With the Smart Security Bundle, Shelly offers a new smart home set that clearly stands out from the crowd.
As usual with Shelly, this set does not require a cloud! If you want, you can use the Smart Security Bundle completely offline. Not only exciting from a data protection and security perspective, but also because of its durability! You don’t have to worry that at some point the manufacturers will run out of servers and you’ll have electronic waste.
But what can the Shelly Smart Security Bundle do? What functions does it offer and how is it used? Let’s find out in the test!
Shelly Smart security bundle in the test
The Shelly Smart Security Bundle is available in several sets or all components completely individually.
The core of the security bundle is the Shelly BLU Gateway. This is a “USB stick” in which a WLAN module and a Bluetooth module are installed.
Yes Bluetooth, because the Shelly door/window sensors just like the motion detectors use Bluetooth to communicate with the gateway. This in turn then forwards the information and commands into the network or carries out actions independently.
Also included in my set are 3x door/window sensors and 3x motion detectors.
The door/window sensors are very small and compact. These rely on the usual “magnet” principle. This means that they consist of 2 parts, which “trigger” when they are separated.
A button cell is used as the energy source and is inserted into the back. However, the cover for this is very stubborn and difficult to remove.
The motion detectors, three of which were included in my delivery, are also very compact and rely on a button cell.
However, where the door/window sensors do not have a status LED, the motion detectors have a red LED, which flashes briefly when movement is detected.
Bluetooth range?
Most smart home door/window sensors or motion detectors use the 868 MHz band to communicate with the base station. A big advantage of the 868 MHz band is the comparatively long range.
However, Shelly uses Bluetooth LE “Bluetooth Low Energy” in its system. A good standard in itself, with one disadvantage, the range!
Shelly advertises +- 30 meters, which at first glance is more than sufficient, but in my opinion it doesn’t quite achieve it. Walls, windows, etc. in particular massively reduce the effective range.
If you have a larger house or apartment, you will have a hard time covering it completely with a Shelly Smart security bundle.
Theoretically it should be possible to use multiple Shelly BLU gateways without any problems, but I haven’t tested that.
No cloud requirement!
An important point about Shelly products is the complete lack of cloud requirements. Yes, there is a “Shelly Cloud” so you can easily control the products on the go using the Shelly app, but this is not mandatory!
This means you can also use the app completely “locally” without the internet. Shelly also has an extremely good connection to third-party systems such as Home Assistant.
Shelly app is essential
All Shelly products have a WebUI. This also applies to the Shelly BLU Gateway. After plugging it in for the first time, it sends out a WLAN that you can use to connect to your smartphone or PC for configuration.
You can then make various settings via the WebUI. However, you do not have access or information about the connected Bluetooth sensors via the WebUI. So once set up, the WebUI is pretty useless.
Things look a little different if you integrate the Shelly BLU Gateway in the Shelly app.
The Shelly app is somewhat special in its structure. This clearly stands out from other smart home systems and is sometimes very complex. The Shelly app can be a challenge, especially for users who are not particularly technically savvy.
However, when it comes to functionality, the Shelly app is fantastic! Above all, this allows a lot of setting options.
However, it is clear to see that Shelly is primarily aiming this at enthusiasts rather than beginners.
What can the Shelly security bundle do?
But what can Shelly’s smart security bundle do now? First, you can see the status of the sensors in the Shelly app.
Here you can see whether a window/door is open or closed, see whether a motion detector has detected movement, etc.
For each sensor there is also an activity log in which you can see when, where and what was detected.
Of course, it is also possible to set up an alarm when movement is detected or a door is opened. However, there doesn’t seem to be a series for the Shelly system yet! Notifications currently consist of app and email notifications.
Info: It may be possible to use Shelly’s fire alarm as a siren, but I haven’t found any more detailed information.
Of course, you can also link the sensors with other Shelly products, according to the typical “if then” principle, e.g. if a door is opened, then switch on Shelly socket X, etc.
Brightness sensor
Excitingly, both the motion detector and the door/window sensor have integrated brightness sensors, whose data you can see in the app.
Response time, 1-2 seconds!
The response time of the sensors is excellent! We’re talking about 1-2 seconds after which the new status is displayed in the app and perhaps 3 seconds before an alarm notification arrives.
Perfect for the Home Assistant
The Shelly Smart Security Bundle works perfectly with the Home Assistant! However, there is a special feature here.
The gateway is integrated into your network once, automatically recognized by the Home Assistant and connected with one click.
Excitingly, the sensors are recognized separately as “BTHome” modules. You then have to integrate these separately, but of course this works without any problems.
No USB power supply
In order to operate the Shelly security bundle, you need a USB power supply for the Shelly BLU Gateway or generally a free USB port that is constantly supplied with power.
Such a power supply is not included in the scope of delivery.
Power consumption
The power consumption of the Shelly BLU Gateway is absolutely negligible. This only requires 0.4-0.5W!
Depending on the efficiency of your USB power supply, it will effectively draw less than 1W from the socket.
Conclusion
The Shelly Smart Security Bundle* is super exciting, but also quite exotic! So I wouldn’t recommend this set to the normal user.
This is a set intended for advanced users who will also appreciate things like MQTT integration, Home Assistant integration, optional “offline” use (without cloud), etc.
The set also offers a lot of setting options and options for expansion.
What I’m currently missing is an alarm siren. It might be possible to do something about the Home Assistant, but there doesn’t seem to be anything from Shelly about that yet. It should also be borne in mind that the range of the gateway is not gigantic. Sufficient for a normal apartment, but for a large house it will be difficult with a gateway.
In return you get a very free system that also works well! Response times are low, the gateway requires very little energy and the app is generally good.
In short, the Shelly Smart Security Bundle is a bit more exotic, but also more or less unique.
Link to the manufacturer /// on Amazon*