In partnership with Aqara
Table of Contents
About Aqara
Imagine you just came home from the bar, your feet are killing you, and you can’t be bothered to even undress before you lay down to sleep. You leave all of the lights on, the fan is still running, and you stub your toe on the side of the bed.
Gee, wouldn’t life be much easier if you didn’t have to manually turn off the lights, could adjust the fan with your fingertips, and could find out who moved the bed ever-so-slightly?
Aqara is looking to make your life that much easier. This company develops affordable devices that can monitor your house and more importantly allow you to control your home via mobile apps, smart speakers and even hand gestures. An automated home is also made possible, and your lights, ACs, curtains and home appliances can be controlled without any manual input.
They have over 40k likes on Facebook and 46k followers on Instagram. In this Aqara review, I’ll see whether they deserve that many fans by looking at their products, their capabilities, their customer reception, and more.
Overview of Aqara
Aqara is a relatively young company that first grew as a manufacturer partner of the Chinese company Xiaomi. Today it runs under its own brand, Aqara, which has only been around since 2016. It becomes increasingly popular within the smart home community worldwide for the high quality of its products and the accessible price tags. Aqara devices are now available in over 40 countries from 5 continents, serving more than 5 million users in 170 countries and territories.
The company finds a way to integrate with home systems like Google Assistant, Alexa, and Apple Homekit. Their products can help you watch over your house, regulate appliances, and more, all from the touch of a button.
That’s the main appeal when it comes to Aqara; they try to simplify daily life by putting everything in the palm of your hand. By building off of the success of other home systems, Aqara can bring your entire living space together and turn it into a modern marvel of effortless functioning.
That’s great and all, but you’re probably wondering how exactly Aqara accomplishes that goal. I’ll answer that question for you later in this Aqara review, but first, I want to tell you some of the company’s highlights:
Highlights
- Develops home monitoring products that can synchronize with each other
- Devices can be controlled through voice control or an app
- Compatible with Apple Home, Alexa, and Hey Google
- Most devices are based on Zigbee, one of the most popular protocol for smart home due to fast response, high reliability and extended range
- Available internationally
Although I won’t cover every item in this Aqara review as I’ll be focusing on some of their top-tier products like the Aqara Curtain Driver E1, I wanted to tell you about the broad categories of goods that you can find on their website and associated distributor pages:
- Cameras
- Home hubs
- Sensors
- Controllers
Aqara Curtain Driver E1 Review
This product is one of the most interesting concepts I’ve seen in the homecare space. The Aqara Curtain Driver E1 can open and close your curtains without you needing to lift a finger. That means you can start your morning or end your night faster than ever.
You can attach the Curtain Driver to most curtain rods and they can support nearly 25 pounds of weight. Much like all the other items in this Aqara review, they can communicate with the company’s app and major ecosystems like HomeKit, Alexa and Google for seamless use.
You’ll also be happy to know that their battery life can last over a year on a single charge.
The Curtain Driver has two different versions, each with different prices. The Rod version is more versatile as it can fit on most curtain rods, but it costs more than the Track version. That makes sense considering that the latter only works with U- and I-rails.
Either way, both are phenomenal additions that can make waking up or winding down a little more relaxing.
Aqara Hub Review
I’ll get into the product section of this Aqara review by covering the brand’s most essential product. Consider an Aqara hub to be the one ring that rules them all. It unites all of the other accessories in Aqara’s catalog under its watchful eye.
What I’m trying to say is that the Aqara hub is a powerful control center that can connect and communicate with the other items in this Aqara review. It can pair with up to 128 different Aqara products under one roof, synchronizing their input and allowing you to control them all through an app.
The Aqara Home App is available on the iTunes and Android app stores. It can allow you to direct your Aqara products through either voice or touch control without having to get up from the couch.
You can manually turn products off and on, and monitor them all from your phone or tablet.
The best part about an Aqara hub is that it’s easier to set up than an easy-bake oven. It only requires three steps:
- Plug the hub in
- Add the hub to the Aqara app
- Add any additional Aqara products you wish to control from the app
Technically, there is a fourth step, but it involves kicking your feet up, closing your eyes, and taking a load off knowing that your work is done. You can relax even deeper when you learn that the Aqara hubs are compatible with Google, Alexa, and Apple HomeKit and cost as little as $30 on Amazon.
Aqara provides multiple models of hubs, including two security cameras with the Zigbee hub built-in. Now let’s look at the company’s offers of proverbial Cerebro, in the next part of our Aqara review.
Aqara Camera Hub G2H Pro Review
The Aqara Camera Hub G2H Pro is the best-selling camera in Aqara’s collection and for good reason. It’s a one-of-a-kind home monitoring system that comes with a staggering number of features.
Let’s begin with what the camera can do. It can capture footage during the day and night with pristine clarity. It has a night vision lens that can keep an eye on your belongings while you sleep all without waking you up thanks to its subtle LED lights.
