SwitchBot, a well-known brand in the smart home community, has been making waves with its innovative products. They are releasing a new and upgraded Hub Mini, making it compatible with Matter (and therefore, also with Apple home and other Matter ecosystems).
SwitchBot is talked quite a bit on SmartHomeScene, considering their products are really high quality and can be integrated in Home Assistant. If you are interested in some deep dive reviews, check out our previous work:
- SwitchBot Smart Home Ecosystem Review And Home Assistant Integration
- SwitchBot Blind Tilt Teardown Review And Home Assistant Integration
- SwitchBot Hub 2 Review and Matter Setup
Hub Mini (Matter) Technical Specs
- Model: SwitchBot Hub Mini (Matter)
- Dimensions: 65x65x20mm
- Weight: 36g
- Material: ABS
- Power Supply: DC 5V ⎓ 1A
- Connector: USB Type C
- Operating Temperature: -10°C~60°C
- Operating Humidity: 5-95%RH
New Features
One cool new feature of the updated Hub Mini is a sensor on its USB-C power cable, a neat trick we first saw on the Switchbot Hub 2. This addition makes the Hub Mini even more useful, as a local temperature and humidity measuring device. Check out our full teardown of the SwitchBot Hub 2 for an insight in it’s internal components.
Similar to its larger version, the Switchbot Hub 2, this new version of the Hub Mini can control various devices in your home, like TVs, air conditioners, and fans, using its built-in IR blaster. SwitchBot claims that they have their own overwhelming amount of infrared code databases, making it easy to make new devices and old home appliances smart.
This lets you integrate these appliances into the SwitchBot app, making it easy to switch them on or off. Air conditioners get extra features like mode and fan speed controls. The Hub 2 sports the same feature with a really powerful IR blaster.
About the old model
While some original Hub Mini users might feel a bit disappointed that their older hubs aren’t getting this Matter update, it’s clear that Switchbot is embracing Matter as a standard. This is great news not just for Apple Home users (who I believe embrace Matter the most), but for users of other Matter platforms too.
For now, this announcement has been made only on Switchbot’s Japanese website, where the brand is quite popular. But it’s almost certain that this new and improved Hub Mini will be available to customers worldwide soon. At this point, it costs ¥5,980 in Japan, which is around $40.
