After nearly a decade of development, Nanoleaf's smart switch is finally here. You can pre-order it for $30 Sense Plus “Anywhere” Smart Wireless Switch today and should be available in October. But to get to this point, Nanoleaf had to set aside Thread adoption and create a new proprietary protocol called Wave Lite.
The battery-powered device provides physical control to Nanoleaf’s smart lighting system, allowing you to press a button to turn lights on or off, dim or brighten them, or change colors. Additionally, built-in motion and light sensors allow Sense to adjust lighting based on room conditions.
“We needed to ensure that our products worked reliably with less dependency on platforms,” said Gimmy Chu
The Sense, a version of which was first announced in 2020 and then again in 2023, has been long-awaited by fans of the company's RGB lighting line. The wireless smart switch lets you control all the lights in a room or multiple rooms without using your voice or pulling out your phone. It's a similar concept to Philips Hue Wireless Dimmer Switch either Lutron Peak Booth remote, and can also be mounted on a wall plate like a traditional light switch or used as a handheld remote control.
In addition to the standard lighting controls, however, Sense features two configurable buttons that can be programmed in the Nanoleaf app or set up to work with Apple Home and Samsung SmartThings via Matter.
This allows you to create automations with other devices so you have, for example, a “Movie Time” scene that closes your blinds, dims your lights, and adjusts your thermostat with the push of a button. But since not all Matter platforms support smart buttons yet, Sense’s Matter integration is currently in a testing phase. early access program.
The Sense uses two protocols simultaneously to connect with Nanoleaf lights. Matter over thread and Wave Litea technology the company developed specifically for this product. A proprietary, local protocol that runs on the same 802.15.4 radio as Bluetooth/Thread, Litewave allows the switch to communicate with all Nanoleaf lights, whether they use Thread, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi.
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According to Gimmy Chu, co-founder and CEO of Nanoleaf, finding the right technology to produce a reliable wireless switching experience took eight years. “We needed a low-power networking solution, like Thread, and we also needed a common communication protocol, like Matter,” he says. However, while the company is a big proponent and early adopter of Thread, it has struggled with implementing Matter over Thread. This led it to develop the proprietary protocol to ensure its new smart switch would work reliably with all of its smart lights.
In an interview with The edgeChu attributes some of these difficulties to the complexity of Matter and its multiple platforms. “We don’t have control over the Matter controller, which is responsible for ensuring that things like matchmaking work correctly and that the Thread network is maintained properly,” he says. “We needed to make sure our products worked reliably with less dependency on platforms.”
Chu says Litewave provides a robust and reliable local connection that allows for instant control, as fast as flipping a light switch. “With it, we can be part of the Matter over Thread mesh network and also support our communication at the same time,” he says. Litewave also doesn’t require a Thread edge router or Matter controller to operate, making setup simpler for users. You only need those additional devices if you choose to enable Matter.
Through Litewave, Sense controls multiple Nanoleaf lights instantly without the “popcorn” effect (where lights turn on one after another). Chu showed me this in action during our video interview: A dozen recessed lights instantly turned on and off when he pressed the button. “We’ve tested it with over 100 fixtures across 10,000 square feet, and everything is instant with about 100 percent reliability,” he says.
In another shift away from relying solely on Thread, Nanoleaf is launching its first Matter over Wi-Fi bulb (all of its current bulbs use Thread). The modulable white light and full color Essentials Matter Wi-Fi A19 Smart Bulb It is developed for Walmart and costs $29.99 for a two-pack (you can also buy it at Nanoleaf Webstore for $49.99 for four).
Chu says they decided to go with Wi-Fi because they feel Thread is still too niche for Walmart’s customer. “The mass market doesn’t know what Thread is,” he says. “Going into a place like Walmart, we wanted to make sure we were serving as broad an audience as possible.”
“The mass market doesn’t know what Thread is,” Gimmy Chu
Nanoleaf isn't the only company betting on Matter instead of Thread. After several Thread-exclusive launches, Aqara's latest lighting products are powered by Thread. and Zigbee: The protocol it used to connect all of its devices before working on Thread. The company says it did this because Zigbee currently offers more features on its platform than Matter does on Thread and it wanted to give its users a choice.
The just-released Thread 1.4 update is supposed to fix many of the current issues, and as Matter develops, feature parity should arrive. But it will take some time for manufacturers to implement the new Thread specification. In the meantime, companies like Nanoleaf have no choice but to look for workarounds while Thread is being sorted out.
