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How to connect Sonoff-Matter Devices to any smart home system

5 months ago • 6 min read

By Vashni Patrick

Sonoff is a pioneer in the innovation of the smart home concept. With the emergence of Matter smart ecosystems, they are now focused on innovating more convenient smart home experience.

Sonoff is among the first brands to join Matter and produce Matter-compatible devices. The best part is that Sonoff also works great with most smart home systems like,

Apple HomeKit
Google Home
Amazon Alexa
Samsung SmartThings

Let’s delve into these smart home systems where the Sonoff-Matter devices can stand.

Connecting Matter-Sonoff devices to different smart home systems

With the releasing of MINIR4M, the first Matter-Sonoff device, combination of Matter smart home and Sonoff are working on the devices to be compatible with many smart home systems. With this upgrade, there is no need to look for any hub or bridge to connect Sonoff devices to different ecosystems.

Each smart home system has its unique way of integrating the Sonoff Matter devices into it. If you follow the steps correctly, you’ll find it way better and easier than before.

Connecting Matter-Sonoff devices to Apple HomeKit

Apple has made connecting Matter-Sonoff devices to Apple HomeKit convenient by incorporating Matter and Thread support in their devices. All the iPhones and iPads serve as a hub/controller by default. So, there is no need to do any setup as it will automatically be done.

The Matter-Sonoff accessory registration process is done by barcode scanning. You are also able to create automations within the HomeKit app and control these devices by cooperating with other accessories.

Here are the basic steps you can follow to connect Matter-Sonoff devices to Apple HomeKit,

Go to Apple HomeKit app
Open the menu from the top right corner and select ‘Add Accessory’
Now scan the QR code available in the Sonoff-Matter device
A pop-up notification will appear with the device name. Click on ‘add to home’
Give the location of the house that your device is
Name it uniquely for the easy identification
The adding is done and it will confirm that the device is added and ready to use

Connecting Matter-Sonoff devices to Google Home

Registration of Matter-Sonoff devices to Google ecosystem is quite similar to Apple HomeKit. Google devices like Google home speaker, Google home mini, Nest mini, Nest hub etc. can directly act as a hub to connect the Matter-Sonoff devices. And on the bright side, these Matter supported Google/Nest devices can be added to other smart home systems. This promises the smooth run of a complexed smart home ecosystem.

The below steps can be followed through the Google Home app to connect these devices to Google devices,

Select ‘set up a device’ from the menu and click on ‘new device’
The app will scan for new devices
Make sure that your device is powered
After the app has found the device, the camera will turn on and the QR code has to be scanned
Then you will be asked to select a hub. Select one of the Google devices that you have
Then click on ‘add to Google Home’
Name the accessory as you need and click ‘continue’
Now your device is added to Google Home and is ready to use

Connecting Matter-Sonoff devices to Amazon Alexa

Before starting off, make sure that the Amazon device that you have are compatible with Matter. Some of the devices that have Matter support are Echo Dot, Echo Studio, Echo Show, and Echo Plus.

And make sure that the Sonoff Matter-enabled device is in pairing mood. When you plug in the device for the first time, it will automatically go for the pairing mood. You can double check this by checking the LED lights: one flashes too short and the other long. But if this is not the first-time use, press and hold the pairing button for at least 5 seconds until the LED flashes as mentioned above.

Now you are ready to pair Sonoff-Matter device with Alexa. To do so, follow the steps below,

Click on devices in the lower right corner and then click on the ‘+’ mark on top right corner
Then select ‘Add Device’ from the pop-up menu
Select ‘other’ from the device list
Then select ‘Matter’
Then scan the QR code of the device
Allow permission
Then connect it to the same wifi network of the phone
Now the device will be connected. Select the room that you are having the device in
Everything is set up and ready to use!

Do you need to know about Matter-Alexa integration? Check on: How to Add a Matter Smart Home Device to Amazon Alexa

Connecting Matter-Sonoff devices to Samsung SmartThings

SmartThings is still working on direct integration of Matter supported devices including Sonoff without the support of a hub. But currently, it provides a seamless and a smooth connection through a hub. There are three things that you will be needing to establish a Matter-SmartThings connection:

Matter Commissioner – this is used to connect a Matter device to a Matter controller. It is usually the mobile phone with the SmartThings app
Matter Controller- the controller is the hub that is responsible for controlling the Matter device. Matter controllers such as SmartThings 2018 Hub, Aeotec Smart home hub are some supported controllers.
Matter Device- this is the Matter device that you will be using through SmartThings.

Now that you have all these, you can add Matter-Sonoff device to SmartThings following the steps below,

Open the SmartThings app
Click on Add (+) and choose Add device
Tap on Scan to scan the bar code or select the brand and the device
Now scan the QR code of the device
Select the hub and room of the device
Wait for the Matter-Sonoff device to connect
Once connected, give access to the same wifi network
Finally, you can rename the device and start using it

You can connect Nanoleaf Matter devices also with any smart home ecosystem.

Troubleshooting Matter-Sonoff devices

If you are having trouble on connecting Matter-Sonoff devices to home systems, here are some troubleshooting tips that you could follow,

Make sure that the Matter hub is updated with the latest firmware
Check whether the firmware is available in the Matter-Sonoff device. If not, update the firmware
Update the smart home system app to the latest version
Ensure that the phone and Matter hub are connected to the same Wifi network which is also 2.4 GHz
Check if your Matter-Sonoff device has timed out of the pairing mode. The LED indicator will show it
Restart the phone and the application and try connecting again
Reset the factory settings of Matter-Sonoff device and try again
Make sure that you complete the integration within the effective time of the smart home system
If you have removed the Matter-Sonoff device from one ecosystem and trying to integrate it with another, keep in mind that the Matter setting code can only be used once, and a new code must be generated when adding to another ecosystem

About Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB dongle plus support on Matter

Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB dongle plus is a device that allows connecting Zigbee enabled smart home devices to the network. This is speciaccly designed to use in the United States as it supports FCC frequency requirements.

This dongle is compatible with Matter, which will make it easy to integrate smart home devices supported by Matter like IKEA Matter devices and ZigBee Matter devices, into a unified ecosystem.

Sonoff’s expansion of Sonoff-Matter compatible devices is a significant move for the smart home industry as a whole. As Matter continues to gain the best place in the market, the commitment of Sonoff stays at the forefront providing the customers with the latest innovations. With the rise of Sonoff-Matter devices, we can expect to see more smart home devices becoming Matter compatible. And now, there are many ways to add Matter compatible devices to any smart home system.