Experience with Matter?

[ryarber]

Does anyone have any experience with matter devices yet? I know of only 2 manufacturers using them for switches right now, Eve and Belkin. It appears that the Eve switches store schedules on the device which seems to be a novel feature. 

[ryarber]

Well, maybe I will be the first on this forum to really work extensively with thread. I am building a new house, and I plan to use a lot of thread devices. I plan to start out with some nano leaf LED strips and add some eve light switches. I will try to report back on what I find out. But it may be a few weeks. 

[brians]

What platform do you plan on using? IoX doesn’t support Matter or Thread yet.

From my limited experience using of a couple Matter devices (Wiz RGB wifi bulbs) in Home Assistant, I am not too excited about it anymore. Thread devices are more expensive and have less features than their zigbee equivalents.

Matter LED strips still probably need native app to do full control and scenes. I would check out WLED. I made one using a 3m FCOB strip and a $5 ESP 8266 chip - was fun to do. 

[ryarber]

8 hours ago, brians said:

What platform do you plan on using? IoX doesn’t support Matter or Thread yet.

From my limited experience using of a couple Matter devices (Wiz RGB wifi bulbs) in Home Assistant, I am not too excited about it anymore. Thread devices are more expensive and have less features than their zigbee equivalents.

Matter LED strips still probably need native app to do full control and scenes. I would check out WLED. I made one using a 3m FCOB strip and a $5 ESP 8266 chip - was fun to do. 

I used polisy in my last house. At this point I have not decided if I am going to use a platform at all yet. If I do, it may be a hodgepodge of different hubs. I’m going to start out with an Aqara Hub. The Homey pro device is looking like a legit option at this point if I do want to settle on a platform. EISY is also a contender. 

Edited October 8, 2023 by ryarber

[brians]

5 hours ago, ryarber said:

I used polisy in my last house. At this point I have not decided if I am going to use a platform at all yet. If I do, it may be a hodgepodge of different hubs. I’m going to start out with an Aqara Hub. The Homey pro device is looking like a legit option at this point if I do want to settle on a platform. EISY is also a contender. 

Homey Pro is pretty expensive... here in Canada I see it is $599. I am skeptical of their claims how compatible, and how many devices it supports (based on reviews I have seen, and posts in Homey forums). If you want thread/matter support, EISY is not an option right now unfortunately. I would also consider Home Assistant. Also note that many Aqara devices only work reliably (or at all) with their hub, even though the device may seem like it uses standard eg. Zigbee or Matter.

 

[ryarber]

49 minutes ago, brians said:

Homey Pro is pretty expensive... here in Canada I see it is $599. I am skeptical of their claims how compatible, and how many devices it supports (based on reviews I have seen, and posts in Homey forums). If you want thread/matter support, EISY is not an option right now unfortunately. I would also consider Home Assistant. Also note that many Aqara devices only work reliably (or at all) with their hub, even though the device may seem like it uses standard eg. Zigbee or Matter.

 

Yes, I’ve heard. I wasn’t planning to foray much into zigbee beyond what Aqara has. But their stuff seems so good. I loved their door lock and that started my interest in Aqara. I have an M2 hub. 

Right now, my house isn’t finished. I am planning on adding several thread devices like nanoleaf led strips and some nanoleaf lines. I will probably do the Aqara T1 light strip as well.

The Homey Pro has a fairly high up front cost, but there aren’t (to my knowledge) any extras or continuing charges like there are for the EISY. My thread network will be managed by my existing AppleTVs.