Last year with Rok Prevolsek at IFA we ware checking if Matter was finally being adopted across the smart home industry — and the answer was a clear yes. This year I went back to Berlin to see what’s new, meet with some partners & friends, but also with three very specific goals in mind:
- To see what’s going on with Matter communication standards — is it more Thread or more WiFi? What are companies betting their new solutions on?
- Last year Siemens told us their Matter-enabled fridge was “just a couple of months away.” Samsung said all their 2025 devices would be Matter hubs. And Home Connect’s website still claims compatibility. So why can’t I buy a Matter-enabled oven today?
- Since Thread is still largely dependent on Apple / Google / Amazon hardware (and those implementations are not exactly impressive), I wanted to check if any dedicated modem/router companies are finally working on stable, standalone Thread solutions.
And as a bonus, if I saw some cool use of AI in smart home, that would be the cherry on top.
The Chinese Are Taking Over IoT Smart Home
Walking through Halls 1 and 2 — the smart home section — the feeling was obvious: China has taken over consumer smart home. Many Chinese brands and almost none of the established Western names like Eve Smart Home, Nanoleaf, Nuki Home Solutions GmbH, Tridonic, Flic, tado°, Freedompro… were there. And while this probably does not mean they’ve given up (but rather they are pivoting to more price-effective marketing strategies, while Chinese brands are still investing heavily in establishing themselves on the EU market) it still gave the whole smart home section a feeling that something is missing.
I started scanning the booths. Compared to previous year, when we had to actively scan for the Matter logo on the booths, this year it was much much more common. Particularly in hall 1, majority of companies had some sort of Matter offering.
I didn't stop at every booth, here is a quick rundown of where I stopped and what I learned along the way.
Xiaolei (L Tech)
Originally a lighting company, now with a large portfolio of various smart devices, from relays to touchscreens, etc. etc. Their early devices have been Bluetooth comaptible, now they are bridging them through a Hub to Matter & Zigbee. Switch-bot like in that sense. Anyhow when asked about thread they said they see Thread as a standard of the future (I have heard that a couple of times at this fair) but currently they do not support it.
Sonoff
Next I went to SONOFF - they too are expanding on their Matter portfolio, they also see Thread as future tech and their new products are already supporting it. They also had some other new products but nothing shocking - frankly I remember an IoT underfloor heating control system the most - it seemed like a semi-professional solution.
Govee
Next there was the most RGB booth in hall 1 - Govee. I came in asked what's new and they showed me a gadget for creating an ambilight-like effect and a jellyfish like RGB standing lamp with Matter. I asked about Thread, they didn't really know. Then I asked about the Govee air purifiers/humidifiers (I saw those online recently) and they didn't know anything about that either.
Heiman
A company with a decent Matter (over Thread) based sensor portfolio - from temperature/humidity to smoke and carbon monoxide. A short chat with no additional answers to my questions and I was on the way.
Lepro
I only stopped on this booth because it said AI lighting control (or something similar).A sales rep expalined that it's their own voice control with an LLM that can understand what you want and set the lights accordingly. He demonstrated with setting a Bayern Munich themed lighting scenario which didn't leave my jaw hanging.
SwitchBot
One of the most fun booths — complete with a mini tennis court where their robot would catch & return balls and quite a few novelties. SwitchBot just started with Matter a year ago but now they have an impressive portfolio of Matter devices and Hubs. With recent products, they are also switching from Hub enabled Matter to direct Matter support - although SwitchBot is betting on WiFi instead of Thread.
They have a new AI hub (basically smart camera features), some new flush relays, a matter enabled shapable led light and digital e-ink art-pieces (this is something I have later seen on at least 3 more booths).
