There is more than one way to skin the cat and there is more than one switch that you can use to automate your lights at home. Sonoff Mini (review) or Shelly 1 (review) device isn’t your only option – you could try this “no-brand” Tuya/eWelink 2 Way WiFi Switch.
Not everything is great
My first impressions are positive. It looks solid, the terminals are made of metal, and the IoT switch is not only capable of 16A of current switching (250W for LEDs) but also 2-way operation.
Tuya/eWelink 2 Way WiFi Switch switches the main voltage and uses it to control the physical switch as well. Something to bear in mind when setting your lights up.
Instructions are clear and show you how to pair the switch and use it – in my case with eWeLink app. Three schematics show you how to use the switch without the physical switch, with one and with 2-way wall switches.
This is where things start to be very annoying as the switch has two pairing modes
- toggle 10 times for “quick pairing”
- toggle 20 times for “compatibility mode”
I’m not sure who came up with this, but I would love a button on the switch instead. To make things worse, Tuya/eWelink 2 Way WiFi Switch is equipped with a buzzer, which is not only almost as loud as my smoke alarm but will continue beeping throughout the pairing process.
I tried quick pairing 3 times, and each time the final effect was the same. Me getting frustration levels higher. Thankfully after 20 toggles, the compatibility mode worked ok.
There is one more thing I’m going to complain about: terminals. They look promising, but at closer inspection, the terminal screws are too short so thin wires won’t work and you have n-1 of them. I need 6 terminals to connect everything correctly, sadly some terminals will need 2 wires – which means WAGO type splitters will add the bulk to your socket/ceiling fitting.
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Tuya/eWelink 2 Way WiFi Switch in use
Once paired, the switch comes with the same features as any other eWeLink (Sonoff) switch. You will find options for timers and schedules, inching and the LAN mode.
I found the switching latency to be slightly bigger than Sonoff devices, but we are talking ms here. Overall it’s a decent experience once paired. The physical switch works fine as well, although during my reset procedure it failed to register one of the clicks. Not a big issue.
So what’s inside?
Tuya/eWelink 2 Way WiFi Switch is based on ESP8285. Unfortunately, the switch isn’t as open-source friendly as Sonoff. I found TX RX pads (they are main voltage in operation be careful), but nothing else is exposed.
There is a 5 pin header at the bottom of the PCB, but it’s not linked directly to ESP so it looks like a dead-end and I’m stuck forever with eWeLink app – unless I want to take on microscope challenge.
There are no obvious ways to Tasmotize this switch. Shame, I was looking forward to connecting the switch and take over the buzzer functions.
Conclusion
For those who are happy with eWeLink app, Tuya/eWelink 2 Way WiFi Switch will be good enough 16A relay. This switch might be a hard sell considering that Sonoff Mini can be cheaper and comes with an option for Tasmota. Tuya/eWelink 2 Way WiFi Switch costs about £8 and I would be more upset with the whole experience if not for one thing. It made me look hard for options to connect eWeLink to NodeRED – and thanks to this I found something really cool. What do you think about this? Let me know in this Reddit thread.
