5 SMART BUTTONS for Home Assistant (How I Use Them)

In todays video we are having a quick look at 5 different smart buttons that I make use of in my Smart Home using Home Assistant. I give a bit of information on each button and also share my use for them!
We are having a look at buttons from Amazon, Aqara, Sonoff, Philips Hue and Shelly.
Sonoff and Aqara use CR2450s! I said the wrong battery in the voiceover sorry!
▬ 🎥 VIDEO CHAPTERS: ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
0:00​​​​ - Intro
0:23 - How I classify a Button
0:57​ - BUTTON 1 (Amazon Echo Button)
4:11 - BUTTON 2 (Aqara Wireless Mini Switch)
6:10 - BUTTON 3 (Sonoff Wireless Switch - SNZB-01)
9:54 - BUTTON 4 (Philips Hue Smart Button)
11:53 - BUTTON 5 (Shelly B1)
14:53 - Your Recommendations?
15:20 - Outro
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#aqara​​​​ #homeassistant​​​​ #smartbuttons

[@valentinene]

Thanks for the video. At home i'm using all kind of Ikea buttons - starting with the big, round one and ending with simple on/off. They've been working pretty well and very cheap also. I'm using also a Xiaomi button, the round one - pretty nice piece of hardware, very small, it's able to send 4 or 5 different events (single, double, triple, long pushes)

[@wwolfram33]

Great work Mark!

[@ProjectileGrommet]

CANNOT WAIT for the scene remote video

[@Banjoba]

This video was great. Your the best channel for Home Assistant and associated devices. Good stuff.

[@MarkWattTech]

Thanks Paul. Really appreciate it. Glad you are enjoying the content.

[@toine512fr]

What's good is that you show how the Sonoff button works. Up to this point I thought it was an touch sensor button! 👍🏻

[@brianpoling5373]

I would be very interested in the Shelly Discovery script setup video. You instruction videos have been very helpful as I learn Home Assistant.

[@frogeye22]

Really useful video - you come up with some great content for us. Thank you for your efforts

[@MarkWattTech]

Thank you for the feedback. Really appreciate it and so glad you find it useful 😁

[@alex85us]

Awesome video. Thank you

[@MarkWattTech]

Thank you! Appreciate the feedback 😁

[@MartinTvTV]

The kettle automation is probably one of the most British things I have ever seen.

[@MarkWattTech]

I was waiting for somebody to say that haha

[@gedgicat2063]

Nice video, I've also had issues with Shelly integration monitoring (responding to) inputs,. Does the Shelly discovery plug in work on HA container?

[@MarkWattTech]

I would think it does but I’ve not tested it on a container. Discoveries has also helped with a shelly vintage that used to constantly drop out 👍🏻

[@zachariahm.kemper7406]

Ate there any buttons with pins so that they can be connected to other buttons, if there are any that can do that then be virtually pressed it could be used to turn on anything with an on button, my pc I keep backwards so its hard to reach the power and it be nice if I could just virtually press it

[@DavidFrankland]

Regarding the Aqara button, the WXKG12LM has an accelerometer, so has an additional "shake" action.

[@makeitworktech]

Great video! The Aqaras are my favorite of these. Weird, I had no trouble using the Shelly Button1 with the Shelly integration.

[@thanoswasright626]

How do you add the Sonoff Wireless Switch - SNZB-01 in HA?

[@Phelton2183]

Good video... But in my opinion the best button is Ikea tradfre button..the best button that i have tried with home assistant. Little, zigbee and with many function (single press, duble Press, long press ecc.)

[@alex85us]

Do you need the ikea gateway for it ?

[@MarkWattTech]

Im actually yet to try any of the tradfri stuff. No doubt I will amass a mountain of “needed” devices whenever I next visit Ikea 😂

[@pimw9805]

Yes, fully agreed. The Ikea Shortcut button is the best "single button style" button: it's small, sturdy, can be screwed to the wall, is zigbee-based. And best of all: very, very cheap (€8). Connecting it to the Conbee II can be difficult. But once connected, it is rock-solid and very reliable.

