Aqara’s first Matter sensor for doorways and home windows can also 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 current Matter-enabled sensible properties 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 determine if a window or door is opened or closed, a function that may be helpful in any variety of sensible residence automations. For instance, they can be utilized to boost safety, remind you to shut a window when it begins to rain, or provide you with a warning {that a} freezer door has been left open too lengthy. The Door and Window Sensor P2 comes with an adhesive mount “that won’t injury the wall if eliminated,” says Aqara, and a skinny magnetic plate for added mounting choices.

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

Luckily, Aqara’s plain white two-part sensor is nondescript, with no seen logos or wordmarks. That’s essential when you’d like to put in dozens of such sensors round the home with out turning it into Occasions Sq.. I do know loads of individuals who paint their sensors to raised mix in with their doorways and home windows, however be warned: there’s a small Matter brand and pairing code hidden on the inside fringe of this new Aqara sensor that you simply’ll must 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 provide any longevity claims for the brand new battery, saying it is determined by how often the low-energy sensor is polled and which apps and border router it connects to. Bizarre, as a result of the corporate says its outdated sensor “can final over 2 years underneath regular utilization.”

Not like the corporate’s outdated Zigbee-based Door and Window Sensor that required a connection to an Aqara hub, the Thread-based P2 sensor works with any Matter-enabled Thread border router.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 permits it to seamlessly combine into any Matter-enabled ecosystem like Amazon, Apple, Google, and others. You would possibly also 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 just some.

Aqara will launch its first Thread border router, the Hub M3, in early 2024 alongside an replace of the Aqara Residence app to assist Matter. Door and Window P2 sensors paired to the Hub M3 will achieve 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 primary unit is proscribed to establishing and resetting the gadget. 

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

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