Aqara Hub M3 vs Sonoff Zigbee Bridge Ultra

The Sonoff Zigbee Bridge Ultra wins on price, warranty and capacity, supporting up to 256 devices with a two year warranty for less money. The Aqara Hub M3 is the better multi-protocol hub, adding Thread, Bluetooth and IR to Zigbee and Matter along with dual-band Wi-Fi and Power over Ethernet.

Radio reach. The Aqara Hub M3 runs Zigbee, Thread, Matter, Bluetooth and IR, while the Sonoff Zigbee Bridge Ultra is Zigbee and Matter only, so Thread devices need another border router.

It can pair other brands' Zigbee 3.0 devices, but owners report that support is uneven and that some, such as Philips Hue bulbs, will not join. The Aqara Hub M3 is stricter still, pairing only Aqara devices over Zigbee.

The Sonoff Zigbee Bridge Ultra supports up to 256 devices, while the Aqara Hub M3 supports up to 127 child devices.

A large Zigbee setup that wants a stable network, a Matter bridge and up to 256 devices at the lower price, with a two year warranty, and is fine without Thread or IR.

A household that wants one box for Zigbee, Thread, Matter, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and IR, and value fast local automations and bridging into every major platform.