The Aqara Camera Hub G2H Pro also has a massive fish-eye lens that can survey 146 degrees at once, granting you a wider and more comfortable view.
You can use that huge lens anywhere in your house since the camera can magnetically attach itself to a metal surface. Alternatively, you can mount it on the wall with screws and nails
The camera can also send notifications and updates right to your phone if it notices anything suspicious happening.
However, if there are places you don’t want the camera to record or to save to its cloud storage, then you can mask them using the Aqara Camera Hub G2H Pro’s privacy zone functionality.
As its name suggests, the G2H Pro is not only a home security camera but also a smart home hub, which can connect and manage up to 128 Aqara devices. It means that you won’t need to purchase a separate Aqara hub to use the Aqara devices including the Curtain Driver E1, various sensors and switches if you have this camera hub.
If you purchase this item from Amazon then you’re going to be paying anywhere from $70 to $110 depending on how many additional sensors you buy.
Aqara Camera Hub G3 Review
The next product I’ll speak about in my Aqara review is a phenomenal item for people who want facial recognition software in their home surveillance cameras.
This product can detect specific individuals by linking them to photos you imported to the device’s memory. From there, it can send you personalized messages depending on who enters the home.
The Aqara Camera Hub G3 can send you a message like “Your child is home,” when your young kid arrives home from school. That’s not the only way you can customize the device either.
It can learn to read certain hand gestures and react to them accordingly. For example, you can flash it the peace sign and it’ll know to power off for the night.
This item also has a massive viewing angle. It’s capable of monitoring 360 degrees around itself by circulating in a set pattern. Thanks to the pan-and-tilt motor, features like human tracking, pet tracking and auto cruise are also made possible. That huge display is improved by its 2k 1296p resolution, which is a startlingly clear capturing power.
You can purchase the Aqara Camera Hub G3 on Amazon for as low as $110.
Aqara Hub M2 Review
While the last two items I covered in this Aqara review were both cameras first and foremost, the Aqara Hub M2 is a different sort of device altogether. It’s a dedicated home hub that shines because of how many items it can include in its web.
If you make this item the centerpiece of your smart home system then you can pair it with up to 128 Aqara devices at once. It can also communicate with all your IR devices at home, such as TVs, fans, LED lights, regardless of their location within your house because it has a 360-degree infrared transmitter.
Additionally, if you want to establish a network with higher stability and faster response then you can connect the M2 hub to your Wi-Fi through its ethernet port.
One of the best features of the Aqara Hub M2 is its built-in speaker, which can be used for security alerts, doorbell notifications, and alarm clocks.
If you want to purchase the Aqara Hub M2 on Amazon then you’re probably going to pay at least $60.
Aqara Hub M1S Gen 2 Review
The penultimate item in this Aqara review is the Aqara Hub M1S, which can be seen as a modest improvement on the brand’s first forays into the home monitoring market. As such, it’s a bit less impressive than the Aqara Hub M2, but it has some advantages of its own.
Namely, the Aqara Hub M1S doubles as a light source. It has 18 LEDs that allow it to act as a standard light, a night light, a security alarm, or a doorbell. It also has a 2×2 MIMO wi-fi antenna that can broadcast its signal throughout the house.
Much like the other smart home hubs in Aqara’s inventory, this device can connect with up to 128 other Aqara devices to provide you with seamless coverage. You can control all of them using either your voice or the Aqara Home app.
If this device is making you want to take out your wallet, then I recommend that you pick it up from Amazon for $50.
Aqara Hub E1 Review
The main appeal of the final device in my Aqara review is its size. This item is tiny enough to fit into any USB-A outlet, which makes it great for people who live in tight quarters or who don’t have a plethora of spare outlets. It can connect to power banks, laptops, and other portable devices.
Don’t worry that the Aqara Hub E1 is lacking in functionality because of its small size. Instead, think of it as the item with the most bang-for-your-buck value among the other hubs in this Aqara review, because it can do mostly the same things as those can.
It can connect to up to 128 devices at once, stabilizes the wi-fi signal of other devices, and can remotely control your lights, your blinds, and other home features wirelessly. The best part about the Aqara Hub E1 is that it can do all that for only $30 on Amazon.
Aqara Sensor Review
Finally, let’s take a look at some of the finest sensors that Aqara has in their arsenal.
Aqara Door & Window Sensors Review
The easiest way in and out of a building is either through the door or the windows, and the Aqara Door & Window Sensors can help you keep entryways safe for yourself and your loved ones without compromising their functionality.
You can place one of these wireless sensors by any window or door and they’ll notify you when someone entered or exited. You can also control their status through your mobile phone, allowing you to disable them at the tap of a button.
Aqara Temperature & Humidity Sensor Review
The Aqara Temperature & Humidity Sensor can potentially eliminate your need to watch over the thermostat like a hawk.
These sensors can tell you how humid, moist, and pressurized the air in your house is, along with its temperature. You can then modify those variables to your liking through the Aqara home app.
