Greetings from Aqara! 3.2.2022
We're thrilled share that today Aqara begins to roll out a new firmware for the Hub M2, the Version 4.0.0 (beta), to add Matter support to the hubs, allowing the connected Zigbee devices to become compatible with Matter. Matter is a new connectivity standard for IoT devices to enable a wide variety of smart home accessories to work together across brands and ecosystems. Via a M2 hub with this new firmware, the Aqara Zigbee devices will be able to connect to the Matter-ready, third-party apps over Wi-Fi. But this firmware won't update the Zigbee devices to support Thread.
At this stage, the firmware update is intended for all M2 hubs that are distributed in the global markets outside Mainland China, and we will push the new firmware to the hubs in different batches to ensure a smooth experience, beginning from the M2 hubs that were manufactured more recently (in 2022). It's estimated to take 4-6 weeks for all the M2 hubs to receive the firmware update. Other Aqara hubs, including the Hub M1S/M1S Gen 2, Hub E1, Camera Hub G3 and Camera Hub G2H Pro will receive the similar firmware updates in the following months.
Aqara users can check the Aqara Home app for the latest firmware. If the firmware version 4.0.0 (beta) becomes available for the M2 hub, users may choose to update the firmware and begin the exploration of the new Matter standard.
To activate Matter, please choose "Bind to Matter (Beta)" on the M2 hub settings. And please refer to this video for a detailed setup guideline.
Users are strongly urged to check the requirements carefully before proceeding:
Please also note that binding existing devices to Matter won't require users to reset everything. Users can keep using HomeKit (suggested), and connect Aqara devices to other system(s) via Matter.
Matter is a new standard, and we know that the Matter experiences of Aqara devices still has a number of limitations (as following). We're working with our partners on further optimization.
Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. Thanks!
AQARA