Matter’s big coming out party is going down today, November 3rd, in Amsterdam at the Matter launch event. After years of waiting and multiple delays, companies are finally announcing their product roadmaps for the transition to Matter, the new smart home standard that promises to fix smart home interoperability.
Matter has been developed by Amazon, Apple, Google, and Samsung, alongside many other smart home companies like Eve, Nanoleaf, Wyze, Lutron, Somfy, and Signify (Philips Hue), to name just a few. Perhaps most importantly, once they’re in your home, Matter devices can operate entirely locally, talking to each other over Thread and Wi-Fi and not going through the cloud.
Matter’s governing body, the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), says 190 products are now certified or close to gaining certification in the first Matter categories. These categories include smart lighting, smart plugs, smart thermostats, smart shades, smart sensors, and smart locks.
Below, you’ll find all the announcements and analysis from the event.
Nov 5, 2022
Matter is here, but it’s still a long road to the simple smart home
A Matter QR code on an Eve Energy smart plug. To pair a device to a Matter app, you’ll just need to scan this code. At the official launch event for Matter this week, I saw a lot of exciting things: a Google Nest Hub controlling an Eve Energy smart plug; a Wiz light bulb working with Apple Home; a Yale smart lock talking to a SmartThings hub over Thread. None of these things were possible before Matter. And all of these things worked well in their demos using voice, app, and other smart home control interfaces — even in the interference hell of a mini-trade show floor.
Read Article >But I also saw that Matter has a long way to go before it fully delivers on its promise of an interoperable and simple smart home. A phrase I heard a lot throughout the two-day event was, “Matter is a journey,” followed by, “This is just the beginning.”
Nov 4, 2022
Here’s Aqara’s new Thread-enabled door and window sensor.Sure, Aqara’s Door and Window Sensor P2 is just two chunks of rounded white plastic. But things like color, size (it’s smaller than it looks), and logo placement are important when deciding if you’ll attach one to every door and window of your Matter-enabled smart home to trigger automations. The Thread-enabled sensor isn’t yet Matter-certified, but we saw this prototype working at yesterday’s Matter launch event.
A prototype of the Thread-enabled Door and Window Sensor P2 from Aqara. Nov 3, 2022
Philips Hue Bridge is getting updated to Matter early next year
Image: Philips HueThe Philips Hue Bridge is now Matter certified, with a software update coming to all users by Q1 2023. The free update will make most existing and new Hue lights and accessories Matter compatible. Developers, or anyone willing to live on the edge, can access the beta firmware as of today.
Read Article >News of the Hue Bridge certification first leaked via the Connectivity Standards Alliance’s Matter certification database early Thursday morning, just as the Matter launch event kicked off in Amsterdam.
Nov 3, 2022
Level locks had a secret Thread radio this whole time
The Level Lock Plus and Level’s other locks will soon work with many more smart home platforms. Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The VergeLevel’s entire lineup of Bluetooth smart locks — best known for hardly looking like smart locks at all — have had hardware support for Thread this whole time and will soon be updated to support Matter over Thread. You love to see it.
Read Article >Level’s smart locks, which include the Bolt, Lock, Lock Touch, and the just-reviewed Lock Plus with Home Key, are clever and discreet — the Bolt fits entirely within the cutout of your existing deadbolt. But they were Bluetooth-only, and smart home integration and out-of-home control were limited to Apple Home (with a Bluetooth connection to a HomePod Mini or Apple TV) and Ring (if connected to a Sidewalk Bridge like the Ring Video Doorbell Pro). With such limited platform support, Level’s locks have been pretty niche.
Nov 3, 2022
We’re getting our first look at Matter devices today, and here’s what’s coming next
The CSA is hosting an event in Amsterdam this week to celebrate the launch of the new smart home standard Matter. Illustration: The VergeMatter was finally released last month, and now, we are getting our first look at the devices that will work with the new smart home interoperability standard. At a Matter launch event in Amsterdam hosted by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), the organization announced that over 190 products are now certified or close to gaining certification in the first Matter categories. These include smart lighting, smart plugs, smart thermostats, smart shades, smart sensors, and smart locks. That’s a relatively small number in the infinite pool of smart home devices, but it's a good start.
Read Article >Today, the CSA announced four new device categories that are coming next, in addition to cameras, home appliances, robot vacuums, and more advanced energy management categories already announced. These are garage door controllers and electronic gates, environmental quality sensors and controls (such as indoor air quality monitors and air purifiers), smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and ambient motion and presence sensing.
Nov 3, 2022
Amazon announces a phased rollout of Matter to its Alexa smart home platform
Amazon’s latest smart speaker, the fifth-gen Echo Dot with Clock, will be a Matter controller next month. Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The VergeAmazon will start its Matter journey slowly, bringing support for the new smart home standard to 17 Echo devices in December. But this first rollout will only be Matter over Wi-Fi (no Thread, yet), compatible only with Android phones, and cover just three device types: smart plugs, smart bulbs, and smart switches. Amazon announced the news at the Matter launch event in Amsterdam this week and says it will expand the rollout to iOS and Thread early next year, when it will also add more of the device types Matter supports.
Read Article >The company, which is a founding member of the new smart home interoperability standard, also announced that Matter device makers will need to go through Amazon’s Works With Alexa program to get the WWA badge on their product pages. But they can do this in tandem with Matter certification. If a device is Matter certified, it will work with Alexa, regardless of whether it has the WWA certification.
Nov 3, 2022
Why Matter matters in one chart.See the green and blue bars on the far right? That giant blue bar represents the expected growth in smart devices by 2030. Matter is here to make sure they work easily together. Good luck.
Nov 3, 2022
Nanoleaf announces the first Matter-over-Thread light bulbs
Nanoleaf’s new bulbs will support Thread and Matter. Image: NanoleafRead Article >Nanoleaf has announced the addition of four new Matter-compatible smart bulbs and light strips to its Essentials smart lighting line. The Thread-enabled LED lights will launch in Q1 of 2023 and include a light strip and A19, GU10, and BR30 bulbs, making them some of the first to support Matter directly without a bridge.
Nov 3, 2022
Aqara’s Matter transition begins in December with free hub update
Over 40 existing Aqara devices will be Matter compatible after the Hub M2 is updated in December. Photo by Thomas Ricker / The VergeAqara just lifted the veil on its smart home roadmap at the Matter launch event in Amsterdam. It starts with a free software update in December for the Hub M2 to make many of Aqara’s existing Zigbee devices Matter compatible. That will be followed by the release of Aqara’s first two Matter-over-Thread devices in early 2023 and a new multi-protocol hub coming sometime in the future.
Read Article >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. That list will eventually expand to support more than 160 of the company’s Zigbee devices. Aqara’s other hubs, including the Hub M1S/M1S Gen 2, Hub E1, Camera Hub G3, and Camera Hub G2H Pro, will be made Matter compatible in “the following months,” according to Aqara.