does the exact same thing as just saying Alexa.
As a smart light switch it has a lot of the features that you’d expect.
Like all ecobee products the Switch+ plays well with all the big name home automation
players.
It works with Alexa, Apple’s HomeKit, Google assistant, Samsung SmartThings, and IFTTT.
So voice control and automation is covered.
You can also control your light through the ecobee app even when you’re not at home
with no need for an extra hub device.
And thankfully there’s the simplistic option of just pushing the button.
But the most used option will be the built in motion and light sensors.
Switch+ can turn your light on when you enter the room and off minutes after you leave.
And because of the light sensor you can set it to only turn on when it’s dark in the
room as well.
Or if you have it connected to an outside light it can turn on at dusk and off at dawn.
All of this is configurable in the ecobee app.
And speaking of the app, I’ve been beta testing the new version of the app with the
Switch+ functionality and I’m happy to report that it also features an upgraded interface
for the thermostat as well.
I mentioned in my ecobee4 review how the app was slow to launch and lagged at times.
That’s all gone here and everything is super responsive and much easier to use.
There’s even a small led nightlight at the base of the Switch for adding some soft lighting
to the room when the main light isn’t on and it’s dark.
You can also get creative and leverage the sensors for light, temperature, and motion
to trigger HomeKit scenes or tie into other smart home devices.
The most obvious use case here is using the Switch+ as a remote sensor for your ecobee
thermostat.
The temperature and motion sensors are part of ecobee’s next generation sensor technology
and are not only more accurate but also can report environment changes more frequently
since battery life isn’t a concern.
Unfortunately that functionality isn’t live yet but ecobee is targeting a release date
of this June and that will be pushed out via an automatic update.
Ecobee also has some more advanced options coming later this year as well.
One example is an autopilot mode that will randomly turn your lights on and off when
you’re not at home to simulate occupancy.
As I’ve said many times before, that’s the beauty of these internet connected devices.
All the necessary hardware sensors are already in place and future functionality will continue
to be added through automatic software updates for years to come at no additional cost.
For compatibility the main concern they stress is that you have a white neutral wire you
can use and that it be a single mode switch and not a two way or three way switch.
Installation is as easy as turning off power, removing the old light switch, twisting the
appropriate wires together, shoving everything back into the opening, screwing in the Switch+,
and turning the power back on.
There’s also step by step picture and video tutorials right in the ecobee app.
There’s an ecobee branded faceplate included, but thankfully it’s the standard dimensions
of a normal rocker style switch so if you have upgraded decorative plates those will
work.
Or if you’d like to use the Switch+ at a location that has multiple switches you can
easily pick up a light cover that can accommodate that for a couple of bucks at Lowe’s or
Home Depot.
And that brings me to price.
If you’re going to install these throughout your entire house they have to be reasonably
priced.
Switch+ retails for $99 in the US and while that isn’t cheap, you have to consider what
you’re getting.
A normal smart light switch with HomeKit support runs $40-50.
Then add in the ecobee remote sensor capabilities for $30 and an Amazon Dot for Alexa at $50
and suddenly the $99 price seems like a deal.
If you’re looking to add more Alexa functionality to your home and are interested in smart lighting
then I’d strongly consider the Switch+.
If you’re an existing ecobee thermostat user and those things are true then it’s
a no brainer.
The one glaring omission here is that the Switch+ isn’t dimmable.
I’m not entirely sure why ecobee went this route.
My guess is they don’t control what light you’re connecting this too and many bulbs
aren’t dimmable so the outcome would be less than ideal.
It’s not a deal breaker but it does limit what smart features are available.
For instance I have a Haiku light with a light sensor and it automatically dims and brightens
as the ambient light changes in the room.
Granted that light is twice the price of this switch and Haiku makes all the involved hardware
in that example but it would be nice to have dimming functionality included as well.
I’m glad to see ecobee branch out to another product line.
With their partnership with Amazon on Alexa and the remote sensor capabilities of their
thermostats this makes a lot of sense.
The hardware and presentation are beautiful just like you’d expect from ecobee.
And having Alexa built into the walls with the Switch+ and ecobee4 really does change
the experience for me.
You don’t really think “where is Alexa?”
But rather you just talk and she answers from the closest device.
If you’re the type that unplugs your echo just to be on the safe side that Amazon isn’t
listening when you don’t want them to, then this clearly isn’t the product for you.
If you have any questions I didn’t cover feel free to leave those in the comments.
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And as always, thanks for watching.