The Sylvania can be standalone, used on a table, or put over a wall switch. It’s battery operated, no wires. You would have to mount it to the wall some way, as you can see from the pictures it’s pretty big.
In general, just means you buy a cheap no contract android phone and never activate it. It will still work with your Wi-Fi so apps will still work with it, including the flic app.
If you mean specifically, Walmart always has one or two models under $25, which ones they are vary literally from week to week.
So you leave it plugged in at home logged into your Wi-Fi and you pair your Flics to that.
You can use the flic with SmartThings through the free IFTTT service very easily.
There is a way to take IFTTT out of the equation and catch the flic app on your phone, but it’s very technical and a lot more work to set up.
As I said, we really like the form factor on the flic buttons and we do use them in our house. But the Sylvania device will pair out of the box with SmartThings and should work very easily. So if you like the look and feel of that one, I would definitely choose that one over the flic.
Here’s a flic at my house. This is at nose height for my service dog and knee height for me ( i’m in a wheelchair with limited hand function), and it’s a nice soft touch which is good for both of us.
Is the back of the Sylvania flush or flat that it can easily be slapped on the wall like the Flic? I see the pic of it on the table and over a light switch, but think she just wants to slap it on the wall itself (no light switches) be done with it and go paint a garage or two.
It comes with a back plate, but I’ve only ever seen it used as a table top remote and that has little tiny feet on it. I don’t know if you can take those off when you put it on the wall.
If you want something that looks more like a regular switch but that you can velcro on the wall, you could try the aspire rf9500. It costs more than the sylvania remote but I think it looks better.
Another community member recently added the rf9500.
Respectfully, every single device discussed so far in this thread is also on that FAQ list. Plus at least a dozen more. I understand your frustration in not being able to find the perfect button, but the community has worked pretty hard to keep that list up-to-date and comprehensive. So I’m not sure what you were expecting, but we can’t list devices that don’t exist.
Aesthetically this one to me is the most pleasing to look at and just a simple flat switch smacked up on the wall. This one has my vote for what you are looking for. JMO
Yep this will work! Although I’ve seen quite a few people now comment on it’s appearance. I’ll see how one looks when it comes in. It doesn’t look so bad in the photos… but I live in a fixer upper soooo maybe any switch looks good
Here’s an update on ST button-testing extravaganza:
Iris button: cancelled the order after the wave of “yea this is crap” came in (TY ST community)
Lutron remote switch: As @JDRoberts said it would, not ST Compatible without it’s own ($189) bridge. Nope. Still a little bitter about the misleading product desc, but I should’ve researched more before buying.
Aeon Wallmote: Ding ding, we have a winner for a mere 3x the price of the former 2. This thing is pretty cool. Slick looking, and it never occurred to me that it’d be beneficial to have a switch that guests can pop off the wall and set on the nightstand to turn off bedroom lamps at bedtime (especially since it’s important that I discourage them from using the lamp’s own switches, which render the remote button solution useless).
Sylvania - That comes in tomorrow. I have another room with no light switch (yea… this is a scalable problem!) to try it in.
That’s the fun part. The before and after. Keep documenting your progress. One new shiny light switch at a time.
That got me thinking. How about putting an Echo Dot (cost containment) in each room and leaving everything very simplistic for now? Anyone that walks into any bedroom, “Alexa, turn the lights on/off”. Whallah, no additional trials and tribulations with switches slapped on the wall or just as an addition to compliment and voice automated without the need for any physical buttons to touch.
LOL and don’t neglect the carpet or the garage doors for too long.
Just so you know, the “Lutron connected bulb remote” (LCBR) actually doesn’t work with the Lutron SmartBridge. It’s a completely separate device on a completely different protocol, only intended for control of smart bulbs, not for any of the other Lutron devices. It’s the Lutron Picos that require the bridge.
As it happens, the protocol the LCBR is using, zigbee, May be able to connect to A SmartThings hub, it’s just that it’s not really easy and a lot of people report it won’t stay connected. So personally, I would recommend just returning it, but if you do want to play around with it a little more, see the following thread. ( assuming you actually bought an LCBR and not a pico.) But be prepared for a lot of very technical discussion and a lot of “it worked for me.” “It didn’t work for me” conversation going back-and-forth.
The wallmote is a really elegant device. Lots of reviews that the battery life is terrible, though, maybe 3 to 4 weeks, so it would be a good idea to test it each time before your guests arrive. But personally I think that’s less of an issue for a guest-room that it is for everyday use since you can just charge it up for each visit.