So this will compete with Z-wave, that already operate in the 800-900 MHz space?
It's very confusing with a new Zigbee standard when I thought it was being replaced with Thread
It's very confusing with a new Zigbee standard when I thought it was being replaced with Thread
And from the same organization that co-designed and promotes Matter.
Personally, I'm very happy that Zigbee continues to be developed. I am not very enthusiastic about everything being IP addressable (even if it is just ULA) and the convoluted Thread flow where a bunch of border routers require you to initiate the pairing with a phone over BLE to hand it over to the router. I have an Eve Energy Thread + Matter plug and it requires many takes to pair it correctly. Most Zigbee devices are just a matter of permitting join on your coordinator and holding/pressing the pairing button on the device.
I wish that Apple and Google would just add a Zigbee coordinator (or just leave home automation to others) and put some effort into supporting a wide variety of devices rather than trying to disrupt a perfectly working standard. They often cannot even bother implementing the latest Matter spec timely.
I've got several Matter smart plugs and a couple Matter smart bulbs.
They all were quick and easy to set up with their first Matter controller (an RPi4 running Home Assistant or an iPad with Apple Home), and quick and easy to add to whichever controller I didn't use as the first controller.
They all worked then without requiring me to get their manufacturer's proprietary app or make an account or anything like that.
Some needed a firmware update to support Matter 1.3, and so I had to use the manufacturer's app for that. Some also have proprietary functions and options (for example one of bulbs supports some kind of presence detection if you have at least two of those bulbs in the same room) so I might get the manufacturers app if I decide I want to use those functions.
Adding them to the manufacturer's app does not interfere with their use as Matter devices so if I do decide I want to use some of the proprietary stuff it doesn't break things.
Finally... This [0] does a better job of explaining the issues with Matter. But, Matter is ultimately a joke. It was promoted as a standard by vendors nobody should trust for interoperability at this point.
[0] https://community.home-assistant.io/t/if-matter-is-a-suppose...