Aqara M2 Hub – First Look
With the official release (in Mainland China at least) of the Aqara M2 Hub, many have been wondering what makes it different from the current Aqara hub, or even the other direct successor, the M1S. Well, whilst many of these questions have been answered many times, we’ll certainly be covering the area when the review is ready. For now though, as we’ve been able to get our hands on one here, courtesy of Eric Yao from Wavetech.news and of course, HomeKit News, although it’s too early for a review, we thought it would be good to post a few images for those that can’t wait.
The M2 exposes the four modes to HomeKit, however, it seems at present it doesn’t work. So if you try to arm the alarm with any of the three active modes, nothing changes on the Aqara Home side of things.
The built-in IR blaster seems to work, so you add a remote and choose from a preset. It’ll then send a test signal to the device, for which you can confirm whether its reacted or not, and if it reacts, it sends out a few more of these signals for different basic functions, based on the type of device, before it finally generates a generic UI for that device.
I never thought a Zigbee hub could look so menacing, but here we are! A drastic difference for the original. I like it!
All exact same devices as in the previous hub are supported?
Yes, although whether they’re all updated to be exposed to HomeKit via the M2 I’m not sure. I’ve tested a few devices and they were all successfully exposed to HomeKit.
looking forward for firmware to connect/trigger the alarm from homekit soon
cant wait for mine arrive tomorrow as some section of my house arent on homekit due to G2H doesnt exposes the switches (yet)
any idea what is the use of the USB port?
Hi, which switches are you using that aren’t exposed? As for the USB port, I haven’t tested to see if does anything, but it could either possibly be only for diagnostic purposes, which is common, or maybe it’s for uploading custom sounds, which I’ve heard may well be possible for both the M2 and M1S.
Super cool to see the four alarm modes! I only have two modes (Off & Away) for the current Aqara hub. Is there anyway to get the four modes on existing hubs?
Hi, yes it’s good to see the four modes, although other HomeKit compatible alarms already show these too. It looks as though the current Aqara hub will not get this update, so it’ll be reserved for the updated Aqara hub M1S and the M2. However, at present the four modes still don’t sync between HomeKit and Aqara.
How many more models they plan to release in 2020 -.-
This and the M1S will be the only two hubs released in 2020 (hopefully).
cant connect to MiHome app? 🙁
for now or forever?
At present only the Aqara app supports the M2, as well as the new M1S. However, I’ve been told of a rumour that Mi Home will support these devices later. It may not happen, but it’s possible.
I would personally prefer Mi to make own version that is HomeKit compatible.
Because Aqara app is a big disappointment. On eu server I can only add 12 devices and some devices aren’t even officially listed (like switch with neutral or curtain controller) and Mi products can’t be added.
So I must use Mi Home app to control Aqara products because I have Mi kettle and some other things at home.
Also, it is time to convert apps to “real” homekit apps like Eve is. Eve can see my aqara and hue devices. Kind of good thing
But yes, IR blaster will make so many things much easier 🙂
There is the Mi Smart Gateway that is similar to the M2, but it’s missing the speaker and Ethernet port. You can actually add the Mi versions of the Aqara sensors to the Aqara app, including the wireless button, even though they aren’t listed. For example, to add the Mi motion sensor to the Aqara app, just select the Aqara version listed in the app, and add the Mi version as normal and it’ll work.
It also supports Bluetooth 5
https://new.qq.com/rain/a/20200924A023W500