Zigbee Smart Scene Knob Controller Review

This time I want to share a little of my experience with a random device that I thought would be easy to implement (at least in Zigbee2MQTT), but it turned out to be the opposite. I was intrigued to try this device because I found it quite unique, in addition to the rotary knob, it also has 4 buttons and 3 switchable modes: scene, light, and curtain, and is made of premium materials.

After the item arrived, it was easily paired with the Tuya gateway (and app), and then tried the modes in the app. Then I tried pairing it with the Z2M, and sure enough, the device didn't report anything. It was definitely using a custom cluster or needed some magical code to get it working. Finally, I went back to the Tuya app and opened the Tuya IoT Platform website to try to find information about the Tuya Data Point as documented on the Z2M website, but to no avail.

Long story short, the only way was to sniff the Zigbee network using the CC2531 and Wireshark. After I had all the necessary equipment and settings, a new problem arose. Besides the thousands of lines of sniffing logs, I was confused about how this device worked. I finally turned to Claude AI (Opus 4.5) for help. From there, I discovered that the device requires special activation method to activate each mode (bind). Furthermore, button detection in Light and Curtain modes requires a special method to record the button's Group ID (in Z2M) because I couldn't replicate what the Tuya app (cloud) does. If you're interested, you can see the details here. In short, this device will be supported on Zigbee2MQTT in next year's update.

 

 

Let's move on to the device itself. From its appearance, it looks quite premium, with its aluminum and glass construction. The packaging is quite nice, thick, and has a magnet at the opening. For details of the contents of the packaging, you can see for yourself in the photo. The buttons feel good to press, and the knob is quite satisfying to turn. It also has a base with a strong magnet.

I'll briefly explain the features and modes. It has 3 modes that need to be activated (bind) one by one in the settings. Press and hold the right/left button to switch between modes.

·   In scene mode, there are only 4 buttons that function and there is only 1x press function, no knob function.

·   In light mode, there are 4 buttons and a knob for each button. Press once for on or off command, the knob only works when the command is ON to adjust brightness, press quickly 2x to enter the color temp setting by turning the knob.

·   In curtain mode, there are 4 buttons and a knob for each button. Press once for start or stop command, knob works on any command.

Note that the knob only works when one of the buttons is pressed, if left unattended for a certain period of time, the knob does not function. This device uses 2x AAA batteries but does not report the remaining battery.

In closing, I don't recommend this device because the knob requires a button press to use it, and in Light mode it can only be used when the command is ON. Unless you can accept these drawbacks.