James spent seven years in Japan, where he brought technology into the classroom as a teacher and worked part-time as a data centre engineer. Formerly the CTO and Reviews Editor of MakeUseOf, he has also contributed to publications like TrustedReviews, WindowsReport, and MacObserver. With a BSc in Artificial Intelligence, James combines his technical expertise with a passion for writing, programming, and tech reviews. Now based in Cornwall, he enjoys the slower pace of rural life, building LEGO, playing board games, and diving into VR.
Matter is an open, IP-based standard designed to unify smart home devices across platforms, with local-first control and strong security baked in. It eliminates vendor lock-in by ensuring interoperability between certified accessories, regardless of brand or ecosystem.
Despite Thread being a technically superior protocol for Matter devices, most manufacturers and consumers still prefer Wi-Fi due to confusing setup requirements, extra certification costs, and the need for additional hardware like Thread Border Routers.
The Govee Uplighter Floor Lamp looks stunning and delivers a unique ripple lighting effect, but sacrifices control and colour accuracy. Matter support is present but clunky, limiting its usefulness as a truly smart lamp.
Philips Hue once led the smart lighting game, especially with immersive Ambilight TV setups—but skyrocketing prices and vendor lock-in make it hard to recommend today. With Matter-compatible alternatives from Govee, Linkind, and Aqara offering similar features for a fraction of the price, it’s time to switch.
I live for smart lighting—and after testing hundreds of bulbs, strips, and panel, these are the ones that truly shine.
A bold fusion of RGB lighting and Bluetooth audio, the Govee Table Lamp 2 Pro with JBL speaker is a show-stopping centrepiece that syncs light to music.
A clever combo of robot and stick vac with Matter support, the K10+ Pro Combo excels at convenience — but not at deep cleaning.
The SwitchBot Hub 3 is a temperature and humidity sensor, motion detector, Bluetooth bridge, universal IR remote, virtual Matter buttons, and more… but is it too much?
The Govee Outdoor Lamp Post is a dramatic and feature-packed smart outdoor lighting fixture post that shines best after dark – but won’t win any awards for elegance or brightness.
The Govee Skyline is a beautifully subtle, wall-mounted ambient light strip that fills hard-to-illuminate ceiling gaps with soft, customizable projection lighting.
Matter and eWeLink both play key roles in the smart home ecosystem, but they tackle the problem from different angles. Matter is a universal standard for device compatibility, while eWeLink is a platform built to manage and control smart devices—especially Sonoff hardware, but also Matter devices.
The Flic Twist is a compact yet powerful smart home controller that combines a clickable button, a rotating dial, and 12 selectable modes into a single device. With support for up to 24 trigger and 12 analog controls, it offers an impressive level of scene and device management.
Flic 2 brings physical control back to your smart home with customizable click actions and new Matter support—sort of. While still useful for niche scenarios, aging hardware, clunky app design, and limited integrations leave it feeling a little… stuck in 2015.
It’s a smart bulb. It does the thing that smart bulbs should do. Unlike some pricier options, the Linkind Smart Bulb just works — with Matter, colors, and no hub drama.
Why settle for a dumb table when your side table can also purify the air, charge your phone, and glow with mood lighting? The SwitchBot Air Purifier Table is a surprisingly clever multi-tasker that blends smart home features with everyday utility.
Brighter, smarter, and now with Matter support — the Govee Outdoor Flood Lights 2 bring bold, dynamic lighting to your garden.
The Aqara Camera Hub G5 Pro isn’t just a superb security camera with plenty of AI smarts—it’s a full-fledged Matter-compatible smart home hub squeezed into an outdoor-ready package.
Amazon’s Alexa has long been the best of a bad bunch when it comes to smart voice assistants, but in a world where ChatGPT-style AI is redefining what’s possible, it feels outdated. That’s about to change with Alexa+, a new AI-powered upgrade that promises natural conversations, memory, and actual intelligence.
Matter.js is a JavaScript implementation of the Matter smart home protocol, letting you create, simulate, and control devices using simple code. In this guide, I’ll show you how to build a virtual PC suspend switch to remotely put your computer to sleep.
Want some of that Govee magic, but short on space? The Mini Panels offer a Tetris-like retro pixel wall display, with all your favorite Govee features: Matter-compatible, dynamic music and DIY scenes, plus full DreamView syncing.
