(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.

Additionally, the hub can act as a Thread Border Router for the company’s Thread devices, which will also be exposed to all of the aforementioned platforms, which includes their recently released Matter over Thread curtain motor system, and the roller shade motor that uses Matter over WiFi.

The hub itself is powered via a USB-C port and connects to your home network using an RJ45/Ethernet port, as is the case with the company’s first HomeKit-compatible hub.

According to ZemiSmart, although the hub itself is Matter compatible, it cannot act as a Matter controller, so you would still need a Matter Controller for your platform of choice (HomePod/Mini, Apple TV, etc).

Although it will work with any Thread-enabled device, the Zigbee hub portion will only work with ZemiSmart and Tuya Zigbee child devices.

You can order the new hub from Amazon.com or ZemiSmart’s own website today, for US$49.90.

The post ZemiSmart Release First Matter-Enabled Hub With Thread Border Router Functionality appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

During the presentation, the company revealed plans for upgrades to some products to enable them to work with Matter and also Apple HomeKit, as well as their own EZVIZ Connect platform.

This included their A3 Hub, which uses Zigbee 3.0. The plan for the hub itself is to make it Matter-compliant, so that the company’s own Zigbee child devices will then be exposed to Matter, in much the same way that both Philips Hue and Aqara have done. This does not make the A3 Hub a Matter controller, however, so you can only add the company’s own Zigbee devices to it, which cover the usual areas like sensors, buttons, etc.

Much like the Aqara M2, the A3 can be wired to your network via an ethernet port on the device itself, and as it has a built-in speaker, it can also act as an alarm when triggered by connected devices.

As the hub will be Matter compatible, this means it can be added to Apple Home too, exposing the devices to HomeKit as standard, as long as the devices belong to a supported category. Speaking of HomeKit, the company also announced that their E6 cam will also work with HomeKit.

Currently, only the C6 variant is available, but if the E6 is anything like the existing models, not only will it offer HomeKit compatibility, but it could offer a 4mp Sony Starlight lens or 4K recording (the C6 offers variants for both specs),  360º Pan & Tilt, and 8GB built-in storage for on-device recording, amongst other features.

Even though Ezviz sells products in international markets, it remains to be seen whether these new Matter & HomeKit devices will be sold beyond China, but it’s interesting to see Matter added to a Chinese hub, which we’ve yet to see happen with Aqara’s Chinese model M2 hubs.

Thanks to Eric at Wavetech for the tipoff

The post Ezviz Move Towards Matter and HomeKit Integration appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

Built upon the Zigbee 3.0 protocol, the Smart Pet Feeder C1 enables users to extend the connected home experiences to pet care. Scheduled feeding plans guarantee the timely dispensing of pet food, and alternatively, pet owners can feed their pets remotely via their mobile device when they’re out of town. Voice assistants including Alexa, Google and Siri can be used by creating a pet feeding scene in the Aqara Home, so users can ask their preferred voice assistant to feed the pet from any corner at home, which is particularly helpful for pet owners with limited mobility.

Thanks to the smart pet feeder’s ability to connect with other smart home devices, it allows users to integrate the pet feeder into home automations via Aqara Home or IFTTT. For example, the Pet Feeder can be connected to an Aqara indoor camera, and the camera will start recording when pet food is dispensed so that owners keep an eye on the pet food consumption even when they’re not home. It’s also possible to use a motion sensor to detect whether the pet has approached the feeder after the food is dispensed, if not the next scheduled feeding will be held and a push notification will be sent to the owner as a reminder.

The Pet Feeder C1 has a 4-litre food tank which incorporates around 1.7 kilograms (3.7 pounds) of typical (dry) pet food, which makes it ideal for cats and smaller dogs. For example, the tank can keep up to one month of pet food for a 4kg cat, and its food tank design allows the regular change of desiccant so that pet food stays dry and fresh.

Apart from being powered by a typical USB-A cable, the Pet Feeder supports the use of D-type (LR20) batteries as a power backup, so it can dispense pet food even if the electricity is cut off. Moreover, the feeding schedules are local, which means that preset schedules remain functional regardless of whether the Internet connection or the smart home hub goes down.

