Tech reviews

Leviton Decora Smart Wi-Fi 4-Button Controller review: This device fits its niche almost perfectly


Leviton’s Decora Smart Wi-Fi 4-Button Controller is like a miniature nerve center for your home’s lighting, provided your home’s lighting is controlled by other Decora Smart Wi-Fi devices (e.g., switches, dimmers, outlets, plugs, and ceiling-fan controllers). It can control multiples of these other devices, it can trigger multi-room lighting scenes, or it can simply function as a remote toggle switch for them.

It’s an unusual device, however, in that it can’t control a local load. As such, you wouldn’t use it to replace an existing switch or dimmer. That makes it most useful for new construction, although a professional electrician or a knowledgeable DIYer can perform a retrofit installation. In that case, you’ll need to pull Romex cable from somewhere, cut a hole in the wall where you want the controller to be, install what’s known as an “old work box,” and then make your wiring connections (you’ll connect only the line, neutral, and ground wires). Leviton tells me they’re working on a second version of this controller that will be able to control a local load.

A real problem-solver

I just happened to have a similar multi-button controller that was installed when I built my house back in 2007. But it never worked the way it was supposed to and has been something of a vestigial eyesore ever since. But like Leviton’s product, it was wired with just a line, a neutral, and a ground wire, and it didn’t control any load itself. Leviton’s 4-Button Controller was not only exactly what I needed, it also solved another problem that’s bedeviled me since we moved in.

leviton 4 button controller primary crop Leviton

Leviton’s Decora Smart Wi-Fi 4-Button Controller isn’t much to look at, but it’s as handy as a pocket on a shirt in the right circumstance.

The light on my back porch is controlled by a single switch in my sun room, which is adjacent to my master bedroom on the far side of my home. When I’m in the main part of the house at night and need to turn that light on, it’s a long walk to get to that switch. My earlier solution was to install a Z-Wave smart switch there and connect it to my Vivint smart home system. That enabled me to control the switch with my smartphone at first, and then with a voice command when I deployed Amazon Echoes around the house. But there have been times when I didn’t want to bark at Alexa, and it’s not always convenient to walk over to an Echo so I can use whisper mode.

When I installed Leviton’s 4-Button Controller, I replaced that Z-Wave switch with a Decora Smart Wi-Fi switch and assigned one of the controller’s buttons to toggle that light on and off. I can still also use voice commands, but I only need to walk a few steps to press a button. The controller’s buttons can also do much more than toggle lights, and in some scenarios, each button can control more than one remote device.

leviton 4 button controller back Michael Brown / IDG

The Leviton 4-Button Controller can be back- or side-wired. Note that you’ll need line, neutral, and ground wires, but there’s no connection for a local load.

Programming the buttons

You have three choices for programming each of the controller’s four buttons using the My Leviton app: First, you can set each button to toggle a single Decora Smart Wi-Fi device—a light switch, dimmer, ceiling-fan controller, outlet, or smart plug—on and off when you press the button. Second, you can program each button to “control” multiple devices (turning on a ceiling fan at a predetermined speed—low, medium, high, or max—turning a dimmer on at a predefined brightness—on a scale of 10 to 100 percent—or turning a switch on). Alternatively, you can program the button to turn any of those devices off. The third option is to have a button run an “activity” when you push it. Activities are sequences of events—turning one or more dimmers on at a predefined brightness, for instance.

I found the toggle function to be the most useful option. Think of it as a remote control for any other Decora Smart device you have installed in your home. You can turn a light on before you head to another room, so that the room is already lit when you get there. And if you forgot to turn a light off when you left a room, you can do it remotely from the controller.

You’ll need to know what state the device is in before you press the button, though, because there’s no feedback loop. A green LED below the button will light up when you press it, but it doesn’t stay lit to tell the controlled devices are on. The LED on the fourth button can be programmed to stay lit as a location aid in the dark, or you can leave it turned off if you don’t want the light pollution.



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