Aqara smart home review: Hubs, cameras, sensors, switches, sockets and more

Zigbee-based Aqara gadgets are a great addition to any setup and now Matter has been added to the mix too

In the past few years Aqara has fast become a mainstay in the smart home space, with its low cost, high-quality devices to fill every nook, cranny, and need in your smart home.

Self-owned, and now part of Lumi United Technology, which was born out of the Xiaomi Ecosystem umbrella – alongside notable alumni such as Roborock, Yeelight, Dreame and Amazfit – the Chinese brand has, in the past couple of years, spread its wings to the US, UK and Europe through both Amazon store fronts and by partnering with Apple to sell devices through its store.

Offering a wide range of devices, from industry-leading motion sensors, through smart plugs, air quality monitors and smart switches, Aqara’s products work with Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, and Google Home and the company is fast becoming a major player in the emerging Matter smart home standard.

The Aqara system revolves around a Zigbee smart home hub, of which there are many. The latest of which, the Aqara Hub M3, has also added Thread to the mix too.

Aqara isn’t just another brand knocking out cheap smart home tech, it’s a smart home ecosystem in itself, with a superb app handling automations, security and more, with an absolute barrage of connected kit on offer, including: smart plugs, buttons, wall switches, lights, air quality monitors, presence and motion sensors, security cameras, smart locks, curtain drivers, video doorbells, radiator valves, vibration sensors, leak sensors and a whole lot more.

We first published our Aqara smart home system review way back in 2019 but in the years that followed a lot has changed.

I’ve now been been living with a couple of Aqara’s newest smart home hubs and a number of its sensors, switches, and smart plugs for a more than 5 years now, read on for my fully updated Aqara smart home system review, which includes details on all of the latest devices and updated features.

Aqara: Getting started

A Zigbee-based system at heart, Aqara relies on a central hub that, more often than not, works with Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, and Google Home, and can expose all of Aqara’s battery-powered sensors and smart gadgets to your voice-controlled smart home system of choice.

Aqara also works as a stand-alone smart home system managed through its app, which we actually advised against using back in 2019 when this review first went live.

The app is now perfectly fine, if somewhat over elaborate at times, and, while you may still choose to use Alexa or Apple Home to set up your Aqara devices routines and rules, the Aqara app is now more than capable of doing so.

Also, with Matter support now on board for the Hub M2, which acts as a Matter bridge, and the Hub M3, which is a fully-fledged Matter controller, it’s now super simple to get Aqara devices working across multiple platforms.

Read this: Zigbee vs Z-Wave – Which is best for your smart home?

The hardware from Aqara has always been top-notch and follows the ethos of selling devices with top-of-the-line specs and hardware for rock bottom prices.

Simple and sturdy, usually white and nicely made, Aqara’s sensors, switches, and smart plugs aren’t showy devices, they’re designed to blend in while still being functional, and by and large, they are simple to set up and install.

More importantly, they’re cheap. Starting at just $17 for a contact sensor and going up to $45 for in-wall smart switches, these are good prices for good hardware. At least $5 to $10 below most of the comparable competition, and significantly less than most HomeKit offerings.

We’ve tested a range of Aqara devices, on both sides of the pond, including a smart plug, wired smart switch, a smart button, smart lights, and a variety of sensors (motion, contact, leak, temperature, vibration/tilt, presence), and we have set up and run the system on multiple Aqara Hubs.

Aqara: The Hubs

Aqara is hub crazy. Not only with the amount of hubs on offer, but also the massive variety between them all.

At one end of the spectrum, there’s the newest and best option for setting up an Aqara smart home, the Aqara Hub M3, which will set you back $130 (still very reasonable given its capabilities) and at the other is a USB-dongle, the E1, that will set you back less than $30.

In between that there are smart home hubs that also double up as smart security cameras. Of that gang, the G2H Pro is the pick of the bunch in terms of features, but the Hub G3 looks like a cute cat, so is also massively appealing.

All of the Aqara smart home hubs essentially offer the same, or at least similar, Zibgee-driven experience, but they differ pretty massively when it comes to extra bells and whistles.

There’s actually nine hubs to choose from in total but in terms of devices supported and features on offer, you’re probably best to stick to one of the hubs that was launched in the past 2-3 years.

And, of course, if you want to expand your Aqara system beyond just native Aqara devices then your only option is the Hub M3, with its Matter controller and Thread border router skills.