You can check out our video for the Aqara Pet Feeder C1 below;

Moreover, the pet feeder allows users to track food consumption statistics and help create healthy feeding plans for their pets. Each kind of pet food is different, and users can weigh one portion of the particular pet food and input the value in grams in the Aqara Home app so that they can keep track of the weight of consumed pet food daily in the device log. Feeding plans can be created and adjusted quickly based on the recommended amount of food for your pet.

To celebrate the launch, Aqara is offering a 10% discount on the Pet Feeder C1 in its Amazon stores. North American customers can take advantage of the offer using the promo code NAFC1PET in the US and Canada. For European customers, they can use the promo code UKEUPFC1 in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. Both of these codes can be combined with any money-off coupon and will be valid through November 17, 2022.

Note:

• A Zigbee 3.0-based Aqara hub is required
• The actual weight varies depending on the particular type of pet food
• PetMD nutrition recommendation of 50g/1.8oz of food per day for a 4-kilogram cat
• The USB power adaptor is not included

The post Aqara Pet Feeder C1 Now Available Internationally appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

Homey is in many ways its own ecosystem, which allows devices from pretty much any manufacturer and platform to work together, although you can also integrate these devices into HomeKit via what the company refer to as ‘experiments’ as opposed to plugins. With Matter very much on the horizon, however, Homey has taken the plunge and gone all in on the smart home experience, with their new Homey Pro, with an impressive array of connectivity options;

• WiFi – 2.4/5.0GHz b/g/n/ac
• Bluetooth LE 5.0
• RF433MHz
• Z-Wave Plus (700 Series)
• Zigbee 3.0
• Infrared
• Matter (coming Q2 2023)
• Thread (coming Q3 2023)

As you can see, there are plenty of connection options, although Matter and Thread options are not coming until Q2 of 2023.

With all these connection options, you’d expect a wired connection, but with the size of the hub already quite small, the company have made do with an optional ethernet adaptor that would appear to also power the device via its USB-C port.

The company are, unsurprisingly, charging a relatively high price for the Homey Pro – US$399. For that, you’re reportedly getting the ability to connect to over 50K devices, including products compatible with Google, Amazon, HomeKit (via the Experiments plugin), and more, that use 433MHz or Z-Wave, as well as Thread enabled and Matter compliant products.

You can check out the new Homey Pro via the company’s website.

The post Homey Pro Unveiled With Matter, Thread and More… appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

Needless to say, it’s typically well priced, like most of ZemiSmart’s output, but is there anything wrong with it? Check the video to find out.

You can buy the ZemiSmart Ceiling light direct from ZemiSmart (affiliate link).

You can also purchase the ZemiSmart Zigbee hub that also exposes a lot of the company’s Zigbee devices to HomeKit (affiliate link);

The post ZemiSmart Smart Ceiling Light appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

PACKAGING

By now, Aqara has definitely created its own identity in terms of packaging, using Navy Blue and white as the featured colours. It’s hard to imagine how basic their packaging was back in 2017 when I picked up my first water leak sensor, so they’ve come a long way. The front of the box (for the International version at least) shows off the motor itself, along with the compatible ecosystems it can work with – Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, as well as others (IFTTT for example). The front also states in my case, that this is the ‘Rod Version’, as opposed to the ‘Rail Version’. As with nearly all Aqara products, this uses Zigbee (3.0) and as such requires a suitable hub. I found when installing this that only the M2 and M1S showed as suitable hubs, despite the G2H Pro also being present in my setup. The list of compatible hubs is sure to increase, however.

The side of the box gives you some basics, like up to 1-year battery life, a built-in illumination sensor (more on that later), and the maximum load (12kg or 26.5lb). The rear of the box has a scenario suggestion that includes a motion sensor and goes on to detail what types of curtains the Rod version is suitable for – curtains with grommets, or top rings in this case.

