(mmWave) sensing is a non-contact system of using mmWave radar sensors to measure movement, acceleration, and angles as small as a fraction of a millimeter. This system requires a mmWave radar sensor to transmit and receive pulses of millimetre electromagnetic wave energy, detecting targets and motion from the reflections it receives back.

So as you can see, simply shallow breathing will be enough to let a Presence Sensor know you’re still there, and not leave you in the dark – literally. today’s product review is for the Aqara FP1E, which can both be considered the successor to the FP1, which was only released in China, and a scaled back version of the Aqara FP2 (review HERE, video HERE).

If you’re keen to know how it performs, and how it differs from the other two Presence Sensors just mentioned, read on…

PACKAGING | CONTENTS

Aqara’s packaging is fairly standardised now, with the product front and centre, a sort of ‘disclaimer’ below, and logos for compatible ecosystems. this is where some Apple Home users might be confused, as the ‘Works With Apple Home’ logo is not present alongside the Alexa and Google logos. That’s due to the FP1E using Zigbee 3.0, which in turn means it would require an Aqara hub, which is point of entry to Apple Home. I have to assume that Alexa or Google are a bit more easy going about their logos being on the box than Apple, as the disclaimer text does state “To connect to third-party ecosystems such as Apple Home, Amazon Alexa and Google Home, an Aqara Zigbee 3.0 hub is required”. So don’t panic, it definitely works with Apple Home – as long as you have one of their Zigbee 3.0 hubs.

The rear of the box is a little more technical, showing the sensor’s radar detection range, whilst the sides offer up features and specs;

Features

• Accurate presence detection
• Active spatial learning
• Hassle-free setup for all
• Versatile mounting options

Specs

• Model: PS-S03E
• Ports: USB-A
• Input power: 5V 1A
• Wireless protocol: Zigbee (3.0)
• Dimensions: 57 x 50 x 37mm
• Operating temperature: -10~40ºC | 14~104ºF
• Operating humidity: 0~95% RH, no condensation

Inside the box you get the FP1E of course, a metal plate with two holes for fixing it to a wall using screws, a matching double sided adhesive patch, and the manual in multiple languages. Both the metal mounting plate and the base of the FP1E’s stand are magnetic, so once you’ve mounted the plate the FP1E will cling to it very well. If you’ve ever used the G2H or G2H Pro, you’ll be able to attest to the magnet’s strength at holding fast. THere’s no power brick, as you may have come to expect these days.

The FP1E uses the now tried and tested stand you find in products going way back to the days when early Xiaomi cameras came out – you know, the ones that were released years before Wyze used the same camera design and repackaged it…

This stand is still in use with the Aqara camera Hub G2H Pro, and the cameras that preceded it – the G2, and the G2H – so it’s clearly a good design, and offers versatility for the placement of the FP1E at many different angles. Along with the option to angle it in the vertical plane, it can also be rotated, making it really exceptionally handy. The underside has a simple but easy to press reset button.

Unlike its big brother, the FP2, the power cable is fixed to the device, and as such can’t be replaced for another cable. The cable it comes with is probably more than long enough for most use cases, coming in at a bit under 2 metres.

If you’re an owner of the FP1 (I have three here myself), then you’ll immediately know the design has not changed at all with the introduction of the FP1E. It differs from the FP2 visually, but also in terms of functionally too though, which I’ll get to shortly. It has improvements over the original FP1 too, although perhaps less perceptible.

IN AQARA HOME

Compared to both the FP1 and the FP2, the FP1E is a lot more streamlined, both in terms of the options within the app, and in terms of functionality. Whilst the FP2 offered an array of functionality, including creating a detailed map of your room or living area, along with icons for furniture etc, the FP1E has none of that, and in some ways is better for it. Also unlike the FP2, which offered up to 30 separate zones – all exposed to Apple Home, I might add – the FP1E simply covers one area, which can be adjusted.

The main page for the device is quite simple, with three main accessible options shown. The first of these is a log of presence and absence events. It’s very simply laid out, and as such is easy to understand. The Detection radius setting is really simple to use, and a lot more intuitive than was offered by the FP1, which had a screen that represented your room/area, like the FP2. However, the UI for the FP1 was really difficult to get a grasp on, as through trial and error you had to work out the edges of its detection range. This for me involved standing in four corners of the living room, to check whether I was within range or out of range of the sensor, then adjust the map boundaries accordingly. It was pretty tedious, if I’m honest.

