Sonoff Mini vs Shelly One - Head to Head Tiny Smart Switch Comparison 

Thanks - have been looking at these for a project in a commercial building. Metal, square, backboxes are the norm in the UK - and the advantages in terms of the (now-available) temperature sensor add-on is fairly compelling. MQTT without the need for custom firmware is also a really good feature.

Glad to see you're still cranking out great content. I have a ton of Shelly devices in my home at this point. Great that Sonoff has put out a competitive device, but I came to the same conclusion and haven't bothered to buy and install any of the Minis. Cheers.

Great comparison video. I just received my order of 10 Sonoff Mini's yesterday. Can't wait to start playing.

I was surprised how close the prices are on these two items. The rating of the relay and the UL listing seal the deal for me and if I'm working on someone else's project there is no question which one to buy. The 12 Vdc and solar panels is also BIG. 12V bulbs and 12V controls mean no power loss through inverters. Good video. Thanks!

Good video. Over the last 40 years as an industrial electrician. I have seen many electrical connections (like on the devices you tested) get hot, burn the insulation of the wire, melt connection points of switches ,receptacles, terminal strips and such. You get the point. What I would like to see you do is this. On a 15 amp circuit. Hookup a load using 14 awg wire (torqued to the right specs on the terminals) of say 15 amps on the 16 amp maximum rated Shelly 1. Shoot it with your infrared tool hourly. maybe 8 to 10 hours. Record the results. That would be a great test. Thank you for all the great videos!

Nice comparison! I was about doing a comparison like that for myself as I want to convert several standard light switches into smart switches and do not want to lose WAF points :D so you saved my time ;) Thanks!

Reposting since this was buried in a reply. Shelly definitely supports n-way switches, but you can run into issues with persistent power in the right box. You can tap into persistent power from other regular switch in the box, if you have one. Another solution is to replace all the n-way switches with momentary switches (you can convert a standard switch to a momentary switch for free). You can then use the your neutral wire for neutral (just pass it through each box) one hot/load wire as a hot wire (I use black), and the other hot/load wire to carry the switched momentary power (I use the red wire for this). Attach the black and red wires to each switch and continue each wire to the next switch. Use the black wire (which is persistent hot) to power the shelly and provide power to the "I" port. Attach red to the "SW" port. Attach "O" to the light and "N" to neutral (white). Then, configure the Shelly app for momentary switching. This method should work for any n-way configuration.

I use the Shelly 2.5, which also has temperature monitoring and cutoff. I used Sonoff for many of my switches, and it was great for the time. It is inconvenient to take it apart to get to the GPIO/Serial pins. The thing I love about the Shelly is that I just plug in my pre-made connector (for Shelly 2.5 it’s a finer pitch than Shelly 1), and flash Tasmota. I can do 4 in 2 minutes. As you point out, the stock firmware even can be used as is, but I like to ensure there is nothing that can “call home” in my smart home.

Great video, another interesting factor would be standby power draw. This would also provide some insight into how hot the devices would get.

A broken pull chain switch on my ceiling fan and this video inspired me to make a few modifications to my ceiling fan. I bought my replacement fan switch, and went back for a second one which I'll explain later. I exposed my wiring in the lighting portion of my fan. there wasn't enough space to include a mini sofoff, so I added it to the compartment above it, but that isn't where my pull switch was. So I drilled a hole to relocate the switch and the wires of the pull chain are both wired to the sonoff mini sw connections. Rest was simple, wired the power input and the output to the lights. Now for the second pull chain switch. I wanted to add a second mini sonoff to control the fan itself, but that pull chain changes the speed of the fan, so I added another pull chain to control the power to the fan. Adding the additional switch takes up the room needed for the switch, but the location of the sonoff mini would better fit in the upper mount box near the ceiling, but i had to run two wires from that box to the new switch. So now I have the switch on the wall turned on, a sonoff mini to control the fan, and one to control the lights, seperated from the fan, and now they both work through the switches, and Alexa. Love automation!

What about the power consumption?

Was just about to hit the buy button on some Shelly Ones but will hold off. i too really like the cloud and webserver interface, but a must have for my use case is to have user sharing. I need to be able to give other people access to the devices. Outside that constraint it it looks really good!

