Aqara delays Matter transition until January

The free software update for Aqara’s M2 hub to enable Matter compatibility was originally scheduled for this month.

A free Matter software update for the Aqara M2 smart home hub has been delayed until January 2023. A statement from an Aqara representative to HomeKit Authority claims that the maker of affordable smart home devices “needed more time to ensure the customer experience was right.” 

The update will make over 40 of Aqara’s existing Zigbee devices Matter compatible and was originally scheduled to roll out sometime in December 2022. While the short delay may be disappointing, it may not be a bad thing — our own early review of the Matter smart home network saw mixed results regarding connectivity and setup, so a bit more time in the oven couldn’t hurt.

There’s no word if the delay impacts Aqara’s overall timeline for its transition to Matter. Aqara’s Thread-based Door and Window Sensor P2 and the Motion and Light Sensor P2 were originally set to be released in early 2023, and Matter updates to other Aqara hubs, alongside a new multi-protocol Hub M3 that can serve as both a Thread border router and Matter controller, were promised for the months ahead.

Aqara told HomeKit Authority that it would provide an official statement soon, hopefully with some additional details. We have also reached out to Aqara about its revised Matter timeline and will update this story should we hear back.