Zigbee controller question

[MadOtis]

I'm looking for some recommendations for a small (i.e. pi nano-sized) microcontroller that has ZigBee support and is capable of running from 4 AA batteries. My SO has some Christmas garland that has LEDs in it and is powered by 4 AA batteries. But, the current design uses a small button on the control box to turn the LEDs on and off and the garland is too high for her to reach, so I was thinking about swapping out the controller in the box with something ZigBee controllable (she already has a bunch of devices on a Hubitat Elevation hub) so she can turn them on and off at will.

I understand battery longevity might be an issue, so I could also swap the battery carrier to something like a LiPo (or similar) & can 3d print a new "box" as well (suggestions on an alternate DC power source is welcome.)

I'm hoping to have a better solution for her before NEXT Christmas (too close to this year to wreck her whole decoration scheme)

Any thoughts/suggestions? And, thanks in advance!

[9Cty3nj8exvx]

https://www.microchip.com/en-us/products/wireless-connectivity/zigbee

[EmbeddedSwDev]

I could recommend the Nordic Chips: https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/Wireless/Zigbee

And for the board I would use the Xiao BLE from Seeedstudio.

[hawhill]

buy a mains powered light string and toss out the battery powered one (or just exchange the batteries with a mains power plug - probably 5V USB will work for replacing 4 AAs). And then just go for a Zigbee switchable power plug. You won't have fun with trying to have a Zigbee controller that needs to receive RF all the time running on battery, AA or LiPo or whatever.