TP-Link Tapo Matter Smart Light Switch: Voice Control w/Siri, Alexa & Google Home | UL Certified | Timer & Schedule | Easy Guided Install | Neutral Wire Required | Single Pole |…

Necesita neutro. Home assistant lo detecto automáticamente y como es matter después de agregarlo HA lo agregué sin problemas a Alexa.

No tiene dimmer ni sensor de consumo.

Fantastic product . was easy to set up and get working . replaced all my garbage wemo products . Wemo dimmers never worked right . these Tapo products are just well designed and functional.

the UI IS SWEET AS WELL!!

i strongly recommend this product and i don’t write many reviews !!!

I got this to replace my Feit Electric dimmer (the “DIM/WIFI” model). The Feit was better looking, and easier to install, but uses the Tuya app (basically suspected Chinese spyware which isn’t always compatible with different smart services) and wasn’t Matter-certified. I wanted Matter for better future-proofing. The Feit also did this annoying thing where it was lit up on the panel when off, a sort of standby mode, which wasn’t great if you wanted proper darkness. The devices are priced similarly.

The TP-Link (Tapo) dimmer here isn’t quite as attractive as the Feit. It uses a weird UI where it looks like an always-on rocker that uses the “down” button for both on and off, has dimming buttons that go horizontal instead of vertical, and has a loud and cheap sound when pressed. This has been true of old TP-Link Kasa products, too. At least it doesn’t have branding on it, same as the Feit. Both have a removable, proprietary faceplate that looks fine and snaps on and off. I’m glad that the switch itself doesn’t light up in the dark, as with the Feit (the Tapo has an ever-so-faint WiFi signal circle that isn’t intrusive).

Installing it was also worse than the Feit. The Feit has holes for wires to enter and lock down with screws. This TP-Link has jiggly, finicky little plates that the wires go under, and because the screws can come all the way out, the plates can, too, so you need to pay close attention. The Feit has holes for every wire needed, including extras, while the TP-Link requires (provided) wire nuts for both the Neutral and Ground. Both come with labels, and while the TP-Link labels are clearer they are also much larger and don’t stick well.

The Feit has two screw options for attaching to the wall box, whether it’s small or large (I don’t know the standard measurements) and both are metal. The TP-Link has metal if you have a larger box, but plastic for smaller boxes. The smaller option does come with the option to adjust the screw side-to-side (the larger does not), which is useful if your box is not level. However, you need to be careful not to screw it in too hard, as the plastic is very soft and you can screw right through it. I think you could solve this with a couple of cheap metal washers, but it’s definitely a design flaw. It’s especially problematic if you’re relying on the screws to keep the device flush with the wall, which is typical of these devices because they take up much more space than non-smart dimmers and it gets crowded with the cables, necessitating pressure from the screws.

My Google Home recognized the device right away (which was actually kind of annoying because I wanted to set up using Smartthings and the popup was intrusive). I was able to add it via Matter-over-WiFi and my Smartthings V2 hub, and it shows up in my linked Google Home. However, I did have to unlink Smartthings from Google Home, and then reauthorize it (“reconnect” alone did not work). This is a Matter problem, not really a TP-Link or Tapo problem. I had the same issue with my Tapo Matter smart outlet. Hopefully Matter fixes this in the future.

Because this is Matter-over-WiFi, a Thread border hub isn’t needed, but I use a hub for tons of other things anyway. This is not a Thread device, so it won’t build out any Thread network, but it will still work with Matter if you’re OK putting it directly on the WiFi.

So far, it’s working as it should. The switch works normally, and I haven’t had disconnects. I did have disconnects with the Tapo Matter smart outlet, and those were solved by downloading the Tapo app and upgrading the device firmware, so I did the same preemptively for this dimmer. It’s annoying that you have to download the Tapo app to get full functionality, but it’s basically standard fare for smart devices at the moment, at least until Matter gets its act together. I just download the proprietary apps, get what I need from them, and delete them, preferring my Smartthings setup for smartphone control, and my Google Home for voice control.

This is a decent dimmer for the price, if you can live with how it looks and installs and the quirks of Matter in Dec 2023. If ever a Matter-over-Thread dimmer is released, and looks at all half-way decent, I’ll probably move to that. For now, this works and gets the Chinese spyware out of my house.

Muy bueno, se ve muy bonito. Luce y facilísimo de configurar

I’m not an electrician, and I was quite intimidated by the thought of installing this in my apartment suite rental. I put off on buying this for that very reason and went with smart bulbs instead. After a little research on the internet, I started feeling more comfortable with the idea of installing these switches. Here’s what you need to know (from a non technical standpoint).

