Aqara begins updating its home automation accessories to make them compatible with Matter, and the first of these will be your Hub M2which will receive an update in these weeks to become compatible with the new home automation standard.
Promises are meant to be kept, and Aqara has already started making its promise a reality by making its home automation devices compatible with the new home automation standard, Matter. The first device to convert to this standard is the Hub M2, which you can see in the header image of the article. The update will begin to appear progressively in Aqara apps around the world, being the first to update those manufactured in 2022but we will not have to wait too long for it to reach everyone, since Aqara has assured that in a period of 4-6 weeks all its M2 Hubs should have the update available, which for now will be in the Beta phase.
What does it mean for the Hub to upgrade to Matter? That it can be controlled from any of the three main home automation platforms, when all of them have obviously been updated. Aqara devices connecting to the Hub do so using Zigbee, and cannot update to Matter themselves, but Since the Hub is compatible with Matter, they can be controlled as if they were Matter themselvesso for practical purposes the user will not notice a difference.
This video shows the process of how to update your Hub M2 to be compatible with Matter, you just have to follow the steps indicated in it. The updates to Matter will not end here, far from it. Hub M1S/M1S Gen 2, Hub E1, Camera Hub G3 and Camera Hub G2H Pro will receive similar updates later to be compatible too. Updating to Matter does not mean that you have to change anything in your home automation installation, you will be able to continue using HomeKit as before, but you will also be able to use the rest of the platforms.