Devices

Which generation do you have?

Shelly has several generations of devices and they can do different things. This is what decides what applies to yours.

Almost every "why doesn't X work for me?" with Shelly has the same answer: your device is a different generation from the one in the guide you were reading.

The generation decides which settings exist, how the device is added, whether it supports Matter, and what its interface looks like.

How to find out

The model name usually gives it away:

In the app, the model is listed under the device's settings.

If the device is already installed and you can't get to the name, there are more ways to identify it:

• Terminal colour. On the compact in-wall modules, black terminals mean Gen3 and grey ("Mouse Grey") means Gen4. The housing colour also tells you the function, and the Pro range colour-codes its terminals by conductor size. The full key is in Colour coding.
• The label on the device. The model name and part number are printed on the side or back.
• The web interface. The device's built-in web interface shows the model, generation and firmware version.

If you want to compare devices against each other — load, channels, Matter, metering — it's all in the device database.

What the difference means in practice

Gen1 are the oldest. They still work, but they're built on an older API and have no Bluetooth. They're added via Wi-Fi (AP scan), not via Bluetooth, and they won't get Matter.

Plus and Pro (Gen2) introduced Bluetooth and a new API. Plus goes in the back box, Pro is built for DIN rail in the consumer unit. They can act as a gateway for BLU devices, which Gen1 can't.

Gen3 is the current standard range for most products.

Gen4 is the latest. Every Gen4 has Matter built in. Some Gen4 devices can also run Zigbee - and there's a trap there, see below.

BLU are battery-powered Bluetooth devices: buttons, door sensors, motion sensors. They have no Wi-Fi. They require another Shelly as a gateway to show up in the app. See BLU devices.

Wave are Z-Wave devices. They are not controlled from Shelly Smart Control — Wave devices require a third-party Z-Wave controller and are configured and controlled from there, not in this app. They belong in your Z-Wave system.

Mini is a form factor, not a generation

This one is worth pausing on, because it's easy to get wrong: Mini only tells you the device is small — small enough to fit in the back box behind an existing switch. It tells you nothing about which generation it belongs to.

Mini exists across the generations, and it's the suffix that decides:

The difference isn't academic. A Shelly 1 Mini Gen4 has Matter built in. A Shelly Plus 1 Mini doesn't, and never will. Two devices that are the same size, look identical in the back box and have almost the same name can have completely different capabilities.

Read the generation, not the size.

Matter

Matter is the standard that lets devices talk to Apple Home, Google Home and Alexa without Shelly's cloud.

The Zigbee trap

Some Gen4 devices can be run in Zigbee mode instead of Wi-Fi. That sounds convenient if you already have a Zigbee network.

But Shelly is explicit on this point: a Gen4 in Zigbee mode is not compatible with Shelly Smart Control. The device is then handled by your Zigbee hub and its app — what you can do with it depends on the hub, not on Shelly.

Gen4 runs Matter by default. The Zigbee profile is something you actively switch to, typically with five presses of the device's button, after which it enters inclusion mode.

This isn't a bug, it's the design. But it is a fork in the road, and it isn't obvious when you're standing there with your phone in your hand. If you want the device in the Shelly app: run it on Wi-Fi.

Exactly what happens to a Gen4 that is already in the app and is then switched to Zigbee is something we haven't been able to verify from official documentation — assume you'll have to add it again if you switch it back.