Getting More Smart for the Future: Matter Certification of Aqara Hubs and Hubs for the Next Generation of Zigbee Devices
The perfect smart home instantly responds to commands and anticipates your needs. You shouldn’t have to open a specific app for each appliance or remember the precise voice command and voice assistant combination that starts the latest episode of your favorite podcast on the nearest speaker. Competing standards make it difficult to operate your devices. It’s just not very … well, smart.
If a smart home device you buy has a Matter logo, you should be able to set it up and use it on any Matter compatible device and platform. Matter-compatible devices should start to become available toward the end of this year.
The CSA says the last delay was to accommodate more devices and platforms and ensure they all work smoothly with one another before release. More than 130 devices and sensors across 16 development platforms (operating systems and chipsets) are working through certification, and you can expect many more soon.
Jaeyeon Jung, Samsung Electronics corporate vice president and head of SmartThings’ mobile experience business, told The Verge in an interview that the company received its Matter certification early on Wednesday, October 12th, a week after Matter launched. Michelle Mindala-Freeman of the Connectivity Standards Alliance, which oversees Matter, confirmed that it started issuing certifications this week and said Samsung was among the very first to secure one.
Starting in December, the maker of low-cost smart home devices will issue an over-the-air update to the Aqara Hub M2 to make over 40 of Aqara’s existing Zigbee devices Matter compatible when attached to the hub. There will be more than 160 of the company’s Zigbee devices supported by that list. Aqara says it will make Matter compatible with their other hubs, including the Hub E1, Camera Hub G3 and Camera Hub G2H Pro.
They will be able to control any Thread device using a Thread border router built into another device, because v2 hubs are not capable of being upgraded to Thread. If you don’t add a chip, the software hub in the family hub fridge will be the same as the one in the smart TVs.
The company thinks that Matter makes it easier for consumers to use SmartThings over another platform, because there is less of an issue with compatibility. The most open platform of the major players is what built the brand of SmartThings.
In addition to making old devices Matter compatible, Aqara’s also announcing more details on its first Matter-over-Thread devices teased at CES back in January. The Thread-based Door and Window Sensor P2 and the Motion and Light Sensor P2 are set to be released in early 2023. Aqara says it will eventually release an array of new Thread-based devices, including “various smart sensors, dimmer switches, smart plugs, and lights.”
Gimmy Chu, the CEO of the company, told The Verge that Matter over Thread will be supported by lighting products. There are lighting companies who are Thread and Matter enabled but don’t do it through their bridge. “We might be the only one doing it directly with our bulbs.” The benefit here is that each bulb will act as a Thread endpoint, helping extend your Thread mesh network.
Pricing will range from $19.99 to $99.99, and all the new products will be RGBW, capable of displaying over 16 million color options, including tunable whites with color temperatures ranging from 2700–6500K. The company made the announcement at the Matter launch event in Amsterdam this week.
The S5 Station: A New Hub for Smart Things at your Home with a USB-C Connected Nanoleaf Thread Border Router
“The bulbs and light strip will use Matter over Thread, with a Bluetooth fallback,” he explained. “So, if you don’t have a Thread border router, you can still connect to the bulb using Bluetooth directly to a phone.”
It is not a priority for us since our existing products already work with all the platforms. It’s essential that ananoleaf thread border routers be used to work with the essentials line. The current Nanoleaf Shapes, Elements, and Lines will all act as Thread border routers, connecting any Thread-enabled products in your home to the internet and other wireless networks, such as Matter.
Eventually, Thread border routers from different companies will be able to form a single Thread network in your home. Nanoleaf and Eero Wi-Fi routers already do, and interoperability with the other platforms is expected next year, says Chu.
A little over three years after getting out of the smart home hardware game, Samsung is back with a new smart home hub. By building a device hub into a wireless charging pad, it’s possible for you to put one in your home.
Launching first in Korea and coming to the US in early February, the Station will cost $59.99 ($79.99 with a USB-C adaptor) according to and comes in black or white. It’s designed around Samsung’s existing wireless charging pad but is entirely new hardware and software.
We got a first look at the gadget here at CES, and it’s a nice, slimline, and compact device powered by USB-C. It has a small button that you can press to get to Smart Things. It is simple and inexpensive to have one in your main room of the house, where you can drop your phone and turn on your lights at the same time.
A button has been added to the device, in addition to smart home radios. When you press this little SmartThings logo, it can control scenes or devices set up in the SmartThings app. Single-click, double-click, and long- press are the three most popular options.
You can also use the charging state of Galaxy phones to trigger an automation. When you place the phone down to charge, say after 11PM, that could turn on a Good Night scene that shuts off your lights, locks your door, and adjust your thermostat. Pick it up after 7AM as it could turn on your Good Morning scene.
You can use the station to find your gadgets. If you set it up with your Galaxy smartphone, the pad will be pre-configured to ring your phone when you double-press the button. It also acts as an always-at-home Find device scanner, so you can know where your smartphones, tablets, watches, and earbuds are. Plus, a new function continually scans for Galaxy SmartTags or SmartTag Plus and can send a notification when a tag or device leaves or returns home.
It’s also a Thread Border router alongside a Zigbee SmartThings hub and has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios built in. There is no support for Z-Wave. You will still need to buy an Aeotec SmartThings Hub if you want support for your Z-Wave devices.