I was the most impressed by the Hub 3 and the universal remote - simply because I use an IR blaster at home and I find it super useful and I was just recently thinking about why they don't make an universal remote product instead of an IR blaster product and well - seems like SwitchBot has done it :)
Embedded Systems (Logic Machine)
A real refreshing sight was the Embedded Systems / Logic Machine booth. While the booth was totally basic, the added value was in the content. Logic Machine put on display their new manual control device - a rotary push button with LCD display. Not a standalone product it needs the LM server to work. On top of that a bunch of really interested MVP’s were presented and according to the sales representative, Logic Machine is going to estimate the market pull behind each one and the one that scores best will be developed into a finished product. The MVP’s that I found the most interesting were:
- KNX/MODBUS/BAcNet/DALI/Zigbee/CAN protocol converter
- Multiroom audio player with Bluetooth, Airplay and Spotify support
- A gateway that bridges KNX, MODBUS or BACnet to LoRaWAN
Third Reality
I stopped here briefly as the Matter enabled mechanical keyboard caught my eye - the F1-F12 keys can be integrated into any Matter enabled platform (like Apple Home) and smart home functions can then be binded to them. Another interesting device on this small booth was the Linux Box Dev edition - an open source Zigbee/Matter(WiFi/Thread) solution which can be used for running Home Assistant or OpenHAB or developing a custom solution for Matter/Zigbee control.
Yale
I know Yale very well so I didn’t plan to stop here for long but the guy on the booth practically pulled me in - I respect that a lot, I always loved the active exhibition salesman - as opposed to a more frequent citation where the sales rep doesn’t ask you what you want even after a serious session of eyeballing.
Anyhow, a relatively new thing is that Yale is expanding their access control portfolio with a low-cost smart lock (<150€).
What I took away from this was that the Yale founder was actually the one who invented the locking cylinder mechanism - which I previously didn’t know.
Shelly
The size of the booth and the amount of visitors on it gave the feeling that Shelly Group is the major player in this exhibition and generally in smarthome. This was one of the booths where I could not easily get a hold of anyone to tell me anything relevant. There were just too many people and the reps that got a minute or two of breathing time didn’t jump to your aid when they saw you eyeballing them. Luckily I know the Shelly CTO whom I gave a call when nearing the Shelly booth. Well he wasn’t at the fair and on top of that I totally forgot it’s Sunday, so it was a bit awkward situation, me calling him during his Sunday lunch.
So I went around the booth on my own, there was tons of new stuff. I was not particularly impressed by any single product, but the whole portfolio Shelly is building is impressive and it’s no wonder that this company has reached the unicorn status this year. I wanted to physically check the new 4” Shelly touchscreen which was advertised on a big video projection, but I couldn’t find it on the product display shelves & pillars.
Last year at IFA, Janko from Shelly told us about their development platform on which 3rd party companies can develop their own smart home products in the Shelly ecosystem. I remember thinking this is quite ambitious and wondered if this will get some traction. Well this year I have already seen products developed on this platform - more about that later (at the Neo booth subsection).
Yolink
They had some Matter over WiFi devices - such as plugs etc. I stopped by for a minute or so but there is nothing to report here.
TransmeIoT
This is a Chinese company which deals exclusively with OEM. They have also Matter devices in their portfolio and are OE-ing to Tuay and Hama among tohers.
NEO
I got familiarized with this company at last year’s IFA as they were one of the companies that had Matter over Thread - I later tested their contact and occupancy sensors, which were pretty good considering the low pricing.
This year I asked what is new and they presented a LoRaWan/Zigbee lawn watering system which was built on (as their other new products) on the Shelly development platform. One indicator that Shelly's tactic of making other companies develop products on their platform is paying off.
Aqara
We saw so many new things from Aqara during the year, they are working on practically everything in Smart Home and are one of the biggest Matter players out there. Their booth was relatively small provided some tight quarters plus their sales reps were not eagerly waiting for a disoriented visitor. So I actually got a hold of someone capable to talk to after visiting the booth for the third time.
