Zigbee, Z-Wave, or Thread? What to know before buying your next smart home device

Building a smart home requires learning a bunch of new terms, and it can understandably put anyone off. How is someone supposed to intuitively know the difference between terms like Zigbee, Z-Wave, and Thread? Fortunately, this isn't rocket science, and it's easy to answer some of your most likely questions.

All three are compatible with Matter

The Matter protocol greatly simplifies the process of building a smart home, since it's one shared standard across all the major smart home platforms. Yet that doesn't mean that every product you want to own comes with Matter compatibility. Philips Hue light bulbs, for example, don't have Matter built-in. Instead, they use Zigbee.

Fortunately, you can still control a Philips Hue bulb using Matter. You just need what's called a Matter bridge, a device that bridges the two communication protocols together. The same Philips Hue hub that you already need to control Philips Hue bulbs in general serves as a Matter bridge.

Philips Hue Bridge

The Philips Hue Bridge, a gateway device by Signify, uses Zigbee for instant light response and enables Matter, a universal smart home standard, allowing seamless integration with other smart home brands and ensuring your lighting and accessories are always connected, even when Wi-Fi is down.

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Z-Wave and Thread may be implemented differently, but you can ultimately control them using Matter as well. All three need a similar sort of bridge device, though they go by different names. With Thread, for example, such a device is known as a border router. 

Each has different advantages over Wi-Fi devices

Wi-Fi is ubiquitous, so it makes sense why many products default to Wi-Fi as their way of integrating with the rest of a home. It's a network most of us already have.

There's a lot we could say about the differences between Zigbee and Matter. Zigbee is a wireless protocol for smart lights, plugs, sensors, and switches. It creates a personal area network (PAN) that connects these devices to smart switches and is designed to use very little power.

Z-Wave is a similar protocol with a similar purpose, to connect and control the same sort of devices using a low-power network. Z-Wave is merely a different, competing approach to the same problem. Yet it has key strengths, like long-range capabilities to reach up to 1.5 miles line of sight. Z-Wave remains relevant even in the age of Matter.

Thread is another low-power, mesh networking protocol aimed at smart home devices. Thread's key advantage is that it forms a self-healing network, meaning every device in a Thread network can communicate with every other device directly, rather than relying on intermediate hubs.

Zigbee and Z-Wave require a separate hub and bridge device

Zigbee and Z-Wave share the limitation that they require hubs that connect them to the internet or your smart home platform. If you're purchasing your very first Zigbee or Z-Wave product, that means you also need to purchase a separate hub in order to actually use its smart features.

As for Matter-compatibility, these hubs usually do double-duty as Matter bridges. The hub that is responsible for controlling your Zigbee or Z-Wave devices is also responsible for converting their communications to Matter, so that any Matter-enabled hub can manage these devices. My Samsung Frame TV, for example, doesn't need to explicitly support either Zigbee or Z-Wave as long as the hubs themselves are Matter-compatible.

Thread devices aren't yet as common

Thread devices offer the most resiliency, making them a more reliable option than Wi-Fi, Zigbee, and Z-Wave as a way to guarantee that your smart home continues to operate under most circumstances.

Yet as a relatively new protocol, there aren't as many Matter-over-Thread devices. You can't yet build a smart home where every smart switch, door lock, floor lamp, and air conditional is also a Thread device.

Fortunately, the options continue to grow. Here's a list of certified Thread devices available today.

One protocol to rule them all

In the end, Matter makes building a smart home easier because you don't need to pay as much attention to these terms as you used to. Whereas your choice of protocol may have limited your options in the past, these days, Matter is the glue that enables all of them to speak one language. Your smart home can consist of all four and still work as you expect.