Z-Wave Plus & 800 series
Z-Wave Plus is the certification badge for devices built on the 500-series chip or later; the current 800-series silicon brings longer range, multi-year battery life, mandatory S2 security and SmartStart, and support for Z-Wave Long Range. Newer series matter for range and battery, but every generation remains backward compatible on the same network.
Z-Wave’s chip generations — 300, 500 (Z-Wave Plus, 2013), 700 (Z-Wave Plus v2, 2019), 800 (2021 onward) — are a cleaner upgrade story than most protocols manage: each generation interoperates, so a 15-year-old switch still joins an 800-series controller’s network. From the 700 series on, S2 security and SmartStart inclusion are mandatory for certification rather than optional.
The 800 series substantially extends the 700 series’ radio link budget (Silicon Labs quotes well past 100 m line of sight in mesh mode) and cuts sleep-current draw enough for up-to-10-year coin-cell battery claims. When comparing two similar devices, the chip series is a genuinely useful tiebreaker — an 800-series sensor will typically hold a link where a 500-series one drops off the mesh edge.
| Z-Wave Plus | 500-series certification, introduced in 2013 |
|---|---|
| Z-Wave Plus V2 | 700-series certification, from 2019 — S2 and SmartStart mandatory |
| 800 series | Shipping from 2021 onward; the generation that enables Z-Wave Long Range |
| Z-Wave Plus over 300 series | Roughly 50% more range, 50% better battery life, and 100 kbit/s instead of 40 |
| Backward compatibility | Every generation from 300 series onward interoperates on one network |
| Battery claims | Up to ten years on a coin cell for well-behaved 800-series sensors |
What the Z-Wave Plus badge actually certifies
Z-Wave Plus was not marketing for a faster radio. It made a specific set of features mandatory that had been optional: over-the-air firmware updates, network-wide inclusion so a device could be added from anywhere in the mesh rather than next to the controller, explorer frames so devices could discover routes and heal without a manual reorganisation, and a standard way to report device type and configuration. Those are the features that turned Z-Wave from a fussy protocol into an installable one.
The headline numbers came with them — about 50% more range and 50% better battery life than the 300 series, and 100 kbit/s in place of 40. But the durable value was the mandatory feature floor, which is why a Z-Wave Plus device from 2015 still behaves sensibly on a 2026 controller.
Z-Wave Plus V2, the 700-series certification, repeated the trick with security. S2 encrypted inclusion and SmartStart QR provisioning became requirements rather than options, so anything certified from 2019 onward supports authenticated pairing by default. That is a meaningful difference from Zigbee, where security posture is largely up to the manufacturer.
Working out which generation you actually have
The packaging is the crudest signal: a Z-Wave Plus logo means 500 series or later, and a Z-Wave Plus V2 logo means 700 series or later. Vendors are inconsistent about updating artwork, so the absence of a badge proves little.
The reliable method is the controller. Z-Wave JS and zwave-js-ui report each node’s protocol version, SDK version, and supported command classes, and the Z-Wave JS device database carries the same information per model. Hubitat and Homey expose a version string on the device page. If a node reports an SDK in the 6.x range it is 500-series silicon; 7.x is 700 or 800.
Do not infer the generation from the year you bought it. Manufacturers ship 500-series designs for a long time after newer silicon exists, because a working design is cheap to keep making. Plenty of devices sold new in 2026 are 500-series inside, which is not automatically wrong — it just means no Long Range and shorter battery life than the spec sheet of the newest competitor.
When the generation is worth paying for
For battery devices, it usually is. The sleep-current improvements between 500 and 800 series are large enough to change how often you are on a ladder, and the extra link budget means a sensor at the edge of coverage holds a route where an older one drops. For mains-powered switches and dimmers, the difference is much less interesting — they are always awake and always routing.
For the controller, the generation matters more than for any single device, because it sets the ceiling for the whole network. An 800-series controller can do Long Range; a 500-series one cannot, ever. If you are buying one thing new, buy the controller.
Two cautions. “800 series” on a box does not guarantee Long Range is enabled in that product’s firmware, so check the specific model rather than the silicon. And mixing generations is fully supported but not free: each link runs at what both ends support, and legacy devices still using S0 security generate roughly three times the traffic of an S2 device, which is the one genuine reason to retire old hardware from a busy network.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Z-Wave and Z-Wave Plus?
Z-Wave Plus is a certification level, not a different protocol. It made over-the-air firmware updates, network-wide inclusion, explorer-frame route healing, and standard device-type reporting mandatory, and brought roughly 50% more range and battery life than the 300-series generation before it. Both talk to each other on the same network; Plus devices simply behave better.
Do I need an 800-series Z-Wave hub?
If you want Z-Wave Long Range, yes — 700 or 800 series is the hardware requirement and nothing older can be upgraded to it. If you are running a conventional mesh in a normal house, a 500- or 700-series controller is perfectly adequate. Since the controller sets the ceiling for every device on the network, it is the one component worth buying current.
Will my old Z-Wave devices work with a new hub?
Yes. Backward compatibility across generations is the strongest thing Z-Wave has going for it — a 300-series switch from 2010 will join an 800-series controller and work. The caveats are that old devices cannot use S2, and legacy S0 devices are chatty enough to slow a large network, so replacing them is occasionally worth it for reasons other than features.
How do I find out which chip series a Z-Wave device uses?
Check the node’s reported protocol and SDK version in your controller — Z-Wave JS, zwave-js-ui, Hubitat, and Homey all expose it — or look the model up in the Z-Wave JS device database. SDK 6.x indicates 500-series silicon, 7.x indicates 700 or 800. Purchase date is not a reliable indicator, because 500-series designs are still being manufactured.
Is Z-Wave Plus V2 the same thing as the 700 series?
Effectively, yes. Z-Wave Plus V2 is the certification programme that applies to 700-series and later hardware, and its defining requirement is that S2 security and SmartStart provisioning are mandatory rather than optional. A device carrying the V2 badge supports authenticated encrypted inclusion whether or not the marketing mentions it.