Since I am familiar with most of the new Aqara product releases, I was mainly interested in two things - firstly if Aqara’s Thread integration is better then the one from Apple - they claimed yes but I didn’t get the feeling they really tested it out with a lot of Thread devices. Secondly I wanted to know more about Aqara’s solution for system integrators. So they have a hub with protocol conversion (KNX/Zigbee/BacNET/MODBUS/Matter) and they have two servers for professionals, Aqara Studio and Aquara Studio Connect. It’s all very beta now but according to the Aqara representative this is the long term vision of Aquara - to dominate in numbers and types of devices on the market while providing everything that makes a system integrator want to work with them.
Tuya
Quick stop. Nothing really caught my eye, except their platform for developing products on Tuya Smart hardware.
Ecowitt
Weather sensors now Matter and Home Assistant compatible.
Eufy
I stopped here because they were demonstrating a steps-defeating exoskeleton for robot vacuum cleaners. Looks innovative, but I kept thinking that then you need to have this prosthetic lying somewhere, so the robot can go up and down the stairs every so often. I also thought it must be super non practical if you want to go to the other floor just when the robot is super slowly climbing those stairs.
On another note eufy has 3D printers, e-ink art displays and other artsy stuff under the brand eufyMake .
Jackery
I saw a few companies that offered battery systems for smaller living units - apartments and small houses. I saw maybe 5-7 and I stopped only at Jackery. It’s basically a battery with peak shaving and load scheduling functions and can be used with any PV system - or you can buy the PV from Jackery as well.
Matter-Enabled White Appliances: the Matter prophecy is forgotten
After I was done with smarthome I decided to plunge into white appliances halls and see if Matter still matters or is the ship sailing in another direction. On the previous IFA there was a lot of talk about Matter, particularly Siemens & Samsung had promised a bright Matter future for their white appliances - but later on when I was searching for products, I was never able to find a single white appliance, which you can actually buy. Sure there were some entries on Matter device directory sites but finding something that can be purchased proved to be a trophyless hunt. So one of the main reasons for my visit was to go to these booths and see if they will deliver on their promises.
Before going to the “big” guys I decided to walk through the halls with all the smaller white appliance manufacturers to see if I can find something “smart” there. A good hour of walking and not a hint of a smart appliance. At least my fitness tracker app was exploding with satisfaction 🙂
So let’s see if my luck turns for the better with the bigger white appliance firms.
Siemens & Bosch
First I visited the Siemens hall, as usual they have a huge hall reserved for themselves - a hall full of ovens, refrigerators, washing machines, chef live shows and many many visitors.
First I ambushed a girl standing next to an AI-augmented oven, that recognises the pizza you put inside and then does everything automatically. I asked her about Home Connect supporting Matter and where can I buy any Siemens appliance that supports this. Of course she was totally clueless so she rerouted me to their quite capable (her words) customer service. At the customer service they understood what I was asking, but they said Home Connect doesn’t support Matter. I had to show them the Matter logo on the Home Connect website before they were willing to reroute me to the Home Connect people. So I went to the Home Connect people and there was a familiar face, a Home Connect product manager to whom I talked the previous year - she didn’t remember of course and also couldn’t remember who would know anything about concrete Siemens Matter enabled white appliances. She had some unconfirmed data, like “there are currently only two devices like that on the market”, but when asked about some more concrete details, she eventually suggested I go to the Bosch hall (next door) and I should find someone near the washing machines and he might know something more. Of course that was pure diversion as the guy at Bosch washing machines was looking at me as if I asked about calibrating dilithium cells for a galaxy type warp drive. Anyway his first suggestion was logical: “You should go to Home Connect people”. When I told him it was they who sent me here he was dumbfounded and hesitantly suggested that maybe I should go ask at the Customer service. That was the final straw for me, I gave up hope on Bosch & Siemens and went onward…
Haier / Candy
… to the Haier / Candy hall, another huge one. Now even though I didn’t talk to Haier guys the year before, I had a faint hope of finding something here, since hOn (the Heier version of Home Connect) has joined Connectivity Standards Alliance in 2022. I also recently saw on the CSA site that Heier has a Matter enabled A/C device(s) - but again I was not able to find a model you can actually purchase.
