Experience Smart Home Control with the Luxurious Mui Board
One of the exciting aspects of being immersed in tech for over a decade is witnessing the evolution of innovative gadgets from mere ideas to tangible products that find their way into our homes. The Mui Board is a prime example of this journey, serving as a smart home controller cleverly integrated into a piece of wood.
First showcased at CES in 2019, the Mui Board has made appearances at various events over the years, each time promising an imminent release. This year, it finally hit the market in limited quantities, and I had the chance to test it out in my living space.
Wood with Wi-Fi
The Mui Board can be described as an anti-smart display. It operates as a Raspberry Pi-based smart home controller with Matter support, remaining a simple wooden panel on your wall when idle. However, a touch on its capacitive surface reveals glowing dot-matrix icons, allowing you to manage music, lighting, set timers, check messages, and access other functionalities typically associated with smart displays.
The philosophy behind the Mui Board is that technology should seamlessly blend into your home environment—calm, accessible, and integrated, rather than intrusive or distracting. The term “Mui” in Japanese signifies harmony with nature, and the device is certified by the Calm Tech Institute. As someone surrounded by screens, I was eager to explore this alternative approach.
Having the second-generation Mui Board in my home for a few days has been a pleasant experience. While I haven’t fully tested all its features yet, its responsiveness, thoughtful design, and ambitious capabilities have left a positive impression.
Launched in 2023, the second-gen model became available for purchase earlier this year. Priced at $999 (currently on sale for $799), the Mui Board feels more like a beautifully crafted concept than a mainstream product. It’s hard to envision many people spending a grand on a smart home controller, but for the right user, it offers undeniable charm.
A simpler smart home controller
Created by Mui Labs in Japan, the Mui Board comes in two finishes: natural maple and dark cherry. I’m currently testing the maple version, mounted on my living room wall above the sofa.
From this spot, I can easily tap the board to check the time or weather, see what’s playing on my Sonos system, control my Hue lights, set timers, and even view the latest headlines through an RSS feed feature.
The interface is straightforward, featuring minimalist icons that provide more control than you might initially expect. You can dim and toggle lights (though color changes aren’t supported), adjust thermostat settings, open and close curtains, and manage smart plugs. Unlike other smart home controllers, there are no ads, no chatty voice assistants, and no glaring displays demanding your attention.
Specs: Mui Board
* Price: $999
* Dimensions: 23 x 3 x 1 inches
* Connectivity: Wi-Fi (2.4Ghz), BLE
* Smart home protocols: Matter Controller, Echonet Lite, Web API
* Installation: Wall-mounted
* Hardware: Speaker and microphone
Out of the box, the Mui Board connects to Wi-Fi and can display the time and weather. You can set timers, alarms, and reminders, and send messages to other Mui boards or the Mui app. It features two small built-in speakers and a microphone for recording messages, powered by an included AC adapter.
The best part of the Mui Board is its touch functionality. It’s responsive and user-friendly, with some delightful features. A small cat animation roams the board, changing direction when tapped. There’s also a piano/drum mode that transforms the board into a music maker, and you can write messages by hand instead of using a keyboard. It feels like a playful interaction with technology.
Smart home integrations
For smart home control, the Mui Board supports Matter and integrates with various services, including Sonos, Philips Hue, LIFX, SwitchBot, Ecobee, and Google Calendar APIs, along with several Japanese services like Radiko and the Echonet smart home protocol.
Using the straightforward Mui app, I connected the board to my Sonos system, which displayed the current track title, volume, and playback controls, allowing me to skip through my playlist.
As a Matter controller, it can set up and manage supported Matter devices directly, bypassing the need for Amazon, Google, Apple, or similar services. It works with lighting, plugs, and thermostats, with plans to add lock support in the future.
Currently, it supports Matter over Wi-Fi, with Thread support on the horizon. Since there’s no onboard Thread radio, a third-party border router is necessary. Lighting control has been the most reliable so far, while other categories are still undergoing testing.
I successfully added a Meross Matter Wi-Fi smart plug directly to the board, but faced challenges pairing some Matter devices, like my Nest thermostat, using Matter’s multi-admin feature. More testing is on my agenda.
I managed to connect my Hue lighting setup, allowing me to turn lights on and off or control them individually from the board. However, the response was somewhat slow, likely due to my extensive Hue setup relying on the cloud API instead of a local connection. I particularly enjoyed the Veil of Night feature, which lets you draw a line on the board to set a timer that gradually dims the lights.
Ultimately, the Mui Board serves as a large button or switch for managing your smart home, enhanced by icons that guide you without a bright screen. Like any icon-based control, it requires some learning to remember what each icon does, but you can customize the layout to prioritize your most-used controls on the first screen and scroll through additional screens for more options.
While I appreciate the natural, furniture-like aesthetic, when the board is off, it somewhat resembles a two-by-four on the wall—like a DIY project left unfinished. A more sculptural design or a small shelf accessory could enhance its appearance. Additionally, the cable management could use some attention.
I installed the Mui Board in my living room, but after a few days of use, I believe it would be better suited for a bedroom, positioned above a bedside table or headboard. This is a space where many prefer to avoid screens but still want to control lights, locks, and music without reaching for a phone or using voice commands.
I don’t envision using the Mui Board solely as a smart home controller; its software still feels a bit underdeveloped for creating scenes and automations. However, as an interface for your smart home, it offers a refreshing change. Plus, as a fun device for managing music, setting timers, and even playing the piano, it succeeds, albeit at a steep price.
The journey to bring the Mui Board to life has been gradual, and I’m curious to see where this innovative company takes its calm tech concept next. They plan to showcase a new well-being-focused sleep experience and “movement-based lighting control” for the Mui Board at CES this year.
