Here is some interesting facts about the 700 series chip.
https://www.silabs.com/products/wireless/mesh-networking/z-wave/700-platform/what-is-z-wave-700
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The biggest reason the 700 series is better, is that your current devices don't have it. 
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Who's finding fault. It was a joke (the smiley). It is what I do.
Marketers always tell you things are better because you don't have it but likely will want it if you think it is better. The 700 series will be better and we will likely ALL want to have devices with the 700 series chip. Some people will rip out everything they have and replace them with 700 series devices.
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Is that like the grass is always greener on the other side? 
But in all seriousness the 700 series is a dramatic improvement
I’m pretty excited to see what is coming
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Absolutely, the 700 series chip offers some great improvements. 10 year battery life is awesome. Same with the extended range and speed and bandwidth and security and and. Unfortunately, as with the 500 series, you don't get a lot of the improvements unless you replace everything. A single 300 series (non plus) in your system, limits the the rest of your Plus devices to the slower speed/bandwith of the non plus devices.
I have a few non Plus devices on my network and won't replace them unless they die. I wouldn't consider adding a non plus device today. When I do add or replace, however, I would strongly consider looking at the 700 series over a Plus device especially for a battery device.
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The main thing that is better about 700 is something that isn't customer facing... The programming environment and tools are LIGHT YEARS better than the old/crappy/1980 vintage tools we had w/500...
It is much easier for device developers to make more complex devices with 700, or make standard devices MUCH faster.
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I did refer to those things in two ands. 
This is what excites me.. More than any battery life / range claims.. Devices will get a lot “smarter”.. I can’t wait to see what new features manufacturers will be introducing..
I didn't know about mandatory S2 and Smart Start. But then again I'm not sure what that means. If it's mandatory for the device to support it, that's not too different from now (at least S2 has already been required for new certifications for some time). I'm assuming it doesn't mean that the device must use it, otherwise that's definitely going to leave a lot of hubs (Hubitat included) out for the moment. I'm fairly positive that's not the correct interpretation given Z-Wave's long promise of backwards and forwards compatibility, but I'd love to know if I'm wrong.
Hoping there will be a ELV Dimmer Switch that releases with Z-Wave Series 700 - Gen7
Anyone hear or know if this product is in development?
in order to capture all the benefits of a 700 chip/ C7, is it required to upgrade all your switches/ devices? Very expensive upgrade and perhaps zigbee would be better anyway?
That's too open ended of a question. You would need to specify which specific benefits.
Longer range and battery life takes updated devices.
S2 and smartstart do not.
I am looking for the specification for the Elevation Model C-7 Hub. I am particularly interested in the indoor range and the Transmitter and Receiver Power levels.
I believe the C7 hub has a longer range than previous 500 Series Hubs. If I use non 700 series devices do I sill get the range improvement provided these devices are within the range of the hub.
Logically I would say that the devices may be able to hear the hub at a longer range, but possibly not be able to respond with enough power to be heard.
I think you are right. The z wave is a two-way transmission system; for every transmission from the hub, there is a transmission from the device back to the hub. The c7 hub may have a greater range but unless the device has the same long-range then the range is limited to the lower range of the two. Thnks for your help.
I am about to order a Z wave Hub for the first time. I will use it to control my Heat Recovery Ventilator System.
What happens if there is a power outage; will the hub power up when the power returns and operate normally without manual intervention.
Assuming no database corruption or device damage from the power drop and restore, the C7 should power up and resume operations. Best practice is to put in on a UPS or other power filtering/alternate power device and do a graceful shutdown of the hub before the power runs out to prevent corruption and damage to the hub. Restoration of power to the hub via that device acts just like you plugged the hub in.
Thanks for your reply.
I UPS would keep the Hub Powered for a time but there would have to be UPS and Hub controls to allow the UPS to signal the hub to do a graceful shut down. Is there a reset control on the HUb to allow a safe shutdown? Do you know of a UPS with a control output that activates some time after a power outage.
I’d have to search for it, but there are a couple of threads on here that talk about ways to monitor a UPS and do a graceful shutdown of the hub when required. A semi-manual way would be to have a mains powered device with battery backup (I use Ring Extenders for this) notify you when it switches to battery and then VPN into the hub and shut it down.
Thanks for your reply.
