C by GE Smart Switch, Wi-Fi & Bluetooth, No Hub, Alexa Google

I was hesitant to purchase any of the C by GE switches because of the mostly negative reviews but the on/off button switch is exactly what I've been looking for and figured I'd take the plunge regardless of the result. I'm happy to report that the switch is greatly exceeding my expectations. First off, the switch is extremely easy to install. Simply connect the wires according to the provided wiring diagram and voila, you're off and running. When setting up the switch with the app, I ran into some issues initially with getting the switch to connect and in keeping the switch separate from the other smart bulbs I already had in the same room. Once I figured out that I had to place them in their own rooms in the Google Home app, I was good to go. I love the illuminated ring which makes it easy to locate the switch at night. It also gives it a high-end look for a not-so-high-end cost. Considering similar smart switches are double the price, if not more, this one is a great deal. As for the functionality, the reason why I wanted this particular switch so badly is that you're able to control non-smart bulbs using BOTH a regular on/off button AND with the Google Assistant. In addition, I wanted something that could fix my one-switch-is-always-in-the-on-position-and-it-drives-me-crazy three-way switch in our bedroom and this will do just the trick. I didn't want any indication of a switch being on or off in the three-way, since often one or more of the switches are in the "up" position, and in my mind it doesn't look clean. Obviously just a nit-picky thing but it is an important aesthetic for me. My wife rarely uses Google Assistant to control any devices in our home so it was imperative that she could still easily turn the lights on and off without messing them up for how I control them, or getting in the way of the automation I've set up. This performs each of those functions flawlessly. Time will tell if the switch holds up in terms of fit and finish. I certainly hope it does.

Dislike that it's a bit bulky on the back end, it was a challenge to slide it into the electrical box but other than that it was easy to install, easy to setup, took me 15-20min from installing the switch to app setup. So far it's been working flawlessly, no connection drop, app was straightforward to understand and integrating it into my Google home was simple.

