The Bosch Group announced some time ago that it plans to support the Matter smart home standard. Now the commitment is taking on concrete form for the first time: The in-house smart home system (link) is getting a new control center. The Bosch Smart Home Controller II is supposed to be more powerful than its predecessor – and after a free software update, it will also be Matter-capable in the future.
Unlike the first generation, it relies fully on the Zigbee 3.0 radio standard, which brings a few restrictions for users of older Bosch products. Thermostats, flush-mounted modules, sensors, sockets and other devices that transmit in the sub-gigahertz range at 868 megahertz are no longer recognized by the new controller and require a workaround, which Bosch says it is already working on. More on this in German at digitalzimmer.de.
The 2nd generation controller is scheduled to hit the German market in December 2022 and will cost around 100 euros. Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and the UK will follow in January 2023. The manufacturer has not yet named a date for the update that makes the controller Matter-capable.
The exact scope of functions under Matter will also only be announced at a later date. Bosch is already revealing this much on its website: The Smart Home Controller II will not only serve as a Zigbee bridge in other ecosystems, but will also be able to “directly control Matter-enabled devices”. That sounds like a local solution that can get by without Amazon, Apple & Co. if necessary.
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