The FP1E does away with that, and just has  slider that represents the complete detection range, from zero to six metres. When you’re in the sensor’s range, a little icon would appear above the slider to show where you are in relation to the sensor, and therefore allow you to adjust the sensors detection range. This means if you wanted it to only detect presence within two metres of the sensor, even if the room was  four metres deep, then this allows for that. Of course, it’s not as detailed as the FP2 with its 30 zones, but for some people and some use cases, this simple setup is exactly what’s needed, and no more.

For the last few weeks, I’ve been testing it in a few locations, but primarily in the bathroom. The reason for testing it here is that the bathroom offers the perfect circumstances for testing how well it adheres to the limits set for its detection range. when going from the living room to the other bedrooms, we would pass by the open sliding door of this bathroom, and so for a standard motion sensor, there’s going to be the strong chance that it would pick up motion even when you’re not actually in the bathroom, merely passing by.

Not so with the FP1E! Before anything else, you should set the device up, then clear the area of any type of moving object, be that a person, a pet or a fan. Then with the help of AI, the FP1E will build up an image of the area in question as a starting point. It only take around 20 seconds to do this. after that’s done, you can go into the Detection Range Settings page, and set up the limits for the sensor.

As you can see from the last two screenshots above, I’ve set it so that anything outside of the bathroom is set so that it won’t trigger anything based on presence, even though it clearly can detect when I’m outside of the range I set it at. This has worked incredibly well, and I can stand right outside the door to the bathroom without triggering the automation I set up for it, which incidentally turns on the Aqara wall switch controlling the bathroom lights.

IN APPLE HOME

There’s not much to report on with the Apple Home side of things, so in essence, if you’re going to use the FP1E in Apple Home automations, it’ll act like any motion or presence sensor to trigger other devices, depending on the detection of presence or absence. It’ll still abide by the detection limits you set in the Aqara app, however.

One thing the FP1E lacks versus the FP1 is that the latter does offer both presence and motion detection. Motion detection is almost on a par with a standard Zigbee motion sensor in terms of speed, which is quicker than a presence sensor for initial motion detection. You can see the two separate sensors listed here in the Eve app, with the FP1E only showing presence as an option. The FP1E doesn’t have such an option, however, whilst presence detection still isn’t as fast to react compared to a PIR sensor, it’s a massive improvement over the speed of presence detection with the original FP1. In most cases I may end up using a standard PIR sensor in combination with the FP1E, unless response time isn’t a top priority.

Ultimately, the options in Aqara Home are superior, as long as the automation is working with other Aqara devices of course. There are options for presence and absence, but also ‘presence for’, ‘Absence for’, ‘Moving’, ‘Still’, ‘Moving for’, and ‘Still for’. Additionally, you can even trigger a couple of options with the FP1E, which you don’t normally see. So, you can, for example, use an Aqara smart button to trigger the FP1E to relearn its Spatial Learning, thereby resetting the absence status, or you can even restart the device. That’s impressive.

THE FP1E IN USE

As previously mentioned, I have three FP1s, two of which are in use. Both are used in small spaces, like our en-suite bathroom (not the one used in the tests), and our entrance area. I never reviewed the FP1 for two reasons; I found the device hard to set up to my liking, and found it inaccurate some of the time, especially for larger areas. I also didn’t review it because it was only available in China, and didn’t want overseas readers buying one off the back of my review, despite it being a largely negative review if I’d written it. With the FP1E, things have changed considerably, and I’m glad that Aqara saw fit to release this internationally, as it does the job well. Yes, it’s not as comprehensive as the FP2, but for use in a bathroom or kitchen, where you may not require the zones feature offered by the FP2, this does a great job. It’s way more easy to set up than either the FP2 or the FP1, and on that basis it works as well as I could have hoped for. I’m also glad they stuck with Zigbee for this device as opposed to WiFi as is found in the FP2, or Matter over Thread for some of the company’s newer devices. Not that I don’t like Matter or Thread, but I know where I stand with Zigbee, and it rarely lets me down, which is of paramount importance to me, and I should imagine to other users too.

If I were to find any negatives, it would be the fact the power cable is permanently fixed into the sensor, but I guess Aqara decided to stick with the design they already had in the FP1 and just upgrade the internals, which definitely seems to be the case in my experience. Other than that, its highly recommended.

The post Aqara Presence Sensor FP1E (review) appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

PACKAGING | CONTENTS

The FP2 has launched with a new packaging design and colour scheme, with the sensor pictured on the front. This is also where the ‘Works with Apple Home’ badge is placed, but the FP2 does also work with Amazon, Google, and IFTTT. No word on SmartThings at present, although once the FP2 gets an alleged update for Matter, it should work with SmartThings hubs capable of being Matter controllers, like the SmartThings Station.

One side lays out the feature set of the FP2; multi-person detection, Built-in light sensor, fall detection, zone positioning, interference compensation, and local automations.

