Aqara Releases Matter, Thread, Zigbee Climate Sensor W100 in China

Aqara has today released one of the many devices it debuted at CES this year, namely their Climate Sensor W100. This is only the second battery-operated sensor with a display from the company, with their TVOC sensor being the first. The W100 is only available in China at this time, but should be coming to international consumers soon, we hope…

The W100 differs significantly, however;

• The first difference here is that the W100 offers either Zigbee 3.0 or Matter over Thread as its wireless protocol methods, much like their recently released smart bulbs.
• The second difference is that whilst this is primarily a temperature and humidity sensor, it can also display the same metrics for a second Aqara temp/humidity sensor in your home.

• A third and possibly major difference, is that W100 comes with three programmable buttons, with plus and minus symbols. These are exposed to Apple Home or other Matter platforms as programmable buttons to control third party devices in the respective apps, and will offer single, double, and long press actions as standard. The reason for these is that they can also be programmed to control the company’s W400 thermostat (which is also a China exclusive), hence the reason for the plus and minus icons. Still, there’s the possibility that it may also be able to control the thermostat valves the company released for Europe last year.

It’s not entirely clear if the display uses LCD or E-ink, and given it requires two CR2450 batteries with an estimated life of two years, it isn’t likely to offer a backlit display. The W100 also has a magnetic back section, allowing it to be placed on something like a fridge door, although it also comes with a more permanent wall plate it attached to, that can be screwed into place.

The price for the W100 on places like Taobao or Tmall in China has it listed at RMB299, although that’s an introductory discounted price. This is roughly the equivalent of US$41.00, UK£31.00, or EU€36.00, although it’s probably going to be more expensive on international markets, and with the threat of tariffs from the US, there may well be a delay in this being released in the US.