[@MarkWattTech]

@@pimw9805 I will add it to my list :)

[@robert.wigley]

I absolutely agree with this. I have been waiting to see a video comparing it to other buttons that were already on the market (as the Tradfri Shortcut Button has only been out a fairly short while and was very difficult to get hold of to start with due to short supply). It's *so* cheap, is Zigbee, works perfectly with Home Assistant (once you use a condition template to deal with the weird triple press registered issue you get with a single press - ignore presses if pressed less than a second ago) and you can print your own graphical inserts to show what the button is for (which is my favourite feature by far and something I have not seen any other button designed to allow). It also has very flexible mounting options. I have not been able to get a double press to work, as it always registers multiple presses on a single press, needing me to template out that behaviour. I am using ZHA; maybe it doesn't do this with Deconz?

[@rhosk]

Drinking Game! - with the drink word "Button!!" -- I don't think you'd finish the video..... :) Seriously, another great video, Mark! And, as the previous poster mentioned, I had no troubles with Shelly integration and the Button1.

[@shaunwhiteley3544]

Thanks for video, iv had 2 Amazon buttons stuck in a draw and never used, this made me go and try setting them up, my wake word is computer. When I try “computer add my button “ it just adds button to my shopping list. Any suggestions please, tried several times. UK if that makes a difference? Cheers

[@MarkWattTech]

Hmm you could manually try doing it. Press and hold the button so that it flashes orange. Then when its orange go into your echos bluetooth settings and it should see the button. If you select it the echo should say its connecting to the button and pair them.

[@shaunwhiteley3544]

@@MarkWattTech Sorry, I missed the reply notification. Thanks, checking the Bluetooth settings on the Alexa device, shows it but it was showing as disconnected. I connected it and it now works 😀. I will monitor to see if it goes disconnected again. Thanks for advice 👍.

[@dronenb]

Mark, have you released your video about scene remotes? I can’t seem to find it.

[@MarkWattTech]

It’s one if the ones I scrapped. I did cover 9 different controllers but I wasn’t happy with the final video so it never released. If your interested I can list the ones from the video :)

[@dronenb]

@@MarkWattTech I’m super interested, if you’re willing!

[@VWTesla]

I picked up some inexpensive FLIC buttons and I use them for some home automation. I currently have a separate computer (Mac Mini) that relays the button presses to my home assistant which does the actual work (e.g. toggling my bathroom lights or on long press activating a dimming routine). I do find the FLIC buttons to wear out a bit sooner and I might see about pairing to my home assistant directly; however the FLIC buttons are bluetooth and have limited range so while this is a cheap option it's not the best. The relay through flic app isn't too user friendly (the double quotes get recast and that often breaks my HA routines but maybe that's a mac-only thing that could be fixed) plus I have to use a bearer token with the REST API but it seems to work. Thanks for the video!

[@MarkWattTech]

Thank you for sharing 👍🏻😄

[@petertaylor7134]

Hi mate having issues with zigbee devices dropping off and showing up as unavailable. I am using deconz and a conbee 2, any idea's? It seems to only effect the same devices. I have removed the devices and re-added a number of times and I have put the conbee on a long usb cable with no effect. It's driving me nuts!

[@MarkWattTech]

Heya :) What kind of devices are they?

[@petertaylor7134]

@@MarkWattTech Smartthings multipurpose sensor's. I have read that people having similar problems have changed the WiFi channel to stop interference but unfortunately my deco mesh system does not have this option.

[@welshy1812]

Another great video Mark ! I have a few of the Ikea buttons, very cheap, starting at only £6. I have a smart bulb that's linked to my Webex status through home assistant that is outside my home office so the kids know when I'm on a video call (light is red). There is an ikea tradfri button outside the door so they can press it and that alerts me via another smart bulb inside the room, I can then reply from another tradfri button turning the outside light green if it's ok for them to come in !

[@robert.wigley]

I do something similar linked to Microsoft Teams meeting status (automatically via the fairly new mutesync integration, which is a little flakey but being constantly improved - I am a beta tester so am providing plenty of feedback) but don't have a "can I enter" button (yet). I like this idea though, so may have to make a few modifications. 😆 In case you haven't thought of it, as well as a status light, I have Alexa announcing when I go into and come out of a meeting. 😁

[@welshy1812]

@@robert.wigley That sounds great, I'd forget to turn that off when my wife is nightshift and sleeping while I work though 🤣

[@robert.wigley]

@@welshy1812 I just set the Echo's to Do Not Disturb on a schedule and have a "mute upstairs" input boolean for when my other half's work schedule is different and she's still in bed in the morning while I am working. 😊

[@MarkWattTech]

Great idea Craig. A few people has suggested the IKE one. Im actually yet to try any of the Tradfri devices but will have to scoop some up.

