If you are on a quest to make all of your home's lighting smart, you've likely experienced the pain of trying to track down candelabra-style bulbs. To help make the process quicker and easier, we've rounded up all of the best available candelabra options so you can spend more time enjoying your smart home and less time searching.
While standard-sized smart light bulbs may be great for lamps, they aren't quite the perfect fit for recessed and outdoor lighting fixtures. For these, you'll need larger flood light bulbs for a seamless look and Matter smart home convenience.
Matter is expanding its reach across the smart home space, but we've spotted a few common household items that could really do with some improved smart integration.
With their ability to circulate the air and provide comfort on-demand, fans are an excellent way to beat the heat without firing up the AC. However, fans are only effective if you actually remember to turn them on, so why not let Matter take care of it for you?
The Matter smart home standard promises interoperability, compatibility, and an easier experience with your smart tech. But one area where there is still work to be done is with doorbells, particularly Amazon’s smart Ring doorbell. Does Matter work with Ring? If not, why doesn’t it? And will you ever be able to use a Ring doorbell on your Matter smart home?
We've explored how Matter-compatible window blinds offer an excellent mix of style and convenience with tons of materials, patterns, and colors to choose from previously. Now, it's time to turn to another window-covering option: curtain openers. In this guide, we'll cover the basics of Matter-compatible smart curtains openers, and how they integrate into your smart home.
If your smart home is just getting started, and Matter is something completely new to you, you'll need to get familiar with it without breaking the bank. Below, we’ve got five Matter devices you should get hold of if you’re new to smart homes.
It's easy to think the modern smart home must be full of AI—from lights that turn on automatically to voice assistants that know everything! But is it really AI?
Smart bulbs are the cornerstone of any self-respecting smart home owner. But, with so many bulbs to choose from how do you know which ones are the best?
One of the key elements of the growth of the smart home is the presence of wireless networking. Almost every home has some form of Wi-Fi router installed, and this makes it easier to manage and run smart tech and Internet of Things devices. But does your smart home need a permanent internet connection? Can your smart home function reliably without the internet?
Smart blinds used to mean ecosystem lock-in. Matter changes that, unifying your windows across Apple, Google, and Alexa via fast, local Thread mesh.
Having lights that switch on when you enter, or a robot cleaner that detects mess as soon as it hits the floor, and voice-controlled living room environmental settings, were once the stuff of fiction. But smart home technologies in the real world have been with us longer than you might imagine. How did we get from basic electronic appliances to voice controlled robot cleaners?
With the prices of indoor Matter-compatible smart plugs falling rapidly, you may be tempted to place one outside for tasks like holiday lighting. And, although it may get by for a while, chances are, it won't last more than a few seasons—especially if it gets hit by rain or snow. To get the job done safely, you'll want to invest in a Matter-enabled outdoor smart plug.
Today, we're going to look at Matter-compatible smart plugs, showcasing the top 5 picks that stand out for their ease of use, feature set, and compatibility with multiple smart home platforms.
As with most smart home protocols, Matter relies on wireless networking. But there is an aspect of Matter’s Wi-Fi requirement that might just impact its implementation on your network: multicast DNS (mDNS), a stand-alone protocol intended for small networks. Does Matter demand mDNS, or can you use Matter without it?
We've previously discussed how Matter-compatible strip lights with their flexibility and easy installation are an excellent fit for kitchen lighting—especially for cabinets. However, they aren't the best choice for those with existing under cabinet lighting or for those that want a clean integrated look. For these situations, consider a Matter-compatible under cabinet light.
The release of the Matter 1.3 specification in Spring 2024 saw a range of new device types and features supported in the breakout smart home platform. Matter has a bi-annual release cycle, with a new specification released every Spring and Autumn. Matter 1.4 is imminent, therefore, promising new features and functionalities. But what new device support can we expect from Matter 1.4?
Smart home tech has been around for a while, but Matter is relatively new. The Matter specification aims to unify smart home development into a single standard. But while embracing Matter seems likely to move us closer to the smart home of our dreams, there are devices that don’t really need to be integrated with the smart home protocol – they work just as well without it.
Energy management is being added to Matter, the smart home protocol supported by an increasing number of manufacturers. Matter 1.3 adds various smart home energy management features, but does this support for smart thermostats and smart radiator valves make the standard more energy efficient and environmentally friendly?
Whether it is VOCs, allergens, or smoke, there are a lot of things in the air that can make an impact on your health. To make managing your home's air a breeze, consider a Matter-compatible air purifier.