Aqara’s first Matter sensor for doorways and home windows can be a programable button

Aqara’s first Matter-over-Thread sensor is now that can be purchased. The Door and Window Sensor P2 is priced at $29.99 / £29.99 / €32.99 and slots proper into present Matter-enabled good houses because it doesn’t require an Aqara hub to function. However those that select to make use of the sensor with Aqara’s upcoming Hub M3 will allow additional options like a built-in programmable button.

The Door and Window Sensor P2 makes use of a magnet to establish if a window or door is opened or closed, a characteristic that may be helpful in any variety of good residence automations. For instance, they can be utilized to boost safety, remind you to shut a window when it begins to rain, or warn you {that a} freezer door has been left open too lengthy. The Door and Window Sensor P2 comes with an adhesive mount “that won’t harm the wall if eliminated,” says Aqara, and a skinny magnetic plate for extra mounting choices.

A small Matter emblem and pairing code will be seen on the inside fringe of the principle sensor unit. Picture: Aqara

Thankfully, Aqara’s plain white two-part sensor is nondescript, with no seen logos or wordmarks. That’s vital when you’d like to put in dozens of such sensors round the home with out turning it into Instances Sq.. I do know loads of individuals who paint their sensors to higher mix in with their doorways and home windows, however be warned: there’s a small Matter emblem and pairing code hidden on the inside fringe of this new Aqara sensor that you just’ll have to hold observe of.

The primary sensor unit homes a brand new large-capacity 1,400mAh CR123 battery, making it for much longer than the corporate’s Zigbee-based Door and Window Sensor. It measures 77 x 22 x 22mm, which is about so long as a typical smartphone is vast. Aqara doesn’t supply any longevity claims for the brand new battery, saying it depends upon how incessantly the low-energy sensor is polled and which apps and border router it connects to. Bizarre, as a result of the corporate says its previous sensor “can final over 2 years below regular utilization.”

Not like the corporate’s previous Zigbee-based Door and Window Sensor that required a connection to an Aqara hub, the Thread-based P2 sensor works with any Matter-enabled Thread border router. That enables it to seamlessly combine into any Matter-enabled ecosystem like Amazon, Apple, Google, and others. You may actually have a Thread border router in your house already within the form of a fourth-gen Echo, Apple TV 4K, or second-gen Nest Hub, to call only a few.

Aqara will launch its first Thread border router, the Hub M3, in early 2024 alongside an replace of the Aqara Dwelling app to help Matter. Door and Window P2 sensors paired to the Hub M3 will acquire additional options like tamper alert, adjustable sensitivity between one and three centimeters, and a programmable button that may activate a personalized residence scene or automation when pressed. Till then, the performance of the button on the principle unit is proscribed to organising and resetting the gadget. 

The corporate first teased the Door and Window Sensor P2 alongside a Thread-enabled Movement and Gentle Sensor P2 again at CES in January 2022. The movement sensor continues to be coming someday “later this 12 months,” in accordance with Aqara consultant Michelle Li in an electronic mail trade with The Verge. Sure, that’s a delay from the unique “early 2023” launch plan.

Aqara can be nicely underway including Matter help to its present hubs as a strategy to bridge its suite of legacy Zigbee units to the brand new unifying good residence protocol and has “varied good sensors, dimmer switches, good plugs, and lights” on its Thread-enabled roadmap nonetheless to come back.