You videos are so well done and you even put the results in the title. The fact you took that effort at the risk of people not watching it shows that your videos are above and beyond.
@@jacklewis100 Just don't use the Aqara sensor with the Aqara hub. I use it with my own local hub within Home Assistant, works perfectly. I agree with you about the Chinese cloud services...
@@TheHookUp @The Hook Up A second channel that shows more of the behind the scenes, setup, tools used, etc would be awesome. The how and why you did what you did... An example of a channel that does this is "BUILD2" which is the 2nd channel of "Quint BUILDs".
Instead of stretching this out to a 30 minute long review after all the testing, you just made a 6 minute video and gave us your recommendation right at the beginning. You, sir, have earned yourself a new subscriber.
Update: So I got the Aqara D&W sensors, combined with the Sonoff USB Zigbee dongle, and I must say: wow. The delay is non-existent and I haven't lost a single update yet. I'm so glad I waited all those months for you to finish this test, absolutely worth it.
Do the have any compatibility issue with other sistem repeaters from different brands? Can you specify your sensor model as there are 3 of them? Thanks.
Hello, Not super familiar with these things, but you only needed the 1. Sonoff USB Zigbee and 2. Aqara sensor and you have a working system that notifies your phone when the sensor goes off?
Thank you Rob, great video as always. Just to let you know I am disabled and have trouble with legs. you have changed my life, with credit to Paul and Brian. I came close to not being here and if it wasn't for your ideas that has made my life so much easier and given me purpose again. Thank you so much for everything you done for everyone. Just amazing how you can change somebodies life This is more than home automation, to some people its a life line. God bless x
I already use ring and don't plan on changing sensors, but since you included the result in the title I sat through this entire video, subscribed to the channel, liked the video, and am now commenting. Hopefully that helps the channel metrics!
I’ve been using Aqara contact sensors and motion sensors for about 3 years now. Never had to change the batteries in any of them so far. Super cheap and reliable
do you need to use their hub? or can use straight with home assisstant? how is integration with google/alexa? tossing up between these and yolink. Yolink seems easy to trigger an alarm or let me know a door is open with Alexa
@@mathiasconde6201 you need a hub for that. But dont worry, unlike other hub which only collecting dust. Aqara hub does give you additional purpose for examples, camera or IR blasters
@@mathiasconde6201 I use the Aqara hubs (one of the older versions), but I think you could integrate directly with Home Assistant by using something like Zigbee2MQTT on your server. I haven’t tried it yet since I use the hub lights as indicators for certain things
I just bought a Moes contact sensor from Amazon a few weeks ago. It appears similar to the Aqara. It is Zigbee and works with my new Amazon speaker. This replaces my Wyze Sense sensor which went belly up after 2.5 years. I have a plastic mailbox about 50 feet (16m) from my house. I didn't know what I was doing, but the Alexa app worked fine. When the mailbox is opened, my smart speaker announces that I have mail and two of my home lights change to red. I use my Google Home routine to reset the lights. I could have used Alexa for that too, but the Google Home was already set up. Nice review.
Man, I dropped some serious money on a houseful of 5800MINIs (SDR to receive signal) because I thought they were the smallest around. Any future openings are getting the Aqaras! Small, easy to pair/use (ConBee dongle -> hass -> Node-RED)... thanks for going through all this testing labor for our benefit! You're so concise with your videos... much appreciated.
So much time went into making this video. Incredible! I really like your setup for thoroughly testing these sensors and loved the battery power over time animation. Thanks so much! 😃
GREAT Video. Aqara has been my device of choice as I liked the combination of size, cost and reliability with HomeAssistant. It is good to know how well it stacks up against the competiion. The only other one I have used is the Sonoff device and whilst slightly larger it is lower in cost. I think people underestimate the utility of these devices if you are prepared to do a little surgery on them by removing the magnetic reed switch and extending the terminals outside of the device using wires I have turning my devices into rain monitors, liquid level sensors and door lock sensors.
I’ve been using a couple of the Aqara sensors for almost a year now. They haven’t missed a beat. I have one on my sons bedroom door and if he opens the door after 9pm, it turns on the lamp in our bedroom. That way we know he’s up and he has a clear path to our room. The other one is on a baby gate at the top of the stairs. If the sensor breaks contact (gate open) a light at the top of the stairs comes on as a reminder to close the gate. Once it’s closed the light turns back off.
your videos never seize to amaze me. the selfless act of purchasing a series of products to test and recommend is not only generous, but extremely knowledegable. and though i don't have a zigbee network myself because i've been on the fence about it.. i am definitely going to move that to the top of the list because accurate affordable contact sensors have been something i've been wanting to add to my home assistant network. thanks again for an amazingly helpful video review!
