Sonoff's NSPanel Aims to be Your Wall-Mounted One-Stop Shop for Smart Home Control

IoT specialist Sonoff has launched a crowdfunding campaign for its latest product, the NSPanel Smart Scene Wall Switch — an all-in-one control panel for the smart home, the company promises.

"What if you could have a simple way to centrally control multiple appliances at your home, the surrounding temperature, and activate preset scenes based on selected preferences, all of which were just through a single tap," asks Sonoff's Zhan XinLee.

"This is exactly [how] NSPanel works for you: From lights, cooler, heater to electric windows and curtains, the new world of home automation will make your smart home life better!"

At its heart, the NSPanel is a wall switch — compatible with 300W of 110V or 600W of 220V lighting — built around a 3.5in 480x320 capacitive touchscreen display and with Bluetooth 4.2 Low Energy (BLE) and 2.4GHz Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n connectivity.

Using an on-board user interface, it's possible to interact with a range of smart home functions — from the directly-connected lighting to heating and ventilation, including triggering activity based on readings from its internal thermometer.

Sonoff promises three "interactive ways of control," and using the touchscreen and two large physical buttons is only the first. An on-board microphone offers voice control as the second, compatible with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Alice voice assistant platforms. The third: "Long distance" control via a companion smartphone app for Android and iOS.

Sonoff's crowdfunding campaign is now live on Kickstarter, and physical rewards start at HK$419 (around $54) for early bird backers — a claimed 28% discount on the eventual retail price — with delivery expected to take place in December this year.