The other side of the box is largely just legal text, but you’ll also notice a Bluetooth logo. I suspect that a Bluetooth chip has been put in place for future Matter support, as Matter (and Thread) devices usually utilise Bluetooth for initial setup (commissioning).

I’ll quickly run through the features mentioned on the box;

• Multi-Person Tracking: The FP2 is designed to be able to detect and track up to five people simultaneously, although it’s also stated that three people is the optimum number for smooth operation. Unlike the FP1, which was only able to track one ‘signal’ the FP2 can individually track people as they move around inside the detection area. More on why that’s useful in a bit.
• Built-in Light Sensor: Light sensors are already found in most of Aqara’s motion sensors, but this is the first sensor with an included light sensor (that isn’t already a light sensor) that’s exposed to HomeKit. Like multi-person detection, the light sensor can be used in a multitude of ways, that involve detection in a specific zone, but only trigger an automation if the light levels are above a certain number, for example.
• Fall Detection: this speaks for itself, and could be of use for monitoring the elderly or infirm without having to watch them on a smart camera, for example. It should be noted that this feature only really works if the FP2 is ceiling mounted. This option actually limits the range of detection, and you lose the ability to use zones and track multiple people, so it’s really a case of which feature is most important to you.
• Zone Positioning: The Aqara app breaks the FP2’s detection range into a grid of 320 separate squares. You can select and group these squares to create zones. These zones can in turn be used to trigger automations. Each zone is also exposed to HomeKit as a separate presence sensor.
• Interference Compensation: This feature allows you to designate certain areas of the detection range as ‘interference sources’, so if you have a standing fan in one part of the room, that when active, triggers the FP2, you can create one of these interference zones where the fan is, so the FP2 can ignore it.
• Local Automations: On this last point, I have to mention that in my tests, automations involving the FP2 and some devices in the Aqara app are cloud-based, not local, although after bringing this up with Aqara, they assured me this was a bug they’re working on fixing, so it could already be a non-issue by the time you read this. Automations in the Home app/HomeKit are local anyway of course.

Aside from the FP2, you get two circular magnetic plates and corresponding double-sided stickers, a single screw and rawl plug for more long-term mounting, a 2-metre long USB-A to USB-C cable, and a manual in a whopping fourteen different languages.

The FP2 is a circular, puck-shaped sensor with a cutout at the top that’s home to a large status LED, which I understand also houses the ambient light sensor, at least it appears that way in the manual. The base is magnetic, and is smaller in diameter than the main section out of necessity, as the USB cable that powers it needs to pass in between regardless of whether the stand – which is part of the base – is extended or not.

Although the stand looks similar to the ones you might have seen on the Aqara G2, G2H, and G2H Pro, as well as the FP1, this stand is slightly different as it doesn’t allow the main body of the FP2 to rotate. The base is home to the HomeKit QR code, so it can be added directly to HomeKit, although you really are better off adding it via the Aqara app, so you can add it to HomeKit, and then bind it to the Aqara app and server in one pass. Even though it can be added just to HomeKit, you’re not going to get much use from it without the Aqara app, as most of the features already mentioned need to be set up in Aqara Home.

FP2 IN THE AQARA APP

As already stated, the Aqara app is pretty essential, at least for initial setup, so starting with the FP2 there, I’ve set up two tiles – one for the FP2 showing its status, with a separate tile for the light sensor, showing the current Lux value. Tapping on the FP2 tile opens up the main UI for the sensor;

• At the top is a floor plan broken down into a grid of 16 x 20 tiles. In my case, you can see I’ve already set up my detection area, with furniture icons, zones, doors/exits etc. along with the edge of the detection range, as defined by the user (that’ll be me then…).
• Below there are half-width buttons labelled ‘Installation Mode’ and ‘Zone Management’, and two full-width buttons, one for detection status, and the other for illuminance, or brightness levels as reported by the light sensor.

As you can see from the last two screenshots, one shows absence, whilst the other shows presence, with a small icon on the floor plan to indicate a person.

The Installation Mode button will simply show you the current type of installation option you selected when originally setting it up, along with what you can expect in terms of coverage. As previously mentioned, you can have this positioned so it’s facing forward, either stuck to a wall or on a shelf, or ceiling mounted. You could also have it placed in a corner, although that would essentially just be a variation of the wall-mounted option. That said, having it in a corner does mean that any blind spots caught behind the 120º detection area won’t matter, as they’ll be just walls (assuming the corners of your room are at 90º to each other).

The presence/absence status button opens up a log of detection periods covering a day or a week, along with any potential offline times. Similarly, the Illuminance button shows a log of ambient light readings in Lux, covering days, weeks, months, and years.

