The newest Samsung SmartThings hub ditches Z-Wave

Aeotec announced its Smart Home Hub 2 at the IFA tech show this week, marking the end of an era. The hub, produced in partnership with Samsung, is the fourth generation to support the SmartThings home automation platform, and the first without a Z-Wave radio.

The Smart Home Hub 2 has twice the performance of its predecessor, according to a press release from Aeotec, and features upgraded hardware, USB expandability, and support for Bluetooth Low Energy, Zigbee, Thread, and Matter Controller capabilities for SmartThings. Aeotec says it’s built for local-first communications, allowing most automations to run on the hub, so they’ll keep working even if the internet is down. It’s slated to launch in Q4 of 2025.

SmartThings users who want to keep using Z-Wave in their home will have to stick with the SmartThings V3 hub (also known as the Aeotec Smart Home Hub). Aeotec plans to discontinue V3 at the end of 2026, but says it just finished a final production run and has plenty of inventory available.

Samsung moved away from manufacturing its own dedicated hardware hub a few years ago, outsourcing it to Aeotec. In the meantime, it started to integrate SmartThings Hubs with Matter and Thread support into its TVs, soundbars, and other appliances. However, a dedicated hub like the SmartHome Hub 2 is more powerful, can handle a greater number of devices, offer more local automations, and has a better range, which makes it a better choice for bigger smart home setups.

Aeotec’s hub was also the only choice if you wanted to run Z-Wave devices in your SmartThings home. But it looks like those days are nearly over.