Aqara is present at IFA 2024 and showcases several new products. Although no prices or launch dates are available yet, most of them will probably launch in the coming year. They announced the Aqara Outdoor Camera G5 with build-in Matter bridge and Zigbee hub, the Voice Mate H1 to control your Smart Home with a device you need to pick up to use, Light Switches working both with Thread and Zigbee, a Valve controller, Led Bulb and Garage Door controller.
Aqara Camera Hub G5 Pro
The Aqara Camera Hub G5 Pro is much more than just a camera for outdoor use. As we already saw in previous indoor camera’s like the G2H and G3, they have a build-in Zigbee hub to connect other child devices to the camera. It supports HomeKit Secure Video (HKSV) and is either powered by PoE or USB-C.
Aqara Voice Mate H1
With the Aqara Voice Mate H1 it’s possible to control your Smart Home using your voice. It’s a little device which you need to pick up before use, so it doesn’t work like Google Assistant or Siri with a wake-word. An Aqara Hub M3 is required and the new Copilot functionality within the Aqara app is used to control devices.
Aqara Light Switch H2
The Aqara Light Switch H2 is the first light switch from Aqara with Matter-over-Thread support. It has up to four different buttons. Aqara didn’t fully switch to Thread as communication protocol, as Zigbee is also still supported. You can easily switch between both protocols, depending on your preference. After the Door and Window Sensor P2, Motion and Light Sensor P2 and the U200 Smart Lock with support for Thread, Aqara is slowly moving towards this new protocol which is getting more and more attraction within Smart Home products.
Aqara Led Bulb T2
The Aqara Led Bulb T2 als both supports Zigbee and Thread. It will be available in both colour and white and GU10, E26 and E27 bulbs will all be part of the T2 range. When using Zigbee, a Aqara Zigbee hub is required, otherwise a Matter hub with Thread support from your favourite Smart Home platform will be enough to connect the bulbs to your Smart Home.
Aqara Valve Controller T1
If you already own some water leak sensors, this Valve Controller T1 allows you to be in control even more. It can close an existing valve, which will come in handy when you get an alert from one of your water leak sensors when you’re not home. It works with Zigbee and is powered by 4 AA-batteries.
Aqara Garage Door Controller T2
The Aqara Garage Door Controller T2 can be used to make your existing garage door smart. It can control up to 2 doors and supports Matter for control with e.g. Apple HomeKit or Google Home. It will also be possible to use geofencing to open the door when you’re arriving home.
Round-up
With the product launches at IFA 2024, Aqara shows several new or updated products. With Thread support for the light bulbs and switches, Aqara is moving more and more towards Matter, although Zigbee enthousiast can still continue as before as Aqara hasn’t fully switched to Thread for these devices, in contrary to the Door- and Window Sensor P2 and Motion and Light Sensor P2. For these devices, they decided to continue selling both a Zigbee and a Thread version separately. Specific availability and prices ar not yet known and we will probably also see a lot more details of all products when they officially launch.