Tapping on Zone Management is where it starts to get fun, although it’s really important to set up the ‘edge’ of the detection zone, or you may well have an issue later on with detection and more. The ‘edge’ tells the sensor to ignore any presence beyond its boundary. This could be useful for areas that you don’t want detected, but can still pick up presence, like through a ground floor window, for example, as the FP2 can detect presence through things like glass. With the edges set up, you can proceed.

Here you can adjust various aspects of the floor plan, so with the Template icon on the bottom, Aqara give you preset layouts that you can use as starting points, complete with icons for the relevant furniture (beds, desks, stoves, sofas etc). the Sticker icon allows you to add up to 20 graphics to your floor plan, including the aforementioned items in addition to plants, TVs, lamps, toilets, and even doors etc. I feel there could have been a few more icons, but these probably cover the basics.

When it comes to creating zones, these are managed by selecting the relevant squares on the grid, and choosing a colour so you can differentiate between zones. You can attach an attribute to the zones – Detection Zone, Interference Source, Exits and Entrances, and Edge, as previously mentioned.

Interference source is useful if you have a standing fan, or anything that might fool the sensor into thinking there’s presence when there isn’t. Simply create the zone and assign it as an interference source so it can be disregarded.

Exits and Entrances are also useful, as these help the sensor realise why a person being detected/tracked might suddenly disappear, which should help the FP2’s algorithm.

The Types option gives you the option to assign preset descriptions to zones already created, although you can name them yourself. As you can see in my example, I’ve kept things uncluttered by using simple two-letter codes (KT = kitchen, LR = living room, etc).

If the fact that the FP2 can track your location within the detection range, whilst also allowing you to create individual zones (for the purposes of advanced automations) wasn’t enough, each zone can be set to one of three levels of monitoring sensitivity – High, Medium, Low. Amazing really.

Going back briefly to ‘stickers’, and in the example above, you can see I’ve added a sofa. When you add a sticker, you have four options – you can rotate the position of the graphic, which allows it to turn at 45º with each tap. You can also increase or decrease the size of the graphic with the plus and minus buttons. Finally, if the graphic is no longer needed, you can tap the trash can to delete it.

When you’ve got your room set up to your liking, you can save it for later recall, if for any reason you either messed up somehow or inadvertently delete it. You can also take a photo of the sensor’s location for future reference.

If you’ve used any Aqara products before, you’ll be familiar with the structure of devices in the app, and so in ‘More Settings’ you get access to pretty much all the options you’ll need for the FP2. You can turn off the LED light between hours set by yourself, which would be useful in a bedroom at night. There are options for overall sensitivity and fall detection monitoring.

The working mode can be changed here, with zone detection being the recommended default. You can also set the FP2 to detect direction, which is something the FP1 was also capable of. There’s also a ‘Reset Absence State’ button, which can be used if for some reason the sensor is detecting presence when there is none, which in my case has been rare, although less rare for some it seems. When it comes to the zones and what you’ve named them, there’s an option to have the names synced between Aqara Home and HomeKit, with options to sync in either direction.

AUTOMATION OPTIONS IN AQARA HOME

One thing I’ve always liked about the Aqara app is the expansive amount of choices offered, and given what you can achieve with the FP2, you may well be overwhelmed by the choices combined with zones and the sensor. So not only do you have options for basics like Presence and Absence detection, as well as zone-based detection, but even more specific things like Enter, Leave, Someone is Approaching, Someone is Going Away, Someone Falls Down, as well as options involving the light sensor. On top of that, when it comes to zone detection, you can get granular by selecting specific zones for your automation.

Within these specific zone automations, you then get the granular options found in the previous menu. It’s quite mind-boggling what you can do, although you do need to bear in mind this is all for the benefit of other devices in the Aqara app – which are only going to be Aqara devices in the main, so you can forget about using these with non-Aqara devices outside of this ecosystem.

When it comes to the options for detecting ‘presence (or absence) for some time’, you can set the amount for that ‘time’, with the ability to go as low as one second, or as high as just under four hours (3h 59m 59s).

All of these options are available as triggers in an Aqara automation (the IF section), but you also get one option to use the FP2 in the ‘THEN’ section. In this case, you can choose to have the FP2’s absence status to be reset. There can’t be too many reasons why this would be necessary, but I guess if you’re leaving home, and for some reason, there’s an errant presence detected that you know is wrong, you could just have it reset when you turn off some lights or lock a door on your way to work perhaps.

