Amazon Brings 'Matter' To 17 Alexa-Powered Devices — But Smart Home Standard Has A Limitation

Amazon Inc. AMZN has completed the first phase of the Matter rollout. More than a dozen Echo devices now support Matter’s interoperable smart home standard. 

What Happened: Amazon announced that 17 Echo devices, including smart speakers, third-gen Echo Dot and Echo or newer, Echo Studio, second-gen Echo Show 8 and wall-mounted Echo Show 15, are compatible with Matter. 

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Last month, we announced our plans to deliver a high-quality Matter customer experience by the end of this year. Today, we’re excited to share that we completed the first phase of our Matter rollout: https://t.co/zx2PiD4M4a pic.twitter.com/xWMgdmMRe3

— Alexa Developers (@alexadevs) December 19, 2022

“Matter devices will work seamlessly alongside existing smart home devices — so customers can appreciate the familiar and consistent smart home experience with Alexa,” the company stated in a blog post. 

However, certain limitations exist — customers can connect the devices to their home network via Wi-Fi only. Similarly, for now, Matter support is only available on smart plugs, smart bulbs and smart switches with Android setup. 

Why It’s Important: During the next phase, Amazon plans to expand Matter support to more accessories and Echo devices while adding compatibility with Thread protocol and iOS, reported 9To5Mac. 

The company will share further updates about Matter support rollout 2.0 during CES 2023, which is scheduled to take place between Jan. 5 and Jan. 8. 

In October, Connectivity Standard Alliance, or CSA, released the Matter smart home standard, supported by leading tech companies like Apple, Amazon and Google. The idea was to make smart home devices interoperable across multiple platforms. 

Photo: Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

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