About 2 years ago, I purchased 11 button switches to install in my master bedroom, bathroom and closet. I already use Hue bulbs, which I love, so I didn’t actually need smart switches for my lights. However, I wanted a smart switch/app for my ceiling fan, and I decided to replace all of the other switches too so they would match visually. Cync was one of the few brands that sold a smart switch for ceiling fans, and GE has always been reliable in my experience, so I went with it. I got the fan switch, two dimmer switches and the rest just on/off button switches. The whole experience was a nightmare, from beginning to present. First, the very large switches would not fit inside our existing standard electrical boxes. We followed the instructions to get the wiring connected for the first 3 switches, and they worked when we tested them. Then we literally spent an hour trying to stuff them inside the 3-gang box. We have extra thick/stiff wiring, which made it even more difficult. But after forcing them in and putting the faceplate on, they no longer worked. So, I had to order deeper electrical boxes. This was beyond my comfort level, so we had to hire an electrician to remove the 5 old boxes, install the new deeper boxes and install all of the switches. Obviously, the expense added up to a lot more than we had initially planned. There were errors getting the switches to connect to the Wi-Fi and app. I had to repeat the setup process multiple times with nearly all of them. Even after getting them all setup, there were issues. For example, you can put multiple switches into a group so that when you turn one on or off, the others in that group turn on or off as well. I wanted each switch to work independently, so I did not initially assign them to groups. However, you have to specify rooms for each switch. I quickly realized that the rooms were acting like groups, so whenever I turned on an individual switch, all of the other switches in that room turned on as well. The only solution I found was to create a separate group for each switch. Fortunately that worked, but I had to figure it out for myself, and it seems so unnecessary. As far as functionality, the app is not great. It’s a little buggy. Once in the app, there’s usually a delay before the controls will work. If I immediately try to turn something on or off, it will not respond. I have to retry a few seconds later. Also, there are separate sections for light and fan controls, so I have to go to one place to control the ceiling fan and another place to control the lights. If I go into the “Lights” section and click on “Master Bedroom”, it will show a control for the room and individual controls for each light switch. There is no control for the fan there. Yet if I use the “Master Bedroom” control to turn on/off all of the lights in the room, it will turn on/off the fan too. So counterintuitive! The switches also randomly lose connection all the time. One switch may lose connection while the switches right next to it continue to work. The troubleshooting steps rarely work, and I usually just have to wait it out until the switch decides to connect again. Each switch has a white light ring that stays lit all the time (though you can turn it off in settings). I leave the ones in the bathroom on because they make good nightlights. When a switch loses connection, the ring glows red, whether you have the rings turned on or off. I went out of town for 3 weeks in June 2022, and when I came back one of the switches in my bedroom was glowing red. I assumed it had lost connection and was about to start troubleshooting. However, I realized the switch was working just fine. It’s now been over two years, and that switch is still glowing red, for no apparent reason. I cannot figure out how to fix it. I have tried the reset button, and reinstalled it in the app. I am furious! I lay in bed staring at that stupid red ring every night! Suddenly, today, the app required me to sign in again. It has never done this in the 2 years I’ve had it. When I entered my login info, it said “Login Failed service unavailable”. No indication of what the specific problem is. I know the password is correct, because I use a password vault to store all of my passwords. Still, I attempted to update my password using the “forgot password” option. After opening the email, clicking the link and typing in a new password, it said the password reset failed because the link expired. How could the link expire within one minute? Ridiculous! I repeated the process two more times, each time within one minute, and still got the same message. I went to their website to request customer support. Once I submitted my request, it said someone would respond in 7-10 business days! I’ve got to wait 7-10 business days to be able to control my lights? I am so done with this crappy product, and GE should be ashamed. If you only need one or two switches, you might get lucky, but among my 11 switches there are always some that aren’t functioning properly. When they are working, I appreciate the convenience of being able to control them from the app. In addition to the lights and ceiling fan, I also have switches for the exhaust fans in the bathroom. It’s nice to be able to turn those off remotely if they were left on. Overall, I regret the purchase, and after all the time and money we spent having these installed, I can’t wait to find a better alternative and get rid of them!

I absolutely love the cync products. They are all recognized instantly by alexa. With regards to the cync light switch with the circle button, they only thing I wish cync would have done as add a visual clue of when the switch is turned on or off. Even though the switch has a light, the light remains on even when the switch is turned off. The app does allow you to turn the light off, but no indicator that the switch is on or off. In my situation I have lights outside on the front of my garage and I cant see them from where my switch is located. If someone accidently bumps the switch and turns them on, you have no visual clue to show you they are turned on.

Despite what some reviews say, it does support 3 way. Just look up the instructions on the Cync site to wire it that way. And no, you don't need all switches on the circuit to be cync switches like the instructions say. It'll work just fine with the other switches being "dumb" switches as long as you wire up the travelers correctly on the Cync switch per the instructions.

This was a nightmare to set up if you don’t know what to expect. Firstly, this will not connect if you do not have 2.4ghz. If you are using a 5ghz, it will not connect. It is relatively easy to connect the wires but the WiFi connection is a nightmare. All I can say is good luck. If you have questions feel free to ask me. I had enough experience

Bought this to replace the previous mechanical timer switches to control my yard pathfinder lights. Easy to install and seamlessly integrated with Google Home. I don't have to change the start time to the seasons any more. Installed in outdoor control box. Let's see if they can survive the weather.

I got the push button version for my backyard lights, it’s the furthest one I have from my router and after a few tries it connected to my Alexa. I have read other reviews that said it wasn’t so good but every from “c from ge” works great for me. Just a heads up I did not get one with a motion sensor.

No issue with the hardware. Fairly easy to set up provided you check to see if your existing wall jack has a neutral wire. The app required to make this work though is a different story. Poorly programmed. The text/font doesn't scale with the device settings. Once the device is added into the app, it randomly disappears saying "no device found". Links to Google OK but unable to control the device from Google Home once linked. Ended up returning.