Working to automate your smart home with better security? Aqara recently updated its Motion Sensor for HomeKit, renaming it the Motion Sensor P1 and adding sensitivity modes and longer battery life — up to five years.
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Aqara Motion Sensor P1
Along with the greater battery life, Aqara’s new Motion Sensor P1 includes three sensitivity modes. You can use them to set the distance at which the gadget will trigger; high, medium and low. The modes can reduce the number of false alarms.
The device can detect movement up to seven meters (23 feet) away. And a built-in light sensor can trigger smart home lights, turning on the lights you designate when motion is detected. For example, you could set your driveway light to come on when motion is detected, but only after dark.
You can do the same with any smart lights in the home, so you might get used to having them come on when you enter a room and never have to turn them on yourself.
The sensor features a wide, 170-degree field of view for up to two meters and a 150-degree field of view for up to seven meters. On its stand, the gadget can rotate 360 degrees.
You can use the Aqara Home app to configure settings such as detection timeout, setting it anywhere from 1 to 200 seconds.
You can use the Motion Sensor P1 with HomeKit, Zigbee and Alexa. The device supports over-the-air updates and the Zigbee 3.0 protocol, plus it will support the Matter standard when it’s released.
Take note that this new motion sensor is not the model unveiled at CES 2022 with Thread support. That one becomes available later in 2022.
The new Aqara Motion Sensor P1 is rolling out in multiple countries. In the U.S., it retails for $24.99. On Amazon, a coupon on the product page can get you 10% off.
Where to buy: Amazon