With the 12V option on the shelly it might be nice to make it automatically start my vehicle in the morning in winter months here in michigan.

I love the fact that the switch updates the app with its on/off state. Also that the switch still works without wifi.

Can I connect them to line - line voltage instead of line - neutral voltage? Because in our place, we don't have neutral. Our electrical connection is Line 1 and Line 2.

Great review. Thanks.

Just what I needed, thanks!

Great just ordered a couple of shellys

hi there, about the AMP, I have 15m of WS2811 60led/m, can I use sonnoff for regular swithing? its a 12v strip adresseble leds

Another fantastic video. Thank you!

What awg is that stranded wire you used in your pulling test?

Great video! I had to make this decision the other day. I ended up buying the sonoff mini since I was able to get them at a discounted price. I bought 13 of them for $6.32 a piece from banggood. I wasn't able to find the shelly 1 any cheaper than $12/piece from amazon. I would have paid an extra dollor or two for the shelly, but not $6 more.

The antenas comparison would be a good additional criteria.

can the shelly 1 be used to connect it to a linear actuator with a 12dc without the need for anything else? I'd like to make something to operate a chicken door coop. and perhaps connect a solar panel to recharge a battery.. any thoughts/recommendations would be most welcome please.

Wouldn't the 120v problem go a way if you open up the jumper pin area and switch to 12v mode?

Great video doc. I won't use Sonoff in an in wall setup. I have a couple of wall plugs but I am replacing those with ones I can buy here is oz.

Hi, Good video - thanks. I think you missed one thing, sonoff has an external antenna which may be good if you using in still box, like in Ireland.

The Shelly switch is using the mains, while the Sonoff is using an isolated switch. This make it easy add the Shelly to existing wiring. Adding a Shelly1 to an existing 3-way, put it in circuit at the light end of circuit, let the existing N-way control powering the light, connect to the Shelly switch input, and the Shelly control the light.

Newbie question warning. lol I'm still binge watching so you might've done a video on this and I missed it but..... is using a Shelly or Sonoff type of device a way to make a "dumb" appliance smart? For instance my garage door or spa/pool. Can I use these devices to connect to them and make them smart and use with a hub like HA? Sorry if this is a very newbie question but I understand how to make lights go on and off or your temperature up and down but I am missing the bigger stuff like garage doors and pools. Thanks a bunch!

The two biggest deciding factors for me were the 16A rating, and more importantly, that the relay in the Shelly was switching a different line than where it gets power from. That allowed me to place it in an electric baseboard heater, which don't have a neutral line. One 240v wire from the heater went into the I/O and a separate 120v wire powered it from a nearby outlet. Does the Sonoff Mini act the same way or is it like the Basic, where the line going in is the same one that gets switched on the way out?

I am trying to get Home Assistant to work with shelly. It is the first item I am adding to my ha setup. I cannot find it in the store. I tried adding the folder and files as it says in the read me for shelly. Also added shelly: in the file. I am not sure where to do that. I appreciate your help.

thank you, very interesting!

Awesome! Another great video.

Can any of them dimmer lights at the same time?

Problem wiht de 10A or 16 A use the contactor in the sonoff mini.¿?

points for who noticed the misspelling of "temperature" :) at 6:35. Nice vid as usual.

strenght is not that relevent. once plugged, it shouldn't move that much. great review anyway. helped me a lot in my choice. thanks a lot DrZzs

Thanks for the review, pretty fair. I'm going with the Shelly One.

Thanks. You got quite a workout pulling out those wires. :-)

Awesome video, I like this format... Head to head

I can't find a Shelly 1 on Amazon in a single pack. The link above is only for doubles. Do you know of a way to order a single unit from a domestic source that is the price you mention in the video?

So with the Shelly, ON will still be the ON/UP position on a standard US light switch? Or is it like the Sonoff and just looks for a change of state?

How about wifi range? It being installed into a metal conduit box

Are you even allowed to use flexible cable in permanent installations? I think here in Germany it is against code. At the very least you should use end ferrules.

I just subscribed. First because of the quality and depth of your presentation. Second because of your original and non trivial personality, and third … BECAUSE you’re one of not many people who don’t ask for well deserved like/subscribe! Love it man, this was the first video I watched with you, I’m sure there will be many more! 😉

What about comparing the installation and setup?

