Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsLeviton needs to go back to the drawing board (review written by a technician)
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2021
A review is sometimes only as good as the experience of the person who is leaving it. For this reason, I often ignore some reviews and give much more weight to others. I will begin by saying that I have over 20 years experience as a computer technician and have a family full of people who work in trades (plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electric) so my home network and my electrical system are in solid working order. I have a wireless mesh network blanketing my property and there are no dead spots anywhere in my house. Here is my review of this item:
(1) Ergonomics. Unlike other switches, this Leviton switch is a completely smooth, flat, featureless plastic surface. It is impossible to reliably locate the on button in complete darkness - it is exactly the same as the off button. While you can talk to it (and that has its own issues), the buttons should be easy to locate with your eyes closed and should be slightly illuminated so that you can see it but not be annoyed by it.
(2) Connectivity. As you will see in other reviews dating back to 2017, the devices bings and bongs, bleeps and beeps, randomly and annoyingly throughout the day and night. It disconnects from the internet whenever it feels like it. My wireless access points are not more than 20 feet away and not one of my 4 Leviton switches can maintain a solid connection. The Tp-Link Kasa switch that is directly next to it has zero connectivity issues, and all my mobile devices have no issues with the home wifi. Leviton's response to my email is that the wifi is getting affected by the fact that it is installed in a metal box with a metal cover. "Unfortunately, for wireless in-wall devices, metal wall boxes or metal wall plates typically attenuate the signal, so even if connected, it could be intermittent. While we recognize that it is difficult to change a metal wall box, if you can, we recommend using Leviton Decora wall plates." If this is true, then why aren't the competitors' smart switches affected by the metal? As you can see in my photo, the Tp-Link Kasa switch is right next to the Leviton switch and has never had any connectivity issues.
(3) Lighting Performance. To dim or brighten the lights, you must hold down the power on or off buttons. It makes the job very imprecise. In addition, every Leviton switch produces an audible hum over the internal speaker whenever the dimmer is used (I have halogen as well as LED bulb fixtures and it happens on all of them). Maybe because it is so compact, Leviton needs to shield the internal speaker from the feedback of the dimmer. I do not know why it happens but it happens on all four of mine.
(4) Smart Home Performance. Occasionally, I will tell Alexa to turn on the lights, she will say "OK", and nothing will happen. I tell her to turn them off, she says "OK", and nothing happens. I then have to completely reset the switch and join it to my Alexa network. I have never had to do this with my Alexa Echo or my cheaper switches from Leviton's competitors. Other times, I will send it a voice command and it will stutter and lock up. When I try to use the switch to "drop in" on another Alexa device, it completely locks up the device and says "Calling with Alexa is not supp...Calling with Alexa is not supp...Calling with Alexa is not supp..." in a loop. Leviton says it is a known bug. Leviton has now informed me that using the switch to make a call is not supported, even though it has both a mic and a speaker and is connected to Alexa. Um... why not?
Bottom Line
If you expect this to be an Alexa Echo inside your wall, it is not and it probably never will be. If you expect it to do its job as a dimmable light switch, it will do a poor job of it when compared to switches that are a quarter of the price. If Amazon is your smart home platform of choice, buy an Alexa Echo for half the price of this switch and you will get all the features along with some decent quality speakers. Then, buy your remaining switches from Tp-Link Kasa (pictured in the photo) or another capable manufacturer to round out your smart home purchase. I had high hopes for these switches but they are all being returned after 2 months of struggling to make them work.