Your home needs to have a neutral wire in the switch box for this to work. There is apparently a workaround for homes without a neutral wire, but I can’t advise on that. If your home is a newer build, it may already have neutral wires. Here’s how to know if you have neutral wires in tour light switch box:

-Turn the breaker to your light switch off and confirm there is no power to the switch (by turning the switch on to confirm no lights come on and also with the use of a non contact voltage meter).

-Unscrew the screws holding the switch cover, and then unscrew the switch itself to pull it out. If there are only two screws on your switch with wires attached, then this is the product for you.
(NOTE: If there are three screws with electrical wire attached to your switch, this is NOT the Tapo product for you. This means you have a three-way switch and Tapo makes a separate product for that.)

-Now look inside the switch box to find a small bundle of wires (two or three maybe) all twisted together with a wire nut on them. This will be the neutral wires you are going to add the Tapo neutral wire to. If you have this small bundle of wire, you are good to go.
(The only other thing you should see inside the box is a bare copper wire. This may be screwed to the box itself or may just be resting inside the box. This is the ground wire.)

If your light switch and box meet the conditions above, then this Tapo product is for you and an easy one to install.

The Tapo switch has four wires coming out of it, all labeled on the back. The Tapo switch also comes with wire nuts so you can securely add the Tapo wires to the existing wires. I would recommend removing then adding one wire at a time, leaving all the other existing wires alone until ready to connect them. In other words, disconnect ONE of the wires from your old switch, leaving the other one still connected. Connect one of the Tapo black wires to this one and then put the wire nut on it and make sure it’s secure. Next, disconnect the other wire from your old switch and connect the second Tapo black wire to this. Cap it with a wire nut.
(Note that it doesn’t matter which black wire attaches to which of the old switch wires. If one of your old switch wires has TWO wires together going to ONE screw, keep these wires together and simply add one of the black Tapo wires to these wires.)

Next, connect Tapo’s white neutral wire to the bundle of neutral wires existing in your box. After adding the Tapo neutral wire and putting a wire nut on it and testing that it is secure, finally add the green Tapo ground wire to the ground wire in your box.

Make sure no bare copper wire is showing (except for the ground wire obviously). Push everything back into the box and screw the new Tapo switch into the box where the old switch was. I would turn the breaker back on at this point to see if the switch works. Even before being paired with your network. The Tapo switch will still turn on and off the power to whatever it controls. If it works, put the Tapo cover on. It’s a snap-on cover. Very easy to put on.

The last thing to do id add the switch to the Tapo app amd to your network. And now you’re ready to start using your new Tapo switch!

I had started on my smart home journey many years ago and had initially used Belkin Wemo switches for my light fixtures. The Wemos never worked well, and I had switched them all out a number of years ago, replacing them with TP-Link Kasa switches, which have been trouble free and worked great with both Alexa and the Kasa app. I have 5 Kasa dimmer smart switches and I recently decided to add another one. In my search on Amazon I did find the Kasa switch but also saw that there was a newer model, which is this Tapo model. It looks to be the same as my Kasa switch, but also supported Matter.

The Tapo switch looks and installs just like the older Kasa model. With installation, it’s straight forward, but key is having the neutral wiring as not all homes have them. You will also need to be a distinguish between the line and load wires (not important in older switches), so having a non-contact voltage tester would be helpful. The hardest part of the installation is tucking away the wires to get the switch to fit inside the wall box. The snap on cover plate gives the switch a nice clean look.

With the switch installed, the next step is adding it to the app. It does not work with the old Kasa app, but the good news for me was that the Tapo app will work with my older Kasa smart devices. I downloaded the Tapo app and signed in with my TP-Link account, and it immediately populated all of my Kasa devices. Adding this switch was easy, just clicking on the “+” button and selecting the product. It found it right away and only took a few minutes. I have always liked the Kasa app and the Tapo app looks to be even better, as it’s intuitive, though I will need some time to try out the features. On my Alexa, I did unlink my Kasa skill and then linked the Tapo skill, though not sure if I really had to do that. Alexa found the Tapo switch right away and works as expected in controlling it.

As Tapo supports Matter, I did also add it to Apple Home Kit. None of my older switches support Home Kit, so this is the only smart switch on Home Kit. To add to Home Kit, it just requires the QR code from the device, which I did not find in or on the box, so I initially thought it’s probably on the back of the switch, which didn’t make much sense to me. However, in looking at the device in the Tapo app, there was an option to show the QR code, so problem solved. Adding to Home Kit was also quick and easy once I had the QR code.

I have over 2 dozen TP-Link smart devices in my home setup. All of them are in the Kasa line except for this new Tapo switch. I can attest to the quality of their devices and am happy that TP-Link is continuing to bring new functionality to their line.