Rockchip-based Home Assistant Green can now be pre-ordered

Rockchip-based Home Assistant Green can now be pre-ordered

Oct 10, 2023 — by Giorgio Mendoza

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The Home Assistant Green is a new plug-and-play IoT device designed for home automation and compatible with Zigbee and Thread (in development) devices. This device also includes a Gigabit Ethernet port and large storage expansion.

This latest model runs on a Rockchip SoC, setting it apart from Home Assistant Yellow (launched some years ago), which relies on a Raspberry Pi CM4

• RK3566 – quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 CPU (up to 1.8GHz)

Home Assistant Green peripherals
(click image to enlarge)

The Home Assistant Green is available in one configuration with 4GB LPDDR4X and 32GB eMMC storage. There is also a MicroSD slot, but it’s only used for recovery purposes only.

Similarly, there is a HDMI connector, but it’s only used for diagnostic purposes only. One of the differences between the Home Assistant Yellow and the new model is that the latter is designed as a plug-and-play system and ready for immediate use.

In contrast, Home Assistant Yellow is intended for expansion, allowing users to increase RAM or storage by incorporating an NVMe SSD. However, expansion involves opening the housing, installing extra hardware, and following more installation steps.

Another significant contrast is that Home Assistant Yellow includes built-in support for Zigbee 3.0 and Matter-over-Thread, whereas Home Assistant Green can access these protocols through the addition of a SkyConnect device.

    Home Assistant Green bottom and top view
(click images to enlarge)

The new Home Assistant model features a compact design, measuring 112 mm x 112 mm x 32 mm. Its enclosure is constructed from semi-transparent polycarbonate plastic, and the hub’s heat sink is a solid black anodized aluminum piece, providing efficient cooling.

Customers can refer to the HomeAssistant documentation pages for additional instructions to get started with this product. The product announcement also states that the device can “combine your Apple, Google, Samsung, and Amazon devices with support for hundreds of thousands of other smart devices, which are all in one APP”

Specifications listed for the Home Assistant Green include:

• Memory/Storage:
  • 4 GB LPDDR4X
  • 32 GB eMMC flash drive
  • 1x MicroSD slot
• Connectivity:
  • 1x Gigabit Ethernet port
• Display:
  • 1x HDMI port
• Other Features:
  • 3x Status LEDs
• USB:
  • 2x USB 2.0 Type-A Host (5V up to 2A, combined)
• Power:
  • 1x DC barrel connector
  • ~1.7 W at 12 V (Idle)
  • ~3 W at 12 V (Load)
• Operating Temperature:
  • 0°C to 40°C
• Mechanical:
  • 111 x 111 x 33.6mm
  • Anodized aluminum heatsink

Further information

The Home Assistant Green is priced at £86.00 on ThePiHut and $99.00 on SeedStudio. Visit the HomeAssistant product page to see more distributors.