Thirdreality Matter Night Light Review

A while back, I reviewed an interesting RGB puck light from Zemismart, which is still in use in my home. This was a Zigbee RGB LED light shaped like a cylinder that quickly got that WAF seal, and now it continues to serve as the perfect night light in my bedroom.

In this article, I am testing an actual night light from Thirdreality, only this is a Matter over Wi-Fi model instead of Zigbee. You can get in on Amazon US for $29.99 as well as Amazon CA. The Zigbee version is also available on Amazon US for the same price.

This sample was sent to me by the company for the purpose of a review, which will in no way affect, sway of influence my objective review of the device.

Technical Specification

• Name: Thirdreality Matter Night Light
• Model: 3RSNL02041WM
• Connectivity: Matter-over-Wi-Fi
• Functionality: RGB Light, Motion sensor, Light sensor
• Power Supply: 5V0.5A
• Adapter Included: Yes
• Dimensions: ‎2.48″x 2.7″x2.55″

Teardown

The Thirdreality Matter Night Light ships in a simple cardboard box containing the device itself, the adapter and a short quick start guide. They could have done a fancier box here, but it’s not a deal breaker.

The device is square shaped with the light meant to illuminate the floor, although I don’t see why you can’t flip it over and illuminate the ceiling instead.

The Matter QR pairing code is printed on the packaging box as well as on the side of the device. Once this is plugged it, keep in mind you will need to either scan the QR code or manually input the pairing code, so maybe pair it before it’s final installation point.

There is a small hole on the other side of the case which provides access to a button used for putting the device in pairing mode. You need to press this button with a small pin for 5 seconds to initiate the pairing process, which is indicated by the LED flashing red and than stopping at white.

The small 5V adapter that comes with the device slots perfectly flush inside the device. This is a clever design to prevent the device from protruding from the outlet into the room, since it’s meant to be installed on it directly. The only problem for me is this is a US plug, and I’m in the EU. I had to add an adapter in order to actually use the device.

I managed to easily dismantle the case with the prying tool from the Kaiweets ES20 Screwdriver Set. The first obvious thing you notice is the PIR sensor used to trigger the device when you pass in front of it. It’s neatly positioned at the center and uses a Fresnel lens to extend it’s field of view. It’s labelled as model BM412S [Link], which appears to be made by Haiwang Sensor, Co. Ltd. from Shenzhen, China.

The LED cluster used in the Thirdreality Night Light is positioned at the bottom, which is the default installation orientation. Like I mentioned, you can freely turn it upside down so the light is emitted towards the ceiling and thus create a different ambient. There are a total of 6 unbranded RGB LEDs, which produce good quality colors, more photos bellow.

Matter-over-Wi-Fi communication is handle by a module labelled as Ai-WB2-12F [Datasheet], made by a company name Ai-Thinker in Shenzhen, China. This is the first time I’m encountering this chip and I have a feeling It won’t be the last, since Matter is definitely creating a shift in the industry. I have no opinion about this module at this point, It remains to be seen how good of a connection is provides.

Home Assistant Integration

To be able to add the Thirdreality Matter Night Light in Home Assistant, you need to have the Matter Server Add-on installed and running. Navigate to Settings > Add-ons > Add-on Store > Search for Matter Server. Install the Add-on, turn on the Start on boot and Watchdog toggles and that’s it.

With the device plugged in your outlet and in pairing mode, navigate to Settings > Devices & Services > + Add Integration > Add Matter Device. Follow the onboarding process, which involves scanned the QR code on the side of device and add it to Home Assistant.

The Night Light exposes three entities via Matter to Home Assistant: the main light entity and two sensor entities, for illuminance and occupancy. Since this device uses RGB LEDs, the brightness, color and temperature can all be controlled through Home Assistant.

Google Home Integration

I managed to add the Night Light in Google Home by scanning the QR code. The light, illuminance and motion entities are also available in the Home app. The light is controlled in the same way as in Home Assistant, here are some screenshots from the app:

Installation and Testing

I installed the Thirdreality Night Light in my bedroom, next to a mirror table and did some tests to get a sense of it’s color and brightness capabilities. I had to use an US-to-EU plug adapter, so the device is not as close to the outlet as I would want it to be.

It created a nice ambient light in my bedroom with the colors I picked in Home Assistant. The brightness can be lowered way down if you need it too, but it’s there if you want it brighter during certain times of the day. Here’s how it looks at about 80% brightness in 4 different colors:

The PIR motion sensor is triggered instantly when someone passes by it, without any delays. Light seems to not affect it’s performance, it will still trigger when it’s completely dark. It takes about 10 seconds for motion to be cleared and this interval cannot be changed. I tested this about 10 times, so I believe it’s correct.

The illuminance sensors max reading seems to be around 500, It was the top number I got in a completely bright room. The low number is 1, so automations need to be created with this range in mind.

Creating Automations

I was actually thrilled that the PIR motion sensor doesn’t trigger the light automatically. Which means, I can create my own automations in Home Assistant and push any value (color, brightness etc.) to the light I want to. For example, I created the following automation to turn on the light whenever the PIR sensor is triggered and the illuminance reading is bellow 5:

#Turn on the light when motion is detected and illuminance is bellow 5 (Dark)
description: "Turn on night light when motion is detected"
mode: single
trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id:
      - binary_sensor.night_light_occupancy
    from: "off"
    to: "on"
condition:
  - condition: numeric_state
    entity_id: sensor.night_light_illuminance
    below: 5
action:
  - service: light.turn_on
    metadata: {}
    data:
      color_temp: 500
      brightness_pct: 70
    target:
      entity_id: light.night_light

Now, whenever I pass before the PIR sensor the light will turn on to 70% but only if the illuminance reading is bellow 5, meaning it’s dark. Considering the light sensor goes from 1-500 in a natural light, some experimenting with the value is needed to get the correct readings of your room.

This automation can further be conditioned with time of day, making sure it only runs between 6PM and 6AM for example. This condition makes sure it’s truly dark when triggering the light:

description: Turn on night light when motion is detected and it's dark
mode: single
trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id:
      - binary_sensor.night_light_occupancy
    from: "off"
    to: "on"
condition:
  - condition: numeric_state
    entity_id: sensor.night_light_illuminance
    below: 5
  - condition: time
    after: "18:00:00"
    before: "06:00:00"
action:
  - service: light.turn_on
    metadata: {}
    data:
      color_temp: 500
      brightness_pct: 70
    target:
      entity_id: light.night_light

Final Thoughts