Z-Wave devices are almost universally better (longer battery life, longer range, more reliable, etc.) than Zigbee (I have both). Not sure if this is based on price (Z-Wave devices being more expensive), certification, different radio frequency, or something else.
With the investment into Thread (still sharing frequency with 2.4 GHz WiFi) I could see this changing.
I don't own ZWave devices, but comments here seem to question their superiority.
The range and battery life is likely due to the lower-frequency it uses, which is less congested and longer range. Typically, this will translate to a lower power usage (better battery life).
> I can't fault it but I do worry about future security updates should something be discovered in Zigbees stack.
I agree it’ll likely be few devices that’s ever see an update but I think theoretically Zigbee proton supports OTA from the hubs. I know home assistant supports automatic OTAs from a handful of brands.
With the investment into Thread (still sharing frequency with 2.4 GHz WiFi) I could see this changing.