Japanese smart home company Nature has announced preorders for its latest product, the Nature Remo Lapis, their latest IR blaster with Matter support, as originally noticed by Reddit user u/yaucp. You may have heard about Nature when they released the world’s first Matter compatible IR blaster last year, the Nature Remo Nano, although like their other products, it was only released in Japan.
Whilst the Remo Nano (review HERE, video HERE) was only capable of supporting up to three devices exposed to Matter, the new Lapis model has expanded on that considerably, with a twenty device limit in place. Whether you can find twenty devices with infrared control is another question entirely of course, especially when they’d all need to be within line-of-sight of the remote as well.
In terms of design, the Lapis really takes the company’s name literally, by creating what at first glance looks like a pebble you might find at the beach or in a shallow brook. The only giveaway here is of course the power cable, and the seam, where the two halves of the shell meet.
If you’re not familiar with this type of device, it essentially learns and replaces your existing IR remote controls, and then exposes those devices to your Matter platform of choice. The caveat here is that for most device types, this is limited to on/off, as when the device in question is shown in Apple Home, for example, it’s essentially treated like a smart plug.
The only exception to this is for AC control, where you get temperature control, and mode selection. The Lapis also has built in temperature and humidity sensors to work in tandem with the AC control, which is something not offered by the original Remo Nano.
This all comes just after SwitchBot released its own IR device, albeit in a traditional remote control form factor, that offers Matter support via one of their own Matter Bridges. You can watch our video review below;
Nature is also attempting to push its own platform a viable option, with support for a selection of other smart home brands, although many of these appear to be Japanese based, like the Qrio smart lock. They do plan compatibility with Philips Hue however, but with Matter integration, this may not be necessary.
The company are offering preorders now (presumably for Japanese consumers only), with an estimated shipping date starting July 5th.
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