Singapore is currently undergoing a period of “circuit breaker” in a bid to contain the COVID19 situation. As we are mostly working from home, our team decided to resume some of our reviews on smart home products, especially those that seems to not have much reviews or coverage on the web. At the end of the review, we are also letting go the review set at a price for DIY smart home enthusiasts.
The first product we are reviewing here is the FIBARO Walli switch and dimmer. From all the product pictures we can find online, it looked gorgeous and minimalist. After all, it is a trusted brand with a great marketing team. We also had quite a number of enquiries on the FIBARO Walli, thus we got our hands on a set to try them out.
Form factor
The form factor of the Walli switch and dimmer looks exactly the same, except for the way the button works. The Walli switch is actually a 2 gang switch even though it looked like a single button. Pressing the top of the button turn on/off the first load, and bottom of the button for the second load. For the Walli dimmer, pressing the top and bottom of the button turns on and off the load respectively. You can also dim and brighten the load by pressing and hold the top/bottom part of the button.
What we have noticed here is the faceplate is very plastic and flimsy. Sometimes we are not able to click properly especially at the bottom part of the button. Removing the faceplate actually clicks much better.
Connection and Installation
We kind of like the improved connector ports at the back of the switch. If you have personally wired a FIBARO module before, you will find it difficult to stuff in 2 wires into a single port. For the Walli switch and dimmer, each port actually has 2 connectors, making it easy to work with when you need to connect 2 wires into 1 port. Another clever improvement is that the Live and Neutral is no longer side by side, reducing the chance of short circuit due to stray wires.
Even though is more suitable for European wall boxes, it is still possible to fit into a UK flushed wall box that has a 40 mm depth. For UK surface wall box, a 40mm surface box will be required (surface box for Singapore is usually around 30mm).
Pairing and Configurations
We are using a Homey hub which also have a full set of configuration options available on the Home Center for pairing. After pairing the Wall switch, you operate the 2 load independently.
For the Walli dimmer, it works just like the usual FIBARO Dimmer 2 on Homey. The interesting part of the Walli series is that, unlike other Z-Wave switches, you get quite a wide range of control on how the the LED indicator ring should behave when it is on/off/dimmed/brightened.
Check out the video review here.
Conclusion
A good looking Z-Wave switch with great LED indicator ring but there is definitely room for improvement for the build quality at SGD140 (90 euros). The Walli series also included a model for controlling roller blinds/curtains and power outlet (unfortunately is only for euro 2 pin).
The Pros
- Minimalist design
- Comprehensive LED ring configurations
- Improved connectors for ease of installation
The Cons
- Flimsy faceplate
- Too plastic for our liking
- More suitable for European wall boxes
Automate Asia Team
PS : Now, if you like to take over this review set for SGD70 each, please contact us.