As mentioned, we’ve tested multiple Aqara hubs over the years and, with the more modern ones at least, they can usually accommodate up to 128 ‘child’ devices (as Aqara calls them).

However, you can usually only add 32 ‘terminal’ devices (battery-powered sensors, buttons), before you’ll need a ‘relay’ device to add 16 more. A relay device is always powered and in the Aqara system is any wall switch with a neutral wire.

You can also, thanks to Aqara’s ARK Tech, team up multiple hubs on the same system, safe guarding you if any hub was to suddenly go down.

Aqara describes ARK as “distributed multi-level localized disaster recovery technology,” designed to “enhance the reliability and stability of the Aqara smart home system.”

Before I migrated everything over to the new Hub M3 I actually had two Aqara cameras and a Hub M2 all singing and dancing on the same system with very few issues. I don’t know if one hub ever kicked in to save another one’s butt during a “localized disaster” but I guess that’s kind of the point -as long as my Aqara devices continued to operate, that’s all that really mattered.

It’s worth noting that you can only pair a child device with one hub though, so be sure to use the one most local to it, but all of these hubs and devices can operate in the same system.

A new feature, introduced with the Hub M3, is that it will become the ‘leader’ of your Aqara system if you choose to add it and not migrate the other hub’s devices to it – effectively letting it take overall control but keeping your existing Zigbee networks in place.

All of Aqara’s hubs are Zigbee 3.0 hubs, work over Bluetooth and 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, and can be connected to Alexa, Google, and Apple HomeKit.

There are also Ethernet options; the M2 and M3 – and dual-band Wi-Fi options too; the M2, M3 and G3. The M3, as mentioned, also adds in a Thread radio.

HomeKit is the preferred smart home ecosystem partner as its the only one that allows the hub itself to be properly used. By that, I mean that the hubs usually contain a loudspeaker so they can be used as a siren or a deterrent as part of a DIY smart security system

The M2 and M3 also have IR transmitters built-in, so you can use them as a replacement for any IR remote you may have for a TV, fan, or game console.

The M1S has an LED light ring that changes color in different alarm modes and can act as a color-changing nightlight.

In our testing we found the M2 to be the most reliable Aqara hub, with no devices dropping offline (which did occur a couple of times with the M1S).

The M3 is obviously brand new but has performed brilliantly – with Zigbee devices, at least – so far in our testing and we’ve also been very impressed with the camera hubs as well.

Aqara: Setup and in-use

Setting up an Aqara smart home is super simple. Once a hub is connected to the Aqara app, you simply pair each device to a hub (you can have more than one hub running) by selecting Add Accessory and pressing the device’s pairing button.

You’ll hear your Hub giving a voice notification that it is paring and then again when it connects or, and this is pretty rare, if it fails.

One nice touch, the app comes with pre-set automations for each device, such as single press the switch/button to turn on/off the smart plug, or double press the switch/button to arm the Hub.

Installing the devices themselves is a breeze thanks to the pre-applied adhesive as well as spare pieces of pre-cut tape.

As mentioned, the app has seen some pretty good updates in the past few years and it provides a lot of access to each device – including a timeline of activity and settings to tinker with.

Setting up the native Automations and Scenes is very intuitive, it employs a simple If This Then That-type setup.

You may still wish to use the routines or automation engines in the likes of the Alexa app or Apple Home but the Aqara app is a great base too, especially for more localized scenes on your Aqara Zigbee network.

Over the years, my Aqara smart home has evolved but this is essentially how it’s all now configured:

Hub: Originally, I installed the M1S with its built-in, color-changing LED light and a speaker that can produce a loud-ish siren in an outlet in an upstairs hallway to act as a nightlight. I then placed the M2 in the “hub cupboard” (you know you’ve got one too!) and hardwired it to our modem. I’ve also got the G2H Pro installed in my garden office.

In the past few weeks I’ve now migrated all hubs to the M3 but I may introduce them back to the system in the coming weeks.

Smart Plug: A large, standard-looking smart plug with an on-device switch, this was installed in the kitchen attached to a button-press kettle.

Wireless Mini Switch: Placed by a bedside table – this diminutive smart button was set up so that one press would turn on the aforementioned kettle before we got out of bed. It could also be mounted to a wall and used as a switch to operate connected smart lights.

Wired Wall Switch: Installed the stack switch version by a kitchen sink to control under cabinet and over the sink lighting. We set countdown timers in the Aqara app for each switch to automatically shut off 30 minutes after they were switched on. (In the EU, this is an H1 switch, and in both the EU and the US it’s available in neutral and no neutral wire versions, which is great).

