Fritz! has released a new FRITZ! Lab beta update for the FRITZ!Box 5690 Pro, enabling native support for the Matter smart home standard without requiring the separate FRITZ!Smart Gateway.

With the latest FRITZ! Lab firmware, the FRITZ!Box 5690 Pro becomes the first FRITZ! router to act as a Matter bridge. This allows Smart Home devices like the FRITZ!Smart Thermo 302 and compatible third‑party devices registered with the router to be exposed directly to Matter platforms. As a result, users can now control supported devices through Apple Home, Google Home or Amazon Alexa using only the router, rather than relying on additional hardware.

Matter support arrives alongside features previously tested on the FRITZ!Box 7690, such as configurable DNS filters and automatic prioritisation. These tools give users more granular control over network traffic and content filtering, and are now available to 5690 Pro owners through the Lab programme.

FRITZ! Lab releases serve as public beta builds, offering early access to upcoming FRITZ!OS features before they are finalised. The 5690 Pro Lab update focuses primarily on Matter integration, while also delivering ongoing improvements for security and energy efficiency. Users can install the beta firmware to test new functionality ahead of the official FRITZ!OS 8.50 update and provide feedback during development.

KitGuru Says: If you are dedicating time to a Smart Home setup, it seems that having a Fritz! router will soon make that process easier, particularly when it comes to connecting to major platforms like Google Home. If you need help setting Matter devices up, Fritz! also has a handy guide for that.