Evidence of UK Aqara Hub Surfaces
The HomeKit compatible Aqara Hub has been around for over 18 months now, with HomeKit News first reviewing this product back in August of 2018! This was the Chinese version, with a US version following on in 2019, and along with an EU version reasonably soon after that. However, despite being informed that a UK version was on the cards, there’s been little evidence of it, despite one person on the r/Homekit subReddit stating they had one and were testing it.
Now it seems the UK version may well be on the verge of coming out, with Aqara having kindly supplied us with a few images to show that it does indeed exist. Jon Ratcliffe from ActiveJR also revealed images of his own UK Aqara hub unit. This would suggest it’s finally about to drop, although with all the issues surrounding production in general, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and the UK in particular, with it’s exit from the EU, it could be a while before it actually begins to appear.
The potential delay could also end up with the Aqara Hub surfacing at the same time as the long-awaited Aqara M2 hub, which due to its design, removes the need for regional versions being made, with only an easily available USB power adaptor being required to power the M2.
Nevertheless, it does show that Aqara are trying to make good on their word, and whilst many may not realise it, the Type G UK plug is far more widespread than it is given credit for, with this type being used as far as places like Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Botswana, and many more countries (many of which are using it due to former ties to the UK via the former British Empire…).
UPDATE: Thanks to one of our visitors, it would appear that the Type G version is already available in the Lazada online store in Malaysia, where they also use the same plugs as the UK. One reviewer even states “The item comes with the 3-pin local plug (no need adapter)”.
Hmmm….its already sold here in MY – https://www.lazada.com.my/products/aqara-hub-aqara-official-store-i653828865-s1386410057.html?spm=a2o4k.10415192.0.0.18ace314gNr1tS&mp=3
Only problem is they wont work in Xiaomi Home app if set to China server
Nice find, thanks! Although it doesn’t show the UK plug, Malaysia does use the same plug, and someone does say that it comes with a 3-pin local plug. I’ll update the article to reflect this.
the one in your photos – i suspect they swapped out the Chinese prongs to UK prongs. As you can see the 3 screw caps (use to hide the screws) are missing. Ive seen a video where this guy took the UK prongs from his HK MI Hub and transferred it to his Chinese Aqara hub. I could be wrong and it could very well be a UK style hub to begin with.
I’m not certain, but these were supplied by Aqara.
Yup, I have been using the aqara aqara UK 3 pin hub for 2 months now.
Bought from aqara official store in Malaysia. Set to other region and working great, no lag. Just update firmware to 1.9.1
Would this one from the Malaysian store work with the Aqara (wired) wall switches, though? I am currently using a MiHub set to China server and it gets quite unstable at times. I am hoping to not have to use the Chinese server.
If you use the Aqara Home app with this Aqara hub, you will be able to get all the Aqara stuff working together, without any region issues. If you use the Mi home app, there’s a possibility the Chinese Aqara switches won’t work with the Malaysian hub, although generally, switches and sensors work across all regions, even in the Mi Home app.
That’s incorrect. The wired switches only work on the Chinese server and isn’t possible to pair if the hub is set to other regions outside China – it just isn’t on the list of available devices. I’m not sure if you are referring to the same thing here?
It depends on if you’re using the Aqara hub on iOS and in tandem with Apple HomeKit, but When using the Aqara hub, you can sign out of your Aqara account and go into what is called HomeKit mode. This will expose all Aqara devices regardless of region, it will also allow you to add any of the regional hubs (CN, US, EU) and add other devices to those hubs. Once you sign back in, all the devices and the hubs, regardless of region, will still appear in the app.