Motion Sensor: Tiny and with a handy adjustable mount, we installed the sensor at bottom of the main stairway, so when it senses motion it triggers the Hub light to come on. When the system is in the Alert Mode it will trigger the hub’s siren.

Contact Sensor: Another small component, we attached this two-part door/window sensor to an interior bedroom door, set to send an alert when opened and to trigger the hub’s siren when the system is in Alert Mode.

Vibration Sensor: Placed on the interior side of the front door we set this up to send an alert when someone knocks on the door or the door’s opened. Or, when the system is in Alert Mode, it will trigger the hub’s siren. This is also a tilt sensor so could work as a garage door sensor.

Leak Sensor: Placed under the dishwasher in the kitchen we set this to trigger the hub to sound a siren when water is detected.

Temp/Humidity Sensor: We installed this in the bedroom to monitor comfort levels.

Radiator Thermostat E1: Installed in my attic bathroom on a towel rail, with automations set to heat the room if it drops below a certain temperature.

Aqara Presence Sensor FP2: The mosts advanced smart sensor on the market, the FP2 is capable of precise human presence detection that boasts millimeter wave (mmWave) radar technology, to not only sense when someone is in a room but where they are in the room and what they are doing; it can even detect your breathing. I have this set up in my office and it can tell if I’m, sitting at my desk working, or sitting on the sofa watching TV, and forces devices to act differently depending on the situations.

Aqara Ceiling Light T1M: Installed in my office, the outer ring can alert me to things like a doorbell or a flood using colored-lights.

All these Aqara devices work incredibly reliably. Over the years I’ve moved them all over the house and have basically had no issues with signal drop offs; it’s an incredibly robust and easy-to-use system.

Occasionally over the months of testing the odd device would stop responding. While the app will indicate it’s not connected there are no troubleshooting steps to follow.

Instead, we found just re-adding the device – a simple process – was all we needed to do to get it up and running again, with all automations and rules still in place.

With all this tech you could easily create a pretty comprehensive Aqara smart home, but for most users, it’s the fact that all Aqara’s devices work with Apple’s HomeKit, Amazon’s Alexa, and Google Home that makes them really interesting.

And maybe even more so with Matter now in the mix.

Read on for the skinny on how to use Aqara in your current smart home set up.

Aqara: Smart Home Integrations

In our opinion, the real reason to invest in Aqara gear is its solid integrations with HomeKit, Alexa, and to some extent Google Assistant. While you could just use Aqara products, the Aqara Home app hasn’t traditionally let you integrate other manufacturers’ devices, but the M3 will change this going forward.

Pair it with any of the major players and you can use these inexpensive gadgets to trigger HomeKit Automations and Scenes or Alexa or Google Routines to turn on any compatible smart lights, adjust thermostats, plugs, switches – basically anything that works with Alexa, Google, or HomeKit.

Due to each ecosystem’s limitations, not every Aqara device works with every system. But those that do work, work really well, triggering any automation we set up quickly and effectively.

One of Aqara’s advantages over much of the competition in this space is it uses Zigbee rather than Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. This means each device can act as a repeater so you can place things like contact sensors far away from your HomeKit hub or Alexa and they won’t lose connectivity.

Aqara can also be used as a basic DIY home security system. We say basic because there’s no option of professional monitoring and despite significant improvements since we first tested it in 2019 – including the addition of some key features such as automatic arming and disarming and entry and exit delays, it’s still fiddly to set up and use.

There are four Alert Modes for the security component: Basic, Away, Home and Night. You can configure each one to react to different devices (i.e. turn off the motion sensor in Home mode), and when any connected device is triggered while the system is armed the Hub will blare a loud sound of your choice (including police sirens or a doorbell ringing) and flash red. If you have more than one hub they will all sound the alarm.

Through HomeKit you can turn on the Night, Away, Home modes, toggling them in the HomeKit app or by adding it to a HomeKit Automation such as “When the last person leaves the house turn on the alarm.” All the alarm setup must be done in the Aqara app and only Aqara devices can trigger the siren.

Final Thoughts

Whenever anyone who is looking to get started with the smart home asks me what to buy, I pretty much always just point them in the direction of Aqara. The hubs are cheap and reliable, the army of devices is growing and the compatibility with the major smart home systems makes expansion a cinch. Aqara is a brand you can trust to run your smart home with minimal fuss.

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