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A Matter Alpha report describes replacing most of an apartment’s older Zigbee devices with Matter products during the first month in a new home. The setup covers lighting, switches, hubs and other categories, but the author says some Matter-exposed controls lack features available through device-specific systems.
Matter Alpha has published a first-month account of converting a new apartment to a mostly Matter-based smart home, describing devices installed across lighting and controls as well as features that did not work as the author expected. The report offers a practical look at the current experience of moving away from older Zigbee equipment, rather than a controlled comparison of smart-home standards.
The author says moving into a larger apartment provided an opportunity to rebuild a smart-home setup from scratch. During the first month, they replaced nearly all of their older Zigbee gear with Matter devices across lighting, controls, climate, sensors and power monitoring. The supplied report details the hubs and lighting most fully; it does not provide a complete inventory or test results for every category named.
For management, the author uses Home Assistant as the primary controller, adding Matter devices there first. Essential devices are then shared with Apple Home for manual phone control, while Home Assistant Link—formerly Home Assistant Cloud—is used to connect with Google Home and Amazon Alexa. The author says this arrangement reduced the need for some standalone bridges and allowed older Zigbee and Z-Wave equipment to be retired.
Lighting and wall controls came first. The author installed about 10 Aqara EU Switch H2 and Dimmer Switch H2 units, which they describe as operating over Thread and supporting neutral-free wiring. They also installed Govee and Nanoleaf ceiling lights, IKEA pendant lights and smart bulbs, plus a Dreame light strip and bulbs from several manufacturers. The report says the switches were usable for getting the apartment running, but did not match the author’s needs in some control modes.
Matter’s Switch Feature Gaps
The account highlights a distinction that matters to people choosing a smart-home system: cross-platform connectivity does not necessarily preserve every manufacturer feature. The author says the Aqara switches, when used through Matter, lacked decoupled relay mode for smart-bulb automations and offered few dimmer configuration options. Those limitations affected how the author could configure lighting, even though the devices were part of a Matter-based setup.
The report is one household’s experience, not evidence that every Matter device or platform has the same shortcomings. Still, it illustrates why buyers may need to check whether a device’s required features are available through their chosen controller, rather than relying on compatibility alone. For renters or owners working with existing wiring, the author’s use of neutral-free switches also shows why installation constraints can shape device choices.
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How the Apartment Was Rebuilt
The author moved into a new apartment with a larger space to furnish and test devices, and says their network credentials were mostly unchanged. They powered their existing main controllers back on, removed many old device entries and began adding new Matter equipment. They also moved some proprietary LAN devices into Matter using self-hosted software options, including eWeLink Cube and Homey Self-Hosted Server.
Before the move, the author relied on a mix of Zigbee switches, HomeKit fixtures and Matter lamps. In the new setup, the author says they retired hardware such as Philips Hue and SONOFF bridges because they were using Zigbee less often. This is a personal configuration choice; the report does not establish that Matter requires households to remove existing bridges or legacy devices.
“I always start with Home Assistant as the primary controller.”
— Matter Alpha report author
What the Month Did Not Test
The report is a first-person account, and the provided material does not include independent measurements of reliability, response times, network performance or energy use. It also does not show how the setup performed over a longer period, or provide detailed findings for the climate, sensor and power-monitoring devices mentioned in the introduction.
It is not clear whether the Aqara switch limitations stem from the Matter specification, the device’s implementation, the platforms used, or a combination of those factors. The author does not name specific alternative neutral-free switches or report whether later software updates changed the available controls. The account should not be read as a general verdict on all Matter products.
The Search for Better Switches
The author says the Aqara switches will remain in place for now while they look for better neutral-free wall-switch alternatives. The report does not announce a planned follow-up date or identify a replacement product. For readers, the immediate next step is to check device-specific feature support in the controller they plan to use, particularly for smart-bulb automations and dimmer settings, before buying a full set of switches.
Key Questions
What did the author set up during the first month?
The author describes a mostly Matter-based apartment setup spanning lighting, wall controls and hubs, with climate, sensors and power monitoring also named as device categories. The supplied account gives the most detail about lighting and switches.
Which controller did the author use first?
The author says they added Matter devices to Home Assistant first, then shared selected devices with Apple Home and used Home Assistant Link for Google Home and Amazon Alexa.
What did not work as expected?
The author says the Aqara switches lacked decoupled relay mode for smart-bulb automations and had limited dimmer configuration when exposed through Matter. These are findings from the author’s setup, not a claim about every Matter switch.
Did the author remove every older smart-home device?
No. The report says they replaced nearly all older Zigbee gear and retired some bridges, but it does not say every legacy device was removed. The author also used software options to bring some proprietary LAN devices into the setup.
Source: rss
