Paul Hibbert @paulhibbert Laughs from the UK
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Any recommendations on zigbee buttons or smartplugs on sale this week?
Depends on the country you’re in, but most of the big brands have some kind of black Friday sale. Aqara is probably the best known. You could find theirs on sale at Amazon in multiple countries.
Third reality has a particularly good deal on a four pack of Zigbee smart plugs for North America:
USA and thanks this is exactly the info I was looking for!
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Third reality also has a Zigbee button that they have provided an edge driver for. It’s an unusual shape, long and thin, because they used the same case as their switch. But that can be easier to hold and use for some people, so it’s just aesthetic choice. This is also less of a choking hazard for little kids, although I haven’t heard of anyone who actually tested it to those specs. 
Also, on a black Friday sale for the three pack:
It’s also available in plain white.
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If you use Apple home, and you have a Costco membership, Costco has a number of Apple items on a black Friday sale, including $20 off the HomePod mini:
Holiday Specials:
looks like several major Home Automation manufacturers (but not Hue) have their LED strips on sale for Black Friday.
The following all have at least one manufacturer-provided integration with SmartThings. It might be cloud cloud, it might use matter, it might require the LED strip brand’s hub, it might use Zigbee and connect directly to a SmartThings/Aeotec hub. (Remember that SmartThings requires that you have a SmartThings/Aeotec hub or dongle to use matter.)
Features that will vary from model to model include brightness, whether the LEDs are individually addressable (meaning, one part of the strip can be a different different color than another part of the strip: “RGBIC” strips should be individually addressable, at least in zones), whether it also works with HomeKit or not, whether it can “dance” to music (these models have a built-in microphone that will make the lights brighter or darker based on volume in the room, getting a dancing effect), moisture-resistance, etc.
In some cases special features will only be available through the strip’s own app, not through the SmartThings integration. Also, some are more easily extended than others.
Also, pay attention to length. Some strips are about 2 m and some are about 5 m so that’s a big difference.
(I am not including LED strips which can only integrate with smartthings through a third-party like Alexa routines or ifttt, because those integrations are often not very successful with this device class.)
In alphabetical order:
1) Aqara T1
6.5’ (that’s 6 feet, not 16)
10 zones
Tunable white
Zigbee. If connected to an Aqara hub that acts as a matter bridge, it can be brought in through matter that way. That option will not require any custom code.
IP44
Supports HomeKit, including adaptive lighting
$40
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This and Govee are probably the best choice if you want to use the strip as white only for task lighting.
https://www.amazon.com/Aqara-Requires-Million-Gradient-Supports/dp/B0C5XKHCWM/
2) Govee M1
16.4’
1000 lumens
Individually addressable
Matter over WiFi
Music sync in their own app
$70
Lots of people love Govee, and the matter models are the first ones with official integration with SmartThings. Very bright. This is a good sale for them.
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https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B42BWVLM/
3) Kasa KL420L5
16.4’
550 lumens
50 zones
WiFi
IP44, so moisture resistant
$27 (lowest price ever)
Does not work with HomeKit
2 year warranty
If you’re just looking for holiday effects, this is a great value. It’s not bright enough for, say, under cabinet lighting. But it’s really nice for special effects.
https://www.amazon.com/Kasa-Smart-SmartThings-Brightness-KL420L5/dp/B09QBD5J7S/
4) Meross MSL320
32.8’ (spliced 2 16.4 strips)
Not individually addressable
Does colors, but not white
WiFi
$30
Works with HomeKit
Describes itself as bright, but I believe it’s under 500 lm
ETL safety certification
Good quality for a budget strip, but in 2023 not having individual zones makes it feel a little outdated.
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https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08V57NDJQ/
5) Nanoleaf Essential Light Strip
6.4’
Not individually addressable, so the entire strip will be just one color
Matter over Thread
2000 lumens
Not moisture resistant, so not good for bathrooms
Two year warranty
$35
It’s good to see a thread offering, but the reviews on this one are that it seems to be fairly cheaply made, and it’s very hard to bend around corners. Doesn’t seem to have the usual, safety certifications, either. I’m including it because some people are interested in the thread option, but I don’t think it as well engineered as the Meross in the budget category, although it is much brighter.
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https://www.amazon.com/Nanoleaf-Essentials-Bluetooth-Lightstrip-Smarter/dp/B0C1JB8ZPT/
6) Nanoleaf Matter Holiday String Lights
20 m ( intended to cover a 6’ Christmas tree.)
Matter over WiFi
Individually addressable
250 lumens—Not very bright
IP44
Music sync options through the nanoleaf app
Two year warranty
$90
Intended to compete with twinkly, these look like Christmas tree lights. They don’t have the bending issues that the LED strip has, they come wrapped in a coil. Note that this is two connected 10 meter strips with a controller in the middle, so that may affect placement. It works for a tree because you can put the controller on the back side of the tree, but maybe not for other effects like around a mantle.
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https://www.amazon.com/Nanoleaf-Essentials-Matter-Holiday-String/dp/B0CKWLBQG5
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There is a community topic on using LED strips with SmartThings that
covers a bunch of additional models. I’ve only listed the ones here that have notable black Friday sales.
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for those who currently have tremendous feelings with MyQ 
Genie $99 deal at Home Depot
well… I did order one but looks like I will not receive it. Amazon reports it as Shipped by Amazon but the delivery date has changed 3 times with the latest being late next week. The blurb underneath the latest date says if I do not receive it by that date then I can request a refund.
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Hue has a “buy two, get 30% off” deal on some specific models on their own site. This is a better deal than I’ve been seeing elsewhere, where hue discounts are typically 15 to 20%.
Some of these sold out almost immediately, so look at the bottom of the product description to see if there’s an out of stock indicator.
I have several of these and they are great. Fast, batteries last a long time (got mine Nov 22 and still going), uses regular batteries, have single/double/hold taps, and a great deal on sale. Agreed the shape is a little odd, but nothing crazy.
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I am waiting on @JDRoberts to post “What did you buy for BF & CM 2023 edition?”
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