Every second question in the technology board lately is some version of "which smart bulb", so here is a starting point.
The words
- Matter is the shared language: a Matter device works with Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa and Home Assistant without picking a side. Buy Matter where you can.
- Thread is a low-power radio for small devices (sensors, plugs, bulbs). It needs a Thread border router, which many recent speakers, hubs and TV boxes already are.
- Zigbee is the older equivalent with a huge catalogue of cheap, reliable devices; it needs its own hub or a USB stick on a Home Assistant box.
- Wi-Fi devices need no hub but each one is another client on your router. Fine for a few, messy at forty.
What to buy first
- A hub or app you commit to. Apple, Google, Amazon or Home Assistant. Mixing is possible with Matter but pick a home.
- Two or three Matter-over-Thread smart plugs. Cheap, useful, and they extend the Thread mesh.
- Bulbs only in lamps you actually switch from your phone or by routine. For ceiling lights, a smart switch is better than smart bulbs: the wall switch keeps working.
- One door sensor and one motion sensor. Automations start here: lights on when you walk in, a nudge when the back door is open at night.
What to avoid: cheap Wi-Fi devices that only work through their own cloud app, anything without Matter or a documented local API, and buying twenty devices before you have made three automations work.