Aqara Zigbee 3.0 T1 Smart Plug For China Revealed

No one can accuse Aqara of taking a back seat these days, with a ton of new products in the last few months, and whilst some of the newer products have been for the Chinese market, many consumers have been ‘chomping at the bit’ to get hold of some of these devices, namely the Aqara G2H Gateway camera, which we’re expecting to see come out later this year for western customers.

One such device that has just surfaced is the Aqara T1 Smart Plug. This is actually the first smart plug for the Chinese market with official Aqara branding, with previous Zigbee-based smart plugs coming with the Mi or Mijia branding. As this has the T1 suffix, it means that this is not only officially Zigbee certified, but also uses Zigbee 3.0, like the aforementioned G2H. For this reason, it’s unlikely to work with the current Aqara hub, with the company’s website stating that this requires the Aqara M1S hub or another Zigbee 3.0 gateway to function (like the ever-elusive M2 for example). Visually, the new plug looks identical to the US version, minus the different pins and socket, and what appears to be a white outer layer, as with the current US smart plug.

While this particular smart plug may not be of massive interest outside of China, it does bode well for eventual future upgrades to the current lineup of Aqara products in other markets, most importantly perhaps, the US, although it would be nice for the UK to get a look in as well, perhaps when a UK Aqara hub eventually surfaces…