[@CrypticConsole]

The IKEA buttons are really good

[@larkbox8427]

personally i use the cheap(2-3usd) 433 mhz buttons that run off 2 or 3 x 20mm coin cells in conjunction with a 10 usd sonoff rf bridge flashed with tasmota.. battery life 2yrs+ with moderate daily use node red sits in the background responding to any and each button press i use.

[@dixonbg]

Shelly integration should be adding "events" that you can use to trigger automation. Check in developer tools for these "events" where you can test them and see event id and device id. These should be used in your event trigger.

[@MarkWattTech]

Yup i did this as one of the many things. No events where being fired by mine. Happy with how its working at the minute though

[@JessicaCoates666]

Looking forward to the scene remote video, I got the 4 button one working with zha fine but cant for the life of me get the 6 scene one to work I bought today, even tried creating a new quirks file

[@MarkWattTech]

Have you tried listening to the zha events and creating automations based off those? :)

[@JessicaCoates666]

@@MarkWattTech Sadly it doesnt seem to trigger any events when listening unlike the 4 button one, even tried removing and re-pairing

[@bobvanmierlo6712]

You should try the Flic buttons. Small, long battery life and very capable. You do need a Flic hub though, or selfhost the hub SDK on a Raspberry Pi

[@MarkWattTech]

I did look into these but they where quite pricey with the hub etc. Have your tried them with a Pi? :)

[@bobvanmierlo6712]

They work perfectly with a self hosted server on a Pi. I'd not recommend a pi zero, a 3 or 4 should be perfect though. The only downside is the fact that they're Bluetooth, the range is small compared to Aqara zigbee buttons.

[@MarkWattTech]

@@bobvanmierlo6712 thanks for sharing Bob 👍🏻

[@robert.wigley]

@@bobvanmierlo6712 That's what puts me off the Flic buttons, price and the fact they are Bluetooth, hence poor range. ☹️

[@welshy1812]

@@robert.wigley Same. Looked at Flic before getting a Zigbee usb stick and the ikea tradfri buttons, great value and performance.

[@afcragg]

I'm interested in the shelly to mqtt video.

[@MarkWattTech]

I will add it to the list :)

[@ehbarooo]

I would like to see a universal remote style smart button with like 10-15 button who can act as trigger

[@MarkWattTech]

Checkout the Yio Remote :) It’s HA compatible

[@nickcooper7133]

Great video. I like your presentation style, to the point no filling. New sub/like from me. FYI the Sonoff takes a CR2450 not a CR2032 as you stated at 6:33. I think you knew that though, just a woopsie. Keep up the great videos. Recently got the Tuya Zigbee 4 Button scene switch. Quite impressive TBH. Integrating into Hubitat / Node-Red so fun times ahead no doubt.

[@MarkWattTech]

I did mention this in the description and actually changed it but uploaded the unedited version (facepalm). I just said the wrong one in the voice over, despite looking at it 😂. Thanks Nick! 😁

[@sanjaybali4092]

Always amazing ... Love from India... ❤️

[@cassio2999]

bud'en nice bud'en

[@matthewmalpeli]

There's a brilliant blueprint for Aqara buttons that allows you to trigger automations with 1, 2, 3, 4 and multiple taps plus a hold press giving each button a minimum of 6 possible actions. If you use an input select to change between different sets of automations and scenes like I do, then the number of potential situations you can trigger the right automation for with just a few clicks is almost endless

[@MarkWattTech]

I do something similar switching between a set of modes. And each mode defines a series of presses etc. Endless possibilities :)

[@matthewmalpeli]

@@MarkWattTech I share my home with a shift worker, so we had to find a way to make certain that things didn't happen when they were asleep, like, all the lights turning on at 100% brightness because they moved a foot six inches to the left while they were asleep. Or this was a good one... The bedroom squeezebox syncing up between double shifts because I nipped into the ensuite bathroom for 30 seconds to get some TicTacs while I was listening to My Bloody Valentine in the lounge room. That went down well...

