Aqara's new movement sensor works with matter and thread, however which means issues

Aqara's thread-based movement and light-weight sensor P2 ($33.99) has been on my sensible house want record because it was introduced for 2022 — and now, it's On the finish Right here. My home runs on movement sensors, and I've been utilizing Aqara's Zigbee-based sensors for years. They’re amongst my favorites due to their low worth, small measurement, simplicity, and rock-solid reliability. However they require a hub, which provides complexity and makes them arduous to suggest.

What makes the brand new P2 completely different is that it makes use of Matter-over-Thread as an alternative of Zigbee. Because of this, in idea, it’s going to join on to your sensible house platform of selection – Apple Dwelling, Amazon Alexa, Google Dwelling, and so on. – no Aqara Zigbee hub required. It's additionally $10 cheaper than the Eve Movement ($49.95), the one different thread/matter movement sensor accessible immediately.

I've had the P2 put in in my sensible house for a number of days, and functionally, it's the identical nice Aqara movement sensor I do know and love. In nearly all respects, the P2 is equivalent to Aqara's Zigbee-based P1 movement sensor ($24.99); All that has modified is connectivity and battery life. However in my brief time spent with it, I haven't seen that the additions of Miter and Thread have made important enhancements — and in some methods (significantly battery life), they've made it worse.

Aqara pioneered the design for the movement sensor years in the past, and there's no mistaking its success. The P2 options the identical versatile stand because the P1, letting you twist and angle the sensor 360 levels to get the proper subject of view. Its flexibility gives better vary than the magnetic mount of my different favourite Zigbee-based sensor, the Philips Hue Movement Sensor ($44.99).

The P2 is straightforward to mount to a wall or ceiling because of the equipped sticky pad; You may even stick it beneath furnishings, one thing that's arduous to do with a tough eave movement. I wish to see a screw mount possibility – my husband may be very in opposition to placing sticky tape on our painted partitions. However there's additionally the choice to easily place it on a flat floor and never use a mount in any respect.

The P2 has the identical wide-angle PIR sensor and light-weight (lux) sensor because the P1 and may detect movement as much as 23 toes away and over 170 levels horizontally. Its built-in mild sensor can be utilized for automation in Apple Dwelling and SmartThings. (This seems in Google Dwelling however can't be used as a set off and isn't in Alexa in any respect.) It's additionally helpful for robotically reducing the shades when it's too shiny or simply dimming the lights. To activate when it drops beneath sure brightness stage. The P1's mild sensor solely works within the Aqara app and isn’t uncovered to third-party platforms, so the P2 is forward right here.

However oddly – ​​as a result of it's a Mate machine – the P2 doesn't work with Aqara's apps in any respect. This implies you possibly can't entry the machine's settings to regulate issues like movement sensitivity vary and retrigger time (by default, they're set to 16.4 toes and 30 seconds), which is a helpful characteristic of the P1. Is.

The P2 will work with Aqara's apps by way of its new Matter/Thread Hub M3, coming this spring. However once more, it’s a must to purchase yet one more Hub to get the total performance of this machine, which negates the primary purpose to purchase it over the P1. Ideally, Matter will finally add help for altering some of these settings to our personal specs, so we gained't even have to make use of producer apps. However I'm not holding my breath on that.

To make use of the P2 immediately, you want a Miter controller and a Thread border router out of your sensible house platform of selection. I set it up utilizing Samsung SmartThings through the Galaxy S22, and it related simply to my SmartThings Station, which is a Miter controller and Thread border router. (The brand new HomePods and Apple TV 4K do related double responsibility for the Apple Dwelling, the third-generation Echo Present 8 and the fourth-generation Echo for Alexa, and the Google Nest Hub for Google Dwelling.)

I arrange an automation on P2 to activate my kitchen lights every time movement is detected; When mild ranges drop beneath a set threshold between 4 and seven p.m.; And turning on dim when movement is detected throughout evening. I've additionally arrange a “No Movement Detected” automation to show off the lights if there isn’t any movement after 10 minutes. All of those labored as anticipated, and response occasions had been very quick.

Nonetheless, as soon as I arrange the P2 in SmartThings, I couldn't get Matter's multi-admin characteristic to work. This could enable me to share the machine with different platforms, reminiscent of Apple Dwelling, Dwelling Assistant, and Google Dwelling. (I've written in regards to the issues with multi-admin earlier than.)

I additionally tried pairing the P2 on to all 4 main platforms, and whereas I received the P2 related to Google Dwelling and Alexa utilizing an Android cellphone, my iPhone 15 Professional did not onboard it to Apple Dwelling, Alexa, or Google Dwelling. Refused.

That is in all probability not Aqara's drawback. I've had plenty of hassle including Matter gadgets to Apple Dwelling, particularly Thread-based ones. Even as soon as I onboarded them, I nonetheless had issues with thread devices just like the Eve Movement and Nanoleaf Important Thread Bulbs going offline. In distinction, my Zigbee-based Hue and Aqara movement sensors have by no means failed me (until somebody unplugs their hub), they usually have been operating in my home for a number of years.

Since thread connectivity points are nearly inconceivable to troubleshoot, I haven't been in a position to pinpoint the trigger, though I’ve a suspicion. Thread border routers from completely different producers nonetheless don't work collectively, and the a number of thread networks in my home are in all probability inflicting me hassle. The excellent news is that Thread Group is engaged on options to all these points. The unhealthy information is that there's no particular timeline for once we'll see these options.

This leads me to my different matter-over-thread-related frustration with the P2: battery life. It runs on two CR2450 batteries, and Aqara guarantees as much as two years of battery life, which is considerably lower than the P1's 5 years. I assume that's the worth you pay for a “hub-free” life. This quantity has been minimize in half as a result of processing energy required for Matter and the flexibility for this machine to speak to a number of ecosystems over a thread as an alternative of a ZigBee hub, however I might have needed to check it for a for much longer time frame to make that occur. Name on him.

Whereas I applaud Aqara's efforts to advance Thread & Matter and put together us for the sensible house of the long run, immediately, the $25 Zigbee P1 is a better option if you happen to're in search of a quick, dependable movement sensor. The primary purpose to think about the P2 is that in order for you entry to that mild sensor in your sensible house platform (although you possibly can't use it in Alexa or Google Dwelling), you don't actually need to purchase the Aqara Hub. , or you recognize you will have a very steady thread community.

Images by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy/The Verge