Aqara Unveils New M2 HomeKit Hub, Switches, Locks, Cameras and More…
Today, Aqara officially unveiled their new M2 HomeKit hub, alongside the new Zigbee 3.0 compatible sensors and switches. The big changes that come with the new M2 hub, apart from what we’ve previously reported, are that the new hub can support more than three times the amount of Zigbee devices topping out at a whopping 100 device limit, with the current hub limited to only 30 devices. The M2 will also, for the first time, support dual wifi bands – so 2.4gHz and 5.0gHz signals will be supported. The device has dual antennas, not a dual band wifi antenna as previously reported. As mentioned in earlier articles, the new M2 hub supports, ZigBee and Wifi, as well as ethernet connection via the included RJ45 port at the back of the device. When we first discovered evidence of this product, back in May, it was shown to have support for Bluetooth as well, and whilst the specs mention Bluetooth 5.0, on the official page doesn’t mention Bluetooth connectivity as one of the options at the start of the page for the Aqara M2, so it could be a future option for connection to Bluetooth devices by Mi/Mijia, as Aqara don’t make any Bluetooth devices at present that we’re aware of.
HomeKit Aqara Door Lock and more…
the Aqara S2 Pro Door Lock will be getting an upgrade, with HomeKit support. The current S2 Pro will not get an upgrade to HomeKit support, so it will be replaced by the newer HomeKit version when it becomes available. As mentioned in previous posts, Aqara has now officially announced their new T1 switches and sensors, along with a new smart plug.
ZigBee 3.0 Light Switches
Aqara also revealed new versions of their popular wall switches. The new switches will use Zigbee 3.0 and will come in the usual single and double switch configurations, but in addition to these will be a new triple button wall switch. The new switches will only be the in-wall, wired versions, not the wireless switches. The switches will come in neutral wire and no-neutral wire versions. There will be new versions of the current Wireless Aqara Switches, that will support Zigbee 3.0.
New Opple Ceiling Lamps and Switches
The new M2 hub will also work with new lamps and wall switches being introduced by Opple (no, not Apple) that will also work with HomeKit. Both the lights and the switches will use Zigbee 3.0 to connect to the hub, and from there be exposed to Apple HomeKit.
Light Sensor
As we previously reported, Aqara is also introducing a new Ambient light sensor. As with all the aforementioned new devices, this will use Zigbee 3.0, it will have an adaptive range, so if you only want it to report ambient light up to a certain distance, you can do. It can also distinguish ‘perceived ambient lighting’, which we take to assume it measures brightness as humans perceive it. It is magnetic, so it can be stuck to any metal surface. It will be IPX3 rated, meaning it can withstand splashes of water, but not sustained water, like rain or be submerged in water. The battery will have a maximum of two years, and will also give a low battery reminder, as well as let you see the strength of the ZigBee signal between the sensor and the hub.
Aqara G2H Camera
The crushing news for some people will be that the Aqara G2 camera looks like it won’t be getting the rumoured HomeKit support, with the introduction of the G2H camera being unveiled, that will support HomeKit. There’s currently little other information on the camera, the price and when it will be out, as well as whether it will also act as a standard or HomeKit enabled gateway.
B1 Curtain Motor
Aqara has also put the official specs for the Aqara M2 hub on the Chinese version of their website, which confirms that the B1 Smart Curtain Controller will work with HomeKit. The B1 will work with HomeKit via both the current Aqara hub and the new M2 hub.
Thanks to Eric Yao and Jerry for the help in translating and compiling the information.
Any details about the B1S curtain motor?
Not a lot of info at present, but it would seem the main difference between the B1 and B1S is that the latter will support Zigbee 3.0. Both will support HomeKit, although for the B1, this has yet to be officially announced.
Looming questions:
• Will the new product line be sold outside China via regional non-Chinese retail channels?
• Pricing of new product line?
• With the change to certified ZigBee 3.0 products, will Aqara / Lumi be more open to their use with non-Aqara home automation hub solutions?
I wish I had the answers of course, but I imagine these will eventually make their way into places like AliExpress and GearBest etc. No word on price or release date at all. As for the ZigBee 3.0 question, it seems they will be more open to working with other 3rd party devices although whether this will be a two-way thing, I’m not certain at present.
Aqara really should start in Europe, they have some of the best HomeKit products but I know a lot of people who simply won’t buy from Gearbest or AliExpress but want an “official” version.
Agreed. The fact the power plug on the bottom of the current hub is not UK means it has to be plugged in to a travel adapter and hence is prone to falling or being knocked off and loosing power. A proper model for international markets is needed. I will not be touching them till then and the difficulty in sourcing them does not help.
I can’t tell from the picture if this new hub has an external power supply rather than the previous plug on the bottom. If it has an external power supply then it would alleviate the above problem.
Would new devices be compatible down with previous Homekit Aqara Hub?
the latest update to the Aqara hub made it Zigbee 3.0 compatible, so from what I’ve been told, yes the new devices will work with the current hub. The new devices will not work with the older Mi Gateways however.
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Did they announce when the products will be available in China?
No mention of a release schedule yet.
Will the old Mi sensors be compatible with this new M2 Homekit hub?
yes, the hub is backward compatible. only the older Mi gateways won’t work with the new sensors and switches with ZigBee 3.0
blocked support outside of china with the current homekit hub, very bad firmware and so on. not impressed with this so far and i wont buy any aqara products again for the time being. and i can not recommend a single product from them because of horrible firmware + support.
