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March 10, 2023March 11, 2023 by Paisit Wongsongsarn - 4 Comments

Review of SONOFF ZBCurtain Zigbee Smart Curtain Motor

Recently, Sonoff has released a new Zigbee product – called ZBCurtain – that turns your ordinary curtains into smart curtains. With this product, you can experience new benefits when using your curtains, such as automatic opening/closing, remote control through your mobile device, or setting up advanced automation to control your curtains based on factors such as temperature, humidity, or even using input from the other sensors. These smart capabilities provide benefits for your home or workplace, such as increased safety, energy savings, and convenience. The Sonoff Zigbee Curtain Motor (or ZBCurtain for shorts) can be integrated with your existing ordinary curtains, transforming them into smart curtains that can be controlled remotely via your smartphone, your voice commands, or even from a traditional remote controller. ZBCurtain Unboxing Within the package, we can find a wireless remote control, main motor units with a 3.5-meter long cable, and mounting brackets to attach the […]

March 9, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

SONOFF iHost Smart Home Hub enables local control of SONOFF, Tasmota, Matter home automation devices

SONOFF iHost is a Smart Home Hub that enables local control of SONOFF smart switches, lightbulbs, Zigbee sensors, and so on without having to require a connection to the cloud (e.g. eWelink). Future software upgrades will also add more devices such as the ones flashed with Tasmota firmware and any device compatible with the Matter IoT protocol. The gateway is based on either a Rockchip RV1109 SoC with 2GB RAM or a Rockchip RV1126 with 4GB RAM and offers 10/100M Ethernet, WiFi, Bluetooth LE, and Zigbee 3.0 connectivity, as well as a USB 2.0 port to allow for more connectivity. SONFF iHost Smart Home Hub specifications: SoC and Memory Rockchip RV1109 dual-core Arm Cortex-A7 @ 1.5 GHz with RISC-V MCU @ 400 MHz, 2D graphics engine, 1.2 TOPS NPU, 5MP H.264 and H.265 hardware video decoder and encoder, and 2GB DDR4 Rockchip RV1126 quad-core Arm Cortex-A7 @ 1.5 GHz with […]

October 30, 2022October 30, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

SONOFF NSPanel Pro control panel review with Zigbee modules, CAM Slim WiFi camera

ITEAD has sent us a Smart Home kit for review including the SONOFF NSPanel Pro Android control panel and Zigbee gateway, an enclosure stand, the CAM Slim WiFi camera, and four Zigbee modules, namely the SNZB-01 wireless switch, the SNZB-02 temperature & humidity sensor, the SNZB-03 motion sensor, and the SNZB-04 door/window sensor. In this review, we’ll configure the NSPanel Pro controller with the eWelink app in Android, show how to add the WiFi camera and Zigbee devices directly to NSPanel Pro, and go back to the eWelink app for more advanced features such as scenes with triggers and actions. Sonoff NSPanel Pro kit unboxing Let’s get started by having a closer look at the SONOFF NSPanel Pro controller. As previously noted, the device is based on Rockchip PX30 quad-core Cortex-A35 processor and runs Android 8.1. It acts both as a control panel and a WiFi to Zigbee 3.0 gateway. The […]

August 12, 2022October 30, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

SONOFF NSPanel Pro Android control panel doubles as WiFi & Zigbee Smart Home gateway

ITEAD has introduced the SONOFF NSPanel Pro Smart Home control panel running Android 8.1 on a Rockchip PX30 quad-core Cortex-A35 processor and acting as a Smart Home gateway thanks to an 802.15.4 radio for Zigbee 3.0, and 2.4 GHz 802.11b WiFi for connectivity. The NSPanel Pro follows the ESP32-powered SONOFF NSPanel introduced just last year but offers much more flexibility with Android, 2GB RAM, 8GB eMMC flash, and also offers a slightly larger 3.95-inch capacitive touchscreen display with 480×480 resolution. SONOFF NSPanel Pro specifications: SoC – Rockchip PX30 quad-core Cortex-A35 processor with Arm Mali-G31 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC 5.1 flash Display – 3.95-inch capacitive touchscreen color TFT display with 480×480 resolution Audio – 1W speaker, digital microphone for two-way communication (intercom) Connectivity 802.15.4 radio with Zigbee 3.0 support. Matter and BLE Mesh scheduled for 2023 2.4 GHz 802.11b WiFi Sensor – Light sensor for […]