In the video you say it’s UL listed. But the Amazon description (and Shelly website) doesn’t say that. You’d think if it was UL compliant that they would want to say so in the description to increase sales.

I have never seen that Switchbox in the Netherlands. Looks smart, though!

Thank you for making this video! I was watching specifically to find out about the light switch connection... do you know if the sonoff works like the shelly with the off-on-off or on-off-on thing? If you have a shelly connected to a light switch you probably know what I mean, if not, that is when the light is on and the switch is off and you want the light off, you have to turn the switch from off to on then off again. And vice versa in the opposite state. It's not a huge deal and only causes a micro-pause but its not the most graceful implementation especially for guests and perhaps selling a home. Thank you again!

OK, what AWG wire was that? Wall switches for lighting in US will be 14. If you used #12 then no wonder it didn't hold well.

Like the way you compared the two....one question though.....If the shelly is UL certified already....why isn't the UL logo silk screened on the casing...... I worked in Design and the guy who does our certification will tell me whether it passed or not...If it did then the UL logo would have been silk screened already which i don't see it on their casing....There are cases where products had to be manufactured and the silk screening couldn't be changed since there were dead lines to meet...So at the end once everything was ready to ship...We would add a little sticker with the UL logo to show everyone that it does comply.....To this date I only see the shelly 2.5 as being UL listed.......Please do correct me if I'm wrong Here is one of my designs that I design back in June of 2003...ITS STILL UP AND RUNNING ...this is unheard of in the telecom industry. www.positronpower.com/TeleLite_Fiber_Optic_Isolation/index.php

Can I put this in and outlet box to control the outlet instead of a switch? If so, cool..and do you know of a wiring diagram on how to do it?

Hey DrZZs, I follow you since a while and all your videos are really the bible for me, including this one... and thinking about this, I am always really impressed about the quality of your video editing. Could you share the apps you use to make video editing? Sorry for the question a little out of topic but you always impress me. Thanks!

Great video, as usual! Now the real question, do you have a link for that awesome PCB ruler?

Do I need natural wire both one working

1. Do I see it right that with Shelly you can control a blind with up AND down? But with the Sonoff mini you can't? 2. Is Shelly capable of Zigbee? (like the Sonoff ZBmini)

Just like shelly's firmware. That I am watching your videos (with my low level of English) says a lot about you. Thx

Great comparison. I agree with you. Shelly is a better product

Since forums nor reddit have been helpful, maybe you can help. I have a Shelly 1 that activates a siren in case of panic. I've gotten it to work as a doorbell buzzer, by configuring it to auto-turn off in 0.5 seconds. So, when I press the button, it signals the alarm siren to start, and then it remains on until I press the button again. This is the way it should work, so I have no issues with that. Were the problem arises is that after the 0.5 second delay the light on the shelly or Alexa or Google turns OFF even if the siren is still blaring. If I press the button again it send the pulse and stops. In other words this is not a switch with an on/off state, but a buzzer that you press once to turn on and once to turn off. How do I set up the Shelly 1 to send the 0.5 second pulse and indicate it is ON until it is pressed again? I would really appreciate your help guys. TIA Alex

I was surprised and disappointed how easily you pulled the solid wire out of the Shelly. Wonder how that got past the UL guys?

How about wifi signal strength?

I felt like I was paying attention the whole time, but am unsure which wireless protocol these devices are using? Is it Zigbee? Z-Wave? WiFi? or perhaps a combination of these.

Good info sir

The best connector is the rising clamp connector no competition the rising clamp winds hands down!!

Security especially the cloud. Shelly is stored in EU or US depending on your location. I thought Sonoff is stored in Chinese servers. Other point is ecosystem. What different type can you buy and integrate from each?

Just what the doctor ordered 😊

Does it work with Amazon Alexa?

can Shelly switch only contact but no current?

