The Phoscon ConBee III is a small Zigbee USB stick that promises to pull smart home gear into one place. If you are trying to handle lights, sensors, and switches from different brands without jumping between apps, this kind of device can be useful. This review walks through what the ConBee III is, how to set it up, what works well, and where it falls short. By the end, you should have a clear idea if this Zigbee gateway fits your setup, or if you should look at other options.
About the ConBee III Universal Zigbee 3.0 USB Gateway
Product Features:
- Zigbee USB stick that works with Phoscon App (deCONZ), Home Assistant, Zigbee2MQTT, ioBroker, and more
- Works with many Zigbee brands, including Philips Hue, IKEA Tradfri, and Xiaomi Aqara
- Strong range, up to about 30 m indoors and 200 m outdoors in ideal conditions
- Uses a Zigbee mesh network so devices can route through each other for better coverage
- Runs fully local with no cloud needed, so your data stays in your home
- Can be used on Raspberry Pi, PC, or laptop for flexible setups
- Easy setup on Windows 10/11, macOS, Ubuntu, Raspberry Pi OS, Debian, or in Docker
ConBee III Universal Zigbee 3.0 USB Gateway Details
The ConBee III Universal Zigbee 3.0 USB Gateway is a Zigbee USB stick made for local smart home control. It works with the Phoscon App (deCONZ), Home Assistant, Zigbee2MQTT, ioBroker and other common smart home platforms. It is meant to act as a central hub for devices from different brands so you can manage them in one place without needing a cloud account from each brand.
This USB gateway supports Zigbee devices from Philips Hue, IKEA Tradfri, Xiaomi Aqara and other makers that follow the Zigbee standard. It can reach up to about 30 meters indoors and about 200 meters outdoors, helped by a signal amplifier and the Zigbee mesh feature where devices can forward signals to each other. This can make coverage more stable across several rooms or floors when you have enough mains powered Zigbee devices acting as routers.
The ConBee III is built for local and cloud-free use, with control handled on your own hardware such as a Raspberry Pi, PC or laptop. It works with Windows 10 and 11, macOS, Ubuntu Linux, Raspberry Pi OS, Debian and Docker. Setup is stated to take only a few minutes, and there is a backup function that lets you move your Zigbee setup from one system to another without starting from scratch.
Our Review
I have been using the ConBee III Universal Zigbee 3.0 USB Gateway as an upgrade from my old ConBee II, and the swap was pretty simple for me. Physically changing the USB stick was quick, and the basic setup did not give me any trouble. I have my Home Assistant instance running on a small local machine, so I powered it off, swapped out the USB dongles, and spun up a new Docker container to run the hardware. We do recommend that if you are installing this dongle, you place it on a USB extension cord so that it’s away from your computer. We’ve found the host computer can cause signal interference with the antennas on these dongles before. But placing them a bit out on an extender is perfect.
The only downside for me was that I had to re-connect all of my Zigbee devices, even though I tried to migrate the database. There are database migration steps, but that didn’t work for me. All of the devices were showing, but they weren’t able to be communicated with. So migrating took some time and felt a bit annoying, since my old setup had been working fine.
Once I got through the re-pairing step, my Zigbee network has been solid with the ConBee III. All of my devices stay connected and respond right away to commands. I do not have random dropouts or delays, and I do not find myself restarting things or checking logs. The whole setup has been so stable that I almost forgot I even changed hardware, which is exactly what I want from a USB gateway like this.
Pros and Cons of the ConBee III Universal Zigbee 3.0 USB Gateway
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Wide device and brand support | Recommend placing on USB extension cord |
| Fully local, no cloud needed | Migration can be hit or miss |
| Small USB stick | Software is plain, but stable |
| Good range | |
| Docker support for software |
Summary
The Phoscon ConBee III is a steady choice for home users who want local control of their Zigbee devices with wide device support and simple day to day use. It keeps the small size and USB format of earlier versions, adds better hardware, and works with common smart home platforms without much trouble once set up. It is not the cheapest option, and the software can feel plain, but it does the job for people who care more about local control and broad compatibility than fancy features. If you already use a ConBee II and it works well, you may not feel a strong need to move to the new model right away, but anyone starting fresh or expanding a Zigbee network can look at the ConBee III as a solid and predictable coordinator choice.
