ZemiSmart Smart Matter Hub M1 w/ Matter and Thread (video)
ZemiSmart has come a long way in the last couple of years, especially when it comes to their adoption of Thread and Matter, so with their new M1 hub being Matter compatible and featuring a built-in Thread Border Router, this could be a way of getting your Tuya Zigbee devices into all the Matter platforms without relying on cloud connectivity, as well as provide you with a Border Router without having to buy another HomePod or Apple TV. There are some strange findings, however, so watch the video to learn more.
You can purchase the Smart Matter Hub M1 from ZemiSmart’s own store using the (affiliate) link below, which costs you nothing extra but helps us buy more products for review, to keep you informed on how products perform.
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I have been looking for a UK/EU smart dimming wired solution and recently at long last found something that ticks all my main requirements of supporting dimming, being wired, compatible with all the smart assistant platforms including Siri, working with single and two way i.e. staircase circuits and being able to be combined in a single multi-gang faceplate with a relay or dimmer.
It consists of so far – a unique Zigbee dimmer micro-module which supports both a wired momentary switch with dim up and dim down capabilities and as mentioned the ability to work in a 2 or 3 or more way circuit i.e. using multiple switches linked to the same micro module. I currently have it linked to a Philips Hue bridge which exposes it via Matter and HomeKit and Apple Home see it with full functionality either way.
My question is whether this new Zenismart M1 Matter hub might be in the long term a better option than a Philips Hue bridge.
The Hue bridge does not support Thread – only Zigbee but is well supported by other smart home platforms. The Hue bridge also has an effective limit of only 50 devices. The Zenismart as mentioned does support Thread as well as Zigbee but it is not clear despite its use of Matter how well it would in reality coexist with other systems. In particular I have recently read that some Thread border routers are currently far less ‘friendly’ to other platforms than for example an Apple Homepod. The biggest problem right now which should eventually be fixed is that currently if you have multiple Thread border routers they currently create separate networks as there is no agreed standard for sharing credentials between multiple border routers.
Although I admire ZemiSmart for jumping feet first into both Matter and Thread, I find the products themselves to be just ok in terms of build quality, and sometimes lacking in terms of quality control when it comes to software and firmware. This is highlighted with the hub showing details for a lock, which is very odd, although seemingly harmless. After both I and Shane pointed this out in our videos, ZemiSmart rushed through an update to fix this, but it should’ve been caught before then. So, whilst the Matter hub does offer some decent features, only time will tell if it’s destined for longer term support. It utilises OpenThread, which I assume means its ready for being used as part of a system with shared credentials. What I don’t really make so clear in the video is that whilst it’s a Matter hub for third-party platforms (Apple Home, Google Home etc), it’s also a Matter controller for the Tuya ecosystem, which means you can add third-party Thread and Matter devices to the platform. Why you’d want to is another question, but it is another string to its bow I guess.