Shelly Wall Display X1i: New Home Assistant Touch Panel

Shelly is expanding its Wall Display series with the new Shelly Wall Display X1i. The compact control panel features a square 4-inch touchscreen and is designed to provide central control of lighting, heating, air conditioning, scenes and other smart home components.

Square 4-inch display with touch controls

The capacitive touchscreen has a resolution of 720 × 720 pixels and supports input with up to five fingers. The home screen can be customised, allowing frequently used devices, scenes and functions to be accessed directly. A quad-core Rockchip RK3326-S processor running at up to 1.5 GHz provides the necessary performance. It is accompanied by 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of flash storage. Android 11 is used as the operating system. Network connectivity is provided by dual-band Wi-Fi 6 in the 2.4 or 5 GHz bands. The display also supports Bluetooth 5.0. HTTP, RPC, MQTT, webhooks and a dedicated web interface are available for local integration. According to the manufacturer, the Shelly Cloud is not mandatory.

The display has an integrated 1-watt speaker for notifications and signal tones. Bluetooth and Sonos speakers can also be connected. Music playback, track selection and volume can then be controlled via the touchscreen.

Replaceable base with integrated relay

A special feature of the Wall Display X1i is its replaceable power supply base. The included version has a switchable output and an integrated relay rated for a maximum of 5 amps at up to 240 volts AC. This allows the panel to replace an existing light switch, for example, while controlling the connected circuit at the same time.

For installations with two circuits, Shelly offers an optional base with two separate outputs. As an alternative to flush-mounted power, the display can also be operated via a USB-C connection. Live and neutral conductors are required for permanent installation. Because work on mains voltage is involved, the manufacturer states that installation may only be carried out by a qualified electrician.

Proximity sensor instead of an integrated room climate sensor

The Wall Display X1i has an ambient light sensor and a proximity sensor. When a person approaches the panel, the display can be activated automatically. Shelly also advertises gesture control, although it has not yet described the specific functions in detail. A temperature or humidity sensor is not integrated. The X1i therefore requires an external sensor for room climate control. Shelly lists the BLU H&T ZB and BLU H&T Display ZB among the compatible models.

This distinguishes the X1i from the previous 4-inch Wall Display, which can measure temperature and humidity itself. In return, the new model offers more modern wireless technology, a proximity sensor and the replaceable relay base.

Home Assistant is supported

In addition to its own Smart Control app, Shelly lists Home Assistant, Amazon Alexa, Google Home and Samsung SmartThings as compatible platforms. Local interfaces such as MQTT and HTTP generally make integration with other smart home systems easier.

The Shelly Wall Display X1i* is available in black and silver. The launch price is €180.

Source/photo: (Amazon / Shelly / Chrissmart)