Nanoleaf Essentials Matter Smart Bulbs and Lightstrips

Nanoleaf is a brand that doesn’t need much introduction. It has been around for over 10 years, providing consumers with smart home and gaming LED solutions. Its products typically offer a wide range of support for various platforms and now it has expanded even further with the support of Matter/Thread.

Matter is a tricky subject since it is very much still a new technology that hasn’t quite been dialed in by all companies involved in the connectivity standard. But it is something that has the potential of bringing everything together someday, regardless of brand or ecosystem. Nanoleaf is one of the first-round (year one) pioneers to get products out there supporting this and it changes everything.

Its Nanoleaf Essentials product line (bulbs and light strips) is now a part of this new wave, with a new Matter-enabled version of these products (you must select the right version when purchasing). You also have to make sure you have a Matter-compatible hub with a Thread border router ready to go on your network to get everything to work.

Thankfully, there is a growing list of hub solutions with built-in Thread border routers, making it easy to bring things together without getting too deep down the rabbit hole. Including products from Google (ie, Nest Hub Gen 2), Amazon (ie, Echo Gen 4), and Apple (HomePod Mini).

Of the Essentials line, we have been testing the A19/E26 bulb and the 80-inch (2M) lightstrip. Both of which would make a great pairing to any gaming setup (or living room, theater, etc). Especially, if you already have Nanoleaf products in your collection. But then again, that doesn’t quite “matter” anymore since many of these products can be brought together in so many ways now.

The Essentials Matter Bulb offers a unique design that sets it apart from other bulbs, It’s not much, but still just enough with its multi-sided diffused cover with rounded edges. Beyond that, it looks like any other LED bulb (smart or not).

The light strip is also quite similar to any other out there. It has a built-in remote so it can be controlled manually, although you likely won’t be using it much since there is so much additional control that can be had with software, apps, or even your voice.

Like any other light strip, it has designated areas where you can trim it down to size if it is too long for your needs. Just make sure to measure twice before cutting so you don’t have any regrets.

So what makes these so special? It’s a mix of the integration support Nanoleaf’s products already had and the new support for Matter/Thread. Allowing these products to virtually work with anything. I say virtually because, again, Matter is still a work in progress.

Companies have been working hard to get Matter support into the world, but communication doesn’t seem to be 100% all-around (causing some noticeable issues). Regardless, this is the first integration we attempted to take advantage of due to how popular Matter has been becoming.

The Home Assistant + Skyconnect Catastrophe

Before I mention anything, I should point out that we couldn’t find anything that points to Nanoleaf being the cause of any of this. So it seems to solely be an issue with Home Assistant and its Skyconnect adapter. That doesn’t mean Nanoleaf is completely innocent as we haven’t found any Matter product that is 100% (yet). But most of that can be fixed with firmware upgrades. You’ll see more about this a little later in the story.

That being said, we initially attempted to pair the two devices with Home Assistant since it is one of the largest hubs we have going here with dozens of products and many integrations bringing everything together. We have the Skyconnect adapter installed that is designed by the same company behind Home Assistant itself (Nabu Casa, Inc). So it should work pretty well, right?

Not so much the case. After a few days of trial and error (and a lot of the latter of the two), we had to move on to other options. For some reason, Home Assistant’s Skyconnect could do nothing but misbehave. It was completely set up properly, but functions just weren’t “functioning” the way they were designed to. The adapter supports both Matter (acting as the Thread border router) and Zigbee on a shared channel through multiprotocol support, but Zigbee devices kept falling offline (the only way to bring them back was to re-add them again each time) and it absolutely refused to connect with Nanoleaf’s products over Matter/Thread.

When I say we attempted everything, I leave nothing left for the imagination. From pair attempts with multiple Android and iOS devices (phones, tablets), to using multiple applications and integrations to get the job done. With a focus on Home Assistant’s app that is supposed to smoothly do everything from the Add Device screen. We even took things further by making use of Websocket and other means to poke and prod for results. None of it mattered and we eventually got thrown into time-out for going over our typical allotted time for troubleshooting something.

