ZEN32/ZEN35, no true button-down events?

Product Support Scene Controllers & Remotes
1

I’m trying to get instant button-down events from my Zooz ZEN32 and ZEN35 Scene Controllers in Home Assistant.

These devices send Central Scene events (KeyPressed, KeyHeldDown, KeyReleased, multi-tap), but KeyPressed only fires after the full “button-down then button-up” cycle completes (basically, after lifting your finger off the button).

I tried disabling multi-tap using ZEN32 parameter 28 and ZEN35 parameter 42, and that seems to help, because without these set there’s an additional ~300 ms delay on KeyPressed (probably because it’s waiting for additional taps to classify as multi-tap).

However, it’s still not as fast as a traditional light switch which doesn’t care to wait for you to lift your finger. This is killing me because I think this hardware is otherwise great and the Z-Wave events are so quick, but just firing at the wrong time.

I verified all this by listening to the stream of zwave_js_value_notification.

Has anyone found a workaround for real-time button-down triggers in Home Assistant with these devices?

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2

The Zooz team can tell us all for sure, but I think because on the 32 and 35, if you hold the button down (talking about the main button), it can trigger Multi-level Switch Command Class… so even though a 32 isn’t a dimmer, if directly associated to a dimming device, it can control it. Therefore I believe the device doesn’t know if you wanted the KeyPressed event, or the multi-level dim event… and I don’t think you can disable that direct association behavior, even if not using it.

It is also hard to see in JS UI, as that command class event doesn’t show in the event log. You’d need a Zniffer to actually see it happening.

However that is the feature I personally love about the 32… great for controlling one or groups of things like dimming plugs, or even act as a virtual 3-way with a ZEN72, etc

3

Is this the same as ZEN32 parameter 28? “Scene Control Multi-Tap” I do have that disabled, but it didn’t change the behavior here – it’s still waiting for the button up/release to trigger KeyPressed

4

No, it has nothing to do with scene control, unfortunately. This is the concept of groups, using direct association between one or multiple devices. It uses direct node to node instructions that bypass the hub. Whereas scenes are controlled exclusively through the hub.

You can see these in HA JS UI under the “groups” under the device. Here’s a screenshot where to see them… In this example I already have a few configured - your list may be empty since none are likely set up. These fire whenever these actions are taken on the switch itself. (They also will fire under zwave command - so if you remotely command the Main Button to power on a load, the corresponding association action for that main button will send a trigger to what it is associated to)

So in my screenshot example, when pressing the main button, a command is sent to the “Side Bedroom Lamp” to turn on or off (which is a ZEN15). So that zwave packet of wireless data goes direct from the ZEN32 → ZEN15. The hub isn’t even aware of it. (Other than the ZEN15 telling the hub that it has now turned on, and starts sending power data updates, etc)

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Edited to add:
If that device wasn’t a ZEN15 - but something that dimmed, like a Minoston MP31ZD, then we could setup a different type of association (“Held - MultiLevel” see below) that when the button is held, can control the dimming feature!

Screenshot 2026-01-17 142339
Screenshot 2026-01-17 142339837×870 58.8 KB

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5

Thanks for the detailed explanation, I think that’s helpful context.

However, I think this might be drifting a bit from what I was originally trying to understand. My question wasn’t really about hub-vs-association routing, but specifically about event timing, and whether there’s any externally observable signal that fires at physical button-down time on the ZEN32 / ZEN35.

6

Understood. I only offered that as a possible explanation. In other words - it’s a scene controller with a unique set of features. Not a switch. Perhaps that’s the reason for no down event. But Zooz may be able to tell us.

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7

I recently got a ZEN35 and second this!

There is a noticeable delay between pressing one of the 4 scene buttons and the Z wave event firing. +1 for having a “button down event” or making the event for button pressed faster if multi-tap scene control is disabled.

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8

Thanks everyone for the feedback on this. We’ve been following the discussion closely and wanted to provide a little more context around how the current behavior works and why this isn’t quite as simple as it may seem on the surface.

Right now, scene events on the ZEN32 and ZEN35 are triggered on button release rather than immediately on button press. That’s because the firmware is still determining what kind of action the user is performing:
• single tap
• double/triple tap
• hold
• release

In order to support all of those functions reliably, the device has to wait briefly for the gesture to complete before sending the final Central Scene notification.

This is also the reason we added the option to disable multi tap scene control on the secondary buttons. When multi tap is disabled, the device no longer has to wait and see whether additional taps are coming, which helps reduce the perceived delay.

That said, we completely understand the request for “instant” scene activation where the action would fire immediately on physical button press instead of release. From a technical standpoint, this is possible, but there are some important tradeoffs involved.

The biggest challenge is that once the device fires the scene immediately on the initial button press, it can no longer reliably determine whether the user intended:
• a single tap
• a double tap
• a hold action

For example, if the scene already triggered on the first press, there’s no clean way for the firmware to later reinterpret that same interaction as a double tap without potentially creating duplicate or conflicting actions.

Because of that, a true “instant press” mode would likely need to function as its own dedicated operating mode with some limitations, disabling things like multi tap actions and possibly certain hold/release behaviors as well.

We definitely understand why this feature is being requested though. Even very small delays can feel noticeable with lighting controls and scene activation, especially on a fast Z Wave network.

We’ve passed all of the feedback and discussion along to the development team for review to see what might be possible :slight_smile: We appreciate everyone sharing detailed use cases and constructive feedback here since those conversations genuinely help shape future firmware considerations.

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9

Thanks for this info!

For my use case, I’d love an “instant press” operating mode, even if it means all other behaviors like double-tap/hold/release are disabled. I’ve found that ZEN32/ZEN35 have enough buttons that I don’t currently use anything other than single tap.

I’d love to hear other thoughts on this too.

10

It sounds like this is already available:

Have you tried this, @monitorlizard? Did I interpret your explanation correctly, @Sara ? :thinking:

11

Not quite. Back to the testing results in my original message. It helps, but there’s still a delay.

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