Aqara FP2 presence sensor overview: The only HomeKit occupancy sensor – do phone

Aqara FP2 occupancy sensor

Good dwelling automations will be triggered by a wide range of circumstances. Time, location, the solar, a door opening, a button getting pressed, or when somebody comes into the room.

That is generally completed by way of movement sensors, however their temperamental sensing makes them unideal for a lot of rooms within the dwelling. Aqara’s FP2 sensor goals to repair that.

The Aqara FP2 may be very attention-grabbing in its design. It has the face of the sensor with an Aqara emblem printed on it that sits atop an articulating arm.

Aqara FP2 from the facet

A USB-C cable plugs into the again of the sensor, which routes out of the highest — assuming you place it on a desk. The base is magnetic, permitting it to mount to metallic surfaces — like a fridge — or to the 2 adhesive metallic plates Aqara contains within the field.

Most movement sensors are small, battery-powered sq. packing containers you may place about your own home. The design makes it simpler to put, however the energy requirement is tougher to beat.

Aqara FP2 is a small circle

Aqara features a USB-C to USB-A cable within the field, however disgrace on them for not together with a Kind-C to Kind-C. USB-A units have gotten legacy units, so together with a Kind-A cable within the field is now not acceptable.

What’s vital to nail down is the differentiation between an occupancy sensor and a movement sensor. The latter is commonplace, whereas the previous has been elusive for Apple Residence customers.

Movement sensors require important motion to set off and may get set off by pets, a automotive driving by a window, or somebody within the room. They most steadily use passive infrared radar — PIR for brief — which is not very correct and has different points.

Aqara FP2 versus Eve Movement

One of many widespread points is that in case you sit nonetheless in a room, the movement sensor will now not know you are there. It would not make automations simple.

Enter occupancy sensors. They do not detect movement however use mmWave radar to detect as much as 5 folks within the room. It could actually result in different options that we’ll focus on later.

Aqara FP2 on our bar shelf

Between the 2, an occupancy sensor is way extra preferable, particularly if you need a easy automation that turns the lights on once you enter a room and switch off once you go away.

Not like another Aqara equipment, the FP2 doesn’t require the Aqara app although it does profit from it do you have to select to make use of it. Initially, we simply added the FP2 on to the Residence app with the pairing code caught to the stand.

Aqara FP2 setup

The Residence app guides you thru the setup course of as ordinary. The sensor was rapidly recognized as soon as we plugged it in and assigned it a room and a reputation.

Technically, the FP2 has two sensors inside — a light-weight sensor and the occupancy sensor. You may assign them a person title or go away them labeled as-is.

Aqara FP2 continued setup within the Residence app

Lastly, the Residence app gives advisable automations you may use the sensor for based mostly on the units in the identical room. For us, it urged turning on the lights when occupancy is detected.

In comparison with controllable equipment, sensors present on the high of the Residence app for the entire dwelling and every room. In our eating room, we are able to see the brightness in lux plus the occupancy.

Aqara FP2 within the Residence app

Tapping on any of these sensors brings up the complete view the place you may change the title, change the room, modify notifications, and create new automation guidelines.

The most elementary automation to create could be to activate the lights once you enter a room, then off once you go away. You may get extra inventive by configuring conditional guidelines to only activate the lights whether it is darkish out or flip them on to completely different brightness ranges and coloration hues based mostly on the time of day.

Outdoors of the Residence app, you may add the FP2 to the Aqara app. Once more, this is not vital for naked-bones HomeKit management.

When you’ve already added the machine to the Residence app, you could bind the accent to the Aqara app. When you begin within the Aqara app, it can add to each from the get-go.

Aqara app exhibits further sensors

Aqara exhibits the machine as three completely different sensors; a light-weight sensor, an occupancy sensor, and a fall detector. The final of which is essentially the most distinctive.

If the FP2 will get mounted on the ceiling, fall detection can notify you if somebody within the room falls. This may be particularly helpful for individuals who are taking care of elders.

Even with the included magnets, mounting on the ceiling will be troublesome. Until you will have ceiling-mounted receptacles, there isn’t any clear solution to route a twine up a wall to plug the factor in.

Most customers will seemingly choose to put the sensor on a flat floor like a bookshelf or desk, although the upper, the higher.

Apple Residence’s help for movement is pretty restricted, however Aqara opens up way more controls. For instance, you may create unbiased movement zones in a single room.

Aqara FP2 options within the Aqara app

To create the movement zones, we would place ourselves at a sure level in a room and spotlight that space on the 2D scan generated by the FP2. You may even add stickers for objects like couches, chairs, and so on.

Automations can then be run based mostly on particular movement zone detection. It is successfully the identical as having a number of movement sensors in a single room.

The sensor can detect as much as 5 folks without delay, so you may set off one scene when somebody sits on the sofa and a second scene when somebody walks within the door, with a 3rd mild present set off when somebody walks as much as the fish tank.

Movement sensors will be one of many extra helpful equipment to a wise dwelling, however they’re filled with limitations. An occupancy sensor helps to a level however would not wholly remedy its setbacks.

Aqara FP2 is nice for turning on lavatory lights

With an occupancy sensor, you may set off the lights in a room once you stroll in and only flip them off once you go away. That is nice for widespread areas, loos, closets, and extra.

It additionally has a verbose function set that may get extremely granular and technical for customers that wish to enterprise that far down the rabbit gap.

In our testing, the machine works effectively, virtually instantaneously detecting movement after we stroll right into a room and inflicting our Hue and Nanoleaf lights to activate instantly. There was normally only a one-second max delay for the lights to set off, they usually all the time turned off just a few moments after we left the room.

Aqara FP2 field

There’s an enormous purposeful distinction between an occupancy sensor and a movement sensor, nevertheless it is not almost as inexpensive. The excessive price ticket makes it inopportune to outfit each room and closet, however with no competitors, you’ve got little various.

If you wish to take advantage of your good dwelling, you may must shell out for it.

• Full help for Apple Residence
• USB-C powered
• The first and only occupancy sensor to help Apple Residence
• A bunch of further options within the Aqara app
• No hub required

• Contains USB-C to USB-A cable slightly than all Kind-C
• No energy adapter included
• Not simple to place