THE FP2 IN APPLE HOME/HOMEKIT

As you might expect, when it comes to HomeKit, automation options are a lot more stripped back. That doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with the FP2, as each zone created with the FP2 in the Aqara app is exposed to HomeKit as a separate presence sensor. So you don’t have to scroll back through this article, I’ll tell you I created a total of nine zones;

• Living room (LR and LR2)
• Kitchen (KT)
• Dining Area (DA)
• Corridor (CF)
• Entrance
• Prayer Area (PA)
• Windows (W)
• Sofa

Each of those, as you can see, is showing up as sensors in the Home app. You’ll also notice that I’ve got additional sensors listed on this screen. Abode OS is simply an Abode motion sensor, but for some reason, it’s exposed as an occupancy sensor. I also have the FP1 listed (FP1 L). Additionally, the FP2 shows up as a separate sensor, that I assume covers the whole area, not just zones.

You can also see that the light sensor shows up in HomeKit, with the Lux readings listed in the details section.

The light sensor can be used in automations, with options for when the Lux readings rise above or drop below specific levels. These levels are fixed in the Home app, but I’m not sure having them to be so specific is necessary. When it comes to the presence sensors, you simply get the same kind of options as you would with a motion sensor – detects or stops detecting occupancy.

Even though the options for HomeKit-only automations are more limited, you can still make use of the option to ‘convert to Shortcut’ within the Home app, which does give you a lot more choices.

THE FP2 IN USE

When I first started to use the FP2, like many other people it took a while to get it how I wanted it, with a lot of moving around so as to make sure everything on the floor plan matched real life. What was told to me before I even set it up was how important it is to get the edges set up. Without doing this, you can leave yourself wide open to all sorts of false detections, ghosts occupancy events and more. That’s not to say the FP2 has been perfect even with this, and there have been occasions where the sensor – or rather the app, it seems – gets stuck, only to catch up with all motion events, and display ‘figures’ on the floor plan darting at high speed from one end of the room to the other. Using the ‘Reset Absence State’ button may not seem ideal, but it would seem that over time, the algorithm learns from this, and begins to report less and less false information. This is something I feel has happened in my case, and as a result, things have improved to the point where I largely don’t have any issues with the FP2. It would seem a recent app update has made things a lot more reliable.

One issue I’ve seen reported by some users was the initial setup not going well, with some people simply not being able to add the device to either HomeKit or Aqara. It’s hard to know what might have gone wrong in most cases, as there are so many variables at play, not least among them human error. I, fortunately, had no issues with this. I do have another one to set up though, so maybe it’ll be my turn to suffer, but I tend to have relatively few issues with this kind of thing for whatever reason.

I think the one thing that could be a possible bone of contention is the price, but of course, any company is free to set the price they see fit, and we as consumers are not obliged to buy them if we don’t like the price, so I can’t really see an argument in this instance. Before anyone says “Well, you got yours free!” I’d like to remind you that a “free” product comes with a lot of testing, video editing, and writing, so I’m not sure it could truly be considered free – all that aside, I still paid for my Chinese model with my own money. There are other options for occupancy sensors, like the FP1, or the LifeSmart Presence sensor (video HERE, review HERE), although both of these options require a hub, as they utilise Zigbee.

All in all, this sensor fixes a few issues that simply aren’t as easily achievable with standard PIR sensors, and the fact that you can split this into up to 30 zones, thereby giving you the equivalent number of presence sensors in HomeKit, really shows you that you’re getting a lot for your money.

I’m not so sure it would be of much use in a small bathroom, for example, and I’d probably recommend the FP1 for simpler tasks, but for large rooms, especially open-plan areas like the one we have here, it’s a bit of a godsend.

The post Aqara Presence Sensor FP2 (review) appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

PACKAGE/CONTENTS

Having received the package – which also included the company’s HomeKit compatible Zigbee hub we’ll see later – it did come across that this product is/was originally intended for installers only, as it’s not retail packaging as such. No matter, but also of interest is that despite LifeSmart selling this only in China at present, the specs are also listed in English on the side of the box which gives rise to the hope that this will start to filter to Western outlets at some point;

• Model: MIR-HE200
• Size: $80 × 47mm (ceiling cutting size $65mm)
• Operating voltage: AC100-240V
• Wireless protocol: ZigBee 3.0
• Detection type: Millimetre-wave doppler radar
• Operating temperature: -10~55°C
• Operating humidity: 5~95%
• Mounting type: Ceiling recessed

As you can already gather from the specs above, this is a Zigbee 3.0 device, which is why I was also sent the LifeSmart Smart Station, and whilst it uses Zigbee for communication, the method used for detection is something called mmWave (Millimetre Wave) technology, which is a form of radar I’m told, the source technology of which is actually a lot older than you might realise (EHF – Wikipedia). As it can use 100~240V AC, it’s also suitable for anywhere where there’s electricity!