Any ideas where I could get my hands on Shelly1 in Canada?? I could wait a month until they show up on Amazon but Amazon.ca is another story. I think i'll order couple of Sono minis from china and tinker with them in HA

This is quite late now, but the fact that the Ground is referenced to L+ does not matter as the 120/230V is there compared to earth. Unless you ground the sensor you’ll be fine. I can guarantee the sonoff has the same problem even though the gnd is not connected directly to L+ i would still not touch it while powered from mains. So it should be equal for both in terms of having L+ potential on the ground pin in the programing interface.

Here's how it was explained in the manual from a "professional" thermal camera... 3M electrical tape has an emissivity of nearly 1.0. Place a piece of tape on the object you wish to measure and give it time to reach equilibrium. Then you can measure the tape to get an accurate reading. The other benefit is that you can then measure the part and figure out its emissivity value. The temp reading is divided by the emissivity to calculate the true reading. Therefore if you leave it at 1.0 you're reading the lowest magnitude. There are tables for material emissivities but the tape method is probably better than guessing. Not that what you're doing is super critical.

UL is worth more than anything else. Then relay rating. The connector strength is important, but I'd like to see some torque requirements before determining that Sonoff won that one. Oh yeah, great video as usual. :-)

Doesn't the Sonoff work with 3way switches also while the Shelly One does not?

Hi mate could you please do a video using a electronic magnetic bolt lock with the sonoff mini where of the door is open the bolt stays retracted and when the door is closed the lock locks but can be unlocked from your phone n add a way of unlocking from outside without your phone if you forgot it or something

Can either of these run off 9 volt dc?

I'm using 5xShelly1pm for controllyng an electric boiler and 4x mini split ac. Two shellys died in around 6 months while no load on them wich is odd.

When are they going to add a dimmer function? or did I miss that feature.

You didnt test the antenna... how dose the range compare?

I just got my Sonoff Mini. It now has 16A relay

Thanks for that video, what about security rate of devices / manufacturers? (you asked what else do we think is missing in this comparison ;-))

In the video you mentioned how the Shelly supports different input voltages. But you didn’t discuss output relay voltages. The Shelly relay is not connected to mains power. This means you can use it to switch low voltage devices like my gas fireplace. The sonoff relay is jumpered to the input power so can only switch devices with the same voltage as the input.

Seems like the UL listing for the Shelly is rather suspect given the ease of pulling a standard gauge wire out of the connection and the lack of isolation of the GPIO pins. However, I do agree its a big plus if the use is for some sort of permanent mounting in an electrical box.

Great video. you ask if you have left anything out. I miss a number of important comparisons. Can the DIY pin in the Sonoff Mini also be used to connect a sensor? And the Input on the shelly can be used with 230v, which means that it does not have to be mounted at the switch and the existing wiring can be used. What voltage does the input on the sonoff work? Thanks for all the other comparisons! For anyone looking for it: Button 1 (reset) GPIO-0 Relay 1 GPIO-12 Led 1 (inverted) GPIO-13 Switch Input GPIO-4 DIY\OTA Pin GPIO-16

Can you show us how the Sonoff mini fits in a single gang workbox beside a light switch vs the Shelly? That's my use case for many of these. 🙂

