Lights are an obvious place to jump into smart home technology, and more and more, I lean into smart switches. With a smart switch, it doesn’t matter what type of bulb or fixture you have—the control comes from the switch itselt. I find these switches to be more stable than lightbulbs and cost effective over the long haul. Leviton, a well-known name in the lighting space, has a notable wall switch almost half off right now: The Leviton Decora Smart Voice Dimmer Switch with Amazon Alexa, normally $108.99, is just $66.99. Here’s why it’s worth grabbing right now.
This is a single pole light switch, meaning you need to actually replace an existing wired wall switch. Don’t let that intimidate you, though; replacing a wall switch is one of the most basic electrical jobs you can do around a house, as long as you turn off the circuit first. Leviton provides clear instructions.
The switch itself is self explanatory: Tap the top button to turn on the light, and hold it to make the light brighter. Tap the bottom button to turn the light off or dim it. The magic is in the top and bottom light indicators. Leviton has basically put an entire Alexa speaker in the switch itself. Tap the top button to engage Alexa, or hold it to mute Alexa; the LED lights will change color to show if Alexa is actively listening. The bottom LED above the speaker at the bottom will stay illuminated in case the lights are off so you can find the switch.
Leviton has an app that this switch pairs with that will allow you to further customize routines in conjunction with Alexa. It’s worth noting that the switch works with other assistants like Google and Apple, but is specifically designed for Alexa. When I reviewed Leviton switches last year, one of the notes I had was that the switches could only be used to control Leviton devices, which isn’t a huge ecosystem unless you could access your other devices through an IFTTT integration. Since then, I’ve noticed more brands becoming available on IFTTT, which makes this easier.
