Z-Wave Plus™ is the new, next step within the Z-Wave certification process and it is designed to help the consumers to identify the products that will take advantage of the recently introduced 'GEN5' Z-Wave hardware platform. It is also known as the 500 Series or the 5th Generation Z-Wave. With the Z-Wave Plus the end users are getting an extended features and capabilities as well as better experience and make the Z-Wave installations even faster and easier to install and set up.
Since the first Z-Wave product was certified in 2004, Z-Wave is leading the market in smart devices for the home. Now, the introduction of the GEN5, Z-Wave 500 series hardware platforms, Z-Wave is seeing its ecosystem fulfilled with new capabilities like an increased range, extended battery life, Over-The-Air upgrading (OTA), additional RF channels and many more.
All the products that are wearing the Z-Wave Plus™ are fully compatible with existing Z-Wave products!
With the newly started Z-Wave Plus certification program, the Z-Wave Alliance is introducing a series of packaging logos that will be located on every Z-Wave Plus™ certified product and will inform the consumer that this product incorporates the enhanced capabilities of the Z-Wave 500 series.