There's a bug on the Shelly 2.5's MQTT implementation that makes the device unusable with HA via MQTT. When the device is working properly, if one of the on/off relay is toggled via an MQTT command, physical switch, or Shelly 2.5 web app, the Shelly 2.5 sends out a status update via MQTT with the new state for the relay. In addition, it sends out 3 status messages (i.e., relay on/off state; energy, and power) on a fixed interval. Problem is that the device glitches sometimes where it doesn't send a relay on/off status update upon state change. After the glitch, the Shelly 2.5 continues sending status updates for "power" and "energy" on fixed interval, but no further relay on/off state updates is sent. The bug doesn't seem to affect the other relay on the Shelly 2.5 when one relay glitches (e.g., when relay 0 glitches, relay 1 continues to function normally and vice versa). The only way to restore normal operation to the Shelly 2.5 is to cycle power. After the glitch, I can no longer use HA to control the switch since HA no longer has the correct on/off state of the relay. I use the Shelly 2.5 to control two exterior flood lights. Just to be clear, here's a sample usage scenario: I use the HA Iphone app to turn on one of the lights, and the Shelly 2.5 glitches. The HA UI will still show the light as being off even though it is actually on. If I try to toggle the UI to "on," in attempt to make it reflect the actual state, it immediately jumps back to off because that was the last status received from the Shelly 2.5. I can still use the physical switch or the Shelly web app to control the glitched relay. But HA is rendered non functional for this relay because of the erroneous state in HA. The non-glitched relay on the Shelly 2.5 continues to function normally. As mentioned earlier, a power cycle restores normal operation until device glitches again. I first mentioned this problem on the Shelly Facebook portal. Dimitar Dimitrov, whom I think may be the CEO of Shelly, does monitor their Facebook portal. He replied and told me to email their development staff with the problem. I did but never heard back. I waited two week, then forwarded the email to the Shelly support group - still no reply. Another user complained on the Shelly Facebook portal about the lack of support, and I chimed in. Dimitar wrote back and said a new firmware containing updated MQTT implementation was about to be released and that I should give that a try and report back. It's 8/25/2019 today. I first reported the problem almost exactly 1 month ago. There's been two firmware updates since Dimitar's last reply. The problem persists in the latest firmware. Device glitched again today. I like the Shelly devices because of the small form factor, and that hasn't changed. I also liked it because I didn't have to flash it with Tasmota or ESPHome to make it work with MQTT, and best of all, I thought I would have official support from Shelly by running their stocked firmware. Unfortunately, their MQTT implementation is not up to par in my oppinion. Their lack of support is a also a huge turnoff. Keep this in mind if you decide to go with the Shelly. I may be flashing with Tasmota soon just to end the frustration of having to toggle power on the device, and articulating the problem to Shelly personnel with no response. I have not experienced this problem on a Shelly 1 using MQTT on their stocked firmware. But that Shelly 1 controls one of my door entry lights, and is activated mostly via the timer set via the Shelly web app. I have other Shelly 1s running Tasmota. Those work without problems.

... was looking to buy a packet of Sonoff mini's but after this... I'm sold on the Shelly. now to find out how to get some. think packet of 5 is due.

I'm liking the Shelly but the external wifi antenna is nice for a metal box.

Do they have something that can used to control a 240V Hot Water Heater? Pretty sure it's 20Amp

Connection existing wall switches it is easier on the shelly especially if you have more than one in the room

You missed the installation step. +1 for Sonoff in this case. Shelly needs some additional wago connectors.

I would have been interested in the temperatures after lets say 1hr, 2hr or 3hr with at least 10A (better 16A) current.

Your statement on the 10amp relay and the circuit breakers is not 100% accurate (respectfully interjecting). 10amps is the working load but that relay can trip a 30 amp breaker. 10 amps is just its reliable rating for normal life. Lots of people worry about that relay when they have 16 gauge wire in a can light that will burn up on a 15amp short. I would prefer 16amps but the 10 will do. Great video Dr.Zzs, you provide better info than anyone on this subject by far.

This is great I wonder if we have something that works with smartthings this cheap?

One plus of the Sonoff is that there are no mains on the switch connector :) But I like Shelly too .. :)

other 10 out 10 good scoring bro

Pretty funny review! One issue I had - when you say that for Shelly "you can just pop-up" it open it's not exactly correct - the case is glued, so don't try it.

You are fair!

You forgot to mention compatibility and speed of response with smartthings and Google home etc

Hello there, I have seen your work, its pretty incredible. However, my application is that, I want a smart plug that should stay off when power is cut to it(reboot). Means the smart plug should turn on normally, by turning it on by the mobile app or online app, or manual button and if the power is lost to it and when the power comes back the relay should not turn on(it should stay off). Smart plug could be turned on manually by app or button and the plug should remain on until it is turned off manually or if the power is lost to it. Its simple I just don't want the relay to turn on when power is lost and restored. I have to manually turn it on whenever there is power outage. The place this device is going to be installed experiences frequent outages, and I am using this smart plug to turn on a contactor to a motor. If you could guide me to make this, or buy a ready made smart plug like that, would be really appreciated.

i just notices something else. the shelly has a very straight forward connection diagram where the sonoff has the odd thing that both the input and output of the switch need to be connected to the device. in single switch setups this might not be an issue, but in cases where lamps are switched with multiple switches, this might be a challange getting the wire to start and end at the sonoff.