This teeny tiny smart switch fits inside your walls
If you're OK with wiring, you can keep your familiar switches by hiding smarts in your wall with the new Shelly Dimmer.
Here's the dimmer with my pen for scale.
At first glance, I couldn't tell what the little green box from Shelly was. It clearly has places for wires, but I had trouble picturing what would fit in the small compartment. As it turns out, it's a smart switch -- kind of. It's a smart home product mostly meant for DIYers, but installation seems simple enough that even I could give it a try.
The Shelly Dimmer fits inside your wall. Most of the smart switches we've reviewed are either plugs that need to be plugged in themselves or actual in-wall switches you install instead of your current switches. The Shelly Dimmer fits between the wires to your current wall switch and the switch itself. It's a smart home gadget that stays entirely out of sight, and the petite size helps it fit into cramped spaces.
Shelly's Dimmer connects to Wi-Fi and uses another of other signal protocols, each of them open for tinkering. The company already offers a number of smart products, including a couple of similar boxes that fit behind your wall switches.
The new Shelly Dimmer is debuting at IFA 2019 and is the smallest of the bunch. It's nicely affordable at $20, and while you can control your switch and dim your lights with the Shelly app, it also works with major smart home platforms like Amazon's Alexa and Google Assistant.
The company is also debuting a door sensor at IFA. The whole lineup looks appealing if you want affordable smart gadgets that blend in and work with your existing smart home. I'd be a little sad after installing the Shelly Dimmer out of sight, though, as it's small enough to be a little cute.
