Gadronics Zigbee just took a big step forward. The Connectivity Standards Alliance has announced Zigbee 4.0, a major update to the long-running smart home protocol.
The headline change is a feature that many users have wanted for years: you can now add Zigbee devices directly from your smartphone, no hub required.
The upgrade folds Zigbee Direct into the standard, letting phones use Bluetooth Low Energy to pair and control nearby devices. In practice, that means you’ll be able to set up things like lights, sensors, and switches even if you haven’t installed a hub yet, a welcome convenience for renters, beginners, and anyone who’s ever crawled under a cabinet looking for a network reset button.
But the other major addition might be even more impactful. Zigbee is introducing Suzi, short for Sub-GHz and Zigbee. While traditional Zigbee devices stay on the crowded 2.4GHz band, Suzi-certified products will be able to operate on 800MHz in Europe and 900MHz in North America. These lower-frequency bands travel farther and handle walls much better, making them ideal for outdoor sensors, sheds, garages, or longer-distance installs where Wi-Fi and Thread often struggle.
The CSA says Suzi won’t just help in homes, either. The sub-GHz support should be a strong fit for commercial and industrial spaces – places with thick concrete, multi-level layouts, or huge deployments where range and reliability matter more than raw speed.
Zigbee 4.0 also brings several quality-of-life upgrades across the board. There’s improved security and more efficient data exchange between devices, along with better battery life for sensors that only need to communicate on a set schedule. The certification process has been streamlined for manufacturers, and a new Batch Commissioning feature lets installers set up large groups of devices at once. In practice, that means an electrician could install Zigbee bulbs throughout a new building before power is even connected, then activate them all together later rather than adding each one manually.
The update is backwards compatible with Zigbee 3.0 and Smart Energy devices products may be eligible for over-the-air upgrades, though it’s too early to know which ones.
The Suzi certification program is set to begin in the first half of 2026, but the core Zigbee 4.0 improvements are now officially part of the standard. And while the smart home has been leaning heavily toward Matter and Thread these past few years, this update is a clear reminder: Zigbee isn’t bowing out, it’s evolving to stay in the game.