In contrast to Siemens/Bosch the first guy I asked told me that noone on the Heier/Candy booths will know anything about that. He was very friendly and we chatted a little bit - at the end he told me, I should go to the counter and submit my question there - but he was completely blunt about the fact that I shouldn’t expect an answer soon.
I saw a small hOn section and I decided to try my luck over there - after arriving however, every sales rep there was busy hiding and avoiding me until I just gave up…
Midea
I also swung by the Midea Group hall - another CSA member. At this point I was too tired to go into another fruitless research, so I just briefly asked a few people if they had anything with Matter and then I didn’t press when they knew nothing about what I was saying.
Samsung
Last in the line was Samsung Electronics, they had a whole building to themselves. Now last year it had been said that in 2025 every Samsung device (fridge, a/c, heat pump, would be a Matter hub.
This year Matter was not on Samsung's highlight list at all. I figured my best chance would be to ask at the Bespoke section, where they have all the fridges with big LCD’s, working with Samsung SmartThings. There was a Samsung representative standing there and I began more cautiously, by asking if the guy “knows about these things”. The guy eyebrowed at me in a meaningful way but of course, when I asked him about Matter, he immediately found his superior, who took over - and he said Samsung has everything. And I asked “Really, with Matter, even like induction cookers?” and he said yes and took me to the induction cookers and started explaining that the induction plate (next to which we were now standing) uses a Samsung developed material that is 100 % resistant to scratches etc… Wait, materials? Who asked anything about…? Oh… It clicked then - mix Matter and a senior (i think Italian) sales rep and you get materials 🙂
This was enough for me to conclude the story about Matter enabled white appliances… They are (as our CTO nicely put it) like high school sex. Everybody talks about it but no one is actually having it :)
Routers and Thread
The last thing to check was if some of the bigger router companies are doing anything with Thread. It would be cool to be able to buy a router with Thread connectivity so you wouldn’t be dependent on the few integrations that are currently on the market. There were a couple of halls dedicated to Connectivity but there were not many router manufacturers to be found.
First I found Belkin. They told me they haven't made routers since when they split with Linksys. Linksys was not there. D-Link was not there. I later saw there was BroadLink but I somehow missed their booth. So the only two booths I ended up visiting were those of TP-Link and Fritzbox.
TP-Link
I came to the TP-Link booth and was quickly greeted by a very friendly and quite knowledgeable sales representative. I asked him if TP Link has or is working on a product that would have a Thread radio. He understood the issue and said he thinks TP Link is working on something. He seemed quite honest so maybe TP Link is working on something. Or it could be nothing.
Fritzbox
At the Fritzbox booth they also had a nice and very knowledgeable sales rep who told me that they do not plan to support Thread. They have a smart home gateway that supports Zigbee, Matter over WiFi and DECT.
So no stable Thread solution from the networking guys — at least not yet.
Final Thoughts
All in all it’s always nice to visit Berlin, despite the fact that these exhibitions rarely offer something to blow you away. I met with a few partners and industry professionals which is always good to see if your compass is calibrated correctly.
IFA itself felt like there were less big name exhibitors and less visitors as well.
On a more important note, did I get answers to my three big questions?
- Matter transport: Thread is still seen as the future of wireless Smart home. Companies are adopting it, representatives always sound proud when they are talking about one of their products using Thread.
- Matter white appliances: Like high school sex — everybody talks about it, nobody’s actually doing it.
- Thread infrastructure: While there might be some professional solutions worth testing (maybe from Aqara), after talking to the few router companies at IFA, it looks like we’re still stuck with Apple/Google Thread solutions for now.
So in the end I got answers, maybe not the ones that I was looking for but still. It was a nice two day visit if the Innovation For All 2025.