CONTENTS

There are only two things in the box; the Human Presence Sensor itself (referred to forthwith as the HPS), and the manual, in English and Simplified Chinese.

The manual, although small (with correspondingly tiny print…) goes into great detail on the product and what it’s capable of, which is somewhat of a rarity I’ve found.

THE PRESENCE SENSOR

The HPS takes on a similar form to a downlight in that the body fits through a hole in a ceiling, with only the front-facing portion being visible, and almost flush with the ceiling. This is going to be an issue with some users of course, but if you do have recessed lighting of similar dimensions, and can afford to remove one of them in place of the HPS, you should be ok, especially given that the wires can just be hooked up to existing ones with very minor adjustments.

Whilst the FPS has two wires for permanent power (no batteries), there is a small compartment secured by one screw that contains receptacles labelled A and B, I assume, for two wires. There’s no mention of this part in the manual, but I’ve seen something similar with an Aqara Gas Leak Sensor. If anyone has an idea what these are for, let me know in the comments!

Other than the two spring-loaded handles, there’s only the front-facing portion that has anything of note; for the most part, the sensor is quite minimalist looking, with a flat face punctuated only by a couple of circular devices – a pairing/reset button, and an ambient light sensor. Yes, the HPS also includes a light sensor, and better still, it’s also exposed to HomeKit. Just below the pairing button, there’s a hidden red LED that you’ll see when pairing, and when the device is set up and detections motion.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE ZIGBEE GATEWAY

The LifeSmart Smart Station comes in more standard retail packaging (I forgot to photograph it…) and contains almost everything you’ll need to get set up.

The gateway itself is a fairly plain box with just the LifeSmart logo on the top, a small reset button on the back that accompanies an RJ45 port, and a coaxial port for power.

To power the gateway, there’s a USB-A to coaxial power cable, although they don’t provide a USB plug, which has become ‘de rigueur’ across the tech industry. You do get an ethernet cable, however, as the gateway can only connect to your network via a modem, router or internet switch, as there’s no WiFi capability. Finally a manual in English is provided.

As with practically all hub-based setups for HomeKit, you add the gateway to the LifeSmart app, which also includes scanning the HomeKit QR code (found on the inside lid of the box and the base of the gateway) to get it exposed to HomeKit. Once that’s in the bag, any compatible devices added to the gateway are then exposed to HomeKit. This is exactly the case with the HPS.

THE HPS IN HOMEKIT

As the HPS is ‘all sensor’, In HomeKit/The Home app you’re no going to get a tile to represent it, so it’ll appear at the top along with other sensors. As it also has an ambient light sensor, this also means these two sensors are located in different places. The light sensor appears in the bathroom alongside the light sensor within the Hue Motion Sensor. Just a side note: the reason for the different readings is that the Hue Motion sensor is pointed more towards a window, whereas the LifeSmart one is pointed towards the ground.

You may also notice that whilst HomeKit has separate categories for motion and presence/occupancy, for whatever reason, the LifrSmart offering has been assigned to the standard motion category. This could be an error on the company’s part, although as the device is able to detect motion as well as presence, it sort of makes sense to include it. It doesn’t affect the usefulness or functionality of the device at all, as automation options for occupancy/presence and motion appear to be the same in HomeKit.

THE HPS IN THE LIFESMART APP

I actually started using LifeSmart products back in 2017, as was a contributor to this site – Kevin Patenaude. In that time, I’ve seen the LifeSmart app change quite a few times, and I’ll be honest and say that whilst the UI has improved, when it comes to automations, it’s far too complicated. That said, as I’ve only currently got a set of LifeSmart ColoLight Plus tiles running in HomeKit, there’s not a lot of need for automations in the LifeSmart app. The HPS has its own tile, and once pressed, reveals a small section with tabs for Motion and Luminance. These take you to the relevant sections that record data for each sensor. Pressing the three dots in the corner takes you to the Setting page.

As mentioned, the separate tabs take you to the relevant pages that reveal data for both motion/presence and luminance. For both of these there’s a wealth of information available, with the overall layout of them appealingly designed (in my opinion). Whether this kind of data is of importance to you is another thing, but it’s good to have it if needed.

If you click on the ‘Settings’ option within the ‘Settings’ page (…!) you get access to two further options – Sensitivity, and Scene Pattern. The former is fairly straightforward and allows the sensitivity of the ‘motion detection’ functionality of the HPS to be adjusted. The Scene Pattern option is where things get a bit more interesting, as it allows the presence sensor to be adjusted for various preset types of scenarios;

• Default
• Area detect
• Toilet
• Bedroom
• Living Room
• Office
• Hotel

If you look at the third screenshot above, after each preset there are three variables – W, N, and O – each followed by a number that differs depending on the preset. According to the manual, the HPS has three detection angles, a Wide angle (W), a Narrow angle (N), and an Oblique angle (O). The numbers themselves refer to the diameter of the detection range.

