The thing that leapt out to me is the three-function switches so that you can have the “dumb” up/down manual operation, but layer on triggers for scenes or automations too. So you can walk into the living room and press once to turn the light on, but double-click “up” to set your TV-watching mode and double-click “down” to turn off everything in the room.
Secondly, but almost as important, this switch keeps power to your smart lights even when turned off. Here’s the issue: smart lights are great with all their colors and programmability…until someone flips the wall switch and they lose power. They lose connection and cannot be turned on again; even if the wall switch is flipped back on they take a moment, at best, to reconnect.
Here, the Inovelli will turn the light off, but leave the juice flowing so that the light stays connected to the network. So the uninitiated can work the lights as normal and you can program the shit out of them without having to tape over the light switch.
Lastly, it’s Matter over Thread, meaning you do not need a separate hub controller (nice!) and it can be programmed to work with multiple home assistants simultaneously.
I wouldn’t rush out and buy one right now as this is a 1.0 product. But if you’re thinking about embarking on a smart home - and lighting control is the best place to start - then it might be worth taking a beat and see how this product rollout goes. It’s a very future-proof offering and cheaper with more functionality than the current class-leading Lutron switches (which need a separately-purchased hub to work).
ETA: This switch does not require a neutral wire, which is unusual for smart switches and a Godsend to anyone trying to smarten up an older home.
Speaking of smart switches, my mixed environment of Lutron and Aqara switches has been running for about a year now. The Lutron’s have been beyond solid - I have never had to reconnect, reset or worry about them in any way shape or form.
The Aqaras cannot claim the same. They’re not horrible, but they have a tendency to drop off individually on occasion. About once a month once of them will quit and need to be deleted and reinstalled, after which I have to reinsert that switch into any automations and scenes of which it was part. Not a vast effort by any means, but enough to be irritating.
In case you were wondering, when an Aqara switch drops off the network, it still works as a dumb switch.
One is paired to a HDMI sound bar, I think some offbrand unit that has a Bluetooth subwoofer. The bigger unit plugged into my home stereo system with a digital optical cable lickety-split. A/V these days is super easy and modern TVs have all the connections to make it super easy. Even the supercheap TVs like a TCL unit.
The TCL/Roku line is really solid for most folks, including those on a budget or those who don’t really care about having the absolute cutting edge of televisions. I recommended one to a friend whose only criteria were “I need it to work and I need to know how to use it.” She loves it.
ETA: Until recently we had a Samsung that we got from Costco back in 2015. It wasn’t top of the line then, but it was totally fine. Never had any problems with it. A few weeks ago I got the itch to upgrade and got a Sony A80L, which has been amazing so far.
I’m a big fan of Roku TVs because they support both AirPlay and Chromecast. AirPlay support in particular was added via software update years after I bought our TVs which was nice. It can also integrate with HomeKit so I can have the living room TV turn off as part of our “going to bed” automation (lock doors, lights off, arm alarm).
I was assuming that Lefty’s Mom wouldn’t be integrating the TV into a smart home. Just in case that’s a wrong assumption, the Insignia is flat out the worst option for such a purpose. It won’t even work with the Apple TV remote, which is a first for me.
To avoid having to use the Insignia’s remote (oh the humanity!), I use my Aqara security cameras IR blaster to turn it on and off.
I bought Mrs. Hawk a 19-inch CRT TV back when we were dating in 1995. That was her everyday driver until we got married in 2002. We moved it to the back patio at our house, and figured it wouldn’t last all that long outside. Well, it did. I finally had enough and a couple of years ago, about 2020, bought a cheap Vizio LCD to put outside. It’s still going strong too. That old CRT is still working, and my niece uses it. I don’t know if I just have good karma with TV and satellite or what.
