Suggestions and experiences with smart home devices, pitfalls, ease of integration in HA, etc.
E.g. which brand or device works best to make wall light switches smart?
Ciao Giuseppe,
I think we already had a nice chat about this, but I’m happy to share again to stir up some conversation on this platform.
My experience with Sonoff devices was really good: they’re inexpensive, they’re ESP8266 based and expose a UART on the PCB.
If you’re willing to go the extra mile, you can easily reflash tasmota or any other custom firmware and achieve any degree of customization you might want 
Cheers,
L.
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Ciao Luca,
Thanks, definitely the fact they’re ESP8266-based is a very good point for further customization options. I’ve recently seen Shelly producing similar devices, do you know about them?
Otherwise, I think I’ll buy some Sonoff as Xmas gift to start with
Cheers,
Giuseppe
Not at all, but I’m afraid I’m not super up-to-date. I moved to a new apartment and didn’t set up any home automation here.
If you want, I’ll gladly give you some Sonoff stuff after the holidays, that I’m not using anymore.
I think I have a lightbulb adapter and a smart socket (pre-flashed) lying around in Thoiry 
Sure! Let’s see after the holidays!
Hello!
I’ve been testing a couple of Aliexpress smart switches such as Sonoff T1, Moes or a similar brand and even though they work, I wouldn’t recommend it since, besides having to be flashed, they are intended to replace the original switches (kinda ruins the aesthetics). Then, I also got some Sonoff Mini’s but they only seem to have one-relay (wouldn’t work for two-button switches, they are quite common here and the wall box won’t fit two sonoffs).
All of this to say that I also think Shelly is the best alternative, never tried one but they seem to be very well rated within the IoT communities.
I also bought some Yeelights (bulbs with color) long before my HA ride, integrating them became a challenge as they need to be connected to mains constantly. I prepared a rule so the switch would not actually cut the power, but trigger a message to the hub that turns the light ON/OFF. If for some reason the hub can’t be reached, then the relay will kick in as a fallback. Haven’t tested this yet, but hope to do soon.