Smart home at IFA 2025: more AI, more Matter, smart speakers to cuddle up to

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Smart home manufacturers have long advertised their products by claiming that the algorithms are more or less based on artificial intelligence. The tangible benefits have so far been minimal. This could now change with the introduction of chatbot functions, as was demonstrated at IFA 2025. Security camera provider Reolink wants to make it easier to search for events with text input. In this way, SwitchBot offers a low-threshold method for creating if-then rules.

The smart home sector also had new technology for the Matter standard in store, including some smart locks from Yale, for example, as well as a camera from TP-Link. It will also be possible to control another product category with smart home apps in the future: AI-powered toy robots based on Tuya's technology platform.

Search videos and create automations using AI

Watching surveillance videos from start to finish searching for specific events is tedious. Chatbot inputs such as “man in red shirt” or “white car” get you to your destination much faster. Manufacturer Reolink has been offering this in beta testing since July for the Elite Floodlight Wifi camera (230 euros), which is already available. At IFA, the TrackFlex Floodlight Wifi model (from October for 200 to 300 euros) was added to the range.

The AI image analysis is performed locally on the camera duo, in German, and without a paid subscription. If the videos are not stored on an SD card in the camera but on a Reolink network recorder, a second AI feature presented at IFA is added. The software then automatically creates descriptions of events in clips. Many other, less powerful Reolink cameras allow a search via a paid subscription in the cloud (from around 5 euros per month), but only in English for now. A third, currently unavailable AI feature will soon be added to the cloud: summaries of entire periods of time, for example, in response to the query, “What happened in the last 24 hours?”

SwitchBot also presented a local AI image search that adds convenience features to the manufacturer's indoor cameras. A text search can be used to ask, “Show me when and where I forgot my cell phone.” Event overviews like those from Reolink should also be possible. In addition, the AI-smart SwitchBot software can interpret actions and then activate smart home automations. For example, the lights could turn on when a camera detects that you have woken up. The extent to which you have to click together the necessary rules in the manufacturer's app in the conventional way in the graphical user interface or can conveniently order them via chatbot input was left open.

The Pan/Tilt Cam Plus 2K and 3K models and the manufacturer's video doorbells can be used as cameras. Image analysis is handled by a new gateway model called SwitchBot KI Hub. It stores video data in the 32 GB fixed memory, which can be expanded to 1 TB. A cloud subscription is not required. The hub also manages other devices and passes them on to a Matter network if required. The price and release date of the hub are not yet known.

First Matter camera in sight

Cameras cannot yet be passed through to smart home systems such as those from Amazon, Apple, and Google via the Matter standard. This is set to change this fall when Matter version 1.5 is released. “We are sticking to the roadmap,” confirmed Tobin Richardson, President and CEO of the responsible certification organization Connectivity Standards Alliance. The camera manufacturers are close to agreeing on a set of specifications. The test phase should begin soon. Richardsen left open which brands will be involved at the start.

TP-Link confirmed to Heise Online that it would be among them. Specifically, the manufacturer wants to upgrade the already available Tapo C260 model and the upcoming C560 model with Matter, explained Product Manager Turbo Lin at the IFA stand. Initially, basic functions are planned, such as access to the live view and event alarms. Saving video clips will probably not be part of the Matter specifications for now.

The Matter selection is now extensive in other product categories. Shelly, for example, had a large number of Matter-enabled new additions in its luggage. These include a four-way power strip, a flush-mounted dimmer, a two-channel flush-mounted switch, and sensors for water and presence, all of which belong to the brand's Gen 4 range.

Smart Lock from Yale, Aliro demo from Nuki

Smart lock motors can already be integrated into the home network via Matter. Yale presented a new smart lock with a particularly compact design. The shape of the Yale Linus L2 Lite knob is similar to that of the smaller Nuki and Tedee models. The plastic housing looks less elegant in comparison. However, the price is also more affordable at 140 euros when it goes on sale in December 2025. Bluetooth and Matter-over-Thread are built in. A bridge (80 euros) is required for remote WiFi access.

Smart lock manufacturer Nuki presented a keypad prototype at IFA to give a taste of how smart locks can be opened via NFC with the upcoming Aliro standard. The standard is said to be more connection-friendly than manufacturers' own methods, such as Apple Home Key. During the demo, the back of a Samsung smartphone was held up to the keypad, whereupon the smart lock opened the door. The Samsung Wallet organized the encrypted data exchange. The Nuki lock was also connected to a Matter-enabled smart home hub from Samsung. Other wallet and hub combinations are also expected to work when the Aliro standard is launched this fall.

Watch out, the smart AI toy robots are coming

The range of smart home devices and brands is already unmanageable. Now another product category is being added. The provider of the Tuya smart home platform presented reference models of smart toy robots between 10 and 50 centimeters high as a mixture of Tamagotchi and Labubu. In line with the trend, they are equipped with AI chatbot functions and can serve as smart speakers. Some are shaped like cuddly toys and look around from cuddly digital eyes while sitting still. Others move on wheels and shoot balls that pets can catch or retrieve.

They are connected to the home network via a smartphone app. You can then interact with them via text chat input based on ChatGPT in the app or via a voice command. Microphones are built in for this. In addition, integrated cameras with AI software substructure should be able to interpret the emotions and gestures of people and pets and respond with appropriate facial expressions or other feedback. Because they are part of Tuya's smart home platform, the robots can also be integrated into if-then rules if desired and have their smart speakers babble something appropriate under sensor control.

As Tuya supplies various smart home brands with reference technology, an army of robot variants should soon be landing on the shelves. A foretaste of this was provided by manufacturer SwitchBot, which exhibited corresponding cuddly toy robots called SwitchBot KI Pet at its stand to the obvious delight of trade fair visitors of child age. It is not yet clear at what price and when the robots will go on sale.

(emw)