Leviton DW15A-1BW Decora Smart Wi-Fi Plug-in Outlet, Works with Amazon Alexa, No Hub Required

I was an early adopter of Leviton Decora WiFi switch solution, and its been about four years since I originally installed this product to realize the promise of a smart home. By extension, I think my experience offers a unique, valuable perspective: • While the Gen 1 products had an extremely high failure rate that was very frustrating at times, Leviton has consistently stood by its warranty commitment to replace failed units. • Over the years, Ive noted continued investments to improve product stability, security, and app experience. • I’m really liking the installation / setup improvements that were incorporated in the Gen 2 products, which replace the now discontinued Gen 1 products under warranty repairs. • If lessons were learned and the quality / reliability of the Gen 2 products have similarly improved, this presumes to be a really solid solution. I will update this review as my experience with Gen 2 products unfold. --- Original experience: To realize the promise of a smart home, I invested heavily in Leviton Decora Wi-Fi switches, buying [16] of the regular variety (DW15S-1BZ), [8] of the dimmer variety (DW1KD-1BZ), [4] of three-way switch remotes (DD0SR-DLZ), and some of the plug-in (DW15A-1BW) units between July and December of 2017. To be fair, Ill say that contrary to other reports the Wi-Fi has been very reliable, and switch responsiveness to Wi-Fi commands has always been timely, but like others I had trouble after power outages, a need to reset breakers to restore connectivity, etc. Also, twice I had the system go haywire with lights turning on and off on their own, which was quite scary. I first thought it was hackers, but Leviton assured me it was an issue with their cloud platform - still, very unnerving. The mobile application user interface can be difficult to navigate, but I got used to it and can live with that. The real issue has been the extremely high failure rate - upwards of 50%, maybe 75% of those I purchased have failed since they were installed, even while my house is newer (built 2007) with high quality wiring, required neutral wire, and fairly stable, reliable power. Leviton has thus far honored their warranty, but not always as quickly as Id like, and this is still a hassle. Consider, you have the cost of the device itself and the further time and effort for installation (or electrician cost if youre not installing yourself) which is multiplied by the high failure rate to account for replacements, along with being unable to turn lights on and off during a failure (sometimes even manually) until the unit is replaced. In my calculus, over the life so far those have greatly outweighed any gains from the convenience of the smart features. It may be that engineering has improved on newer models to be reliable, but if not, once these are out of warranty, I couldnt imagine having switch replacements becoming some new lifetime budgetary cost and household repair task. All that to say, in my opinion the concept is great, but execution - tied to the expectation of always being able to reliably turn your lights on and off - needs work.

Workes great. Easy to connect to the Leviton app and then into Alexa. I bought these specifically for the downward facing plug to reduce space required behind microwave and countertop oven. Using a “regular” outward facing plug would have added a significant amount of wasted room behind the units. They are significantly more expensive than other outward facing plug options, but they fit the need I had for them and would buy them again if I had similar constraints.