CONTENTS

In the box you’ll find the curtain driver, a rod hanger accessory (Rod Version only), a manual in English, Russian, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese, a USB-A to USB-C cable for recharging the internal battery, and a couple of items that I can only assume are to keep the curtains uniformly positioned – a set of eight curtain clips, and a rubber strip that connects to them. I say ‘assume’ as the manual doesn’t actually state their specific purpose. Needless to say, without any explanation, I didn’t bother with them, which seemed to make no difference at all to the functionality of the motor.

THE MOTOR

After getting my hands on the motor itself, I can confidently say that out of all the products Aqara makes, this is definitely one of the more sturdily built items. It helps that it has a fair bit of weight to it, but when it comes to the construction, it feels more akin to one of those portable phone chargers that feel like they’ve been permanently sealed shut! Nothing feels loose or has any ‘give’ that I’ve noticed, and so it really does put it up there with the likes of their door locks in terms of build quality, albeit with less going on.

The front of the motor has a tiny status LED, a button that can serve a few different functions (pairing, open/close etc), and an ambient light sensor. This sensor isn’t exposed to HomeKit, but in all honesty, it’s actually very basic; it’s not able to give you a reading of the amount of light (lux) it detects, and as such when it comes to including the sensor in automations (within the Aqara app only), it can only work off two distinct parameters – ‘weak ambient light’ or ‘Strong ambient light’. It worked well enough for this basic purpose though, so nothing to complain about, and if you really want to control the curtains with more accurate or specific light readings, you can use the Aqara light sensor, sold separately. The underside is solely home to a USB-C port, designed for recharging the internal 6,400mAh battery.

Here are some specs, should you be interested;

• Dimensions: 145.7 × 96 × 46mm / 5.74 × 3.78 × 1.81in
• Rated Current: 1.5 A
• Rated Torque: 0.2 N-m
• Wireless Protocol: Zigbee 3.0 IEEE 802.15.4
• Model: CM-M01
• Battery Type: Lithium battery (non-replaceable)
• Rated Voltage: 5 V
• Rated Power Input: 7.5 W
• Rated Rotor Speed:100 r/min
• Moving Speed: 12 cm/s
• Operating Humidity: 0~95% RH, no condensation

INSTALLATION

Note: If you’re already interested in this product, it’s worth first taking note of the requirements for the Rod Version to make sure this will work for you;

• First off, the curtain rod has to have a diameter of between 25~32mm/0.98~1.26in and cannot be a telescopic rod, where it’s thinner at one end than the other
• If your curtains come fitted with grommets (the rings are embedded into the curtains) there needs to be a 95mm/3.74in space between the outer edge of each grommet
• If you have ring top curtains (the rings are attached to the edge of the curtain), then the thickness of the rings should be greater than 4mm/0.16in

If your curtain rod and curtains fit the bill, you’re good to go.

Installation is quite straightforward, and the Aqara app (which I recommend you start with for the installation) takes you through every step;

• Select the E1 from the list of accessories
• Select your variant
• Select the hub it will bind to

• Place the Rod Hanger Accessory on top of the rod, and clips the arms in place
• Release the hooks on the motor to fully extend them by double-pressing the button on the motor
• Connect the hooks to the Rod Hanger arms, then retract the hooks by once again double-pressing the button on the motor
• Click ‘Done’

If you’ve ever installed a smart window covering before, you’ll know that you need to set the open and closed positions first. Without this, the motor doesn’t know what to do or when to stop. You then get two options as to how to set the motor up;

• Intelligent route setting or Custom travel setting – I chose the latter, as I had specific points I wanted the motor to open and close at
• Set the curtains to the fully open position using the controls on the screen, then click ‘Next step’
• Set the curtains to the fully closed position using the controls on the screen, then click ‘Next step’

You’re now set up and the E1 will also work in HomeKit.

Besides being able to open and close the curtains, you can create special scenes, labelled here as ‘scenarios’ whereby you can set the motor to open or close to a set position over a set amount of time. This option is also available with the Roller Shade Driver E1. If unlike me, you have two of these motors to control a pair of curtains, you can synchronise them via the ‘Create curtain controller set’ option. Finally, you can also set an icon which depicts either a pair of curtains or a single curtain opening from the left or the right.

