At CES 2025, there was an ever growing presence of hardware supporting the Matter standard. Of course there were multitudes of lights of all shapes and sizes, switches, curtain controllers and hubs. We wanted to focus on the Matter products that got us really excited. Speaking of excited, let's jump in with a pair of vacuum cleaners. 

Roborock Saros Z70

Roborock first dipped it's toes into the Matter ecosystem with it's S8 MaxV Ultra vacuum in April. Now they have a new feature packed vacuum to beat, the Saros Z70. The killer feature of this vacuum? A miniature arm that picks up small pieces of clothing (like those darn socks!) and places them in a pre-determined area. It features a slim 3.14 inch (7.98 cm) height, and ditches Lidar for a camera based system that uses AI for navigation and wayfinding. 

It also includes it's AdapatiLift chassis that will adjust height based on whether it is on carpet or hard flooring. There are two models of base available, one with connected plumbing that allows for auto water refill and draining. 

While many of these features are yet to be supported with Matter, we hope that the standard will be expanded to include this functionality rather than just the on/off for vacuums that is currently supported. 

Switchbot K20+ Pro

Switchbot has long been a favorite of mine for its creative solutions for retrofitting existing devices. The K20+ Pro is their latest offering, and it's a platform that allows for endless creativity. 

The vacuum itself is almost just a delivery system for an ecosystem of attachments. One example shown was an air purifier with a tabletop, which can move based on where it is needed. Also shown was a tablet attachment system, and a camera. 

Switchbot told me there is a developer interface plug built into the vacuume and that an SDK will eventually be released to allow anyone to build on top of this ecosystem. 

Flic Duo

Flic buttons offer a simple yet effective way to control your smart home. The Flic Duo takes this concept further with two customizable buttons and Matter support. These buttons can be placed anywhere in your home and used to trigger various Matter actions, from controlling lights to activating scenes.

The buttons have a magnetic base that allow you to mount them anywhere, and as you remove them, the Flic Duo turns into a remote and is powered by a CR2032 coin battery which should last up to 3 years. Pre-orders for the Flic Duo open on January 28th and expected to ship in the second half of 2025. It's available in both black and white colors and is compatible with Matter via the Flic bridge. 

Onvis T20 Socket

Smart plugs are essential for any smart home, and the Onvis T20 Socket stands out with its Matter 1.4 and Thread 1.4 certifications. Going beyond a simple "plug in" socket, this installable plug will be built into the wall and create a rock solid mesh network for your home. 

Each plug has it's own energy sensor so you can measure how many watts your plugged in devices are using, a key feature of the latest Matter specification. This will be incredibly useful for increasing the efficiency of energy usage of your home by allowing hyper local measurement of usage. 

Two buttons on the plug allow you to enable either socket independently, and offline timers will be supported. 

Aqara FP300 Sensor

Sensors are not the most exciting hardware, but nevertheless important to the smart home. Aqara is releasing one of the first battery powered Thread sensors, and it utilizes both PIR and mmWave sensing for precise and quick detection. With an extended battery life of up to two years, this compact, wire-free sensor can be placed wherever. Featuring Thread and Zigbee protocols, the FP300 is Matter-enabled and offers future-proofed interoperability across platforms. It also packs independent light, temperature and humidity sensors for ambient sensing, which makes it a highly versatile solution for enhanced energy efficiency, comfort, and security.

ThirdReality MK1 Magic Keyboard

ThirdReality consistently impresses me with its innovative smart home accessories, and the MK1 Magic Keyboard is no exception. This sleek keyboard isn't just for typing; it's a powerful Matter-enabled control center for your smart home. With customizable buttons and integration with Matter, you can control lights, adjust thermostats, trigger scenes, and much more, all from your keyboard. Although we were not able to go hands-on with this device, we are reaching out to the manufacturer for more information. 

Aqara G410 Doorbell Hub

As a doorbell, the G410 offers enhanced 2K video quality and a 176° field of view. Live and recorded videos are end-to-end encrypted for improved privacy protection, and the G410 adds RTSP support for streaming to third-party clients – such as Home Assistant – within the LAN. However, since video is not currently supported as of Matter 1.4, this will be all proprietary (for now). The hub supports dual-band Wi-Fi, Thread and Zigbee, meaning this doorbell doubles as a smart home center, other third-party Matter devices. Other highlights of the G410 include on-device facial recognition, presence detection with a mmWave sensor. 

There will be multiple ways to power the doorbell, either via battery or hard-wired. Having battery power means that this hub will work with your other battery powered thread devices even if your network or electricity goes off. 

My only question is to the reliability of having a hub mounted on the exterior of your home, so I'm interested to see this hardware in action. 

Bosch 100 Series Refrigerator

Refrigerators aren't exactly sexy, but when you add Matter compatibility to them, they start looking pretty nice. The Bosch 100 Series refrigerator was spotted by The Verge at CES, with promised support for Matter 1.3 which means it will allow you to monitor the temperature remotely and likely the energy usage of the unit as well. This product is expected to launch in March in the US for around $2500. 

Matter Support Expands, But Has Growing Pains

CES 2025 was a promising glimpse into the future of smart homes, with Matter taking center stage. We have seen some manufacturers fully embrace the specification and network (along with Thread), while others seem to be ignoring it completely (ahem, Ecobee).

Some manufacturers are taking the hub approach, where products are supported via a required hub (either via Bluetooth, Zigbee, or other protocols). We encourage manufacturers to support Matter directly in their products without requiring a hub, as this adds needless complexity and is prone to having issues with connectivity, specifically in the case of power or network outages.