If you imagine the detection area of the HPS to be an oval, the Wide and Narrow Angles refer to the widest and narrowest areas of detection. In the image above, the arrows refer to these detection angles, so the placement of the sensor is actually just as important as the location. What purpose do these detection angles serve, you may wonder. Well, as far I’ve been able to make out from the manual, different areas might have specific requirements as to how far the sensor can detect. For example, the bathroom I’ve got it temporarily set up in, it’s quite small, but the bathroom itself has a sliding door that’s usually open. This means that it’s possible for the HPS sensor to detect initial motion beyond the confines of the bathroom. However, by placing the HPS so that the ‘Narrow’ detection angle is positioned so that it’s aimed toward the bathroom doorway, I can eliminate this problem. So going back to the presets and the numbers that follow them, you can see the different presets offer different detection ranges, depending on your needs. It would seem that these detection ranges cover the motion detection range only, with the presence (or Static Detection Range, as it’s called in the manual) being the same for all presets, which is W 4m | N 3m | O 3m. The manual also states that there’s a distance tolerance of ±0.5m.

So, it would seem that for the best results, generally speaking, you would need to place the sensor according to the relevant dimensions of the room it’s placed in, with the Narrow angle covering the narrowest part of the room – unless it’s perfectly square of course! One other use case for these different detection angles is that due to the nature of how mmWave works, it’s entirely possible that the HPS can detect presence through low density materials. If for example you have this set up in a small room that has been annexed from another room with plasterboard, it may well detect presence on the other side of that wall. It just depends on the wall’s materials. If it were a brick wall, it wouldn’t be able to penetrate past the bricks. the HPS can also detect presence through glass, so unlike a motion sensor that might not detect motion through the glass partition of a shower, the HPS is more than capable.

WHY A ‘HUMAN’ PRESENCE SENSOR?

According to the manual, the detection algorithm detects presence and determine whether that object is a human or not. This may be based on the shape, size and height of the object, as adult humans generally don’t walk on ‘all fours’ like a dog or cat would. As an example, a dog would create a different detection shape and area, along with its height compared to a human in most cases. In my tests, which you can see in the video, when my dog walked into the bathroom, the Hue motion sensor was triggered, but not the HPS. As soon as I walked in, the HPS was triggered.

Assuming this works well and is accurate for most of the time, this could really make the difference when detecting between an intruder and a pet, if you’re away from home. That said, some non-human devices like standing fans or otherwise moving objects like AC units can create false triggers, so once again, placement is really important.

HOW DOES IT COMPARE TO THE AQARA FP1

This is in some ways a bit tricky to answer. As presence sensors, they both work really well, and will know whether you’re really in a room or not, even if you fall asleep. They both have different plus points however; For example, the FP1 has an option to map out the room it’s monitoring, with the ability to create sections that it can ignore for the purposes of detection. So if you have a fan that’s on for most of the time, sat in one corner, you can select the region of the room layout in the Aqara app and set it as a non-detection area. This is quite handy, although actually mapping out your room is a bit of a thankless task, when you try to work out the edges of the detection range. The FP1 also has other functions that are supposed to detect the direction in which an object is moving. Unfortunately, in practice this simply doesn’t work most of the time, at least in my experience. It does have to be permanently powered, but as it comes with a USB-A plug on the end of a fixed cord, it’s probably more convenient to place this than the HPS.

The HPS has the presets, which seem to work well, but what really pushes it forward compared to the FP1 is that it is consistently able to detect motion as fast as a standard Zigbee PIR motion sensor (fast!). The FP1 generally takes around 5-6 seconds to detect motion, although to be fair, you can set motion detect to be much faster, depending on the type of detection option you select in an automation. This is only an option in the Aqara app, and therefore can only be used to trigger other Aqara devices, so in HomeKit, motion detection is stuck at 5-6 seconds, which is far too slow, so you’d have to use the FP1 in conjunction with an Aqara motion sensor perhaps if you want to trigger other non-Aqara HomeKit devices in a HomeKit automation. Not so with the HPS.

The downside to the HPS when compared to the FP1 is that the time the HPS takes before it resets to ‘no presence detected’ is anything between 75-100 seconds. The FP1 on the other hand, can detect the lack of presence within a few seconds.