IN HOME/HOMEKIT

In HomeKit, everything is a little more basic, with a single tile for the driver, a slider control to adjust the amount by which the curtain is open or closed, and a settings page that informs you of the battery level, whether the batteries are charging, and if there’s any obstruction to the drivers’ movement. Unlike some devices that have extra functions or features that only make themselves known in third-party HomeKit apps, the Curtain Driver E1 has nothing extra to share.

EXTRA FEATURES IN THE AQARA APP

Even though it’s nice to have everything – including automations – in HomeKit, there are occasions when it’s arguably better to create some of them in their respective apps and forget about them. This is usually the case when functions for a particular device just aren’t available in HomeKit, like the aforementioned light sensor automations as seen above. In fact, when it comes to some of them, they can be done without even setting up an automation as such, so the function works autonomously. The motor can be controlled physically too, which allows you to gently tug the curtain in an open or closed direction, with the motor detecting this and obliging by completing the procedure.

IN DAY-TO-DAY USE

Whilst my home has roller blinds, I’ve still been able to set up the E1 and put it to some use in a spare room, where privacy and letting a bit of light in are both as important. The room in question uses an Aqara roller shade motor T1C, but once closed, the room has no natural light. The natural light comes through this room’s window via further windows in the washroom, where our washing machines are. This means that if someone enters the washroom, they can see into the spare room. Closing the blinds fixes this, but there’s no natural light. Adding the Curtain Driver E1 fixes this, as whoever’s using this room can still have some privacy without sacrificing some natural light, by closing the curtain.

The question is of course, how does it perform? Surprisingly well. In all honesty, I had the feeling that this wouldn’t be much different to the ZemiSmart offering I reviewed not so long ago, but in actual fact, this is a lot faster, if a little noisier (around 35-37dB), and installation was way easier than with the ZemiSmart version, which wasn’t helped by very generic instructions.

Design-wise, the E1 is a lot bulkier, but then as it’s hidden behind the curtain, it really doesn’t matter, and even if it were visible, I do prefer the design of the E1 anyway. Due to the small extras you get within the Aqara app, this takes it even further ahead than the ZemiSmart offering, and so I’d have to conclude that the Aqara E1 is a better bet all round. That’s not to say the ZemiSmart one isn’t good, it’s just that the E1 is a lot more polished in design, ease of installation, and general use.

Of course, just as with the ZemiSmart offering, if you have a pair of curtains (you almost certainly would) then you need to double the price to accommodate buying two motors, which then makes you consider if it’s probably more cost-effective buying a proper motorised curtain rail. The issue here is that you have to ensure your curtain rail measurements are correct, to begin with, before even thinking about shipping such large items halfway across the globe.

On balance, the E1 does an admirable job, even if (and I’ve said this before), the idea of a motor pulling curtains is a little bit of a clunky solution. You just can’t please some people…

Full disclosure: Aqara provided HomeKit News with Aqara Curtain Motor E1 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 Aqara Curtain Driver E1 – Rod Version (review) appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

The new hub is a lot less conspicuous than the previous model but still uses an ethernet port for connecting to your home network, with a micro USB port for powering the device, measuring 89 x 89 x 23mm / 3.5 x 3.5 0.91 inches (WDH) with a weight of just 76g / 2.68oz.

The range of products covers some of the basics, like smart plugs, motion sensors and lights, and although there are other Zigbee products on the Lidl.de website, it’s not entirely clear which products are exposed to HomeKit through the hub.

This includes things like a contact sensor, power strip and a wireless button marketed as a doorbell, although it doesn’t appear to actually trigger any kind of sound within the hub, instead merely sending you a notification via the Lidl app (and via the Home app, assuming it’s exposed to HomeKit).

One product that uses Zigbee is the company’s own pendant lamp, available in black or white. Given that the other Zigbee lamps of this type are from Hue, and therefore quite expensive, this particular product – priced at a mere €59,99 – could be a good enough reason to buy the hub alone (once again, assuming these are exposed to HomeKit to begin with).

