Philips Hue Products May Soon Support Matter-over-Thread
In a significant development for smart home technology, Philips Hue products are expected to adopt Matter-over-Thread support, potentially transforming user connectivity, reports 24brussels.
Recent leaks suggest that Philips may introduce several new Hue products during the upcoming IFA event. However, the inclusion of Matter-over-Thread functionality hasn’t been officially confirmed. Compelling evidence has emerged indicating that it could indeed be on the horizon.
Notably, packaging for two yet-to-be-announced bulbs was spotted on Amazon, prominently featuring the Matter logo. While Hue devices have historically relied on the Hue Bridge for Matter connectivity, they have not directly supported the protocol due to its reliance on Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and Thread protocols, while Hue has primarily functioned within a Zigbee and Bluetooth ecosystem.
Additionally, a now-removed FCC filing revealed a label for a new Hue White bulb featuring setup codes for Matter alongside Bluetooth and Zigbee logos. This indicates that the new bulb might connect directly using Matter, with Thread being a likely candidate due to its low power consumption and ability to create self-healing mesh networks.
However, the FCC documentation notably lacked any reference to Thread or Wi-Fi, only mentioning Bluetooth and Zigbee. HueBlog reported that a document indicated, “This product only supports BLE 125k/500k/1M/2Mbps:2402-2480MHz, Zigbee:2405-2480MHz. The other functions, bands and modes was [sic] disabled to use by manufacturer [sic] in the software.” The specifications do not clarify what these other functions might be, but it’s reasonable to suspect that Thread, which shares the 2.4GHz band, could be included.
While Philips Hue is unlikely to abandon Zigbee entirely, the integration of Matter could allow users to access Hue bulbs directly from any Matter controller, limiting the necessity of the Bridge to specific advanced features, such as dynamic lighting effects. Notably, the growing adoption of Matter-over-Thread is emphasized by Ikea’s recent announcement of over 20 products set to support the protocol.
