ZemiSmart to Release New M6 Matter Compatible Zigbee Hub

It may slowly becoming more common for our readers at HomeKit News to see news relating to Matter, and today is one of those examples. ZemiSmart are due to release a new Zigbee hub designed to work with Tuya certified devices, that is also Matter compatible out of the box.

This is the fourth gateway to be released by Zemismart over close to the last three years, with the original HomeKit compatible hub being released back in October of 2021. This was superseded a couple of years later with a new model that from appearances, looks identical to this latest offering, but not before the company also released the Smart Matter Hub M1, their first Zigbee hub that included both a Matter Controller and a Thread Border Router (video HERE, review HERE).

Now, with the latest release, which in some ways combines aspects of all previous hubs, we get a Zigbee hub to work with Tuya devices, but instead of using Apple HomeKit, or the cloud-based legacy connections for Google and Amazon, it uses Matter. This essentially means this is a cut down version of the M1 hub, so it does utilise Zigbee for Tuya devices, and it can connect to all Matter compatible platforms, due to its Matter credentials, but it can’t work with Thread devices, or act as a Matter controller for the Tuya ecosystem, which would allow for third-party Matter devices to connect to Tuya. It does beg the question as to who this is aimed at though, but despite the omissions compared to the fully featured M1, the M6 does have an antenna that the company told me has a 330m / 1082 ft reach (without barriers) for devices connected to it, which sounds extraordinary.

Like recent previous models, the M6 continues the trend towards USB-C with a power port utilising this method, as well as an ethernet port for a wired connection. There’s no wireless option for the hub.

Despite the packaging stating it’s a Tuya Zigbee gateway, it is a ZemiSmart product, as is evidenced from the branding on the front of the hub. It is primarily designed to work with Tuya certified Zigbee devices, however.

The packaging states the hub model is the T1, which is at odds with the product itself, which is listed as the M6 on the underside of the hub, alongside the Matter QR code. As this is Matter compatible, Apple Home users, as well as Google, Amazon, SmartThings, and Home Assistant users can all benefit from it, with Amazon and Google with the most to gain from leaving the legacy cloud connectivity behind in favour of local control. For Apple Home users, the benefits are more apparent if you’re coming from the company’s original hub, but much less so from the M1 with its Thread Border Router and Matter Controller features.

The package comes with a USB-A to USB-C cable, and an ethernet cable, but no power supply, which is standard these days. The M6 is due for release soon, although we don’t have a confirmed date as of yet, but we’re told the M6 will be competitively priced, which is typically the case for ZemiSmart products, even with the release of a whole slew of products that use Matter, with either Thread or WiFi.