[@matthewmalpeli]

@@MarkWattTech Actually, that's not a bad idea for some clickbait vids. Get your audience to tell you about their epic smart home fails, recreate the conditions that led to the fail, and then show how it should have been set up in the first place. The schadenfreude is strong in this one 🤭

[@MarkWattTech]

@@matthewmalpeli 😂😂 (mr burns *excellent smithers*)

[@matthewmalpeli]

@@MarkWattTech I used to call mine "modes" in my first couple of attempts at Home Assistant too, but we already have "modes" to describe the four different types of automations (I'm still confused by three of them too, if you need a good, under represented HA topic to run a video on!) So, when I started my third HA iteration a couple of months ago, I had a think about what to rename these "modes". Supermodes seemed a bit too cartoonish for my tastes. But what else to name them? Now I call them "The Situation". What's the situation? Asleep, Awake, All Away, Half Asleep, Party On, and NO AUTOS. The last one is for those times when you don't need an auto interrupting an out-of-the-ordinary situation. I have it so that whatever room I'm in, all the automations involving that room are turned off. Great for setting up new scenes or those times when you want to change something and want to test things out before going live. It's tips like this that would have been really helpful in the begining. The Situation now guides my hand in so many interesting and surprising ways that I don't think I could do half the things I can without it.

[@NFawc]

No FLIC2? It's one of the only buttons to be able to fire off Echo routines! So the best two IMHO are the Hue Smart Button and Flic2. Hue if you have the Hue hub already. The Flic2 if you want to control Echo routines.

[@MarkWattTech]

I'm still yet to try the Flic2 but its on my list :) Also you can use any buttons to fire off Echo routines using The Alexa Media player integration.

[@NFawc]

@@MarkWattTech Alexa Media Player integration? What's that? Something to do with Home Assistant?

[@simonburke6681]

or DIY with some buttons, a nodemcu with ESPHome or Tasmota :)

[@MarkWattTech]

I have a lot of DIY project ideas which I will be working on and sharing after I move house :D

[@KeyBored101]

I have to try this, are there videos for it?

[@simonburke6681]

@@KeyBored101 Find buttons on the Tasmota knowledge base, there are heaps of configurations and a schematic with how to wire with pull up or pull down resistors. I'm using 6 buttons that have 7 actions on each using mqtt.

[@scottwhitaker1067]

Aqara Opple!

[@MarkWattTech]

I will take a look 😃

[@grommet20002000]

Ikea tradfri button , and flic

[@74357175]

Qq: which of these is Bluetooth? Is the Amazon one?

[@MarkWattTech]

Sorry if I didn’t make it clear. It is indeed the Amazon one.

[@vvictoria6214]

What is a "buh'n" ?

[@zyghom]

the question is: how to fill in the kettle automatically?

[@MarkWattTech]

I hope to one day have a robot butler 😂❤️

[@MrSupaart]

please teach me on how to set smart button to play youtube music playlist directly to my google speaker in home assistant. By just pressing the button, then the music will start automatically. Thnks in advance

[@jeepdog5]

weird, the only quality available is 360p. Anyone else?

[@avabarbiesquad]

I only have 480...

[@AlexBoltonKing]

360p for me too... KZbin servers might be being slow at converting the others. Mark can you see any errors on the video?

[@MarkWattTech]

Yeah its a KZbin thing :S Check back in a bit!

[@MarkWattTech]

Think its just taking a while to process on KZbin

[@MarkWattTech]

For whatever reason this vid is taking a while to process on KZbin. Should be okay in a little while.

[@CarlDavison]

There is a reason I very rarely watch your videos past a few minutes and it is not because of anything specific to disliking you, more so that you just constantly trigger my bloody Alexa whenever you say it. Please consider using a diff name for it like most others do.

[@MarkWattTech]

You are the first to comment on this and raise it as an issue, but I will take it onboard 👍🏻

[@CarlDavison]

@@MarkWattTech Please don't think I am complaining for complaining sake, I really want to watch the videos, hence why I clicked on it. The use of the word just drives my house insane, especially when you say it so much. Other than that minor niggle the content is fantastic. In most cases I have to put my headphones on to listen though :( Keep up the good work and please accept this as constructive criticism rather than someone just being a troll etc..

[@MarkWattTech]

Totally took it as constructive criticism dude :) I do often just try and say "Echo" as not many people use that as a trigger word :P Thank you for the feedback :D