After six months replacing almost every IKEA Zigbee device in my home with Matter-over-Thread alternatives, I found better flexibility and lower prices — but not a dramatic improvement in speed or reliability.
Thread isn't just another smart home protocol. These seven devices show how its low power consumption and mesh networking can make a difference.
After moving into a new apartment, I replaced almost all of my Zigbee gear with Matter devices to see how an all-Matter smart home holds up in everyday use.
Battery-powered Matter sensors made my smart home more capable, but once several started dying at the same time, the hidden maintenance cost became obvious.
After two years filling my home with Matter devices, these are the five everyday problems that smart sensors, switches and automations actually solved.
Matter devices can do more than automate lights and locks—I use climate sensors, humidifiers, and soil monitoring to help my houseplants thrive.
Are Matter-compatible smart locks secure? While adding network connectivity introduces potential vulnerabilities through cloud accounts and keypads, Matter's robust local encryption ensures that a smart lock is rarely the weakest link in your home's security.
You might already own a Thread Border Router without knowing it. These five devices have Thread connectivity hiding in plain sight.
In an exclusive Matter Alpha interview, IKEA product leaders detail how the retail giant is expanding its affordable smart home lineup with new hubs, air purifiers, and heating controls.
Getting a feature into the Matter specification requires surviving a strict "rule of three," but as Silicon Labs' Rob Alexander explains, certification tells you nothing about whether major smart home apps will actually support it.
Apple’s N1 chip is quietly making Thread a standard feature across the entire ecosystem, from the latest iPhone 18 Pro to M-series Macs. Here is every Apple device that packs Thread hardware.
An early Matter 1.7 draft reveals provisional support for proximity ranging, predictive occupancy sensing, electrical infrastructure panels, and post-quantum device attestation.
After spending a year replacing every wall switch in his home with Wi-Fi-enabled smart switches, one homeowner weighs the true costs, unexpected labor, and long-term benefits of the grand DIY smart home project.
Virtual devices can fill some surprising gaps between Matter ecosystems.
While Matter has become a mandatory checklist item for smart plugs, lighting, locks, and thermostats, there are still a few tech categories where skipping the protocol makes sense.
A true smart home shouldn't require an app for every routine task; it should simply anticipate your needs, starting with mmWave presence sensors that automate everything from fans and exhaust systems to closet lights.
Buying affordable Matter-compatible gear should be easy, but navigating IKEA's messy smart home aisles is a frustrating ordeal.
Managing five air purifiers across a large home is a chore. Trading manual checks for smart automations completely changed how we breathe.
Smart plugs do more than switch appliances on and off. With energy monitoring, they can trigger automations, send alerts and reveal energy use.
Whether it is VOCs, allergens, or smoke, there are a lot of things in the air that can make an impact on your health. Here are the best Matter-compatible air purifiers to automate your indoor environment and clear out pollutants.