Brilliant Control - Claims It Will Work with SmartThings (But limited Integration)

Devices & Integrations Connected Things
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I replied to you in another forum, but want to put some of the Brilliant specific stuff here. I have a 1-gang, 2-gang, and 3-gang Brilliant switch. The build quality is really great and they look amazing when installed. It has the potential of being a really great product.

My main complaint is that they are looking at integrations with other products in one direction. What I mean is they are focusing on “what can the Brilliant switch control”. So, it integrates with Sonos, Wemo, and some others to control them. It integrates with SmartThings, but the integration is one direction. It can control SmartThings devices (lights and locks), but SmartThings cannot control it.

This is a kind of a big deal to me. I asked their support about integration the other way and they said it was possible, but “We believe that over time, Brilliant will also be able to bring together and automate multiple products directly from our mobile app”

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22

Thanks for the feedback. That is indeed a disappointment, that the switches aren’t exposed to SmartThings for control. I thought I saw on their website that the switch itself is exposed as Z-Wave, but I must be thinking of Bright. I’m thinking of using it mostly as a replacement for my Enerwave scene controllers, so it could still work, as I don’t have local loads in those gang boxes. Can you program the physical slider to control something remote, or can the slider only control a local load? Thanks! Hopefully they are available for purchase soon for non-backers.

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I’ll have to check when I am home, but I think you can configure the sliders to control remote devices.

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Just curious…

If you don’t need to control a local load, why pay $299+ for a Brilliant, when you could spend less for a tablet running any of a number of home control apps (including ActionTiles of course).

Amazon Fire HD aren’t optimal - though built-in wake word Alexa matches the voice control feature of Brilliant. Some other tablets are likely to support Google Assistant.

If you don’t need a large size then… A phablet…?

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I don’t mind the tablet approach, and have a few, but the WAF is marginal at best. The appeal of something like Brilliant is the simplicity and polish of a scene controller, with the functionality of a tablet.

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What characteristics of Brilliant makes it “simple” and/or other specific influences on WAF / FAF?

  • physical appearance? Gang box style tablets may be feasible at lower price points. But folks are getting creative with clean looking mounts.

  • touch sliders are maybe less critical in a split screen app with dedicated on-screen sliders?

?

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Combination of form-factor, stability / simplicity (not accidentally exiting the application or having the tablet restart for updates), and physical controls of course.

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Thanks for the response.

That example of simplicity can be implemented via rather minimal Android OS tailoring to ensure a true “Kiosk Mode” experience… In fact, that’s pretty much what Brilliant and other manufacturers of these controllers are doing.

The use of Amazon Fire HD tablets as controllers is sub-optimal because they cannot be arbitrarily customized. Amazon wants to remain in control, and have their own kiosk mode which is called “Show Mode” (i.e., act like an Echo Show).

It seems that Amazon (and perhaps Google) is quite capable of creating a light switch mountable controller product. Hmmm…

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There are a few things about Brilliant that appeal to me.

First is compatibility. The ability for full Sonos control, for example, is pretty nice.

Form factor. There simply aren’t any tablets that look suitable for my wall. Small tablets don’t really exist any more, and those that do are cheap pieces of plastic. If you have a good recommendation, I’m open.

And the ability to install it in an unused outlet box is pretty sweet. No additional wires to feed or holes to put in the wall is a good deal.

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How are they working so far? Any delays in switch to light communication?

Do you have the ability to put custom smart things scene controls into the interface?

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Looks like they are finally shipping.

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I actually really like the Brilliant. It is a really slick product and well made. No delay in operation of the lights.

As for SmartThings integration it can only control switches and locks at this time. Although, for some reason, only my Z-Wave switches show up as an option. I’m not sure which capability the SmartApp is programmed for, but none of my Lutron lights are an option . . . which is weird.

They have a “scene” option built in, but I honestly haven’t played with it. I believe it lets you setup scenes with your Brilliant lights and devices that you have integrated into your Brilliant setup. You could probably create a virtual switch to control a SmartThings scene if you could figure out which device capability the SmartApp is looking for (the code is not published as far as I can see).

My main beef is that I can’t control the Brilliant lights with SmartThings. So they currently live outside of all my SmartThings automations. I’ve lived with it, but it does really bug me.

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Out of curiosity, what could SmartThings control on the Brilliant devices?

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Any load you have attached to the Brilliant.

I just ordered one to replace an Enerwave scene controller for a gang-box where I have no loads attached, but the utility of them is obviously limited if they can’t be controlled by Smartthings. I just emailed them the same and would encourage others to email support@brilliant.tech to encourage them to support this core use-case.

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Yep, as @swamplynx mentioned being able to control the lights attached to the Brilliant is an import feature for a lot of SmartThings users I would guess. I have probably half a dozen automations that control the lights in my home. Like turning them all off when everyone leaves, randomly turning some on when on vacation (to simulate someone home), dim lights to a certain level at night as night lights, turn on all lights if the smoke alarm goes off (for easy exit).

As awesome as the Brilliant lights are, not being able to control them with SmartThings leaves a big hole in my setup.

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36

I just got a reply from their support…

  1. We support control of SmartThings (lights, locks, and doors), and allow SmartThings to control our lights. We don’t currently support Z-Wave devices natively, but those can be accessed through hubs, so I believe that should work.

Potentially a software update before the production units ship in the next week or so? Or just a misinformed support person?

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Hopefully a software update. My talks with support have been less encouraging. They made it seem like their main focus is controlling devices from the Brilliant switch itself . . . so Nest, Wemo, Hue, etc. Being able to control their switch from something else almost seemed like a totally new idea to them. So I hope they will release an update soon.

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Wow… 100% show stopper from me. We’ll see if the update brings anything.

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It’s rather hilarious how myopic some companies can be sometimes.

In this case, it’s equally possible that Brilliant has consciously decided to defer that reverse operation. It may be something they felt valuable and essy to drop from their timeline in order to expedite delivery, or they feel that Brilliant households aren’t likely to overlap that much with SmartThings households, or that they consist their product to be in competition with the ST platform.

Brilliant switches can control other Brilliant switches, right? Therefore they can sell more of their product by not facilitating control by competitors.

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Homekit support is coming :slight_smile: