The issues with matter and multi admin.
Not sure to what extent these translate to SmartThings since they are not in the scope of this article. Suggestion seems to be that it’s best to avoid mult8 admin for now.
WiZ launched recently an A19 (normal size) bulb with 1521 lumens which also achieves a quite low brightness. Their previous A21 1521 lm was too large for most fixtures so I’m surprised Govee advertises being bulkier as a feature.
IKEA’s KAJPLATS also comes in a 1500 lumens flavor and standard 60-wide 100-tall footprint, so I don’t see the point either. If you want better light distribution, lose the neck and collar, don’t make it bigger
The new Hager Matter over Thread remote looks promising, it not just supports normal button automations, it also supports Matter bindings with On/Off and Level control for direct control of lights! 
Also has Window Covering support to control blinds!
Of course, SmartThings doesn’t support setting Matter bindings but thanks to multi-admin you can add it to HA or chip-tool, set it there and call it a day.
Doesn’t seem there’s any price and haven’t been released yet (May 2026) so maybe by the time it releases IKEA has already added Matter bindings (let’s have faith… although I’m not very confident about it)
The best part of two years ago it was announced that the Chromecast with Google TV would eventually become a Matter Controller. I can go weeks without using mine and it was only today I discovered that the latest update had finally brought Google Home with it. Being able to control smart devices from a TV screen is of no interest to me but an extra always on device on the network is welcome, especially as the voice assistants get dumber with every day and less deserving of electricity. However it would appear that the Matter Controller functionality has yet to arrive.
Does anyone know if it is still anticipated one day, or did they quietly drop the idea when they stopped selling it?
Matter 1.1, Thread, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Bluetooth.
Quote from the Aqara Multi-State Sensor page -
This dual-protocol approach is consistent with Aqara’s wider strategy, where Zigbee is still used for advanced functionality, while Thread and Matter provide broader compatibility.
The way I read this, they’re half-a**ing Matter support to peddle their proprietary ecosystem a little longer.
But anyway, I like how Matter/Thread is gaining traction everywhere.
First impressions:
My ten cents:
Mine works (4k version).
Tested it with an Alpstuga to be able to switch off its display light via Google Home.
Also have a Google Nest Screen hub.
Nowhere to be seen how Google routes the stuff .
-switched off the Nest and connection stayed OK.
-unplugged the Chromecast and the connection stopped.
So the Google TV seems to do the Matter threading.
This is the original non-paywalled note
The Verge seemed to misquote the claims since Samsung did not say they added enhanced integrations to smart plugs, lights, etc. In fact, they didn’t even add the plugs to SmartThings Energy.