You can check out the new hub on Lidl’s German website, although you may also find it on their other regional sites.

The post Lidl Release HomeKit Compatible Zigbee Hub appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

Another day and another Aqara device is released (in Mainland China), and on this occasion, it’s the Aqara Motion Sensor P1. This completes the company’s trio of sensors that were announced at last year’s Aqara annual showcase event, which includes the P1 Contact sensor, and the TVOC sensor.

The new model works with HomeKit, as expected, and whilst it may look quite similar to the original model, this version has a much larger ‘chin’ for want of a better description, the reason for which is that the P1 uses two CR2450 coin batteries, which in turn gives you five years between battery changes.

Additionally, the P1 has the ability to set custom timeouts between detections, with a setting as low as 3 seconds along with three different detection distances, which is handy if you’re getting too many false triggers in the distance, and want a shorter detection range.

Of course, the question on most peoples’ lips is when will it be available internationally? Whilst there’s no official word on if or when it’ll be released in other territories, chances are high that both the P1 contact sensor and motion sensor will be released in the near future.

What could complicate matters, however, is that Aqara has already announced their intention to release Thread versions of both the aforementioned P1 series sensors, so it remains to be seen if Aqara will be offering both Zigbee and Thread based options to the international market.

The P1 Motion Sensor is currently on sale in China for RMB309, which converts to roughly US$49 – a much higher price than the current model, although the P1 uses Zigbee 3.0.

Thanks to Eric and Arthur for the headsup

The post Aqara P1 Motion Sensor Launches in China appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

• To no one’s surprise, the G2H Pro is of course HomeKit compatible, coming with much the same essential functionality, which includes a built-in Zigbee 3.0 hub, whilst also adding hub compatibility for Google, Alexa, and IFTTT. The Pro also now allows your live streams to be viewed on Google and Amazon screen-based devices, which isn’t the case with the standard model.

• Visually, the new G2H Pro is almost identical to the original model, with mostly internal upgrades to make the leap to ‘Pro’. The only outward difference is that instead of the blue LED of the G2H, we now have an RGB LED to let you know what different functions the camera is performing – pairing, recording, updating firmware etc.

• Onto the internals, and the Pro is still 1080p, at 20fps, or 24fps for HomeKit Secure video, which it is compatible with. Motion detection is the same, although when it comes to the Aqara alarm system, this is where the Pro finally exposes the alarm to HomeKit, with all four modes supported.

• In terms of the lens, there’s a slightly wider field of view, going up from 140º to 146º although whilst the G2H has lens correction to adjust for the fisheye lens effect, we’re told the G2H Pro doesn’t have this and won’t be getting it via any future upgrade.

• The Pro can also accommodate SD cards up to 512GB, which is a large leap from the original at just 32GB (officially). The Pro can also support 128 child devices, compared to the original 64.

• Only 2.4GHz WiFi is supported compared to the G3 which also supports 5GHz, although also like the G3, it supports WPA3. One aspect that may be a slight drag is that as the new device is pretty much identical to the original, the camera still uses a Micro-USB connection for power. Speaking of which there will be no power supply provided.

• The G2H Pro also has a new additional privacy feature, that allows the user to mask certain portions of the camera’s field of view. This is particularly useful if you have the camera pointing outside your home, which will possibly also be able to view your neighbours’ areas, so this hopefully avoids any potentially sticky privacy issues.

• Finally, the Pro will support NAS, like the original G2, and will also have a timelapse function, advanced privacy protection, and user-defined ringtones, which means you’ll be able to upload sounds of your own and use them in specific automations.

What is missing at the moment, is a release for North America, which is even odder considering the UK only just saw the release of the G2H last July, whilst the US has had the same camera since October 2020. At the time of writing, the G2H Pro was still not listed in Apple stores in the relevant territories, so we’re not sure of the retail price for the relevant countries just yet.

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The post Aqara G2H Pro Launches in Select EU, International Territories (U) appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.