The hub works outside of China, you just have to have the server set to Mainland China.
there is no way to update firmware outside of china because they blocked it recently!
(if there is still a way, please give me a detailed heads up – thanks)
aqara products may look good, but they dont work well because of lousy firmware (updates.).
I have three Chinese hubs set to the China server, but I’m in Taiwan. As a precaution, I only updated one that currently isn’t being used, so that’s now at 1.6.2. The 1.6.2 update was pulled as opposed to not being available. I’ve heard rumours as to why, but I don’t know for certain. I won’t disagree with you, so regarding Aqara as a company they really haven’t been very good about updates and bug fixes, but the hardware has been very reliable for me on 1.6.0 for months.
Their products might still work outside China. But they definitely don‘t work when you‘re inside the EU. This is due to GDPR and the fact that Aqara servers are not GDPR compliant. You can’t log in to ANY server in the Aqara App anymore – even not through VPN pretending you‘re in China.
Xiaomi App still works (still…), but Aqara fully blocked EU users in the Aqara app. And all they told me is „these products were never meant to be used outside China“.
I’m aware they don’t work in the EU (with the Aqara app), so your solution at present is, as you already pointed out, is to use the Mi Home app, which means it’s not the hub, it’s the app that’s at issue here.
Will new in-wall wired switches have HomeKit support aswell?
Yes they will as long as they go through one of the Aqara hubs.
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Bonjour,
Une question que je me pose sur le nouveau Hub Aqara, fera-t-il lui aussi alarme avec sirène intégrée comme actuellement ?
Bonjour,
Au début, j’ai vu la preuve d’une alarme / haut-parleur Aqara séparé, j’ai donc supposé que ce nouveau hub n’aurait pas de haut-parleur, mais il semble qu’il y ait un haut-parleur à l’intérieur. Je ne sais pas si c’est uniquement pour les notifications de faible volume ou pour une alarme sonore.
I just bought two b1 curtain motors, now I see that there will also be a b1s right after. Could the B1 also get an update to zigbee 3.0 or this is not possible?
I’m not sure, but the B1 will still work with the new hub, so Zigbee 3.0 may not be a big deal if it doesn’t get it.
Another question, what is the difference between the motion t1 sensor and the previous one?
Very little real difference other than these are Zigbee 3.0. The current ones are not.
Does this have infrared ?
It has an IR transceiver, but we’re not sure what it’s capable of at present.
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Thank you for the article!
Any idea if the in wall switch will have support N American standard.
Hi
the new in-wall switches are sized for China and the EU, so they wouldn’t be suitable for N. American standard switch recesses. Aqara are working on a double switch for the US Market though.
Does it have any LEDs, so they can be used i.e for notifications?
I don’t think so. Unlike the current Aqara hub, it doesn’t seem to have a ring of LED Lights, although it still has a speaker.
That’s a shame. I really like that LEDs ring and I use it a lot (new post delivered, open door, etc.). I guess we can’t have everything. 😉
Yes it’s a useful thing. I use it often too.
I live in EU and just yesterday I updated my two hubs through Mi-home to 1.6.2 and so far so good. So it can be done. We have to aknowledge though that none of the Aqara products are made to work in EU, thats why the most critisism is unfounded. They work flawlessly in China I recon and for me at least too for the last six months. I have had the most problems with Eve BLE products, Lifx bulbs and Netatmo camera, Agara is the least problematic.
Everybody in EU should be careful with future updates though and that is because of our legislation (GDPR) not Agara soft or firmware. It is like when I updated my Xiaomi camera and rendered it useless – bastards.
This has nothing to do with app or firmware updates. Aqara blocked us from all their servers without any update. They just blocked us on their severs, not in the app or firmware.
Xiaomi can do the same any time without updating neither the app nor the firmware.
Hi , any updates on the supposedly triple button wall switch and any estimate of when those products will be available in the market ?
Hi Ammar
nothing to report at the moment I’m sorry to say. All I’ve heard is that Aqara is hoping to release the new M2 hub and new sensors in September, so this could include the new switches, but I can’t say for certain.
Bonjour il sort quand merci
Il devait sortir en septembre, mais je pense qu’ils vont rater cette échéance.
Merci
Bonjour il y aura une caméra compatible HomeKit aussi merci
Oui, la caméra Aqara G2H sera compatible avec HomeKit
Do you know if Aqara EU hub version will work on Mi Home App EU server, since I have my Roborock S50 which is EU version and works only with Mi Home App EU server? I would love to see all my sensors who are currently working only on China server, as of today, so not able to use in the same time sensors and RoborockVacuum cleaner
Hi Alan,
Yes you should have no problems adding the EU Aqara hub to the EU server in the Mi Home app. For the sensors (door, motion, temperature), they should work on any server regardless of where you bought them.
Hello,
Do you know if new Aqara HUB M2 will work with Mi Home App same as the older version?
If the M2 came out now, then the Mi Home app wouldn’t be prepared for it, but then neither is the Aqara app, which is probably the reason why it’s not available yet. I don’t envisage the M2 not working with the Mi Home app down the line though, as that would be a negative selling point for the hub, at least for a lot of Chinese users who use the Mi Home app for all their devices.
Bonjour le hub m2 apparaît dans l application met on peut toujours pas l acheter c est sa il va bientôt sortir
Dans quelle application voyez-vous le M2 Hub?
Hi
is there any new about when the M2 and all the gadgets will be available?
Nothing at the moment, although I’ve heard that some beta testers will be getting some of these devices soon, so they could be released around November, but that’s a guess right now.