Is Alexa Compatible with Zigbee?

Recent developments in smart home technology are providing homeowners and families with more and more options when it comes to connecting their devices to each other. It’s getting easier to control your devices remotely and keep an eye on your home from no matter where you are. Smart home hubs like the Zigbee allow you to connect many products around your home through a smooth and seamless experience.

Can I connect my Alexa devices to my Zigbee? Yes, Amazon Alexa devices like the Amazon Echo series are Zigbee certified and will work together in your smart home.

Read on to learn more about the Zigbee hub and how to make it work in your home with Alexa devices.

Can I Connect My Zigbee to Alexa Devices?

Zigbee is a wireless mesh network that allows the smart devices in your home to work together. This complete and interoperable IoT device comes at a relatively affordable price. It uses low power to deliver low-latency communication between your products. It’s a great tool to have if there’s a variety of smart devices around your home.

The Zigbee device is easy to use and extends the control you have over your home and the devices within it. Alexa-enabled devices like the Amazon Echo, Echo Plus, Echo Show, and Echo Spot come equipped with the built-in Zigbee hub. This makes it even easier for your devices to connect with each other.

Once it’s integrated with your home, the Zigbee can:

• Improve your home’s comfort by changing the temperature, controlling lights, opening drapes, and more
• Help protect your home by alerting you about intruders, smoke in the home, and even water leaks
• Give you access to your home from anywhere in the world

When you’re building the smart technology in your home, (like lights, locks, or wall switches) and connecting them to your Zigbee, you can seamlessly add voice control with Alexa. Take remote control of your devices to the next level with simple voice commands.

Connecting Your Alexa Devices to Your Zigbee

With the Zigbee hub already installed within them, the second generation and later versions of the Amazon Echo will connect to Zigbee devices automatically. This simple yet powerful upgrade expands the way you can use this smart speaker in your home.

To connect your Amazon Alexa device to your Zigbee and Zigbee-based devices in your home, all you have to do is say the command, “Alexa, discover my devices,” and it will find compatible Zigbee software in your home.

You can connect your Amazon Alexa to devices in your home like lightbulbs, door locks, switches, plugs and more. There’s no need for any extra hubs or devices. This process makes it more convenient for the consumer because it takes away all the added steps for a more seamless solution.

If you’ve had issues setting up smart technology in the past, don’t worry! You can now reduce your chance of setup failure because the device basically does it for you. This advancement in Amazon products is a great opportunity for those who are hesitant to start their smart home technology because of the complicated nature of setup.

If you’re setting up your Amazon Echo Plus for the first time, follow these simple directions:

1. Plugin your smart speaker to an outlet and find your WiFi network.
2. Connect your Echo Plus and your smartphone’s Alexa app to your home WiFi network.
3. Make sure your Zigbee is nearby.
4. Ask Alexa to “Discover devices.”
5. Alexa will locate compatible devices within seconds and connect to them.
6. Name your discovered devices in the Alexa app.

Now, you can start controlling your devices with your Alexa device.

Building Your Smart Home with Zigbee

When you’re shopping around for devices to add to your smart home, it’s important to consider which are compatible. You’ll know your devices can integrate with each other because their developers make sure to label them accordingly.

The Works with Alexa program shows consumers that a product has been reviewed and developed to ensure a hassle-free integration experience. Products will have a Works with Alexa badge that tells you the device is compatible with your smart home setup before purchasing.

There’s also a label for Zigbee Certified devices. Look for this badge to ensure the interoperability between your devices and achieve a consistent, seamless user experience.

If you have an older-generation Amazon Alexa device that does not have the Zigbee hub built-in, you can use other Zigbee-certified hubs that allow you to connect your devices. SmartThings and Wink are two great options.

After integrating your devices with Alexa, you can use the built-in Smart Home voice user interface to control them. With this connectivity to Alexa, you have the freedom to choose how to connect your devices. This flexibility lets you set up your home however you want. The goal of smart home technology is to customize your experience to what you and your family need the most.

Routines with Amazon Echo

Routines is a great tool from Alexa that allows you to automate actions in your home. You have the ability to trigger a series of actions for various devices. Trigger these actions with a single command or set it up to start automatically at a certain time of the day.

This is a great option to start your day on the right foot. Set up the automation to open the windows, play an upbeat playlist, adjust the temperature in your home, and maybe even starting a pot of coffee after you say, “Good morning, Alexa.”

To start setting up Routines, follow these steps in the Alexa app:

1. In the menu, select Routines.
2. Tap the plus icon, then select When This Happens.
3. Choose how to trigger the Routine. (You can set up sensor Routines by selecting your installed motion or contact sensor.)
4. Select Add action to choose which action(s) to complete.
5. If you’d like to receive a Push Notification when motion or contact sensor is triggered, Tap Send notification.
6. Under the From section, choose which device controls the Routine.
7. Tap Create.

If you ever want to edit or remove a Routine, visit the Routines section in the Alexa app. Choose a Routine in the Enabled section and make your desired changes.

Device Groups with Amazon Echo

Groups is another tool from Alexa that allows you to control the devices in the same room. That way, you don’t have to remember each device’s name. Instead, you can group nearby or compatible devices and control them all together by saying a simple command like “Lights on” or “Turn on [Group Name].”

To start creating smart home device Groups, follow these steps in the Alexa app:

1. In the menu, select the Devices icon.
2. Tap the plus icon, then select Add Group.
3. You can use pre-set Group names or create your own. Then, tap Next.
4. Select the devices you want to include, then tap Save.

More about the Zigbee and How You Can Integrate It in Your Smart Home

The Zigbee mesh network and smart home hub is a great tool to have in your home when you’re adding more Smart Home devices. The Zigbee Alliance allows developers to manufacture their products to be certified to use with Zigbee. The Zigbee Certified badge lets you know which devices will work seamlessly in your home.

Visit the Zigbee and Amazon sites to learn more about the certified devices that are compatible. They publish a bunch of helpful articles to help you get set up easily and quickly. Control your home from anywhere with their useful products.