Matter support is coming Echo hardware starting in December
Source: Amazon
After numerous delays, the Matter smart home standard is finally here. At an event in Amsterdam this week, the Connectivity Standards Alliance announced that 190 devices are either already Matter certified or are in the process of getting certification. At the same event, Amazon announced its initial support for the up-and-coming smart home protocol, with its first batch of products getting support starting in December.
While Amazon says it eventually intends to expand Matter support to 30 existing devices, including Echo speakers and displays and Eero routers, the initial rollout will be smaller. Beginning next month, Matter controller functionality is coming to 17 Amazon devices, including many popular Echo devices like the fourth-gen Echo speaker and the three most recent iterations of the Echo Dot.
Initially, Matter on Amazon devices will only work over Wi-Fi — not Thread — and it’ll only work to control a limited set of devices: smart plugs, smart switches, and smart bulbs. The new functionality will come via a software update to Echo devices, which, once complete, will allow users to add Matter-compatible devices to any Matter-compatible app on Android, using the Echo as a sort of gateway. Long story short, if you’ve got compatible smart home gear, a Matter-compatible app, and one of the Echo devices getting this update, you won’t have to use as many discrete apps to set up and control your smart home stuff. Compatibility with Thread, Eero routers, and iOS Matter apps is coming next year.
The development comes about a month after Amazon announced that its newest Echo Dot speakers also function as Eero Wi-Fi range extenders and temperature sensors for smart home automation out of the box — and that existing speakers would be getting the same functionality soon via a software update.
If it sounds convoluted, you’re not wrong, but none of these changes should require re-learning how to use any software or hardware — ideally, as Matter support becomes more and more pervasive, changes like this should eventually accumulate into a smart home experience that’s simpler to use, not more complex. Still lost? Check out our Matter explainer to get a better handle on the next-gen smart home standard.