Plus, they don’t have to be wired to anything and have a 2-year battery life so that you get the most bang for your buck.
Aqara Motion Sensor Review
Like other Aqara sensors, you can place the Aqara Motion Sensor anywhere. It’s wireless, meaning you can set it up in innocuous places to better detect motion.
The Aqara Motion Sensor can monitor movement from up to 7 meters away and send you an alert if someone enters its field of vision.
Aqara Water Leak Sensor Review
Similar to the Aqara Motion Sensor, you can place the Aqara Water Leak Sensor anywhere that water can potentially escape from pipes. It works in kitchens, basements, washrooms, and even on balconies.
The Aqara Water Leak Sensor will send you a message the moment that it detects a water leak or if water levels rise as little as 0.5 mm. You can also attach it to the Aqara Smart Plug to automatically shut off water valves.
Who Is Aqara For?
Aqara’s products are great for people who are looking into home automation systems but don’t want to shell out ludicrous sums of cash.
Aqara Reviews: What Do Customers Think?
One of the mightiest items in Aqara’s catalog, the Aqara Curtain Driver, earned a powerful 3.3/5 stars average score from more than 30 customer reviews on Amazon.
Additionally, these are the cumulative customer review scores that I also gathered from Amazon regarding the products featured in this Aqara review:
- Aqara Camera Hub G2H Pro: 4.2/5 stars based on more than 250 ratings.
- Aqara Camera Hub G3: 4.4/5 stars based on more than 240 ratings
- Aqara Hub M2: 4.3/5 stars based on more than 750 ratings
- Aqara Hub M1S: 4.3/5 stars based on more than 350 ratings
- Aqara Hub E1: 4.2/5 stars based on more than 300 ratings
But those scores didn’t provide a deep enough insight into why people felt the way they did about the company. For that, I had to dig deeper into the customer Aqara reviews and see what people wrote about them.
Amazon users largely reported that the products worked as well as the advertisements described them, which may not seem like much, but is always a glowing testimonial.
Nobody likes being disappointed, and the majority of Amazon reviewers felt that they got exactly what they paid for – a sustainable and reliable piece of technology.
Here’s how one writer described the Aqara 2k Camera Hub G3 in their 5/5 stars review: “I purchased this to see when people or packages arrive at my house. Installed under my covered porch out of the weather. It works great. Human and face detection is outstanding. I really recommend this camera. It also works with home kit with secure video.”
Another component that people loved about Aqara’s products was their wireless connectivity. Buyers liked that they didn’t have to deal with cables and ports, they could pair everything together through a wireless signal. That’s one point that this customer touched on in their Aqara review:
“I solely use aqara with Apple’s HomeKit and I have no complaints about the connection. I believe hubs are the way to go especially hubs that don’t need to be connected into Ethernet. I currently using motion sensor and door sensors, there is no delay HomeKit when using aqara devices to control other devices.”
Aqara also held an overall score of 4/5 stars based on one customer review on Sitejabber. The one customer wrote that “You download the free application via the play store or the apple store, you recognize your Gateway and once recognized you can start to recognize all your sensor devices and create your scenarios and routines.”
This is a common comment I found in other Aqara reviews; the systems were easy to set up and manage.
Finally, I also noticed that the company held an average score of 3.4/5 stars based on 2 customer reviews on TrustPilot.
Overall, people appreciated that the devices worked as they were advertised, were easy to set up, and made their lives a little more manageable.
Is Aqara Legit?
Thankfully, I couldn’t find any dismal customer reviews that lead me to believe that Aqara is operating with malintent.
However, there were a few spelling errors in the FAQ section on their website that left me scratching my head, though I don’t know for sure if they’re translation errors or not.
Is Aqara Worth It?
Aqara, in my opinion, is a worthwhile investment if you’re already looking for a solid home automation system.
You get more rewards if you purchase multiple Aqara products because they all work with each other seamlessly and can be managed from the same app. More importantly, the more devices you own, the more possibilities of customized home automations. So I recommend going to them if you want to outfit your living space with many different appliances.
Aqara Promotions & Discounts
Unfortunately, there weren’t any promotions or discounts currently running on the Aqara website.
Where to Buy Aqara
Aqara can be purchased all over the world, but where you can buy their products changes based on your location.
Amazon is the most reliable storefront internationally and ships products to Canada, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, and Germany, among other nations.
FAQ
Who owns Aqara?
Lumi United Technology Co., Ltd.
Does Aqara ship internationally?
One of the best things about Aqara is that they can ship to most major countries in the Western world.
What is Aqara’s Shipping Policy?
Seeing as how you can only purchase Aqara’s products through third-party distributors, the shipping times will vary based on those distributors rather than Aqara.
What is Aqara’s Return Policy?
Again, Aqara doesn’t personally ship their products, so I can’t say for sure what their return policy is. That all depends on which company you are purchasing their products through.
How to Contact Aqara
You can contact Aqara by consulting with their chatbot on their website, aqara.com.
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