WRAPPING UP

As previously stated, I began using LifeSmart products back in 2017. At that time the original LifeSmart Smart station wasn’t officially compatible with HomeKit, but the app had this sneaky little ‘beta’ feature that allowed the app to generate a HomeKit code, which would then allow the gateway to be added to HomeKit (non-certified of course). This allowed a lot of its other child devices to also be exposed to HomeKit, which back in 2017 was great, as there wasn’t the abundance of devices for HomeKit like there is today. As the amount of compatible devices grew, and once Aqara came on the scene, my LifeSmart devices got less and less use, so it’s a bit strange to be revisiting the company again. What’s great is that in doing so with something fairly unique right now, and something that does what it needs to without any problems to date.

All in all, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how well it works, especially since the FP1 failed on many of the extras it offers, so it’s hard to fault it. As previously stated, the fact that it’s ultimately better to have this ceiling mounted (you can work around it, but it looks odd) is going to put some people off, and as it can’t just be magnetically mounted anywhere like the FP1 can, does present a challenge. That said, if you are ceiling mounting this, you’re unlikely to be moving it around, so mobility isn’t such an issue.

With the addition of the light sensor being exposed to HomeKit to make even better and more intricate motion/presence based automations, it’s actually a really decent device to have. LifeSmart aren’t as easy to find in the West, as say Aqara, but the company are working on that, and if their Cololight Strip and tiles are anything to go by, they’ll achieve this without many issues. Recommended.

Full disclosure: LifeSmart provided HomeKit News with LifeSmart Human Presence Sensor for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was made, requested or has not in any way influenced our opinion of this product.

The post LifeSmart mmWave Human Presence Sensor (review) appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

Using abode’s customizable notifications, you can set alerts to notify you when a room gets above or below certain temperatures to keep it at an optimal level. If you have a connected thermostat, you can set an automation for the A/C to turn on when the temperature rises above a certain point or the heat to turn on if it gets too cold.

Never walk into a dark room again. Set an automation for your connected lights to turn on when the light in a room dips below a certain level of lumens. Great for keeping your home well-lit at night or while you aren’t home to give the illusion that someone is home.

Sensors:

• temperature
• humidity *
• light
• motion/occupancy

* Humidity sensor not exposed to HomeKit at present.

The post Abode Multi Sensor appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

• The new keypad is full of features designed to make it the ideal tool for easily arming and disarming your system.
• Set up to 40 unique PIN codes
• Backlit buttons allow for easy arming & disarming in low-light
• Built-in motion detection displays your system status every time you walk by
• Rechargeable battery lasts up to 6 months (charging cable included)
• Magnetic wall mount allows for easy, versatile placement
• Customizable: turn off sounds & motion detection

The post Abode Alarm Keypad 2 appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

Motion Detection
This sensor can pick up on motion just as effectively as our motion sensor and with a much smaller profile. You can use this motion detection to trigger your alarm or for smart home purposes like turning on lights when you enter a room and off when you leave it.

Temperature & Humidity Reading
Using abode’s customizable notifications, you can set alerts to notify you when a room gets above or below certain temperatures to keep it at an optimal level. If you have a connected thermostat, you can set an automation for the A/C to turn on when the temperature rises above a certain point or the heat to turn on if it gets too cold.

Light Detection
Never walk into a dark room again. Set an automation for your connected lights to turn on when the light in a room dips below a certain level of lumens. Great for keeping your home well-lit at night or while you aren’t home to give the illusion that someone is home.

• • Operating Temp: 14°F to 113°F
  • Protocol: abodeRF/433Mhz
  • Battery Life: 4 Years
  • Sensitivity: 5 Adjustable Levels

The post Abode Occupancy Sensor appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

Measure temperature beyond the hallway
Works with all residential ecobee smart thermostats to sense temperature throughout your home.

Prioritizes comfort in the rooms that matter
Place SmartSensor in the rooms that matter most, like your bedroom, nursery, or living room, for targeted comfort where it counts.

Intuitive features for enhanced savings
When you’re not home, SmartSensor signals your ecobee smart thermostat to automatically adjust the temperature for better energy savings.

• WHOLE HOME COMFORT: Works with all bee smart thermostats to sense temperature beyond the hallway, ensuring better comfort in the rooms that matter most.
• TARGETTED COMFORT: With built-in occupancy sensors, you can trust Smart Sensor to keep you comfortable wherever you are and in the rooms you actually use.
• ENERGY SAVINGS: When Smart Sensor detects that you’re not home, it signals your bee smart thermostat to automatically adjust the temperature for better energy savings.
• INSTALLATION: Works with all bee residential smart thermostats. Activation takes seconds.
• REDESIGNED: An enhanced look for enhanced performance, detecting occupancy and temperature faster and from further away.

The post Ecobee SmartSensor appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.