At a look
Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Delivers a lot of flexibility that different switches can’t
- Broad ecosystem assist, beginning with Matter (and GE Lighting’s Cync line)
Cons
- Its most fascinating options solely work with Cync bulbs and fixtures
- Bulky dimensions make for a tricky slot in {an electrical} field
- Fairly costly
Our Verdict
The busy assortment of buttons on this in any other case positive good dimmer can management lighting scenes and colours with out relying on the app in your smartphone, however these superior options solely work with different GE Lighting Cync merchandise.
Price When Reviewed
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Price When Reviewed
$44.99
Best Prices Today: GE Cync Keypad Dimmer Smart Switch
Give me an in-wall good change however make it actually sophisticated, stated nobody ever.
Well by no means thoughts that, as a result of the GE Cync Keypad Dimmer Smart Switch is each bit as sophisticated as its mouthful of a reputation. That stated, should you’re closely invested in GE Lighting’s Cync ecosystem, this multi-button dimmer is price a glance.
Specifications
The change helps a most load of 450 watts of incandescent bulbs or 150 watts of LEDs, with a most draw of 3.75 amps. The change is sort of versatile and may assist single-pole, 3-way, and 4-way installations. You’ll want a impartial wire within the field the place you put in it.
The dimmer is restricted to connecting to 2.4GHz Wi-Fi networks, but it surely doesn’t require a hub and it’s Matter-certified, with express assist for Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, and Samsung SmartIssues good house ecosystems. The change additionally helps GE Lighting’s high-end Savant good house system and app, though that’s designed for skilled installations.
Installation and setup
The GE Cync Keypad Dimmer can be utilized in both single-pole or 3-way/4-way conditions.
Christopher Null/Foundry
The GE Cync Keypad Dimmer Smart Switch is an all-pigtail design, with 5 wires jutting out the again. You’ll solely want to attach 4 of those in a single-pole setup; the fifth wire is a traveler wire for multi-way connections. A big broadsheet installation guide supplies wiring schematics for numerous eventualities. If you’re establishing something past a single-pole connection, you’ll need to examine it rigorously. Numerous wire nuts of various sizes are included within the field; I nonetheless had to make use of some bigger ones that I offered myself to finish all of the connections, nonetheless, as a result of the included nuts have been too small.
You can simply faucet certainly one of these buttons to set the suitable temper with out fishing your telephone out of your pocket or counting on a voice assistant.
With 5 wire nuts (you’ll need one to cowl the naked traveler wire should you’re not utilizing it), issues get very tight within the electrical field. It took some doing to get the change in place and fairly flush towards the wall, and even after a number of tries I nonetheless wasn’t 100 p.c glad with its placement. Plan to spend fairly a little bit of time and a considerable amount of elbow grease to get the change positioned good. Once put in, a body attaches to the change with two tiny screws. A canopy plate with a small GE emblem then snaps on prime of that.
While this change helps Matter, you’ll want to make use of the Cync app to configure the majority of this change’s options. Onboarding is an easy course of, however I discovered it to be fairly gradual and plodding, typically requiring a refresh to finish a step, reminiscent of finding out there Wi-Fi networks. Eventually, after almost 5 minutes of suits and begins, I made it via the preliminary setup course of, together with a firmware replace. I had no points connecting it to a Matter community, both.
Using the GE Cync Keypad Dimmer Smart Switch
Let’s begin with the {hardware}. The massive button within the heart of the system is an easy energy toggle. A pair of up and down buttons under that management brightness on demand, stepping via 10 ranges every time you faucet. A row of white LEDs throughout the highest of the change supplies a visible indicator of the place you stand within the brightness vary. You may maintain down these two buttons to regularly dim or brighten the lights; however as with most dimmers, this methodology is gradual going.
With all these wires and wire nuts, it may be difficult to stuff the GE Cync Keypad Dimmer again into {the electrical} field.
Christopher Null/Foundry
The Cync Keypad Dimmer options two further buttons, which you’ll be able to’t miss should you’ve checked out any of the pictures on this evaluation. These are smaller buttons stacked on prime of the first energy button. These two buttons are configurable by the consumer—though simply how configurable they’re is determined by what different gear you might have put in in your house.
The most simple choices for these two buttons will work for something linked to the change: Using the Cync app, you possibly can set them to show the linked load on (solely) or off (solely) or toggle the on/off state. But the true worth comes from configuring these buttons to regulate both the colour of the sunshine or cycle via scenes configured within the Cync app.
In different phrases, you possibly can simply faucet certainly one of these buttons to set the suitable temper without having to fish your telephone out of your pocket or depend on a voice assistant. It’s a useful characteristic should you generally change themes inside a room, however there’s an enormous catch for utilizing it: Color and scene controls solely work with GE Cync good lights—they don’t even must be wired to this change for these buttons to work.
The GE Cync app helps you to program the dimmer’s plethora of buttons for altering lighting colours and scenes, however this characteristic works greatest with GE Lighting’s personal Cync lighting merchandise.
Christopher Null/Foundry
Unfortunately, GE Lighting didn’t ship me any Cync bulbs, so I had restricted alternatives to check these options. The extra generic capabilities of those buttons (and the change as a complete) labored positive, though half the time the Cync app appears to be deliberately convoluted and complicated, making configuration lower than intuitive.
TrueImage is one other curious characteristic of the Cync app that’s price mentioning. This isn’t nicely documented, so I didn’t know precisely what to anticipate from it earlier than I attempted it. Setting it up invitations you to snap a photograph of your linked gentle fixture when it’s off, and a separate shot when it’s on at full brightness. TrueImage then melds these two photographs collectively to create a form of dynamic icon within the Cync app.
Touching that icon dims and brightens in time with the dimmer’s brightness setting, providing you with a extra nuanced sense of how the room’s lighting will look. It’s type of a superfluous perform, however it’s at the very least a neat trick, and it really works much better than I anticipated.
Should you purchase the GE Cync Keypad Dimmer Smart Switch?
Regardless of how nicely it really works, the largest purpose to purchase this dimmer over one thing from the competitors—whether or not that be a less expensive system just like the Tapo or much more costly different—is should you additionally have GE Lighting’s Cync bulbs within the room the place you plan to put in it. Even then, you’ll must be ready to stay with a busy industrial design that’s higher suited to an workplace constructing than the everyday house.
All that apart, for households incessantly leaping between lighting scenes and colours, this type of answer is perhaps handy. The $38 avenue worth is perhaps steep, but it surely’s loads cheaper than a Lutron Diva smart dimmer (which does require a hub). And should you’re not putting in a change in each room, it won’t be as huge a deal.
This evaluation is a part of TechHive’s in-depth protection of the best smart lighting controls.