Ive been interested in automating my home for some time and wanted to try out the new Wi-Fi devices from Leviton. Ive had good luck with Leviton products in the past, and it looks they have a complete line of Wi-Fi devices. The devices also come with a 5-year warranty. I decided to start simply with an immediate need I had. I was tired of reaching for the outlet behind my Christmas tree to turn the lights on the tree on and off. I decided to buy a DW15A plug-in outlet to switch the lights on and off automatically. The device is attractive and seems solidly built. It came with detailed installation instructions and a getting started guide in English, French, and Spanish. I followed the getting started guide and installed the My Leviton app from the iOS app store. There were a number of Leviton apps when I searched for My Leviton. I installed the first one listed, which was the desired My Leviton app. The app installed without issue and gave me the option to sign up for an account. I entered the requested information (including the required overly complex strong password) and was sent an email to verify my email address. I clicked on the verification link in the email and pressed continue in the app. The app then asked me to set up my residence and offered a default name for my residence. I decided to enter a new name for my residence. It then asked for my location. The app could determine my location or I could enter my address. I decided to enter my address. This completed setting up my residence, and then the app prompted me to add a device. I plugged in my device and verified that the LED was blinking green. I followed the instructions in the app which required me to find my device in the Wi-Fi settings of my phone. I selected the device in the list of Wi-Fi networks and returned to the app as instructed. The app connected to the device and asked me to select my home Wi-Fi network to add the device to the network. I selected my network and entered the password for the network, and the device connected to the network. There was an option to Identify Device. I clicked on this and the LED blinked different colors for a few seconds to show that I had enrolled the correct device. In my case I only had one device, so there shouldnt have been any issue. I could see where this would be helpful, though, if you had several devices to enroll. I named my device Christmas Tree and setup was complete. I then used the app to manually turn the lights on and off a few times. It worked flawlessly and was quick! As soon as I tapped the button in the app I heard the relay in the device click and the lights turned on/off. I then clicked the arrow next to the device name. This displayed details on the device and had an option for settings. The only setting I could change was called Status LED Behavior. The choices were LED Off, Status Mode, and Locator Mode. The default Locator Mode turns the LED on when the load is off, and off when the load is on. Status Mode does just the opposite. LED Off turns the LED off all the time. I tried each of these settings, but decided to leave it in the default Locator Mode. I went back to the device details and saw options to Identify Device, Reconfigure Wireless, Update Firmware (1.3.3), and Remove this Device. Identify Device blinked the LED as before. Reconfigure Wireless is used if you want to change the Wi-Fi network used by the device. Update Firmware is used to update the firmware in the device. I assume Remove this Device would remove it from my residence, but I didnt see any documentation of this. It wasnt clear that I needed to update the firmware in the device. The Update Firmware (1.3.3) looked just like everything else in the details list. I saw at the bottom of the page the serial number of my device and the version number was listed as 1.0.9; CP 1.5. Assuming this version number was the firmware version, it looked like there was newer firmware available for my device. I decided to try updating the firmware in the device before proceeding further. I clicked on Update Firmware (1.3.3) and the firmware update process started. The update process took a couple of minutes before I received a message that the update succeeded. Update Firmware (1.3.3) no longer appeared in the details list, but the version number at the bottom of the page still showed 1.0.9; CP 1.5. I went back to the device page and back into details, and now the version number displayed 1.3.3; CP 1.5, so I guess it was just an app display issue. I verified that the device still worked properly then decided to try entering a schedule. I clicked on Schedules at the bottom of the page and then selected Add a Schedule Now. I decided to use the built-in scheduling wizard. It first prompted me to name the schedule. I tried accepting the default My Schedule, but I got an error that the name needed to be at least two characters long. So I guess it really wasnt the default name (maybe its an app problem). I named the schedule Schedule and then was presented with a list of available devices. Christmas Tree was the only device I had. I selected it and was asked to choose whether the device should turn on or off when the schedule runs. I selected on and was asked to set the start time. Since I wanted to do a quick test, I selected select a time and specified a time about five minutes later. There was an option to select an end time, so I selected it and specified a time two minutes after the start time. I was then given the option to select what days the schedule should run. I left every day selected, and I was done. I waited a few minutes and the schedule worked exactly as specified. I then edited the schedule to turn on at sunset and off at 11:00 p.m. The lights on the Christmas tree turned on and off as expected every day. All in all Ive been extremely pleased with the Leviton DW15A. I plan to get some of Levitons Wi-Fi wall switches to automate more of my home. Ive read some reviews where people have had difficulty with the in-wall devices, but most of these seem to be because the Leviton devices require a neutral wire to be connected. I think this is probably true of most Wi-Fi switches since they need to be powered to communicate. This shouldnt be a problem for me since I have neutral wires in most of my junction boxes. I know that there are other automation technologies that dont require a neutral wire, but all of these require some kind of hub to enable Internet connectivity. I like that I dont need a hub with these Leviton devices.

Leviton nailed it! The instructions and YouTube videos were a big help in getting the new outlet set up. We have a combination of devices here at the house and utilize google home AI, leviton outlets and hue bulbs in some. The price is a lot more palatable than the Hue set up when you add in the need for a bridge. The plug in leviton switches work great for an existing house or rental so you wont have to hire an electrician to install the in-wall switches. The system controls the light operation and on off times perfectly. I highly recommend giving leviton a try if you want to monitor/ control your electrical consumption.

Works well.

Already have one leviton light switch so it meant install was even easier for this plug version. Set it up and linked to Alexa within a few minutes!

Great product - works as advertised. But it only works if your WiFi is up and running. So if your WiFi occasionally loses its mind (power loss, lost internet connection, etc.) you will not be able to control the connected device during the period the WiFi is down.

Easiest setup with a device that is WiFi capable yet for me. Took 5 mins max to read instructions and have it fully working. I set it up to a main light in living room and it’s so easy now to turn on/off when I’m already settled on couch or in bed. My family loves that they also have capability to use this also.

Do not buy. Waste of money

Ive had automated lighting in my homes since the 1980s, using X-10, then Insteon. As an electrical engineer, Im acutely aware of the extreme transients that can occur on household power lines, and the damage they can do to poorly-designed electronics. Smart dimmers connect directly to the power lines without any transformer, and so are particularly susceptible to this kind of damage. I dont want to think about how many crappy X-10 and Insteon dimmers, controls, and switches Ive had to replace over the years. My point is, dont even think of buying from anyone but a highly-trusted name like Leviton. Youre making a big commitment in time and money, and youll have to live with this stuff, hopefully for a long time. So far this system has worked perfectly for me. Setup is easy, the app is good, and integration with Alexa works perfectly as well. The functions are well though out and include thoughtful features like being able to turn off the LED for a darker house, and returning to a preset brightness level when turned on. I hope Leviton will expand the product line to include additional items such as an outdoor-rated switch for controlling landscape lighting, an RF/IR repeater for ceiling fan, air conditioner, etc. control. Its a drag to have to use other vendors, as you end up with a zillion different apps for different devices.