Review: Insignia Wi-Fi Smart In-Wall Switch - Updated

So I picked up a couple of Insignia Wi-Fi Smart In-Wall switches from Best Buy a couple of weeks ago and I finally got around to installing one of them. Why did I select these switches compared to some of the other ones.  First was price at a $29.99 price point they were the cheapest option I found and second was the fact that these switches did not require a hub.  Installing one of these switches does require working with the electrical wires in your house, overall most people should be able to follow the install instructions, but if you are not comfortable working with wiring then I would recommend hiring a professional to install them.  Let's get started by taking a look at the product and some of my initial thoughts.

Let's start with what's in the box.  In the box you will find:

• The Switch
• Mounting screws
• Wire Nuts
• Quick Setup Guide

What is required to use the switch:

• A neutral wire
• A light that can only be controlled by one switch
• Free Insignia Connect app

Installation of the switch is pretty straight forward and the instructions in the manual are pretty clear and easy to follow.  As a safety note anytime you are working with electricity make sure you turn the power off at the breaker.  There are 4 wires to connect the green wire goes to ground, the black wire goes to the line(coming in from the bottom of the box), blue wire goes to the load(going out the top of the box), and the white wire is for the neutral(if you don't have the white neutral wire then you can't install this switch).  Overall time to install should be less than 15 minutes.

Once I had the switch wired up putting the switch in the wall proved a little challenging with the size of the switch and the extra wire that is coming out of the switch.  Once I finally got everything crammed into the electrical box the switch looks nice with the snap on wall plate.

Next let's move on to connecting to the switch.  So according to the documentation once you download the Insignia Connect app and log in.  An account is needed so if you don't have a Best Buy account then you will need to create an account.  Once logged in click to add a new device and follow the on screen instructions.  It asks to hold the reset for 15 seconds until you hear a second audible click and there is a ready to pair button.  Not entirely clear whether you need to hold the button for 15 seconds and then hit the pair button or hit the pair button and then start holding the button.  This does not currently seem to be the case and as of this posting I have been unable to get the switch configured.  After doing some research it looks like there may be a major bug in the app that will not allow you to configure the switches.  I have not been able to confirm there is a bug, and will call the customer service number tomorrow to try and get to the bottom of the issue I am experiencing.

At this point it's not looking great for my experience with this switch.  If this is a bug in the software that was introduced during the last update then it has been there since Dec 20, 2017.  That kind of speaks volumes about the type of support that you will get for software issues related to the app.  For now I will with hold final judgement till I have more information.  Stay tuned for an update in the near future.

Update:

Due to the inability to configure these in wall switches I have uninstalled the one I installed and will return them to Best Buy.  If you do decide to try these wall switches I would check the recent product reviews to see if anything has changed.