Shelly i4 Gen4: a Matter and Zigbee input for the wall switches you already have

The Shelly i4 Gen4 is a flush-mount input device with four switch inputs. You put it behind a normal wall switch, and each input reports four events: single, double and triple press, and long press. The SmarthomeAssistent article of 14 October 2026 gives a price of 16.90 euros. That is a shop price and can change.

The i4 Gen4 delivers button presses, and something else does the switching. Functions and price come from the SmarthomeAssistent report, not from our own measurements. (Quelle: Simple Icons, file shelly.svg (CC0))

What the device is, and what it is not

The report is direct about it: there is no relay output. It does not switch a light; it only tells your system that someone pressed the button. To switch the ceiling lamp you need a second device that acts on that message. SmarthomeAssistent uses the Shelly 1 Mini Gen3 as the example.

Who is it for? Flats and offices where the wall switch should stay but the lamps are already smart. Instead of rewiring the lamp, you change what the buttons mean: one press for the ceiling light, two for the floor lamp, three for the evening scene, a long press to dim. Four inputs cover four switches in one multi-gang box.

Radio and integration

Per the report, it has 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0 and Zigbee. Matter runs over Wi-Fi, and there is no Thread. Matter is the factory mode. To move to Zigbee you press the button five times, then you have three minutes to open a Zigbee network for pairing. Depending on the mode, the device also acts as a Wi-Fi or Zigbee repeater.

The Connectivity Standards Alliance lists the Shelly i4 Gen4 from Shelly Europe Ltd. as a Zigbee product (Zigbee 3.0, specification 3.0.1) and as a four-way input switch. We did not find a Matter entry on that page. If you need Matter, check with the manufacturer before buying, because the Matter claim in this post rests on the SmarthomeAssistent report alone. Shelly's documentation page returned only the site navigation when we fetched it, so we could not confirm datasheet values there.

The device sits at the start of the chain. Without a receiver at the end, nothing happens. (Quelle: SmarthomeAssistent report, 14 Oct 2026)

Local control

For anyone who wants no vendor cloud, the local side matters. Local access is covered: the report names a built-in web interface and MQTT, an HTTP API, webhooks and Shelly Script, with KNXnet/IP described as planned. Many functions work without a cloud connection. Home Assistant is not mentioned in the article. Through Matter, Zigbee or MQTT the device should integrate there in principle, but we have not tested the i4 Gen4 ourselves.

Before you buy

Matter over Wi-Fi depends on your wireless network. A button that takes a few seconds to come back after a router restart feels worse than a Zigbee button on its own mesh. If you already run a Zigbee network you will probably pick the Zigbee mode. If everything you own speaks Matter, stay on the factory setting.

The article gives 37 × 42 × 15 mm, 110 to 240 V AC with a neutral wire and under 1 W for "the module"; the text leaves open whether that means the i4 Gen4 or the relay example, while the CSA listing gives the same size and mains supply for the i4 Gen4. So the neutral wire has to be in the box. If your wall box has few wires, read the manufacturer's datasheet first. How reliable the Zigbee mode is in daily use is also open, as we have no verified reports.

At 16.90 euros the i4 Gen4 is a cheap experiment. Try two or three switches before you rebuild every wall. Write down the events first, create the automations in the hub, and only then put the wall switch back, so the light still works if the smart part fails.