In the end, we were forced to let Home Assistant go and assume that Skyconnect is a troubled product that likely won’t be a reliable solution for Matter. I wouldn’t be surprised if the company winds up releasing a Gen 2 product unless whatever is causing this trouble really can be fixed via firmware updates.

Amazon Echo Gen 4 + Success That Matters

We moved on to attempting to pair the two devices with an Amazon Echo Gen 4. After reaching out to Amazon, they were nice enough to rush one out to us stating that they have had a lot of positive feedback when it comes to Matter thus far.

At first, we couldn’t find any Thread border router being broadcasted from the Echo. But then we asked Alexa to check for updates, which it did find and did just that. After the update, we suddenly had a Thread network broadcasting from it. So then we moved forward with the pairing, but it failed. A pit formed in our stomachs, but we moved on with the typical steps to troubleshoot. After a few resets of both devices, they eventually paired. We found attempting Thread through the Alexa app before we added it to the Nanoleaf app was the solution.

Then we added it to the Nanoleaf app where we discovered it was because the Nanoleaf app was initially still trying to pair it to Home Assistant’s (broken) Thread network. So if we never initially tried adding it to Home Assistant in the first place, it might have paired with the Echo speaker on the first try.  Or, maybe the firmware does still have room for improvement (if not).

Both devices were successfully paired with the Echo Gen 4 via Matter and could be controlled via the Echo and other speakers on the network (we have several older Gen 2 and 3 models spread throughout the building). Including the Echo Show, which is also supposed to support Matter, but it doesn’t seem to be the case in our experience through all of this. So the Gen 4 Echo was the winner.

From here we could control basic functions using Alexa via app or voice. You can control brightness and color, as well as add them to routines or groups for wider control. You didn’t have some of the advanced scenes you get from Nanoleaf’s app, but you can still do that from there on top of using it with Alexa.

Additional Connectivity and Control

Of course, you can share Matter control with other Matter/Thread hubs by asking Alexa to trigger the sharing procedure that produces another code to enter into these other devices. That way they can be controlled from multiple ecosystems (Apple, Google, SmartThings, and eventually Home Assistant whenever they provide a Thread border router that works properly).

By having direct pairing access to these ecosystems, you have a wide selection of control through various methods throughout your network. Regardless of if your smart home setup is small or massive.

Of course, it can be paired with solutions like Razer’s Chrome RGB software that brings multiple lights together. All are controlled via your computer leading to the ultimate gaming experience. Giving yet another massively flexible solution for controlling your Nanoleaf devices.

It can even work with IFTTT for if-this-then-that scenarios (although that will cost you anymore these days). Helping to bridge your lights to web services and more. You can also do this via SmartThings and other hub solutions that have deep integration capabilities. Home Assistant is one of these that support deep integrations, but clearly, you will want to wait until it is more stable on the Matter side of things.

Nanoleaf’s app offers a deeper dive into color options, giving you a warm/cool and RGB color wheel, brightness control, and multiple scenes to choose from. Including enabling power loss recovery so things come back online where you had them if you ever lose power.

All of these solutions come together to offer you endless control of your Nanoleaf devices throughout so many scenarios and applications. Proof that not only can a company create a flexible product, but that Matter really can bring everything together into a user-friendly atmosphere.

Our Conclusion

Clearly, companies still have a way to go before Matter becomes as user-friendly and universal as it is supposed to. However, companies like Nanoleaf shed a lot of hope toward what it will one day become for all products.

As mentioned, we haven’t found a Matter-supported product that was 100% yet. This is mostly due to the communication gaps between partners more than likely. However, once everything comes together to function on the same level (assuming it does), Matter will be unstoppable.

The Nanoleaf Essential Matter-edition products seem to have so much flexibility to them. Allowing you to use them in just about any situation/scenario. From Matter to Razer Chroma RGB and more, you likely won’t find yourself disappointed.

The only catch is the price as some may find building out a complex setup as being a bit expensive. This will be the same for any high-end smart home devices. So they aren’t for everyone, but they are perfect for those they are.

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Are you a manufacturer or distributor that would like us to test something out for review? Contact us and we can let you know where to send the product and we will try it out.