Philips Hue Is About to Make Your Smart Home Life Much Easier
If you have invested in a smart home ecosystem, you know that compatibility is everything. The frustration of buying a device only to find it does not play nicely with your existing setup is a story almost every smart home enthusiast has lived through. Philips Hue, one of the most trusted names in smart lighting, is addressing this pain point head-on with a significant upcoming update. Starting later this year, select Philips Hue bulbs will be able to operate over both Zigbee and Matter over Thread simultaneously — a change that promises to make the brand's smart lighting products more versatile, more interoperable, and more future-proof than ever before.
What Is the Current Limitation With Philips Hue and Matter?
Philips Hue has supported the Matter smart home standard on certain lights for some time now. Matter, the open connectivity standard backed by major players including Apple, Google, Amazon, and Samsung, was designed specifically to solve the fragmentation problem in the smart home industry. By using a single, universal protocol, devices from different manufacturers can communicate seamlessly without requiring custom integrations or third-party bridges.
However, there has been a significant catch. Up until now, enabling Matter connectivity on a compatible Hue bulb meant disabling its Zigbee connection. This forced users to make an either-or choice between two connectivity standards, which created real trade-offs depending on how their smart home was configured. For users deeply embedded in the Hue ecosystem — which relies on Zigbee as its backbone through the Philips Hue Bridge — switching to Matter could mean losing access to certain Hue-exclusive features or disrupting a carefully built automation setup. Conversely, opting to stay on Zigbee meant missing out on the broader interoperability that Matter promises.
This limitation was a genuine frustration for power users and those managing mixed smart home environments. The good news is that Signify, the parent company of Philips Hue, has confirmed that this trade-off is going away.
The Big Update: Concurrent Zigbee and Matter Over Thread Support
Signify has announced that compatible Philips Hue lights will receive a software update later this year that enables concurrent connectivity over both Zigbee and Matter over Thread. This means that a single Hue bulb will be able to communicate with both the Philips Hue Bridge via Zigbee and with Matter-compatible controllers via Thread at the same time, without users having to choose one or the other.
Beyond the retrofit update for existing compatible bulbs, Signify has also confirmed that future Hue light releases will be built with support for both standards out of the box. This ensures that customers purchasing new Hue products going forward will benefit from maximum compatibility from day one, without needing to wait for firmware updates.
This update was developed in collaboration with Silicon Labs, a leading provider of wireless chip technology for connected devices. The partnership underscores the technical complexity involved in enabling two radio protocols to operate concurrently on a single device and speaks to the seriousness with which Signify is approaching the matter of long-term interoperability.
Why This Matters for Your Smart Home
To appreciate the significance of this update, it helps to understand what Zigbee and Matter over Thread each bring to the table.
- Zigbee is a low-power, mesh-based wireless protocol that has powered the Philips Hue ecosystem for years. It is reliable, fast, and deeply integrated into the Hue app and Hue Bridge. Features like granular dimming control, entertainment sync, and advanced automation rules are all rooted in the Zigbee connection between Hue bulbs and the Hue Bridge.
- Matter over Thread is the newer, cross-platform standard that allows Hue bulbs to be controlled directly by platforms like Apple Home, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Samsung SmartThings without requiring the Hue Bridge as an intermediary. Thread, the networking layer beneath Matter, is also a low-power mesh protocol, making it well-suited for battery-powered and always-on smart home devices.
With concurrent support for both, users no longer have to sacrifice one ecosystem for another. You can continue to enjoy the full depth of the Philips Hue app experience while also having your bulbs natively accessible in Apple Home or Google Home. For households where different family members prefer different voice assistants or platforms, this update is a genuine quality-of-life improvement.
Who Will Benefit Most From This Change?
The update will be most impactful for several categories of users. First, existing Hue customers who have been hesitant to enable Matter because they did not want to lose their Zigbee-powered features will finally be able to have both. Second, users building or expanding a multi-platform smart home — perhaps running HomeKit alongside Google Home — will find that Hue bulbs slot in without compromise. Third, tech enthusiasts and home automation hobbyists who use platforms like Home Assistant will gain additional flexibility in how they integrate their Hue lights into broader automation workflows.
What You Should Do Next
If you own compatible Philips Hue lights that already support Matter, the path forward is straightforward. Keep your Hue app updated and watch for firmware update notifications later this year. Signify has not yet published an exact rollout date, but the announcement confirms that the update is actively in development and on the roadmap for 2025.
If you are considering purchasing new Hue lights, the assurance that future products will support both Zigbee and Matter over Thread natively makes the brand an even stronger choice for a future-proof smart home. The lighting market is competitive, but Philips Hue's commitment to backward compatibility and open standards keeps it firmly among the best options available.
The Bigger Picture: Smart Home Fragmentation Is Getting Better
The Philips Hue update is part of a broader trend toward interoperability in the smart home space. The Matter standard was created precisely because consumers were tired of walled gardens and incompatible ecosystems. As more manufacturers embrace Matter and work to support it alongside their existing protocols — rather than as a replacement — the smart home experience becomes less frustrating and more accessible for everyday users.
Signify's decision to invest in concurrent dual-protocol support rather than forcing a migration away from Zigbee is a consumer-friendly move that reflects growing industry maturity. It signals that the future of smart home technology is not about picking sides, but about giving users the freedom to build the setup that works best for them. For Philips Hue owners and prospective buyers alike, that is very good news indeed.