Aqara’s New Matter/Thread Switches Arrive in the US

It’s been almost five years since Aqara released its first smart wall switches in North America (review HERE, video HERE) , but now the company has released new models that not only look different, but act differently too.

These are the new H2 smart switches, and on this occasion, Aqara is offering a three switch wall switch alongside a single switch and double switch. However, things are quite different, as you can see above;

• The 2-button, 1-channel switch is a single wired switch that contains a second programmable wireless switch.
• The 2-button, 2-channel switch is a double wired switch as standard.
• The 4-button, 3-channel switch is a triple wired switch with a single programmable wireless switch.

So you can have single, double or triple switches in a single gang, with the 1-channel and 3-channel switches offering a wireless switch as well.

This may be more than enough for most, but it gets even better. In line with Aqara’s recently released H2 switches for the EU, the North American counterparts offer the option to have the switches use either Matter over Thread, or Zigbee 3.0. Connecting using Matter allows you to add these directly to your Matter platform of choice without any need for an Aqara hub or the Aqara Home app (beyond firmware updates). Using the standard Zigbee connection does require an Aqara hub, but you do get more advanced features that are only available via the Aqara app.

If you wanted to add these to Aqara Home but also wanted to use Matter over Thread, then you’d need the Aqara Hub M3, as that’s currently the only Matter Controller and Thread Border Router available for the Aqara ecosystem.

Possibly the most requested feature for a new smart switch would be three-way switch functionality (also referred to as two-way in the UK), which allows you to connect the switch to a set of lights that already have a second switch connected to them, like at the top and bottom of a staircase, for example.

Unlike the original switches mentioned at the start, which came in single and double switch variants, with neutral and no-neutral options, these new switches can work with or without a neutral wire. This means you’re less likely to order the wrong variant when it comes to the need for a switch with or without neutral wire connectivity.

All switches are capable of energy monitoring too, although this only applies if you have a neutral wire. Additionally, in Zigbee mode, all switch (with neutral) will act as Zigbee repeaters. They should work as repeaters for your Thread network too, although whether a neutral wire is required for this, is unclear. Interestingly, the HomeKit over Thread Wemo dimmer doesn’t require a neutral, but acts as a Thread Router to expand the Thread network.

There’s currently no word on the release date for the North American Dimmer switch, although the EU rotary dimmer switch should be coming out soon.

You can buy the new North American Aqara H2 switches from Amazon via the links below;

• Aqara H2 2 button, 1-channel switch
• Aqara H2 2-button, 2-channel switch
• Aqara H2 4-button, 3-channel switch