Thanks @Sugi,
I’m glad to hear there are tons of options. Makes me feel I made the right choice coming to SmartThings.
I didn’t quite understand the part what you said “how much work I want to put on the back end”.
Do you mean the work involved during setup or processing/tasks handled by the hub?
I was looking for something “officially supported”, which leads me believe integration would be easy but even though I’m new to SmartThings I’m a software engineer and very comfortable around electronics so I don’t mind having to poke around.
While I agree with you on voice commands and I might have Amazon Echo downstairs, here are some scenarios where such remote (like the Lutron) comes in handy - targeting a single light bulb (or a group acting as one).
- Guest room: a remote on the nightstand, on the bedside.
- Kids room, same as above so the kid can dim the light at bed time without the overhead of a tablet or smartphone and without getting out of her bed.
For these scenarios, it must be a simple remote, too many buttons or functions (not in use) will be a distraction.