June 17, 2022September 5, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

SONOFF POW Elite ESP32 WiFi power meter switch handles up to 20A load

SONOFF POW Elite is an ESP32-powered smart power meter switch that can handle up to 20A max load to monitor the power consumption of all appliances in a whole room. The data can be visualized in real-time on the built-in LCD or via the eWelink app, up to six-month of hourly power consumption history can be saved, and the system can also be integrated with third-party solutions such as a Home Assistant, IFTTT, and Alexa Energy dashboard. SONOFF POW Elite specifications: WiSoC – Espressif Systems ESP32 dual-core Xtenxa processor @ up to 240 MHz with 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity Wireless – 2.4GHz 802.11 b/g/n WiFi 4 (Bluetooth does not seem to be used) Power Input/Output POWR316D model – 100-240V~ 50/60Hz 16A Max POWR320D model – 100-240V~50/60Hz 20A Max Dimensions – 98 x 54 x 31mm (DIN Rail mountable) Casing Material – PC V0 (Tested with UL94v-0 […]

January 25, 2022January 26, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments

SONOFF ZBMINI-L Zigbee 3.0 Smart Switch works without neutral wire

When using a wireless switch like SONOFF T2 a connection to the neutral wire is needed to power the device, but this is not always feasible/practical as many lights as cabled without a neutral wire. SONOFF ZBMINI-L Zigbee 3.0 smart switch solves this issue as it does not require a neutral wire. Simply connect the two wires for the light and you are good to go. ITEAD says its solution does not require an extra anti-flicker module and relies on an “advanced electricity extraction technique”. SONOFF ZBMINI-L specifications: Connectivity – Zigbee 3.0 via TI CC2652P, up to 50 meter range (line of sight) Input – 100-240V 50/60Hz up to 6A Output – 100-240V 50/60Hz up to 6A Max. Load Resistive – 1380W Max @ 230V, 720W Max @ 120V LED – 300W Max @ 230V, 150W Max @ 120V Dimensions – 54 x 45 x 24mm (supports 35mm DIN Rail […]

November 5, 2021November 21, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Playing with Sonoff Zigbee & WiFi automation – Part 1: Hardware overview

Sonoff T2 Switch Zigbee Bridge Motion Sensor

I don’t think I’ve ever used Zigbee, but I’ll soon have the opportunity as ITEAD sent me the Sonoff ZBBridge gateway, a Sonoff T2 2-gang WiFi switch as well as a Zigbee motion sensor. I had reviewed several Sonoff devices in the past, but it had been over three years that I hadn’t. ITEAD recently contacted me basically telling me I could select whatever I wanted from their product list for a review on CNX Software. Since I had reviewed several of the company’s WiFi smart sockets, smart switches, and a light bulb, I had less to play with, and then I thought it might be fun to play with Sonoff Zigbee products. But I did not own any Zigbee hardware, so I had to think about a use case. I have a small annoyance in the house I rent. When we come back at night, we have to leave […]

September 25, 2021September 29, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

SONOFF Smart Stackable Power Meter supports up to 128 20A relays

ITEAD has introduced many smart switches over the year under the SONOFF brand, and their latest SONOFF Smart Stackable Power Meter is DIN mountable and made for larger industrial applications with up to 128 devices. The solution is comprised of the “SPM-Main” WiFi connected main unit controlling up to 32 “SPM-4Relay” units with 4 relays each using RS485 daisy-chaining. SPM-Main specifications: Storage – MicroSD card slot up to 32GB to store up to 180 days of energy usage data Connectivity Ethernet 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n WiFi 4 RS485 master Power Input – 100-240V 50/60Hz up to 50mA max Dimensions – 142.5 x 90 x 66.5 mm (PC V0 material) SPM-4Relay specifications: Connectivity – RS485 Power Input – 100-240V 50/60Hz up to 20A per relay, 80A total Power Output – 100-240V 50/60Hz up to 20A per relay, 80A total Safety – Current, voltage, and power overload protection with delay function from 0 […]