Your videos are really the best smart home videos out there! I also own and use more than 10 Aqara door and window sensors across my house for over 2 years now and I can absolutely second your opinion on those sensors. They are very reliable and have a great battery life. Thanks for the video! BTW: The Aqara temperature, humidity and pressure sensor is also very good!
I have like 20 of these sensors (not aqara, original xiaomi) for two years now. Have not changed a single battery and they all report above 50%. There is zero lag, my automations are immediate and I can't recall a single issue over the time. Paid like $8 each.
I also have them for like 2 years and the battery is still solid. Somtimes the motions sensors I have don't detect motion accurately again right after they stop detecting motion, and the contact sensor sometimes remains as open even though it was closed, but these are small issues. Probably changing the batteries will help
Thanks for sharing that! I have bought one of these sensors so far to test, and I was worried about the tiny battery in it. Great to know it won't be an issue!
Can confirm! Was in the market about 2 months ago for 20+ sensors for my new home and was looking for the most affordable Zigbee-compatible contact sensor. Bought an Aqara sensor to test, and at the time Amazon had them for 15 dollars. I already had a few z wave sensors and these came out to be half the size at half the price. I ended up purchasing all Aqara sensors after that.
Mr Yamaha. How is it going over 1 year? Do the sensors somehow report battery life? I am in the same boat. Want to put a contact on every window. Have circa 20 openings in the house. Need a solution that will last! And are you using HA by any chance? Thanks
Great video, but I think you could mention that Aqara devices are not fully ZigBee compliant, so you'll have problems pairing with hubitat hubs, for example. Some people manage to pair them and they run well (with a driver), but most complain about loss of connectivity and unreliability. I think that should factor heavily on the ratings for the Aqara sensors. I'm returning the two I bought right now.
@@TheHookUp Hi, I did not, and the reason is that people using these sensors with hubitat say they while they may work with the drivers, they're still not fully ZigBee compatible, so they only work well with "Aqara friendly" ZigBee devices in the mesh. Also, the predominant opinion in the forums is that these devices disconnect frequently. TL;DR I could probably hammer them into working by installing the driver, but that still won't solve the ZigBee compatibility and reliability issues.
That's fair. The main reason that the Aqara devices perform so much better than the rest is that they have a slightly different protocol that reduces the frequencies of keep alives and check ins. I've been using Aqara contact sensors since this video and haven't had any issues (home assistant with an iTead zigbee USB stick).
@@TheHookUpI also tried the customer driver.. still issues with lost connectivity with hubitat… might be worth video update since a few of us purchased based on your recommendation.
What would the update say? The number of people reporting no problems is 100x more than those reporting problems. Those problems could be from bad units, bad meshes, competing meshes, or improper device handler information. All I'm able to do is test and report my data.
Opposite results here. I bought a bunch of those Aqara sensors a while ago for my doors and windows and after some usage I noticed they are very unreliable, mostly when opening or closing the door/window very slowly, they won't update the state. I would say that about 50% of the time they don't update. It's not a defective unit because I bought 6 of them and they all failed similarly. Then I replaced them all with the ones from BlitzWolf and they work a lot more reliably. Not perfect, but they fail to update their state very rarely. If you hear the "click" of the magnet from both devices, the Aqara one sounds more "loose", like a spring and the BlitzWolf one sounds more "smooth", like a car's signals/blinkers sound. Also, the BlitzWolf one have a red LED that blinks once everytime it opens or closes, which gives us extra confidence that the magnet toggled. Anyway, I use them mostly for the alarm system, which requires all windows and doors to be closed. While I used the Aqara ones, I found myself going downstairs constantly just to go open and close a random window to make the sensor update its state. Like, almost everyday, sometimes for more than one sensor. Since I'm using the BlitzWolf ones, it doesn't happen for several weeks in a row! Huge difference. The battery life has been great aswell, I've installed them in march/april and they're still at 75%. Your workbench is very cool, but it has one flaw: the open/close movement is always the same, at the same angle and at the same speed, so the results are very limited to those factors.
Great review and thank you for putting in the time and effort to make these videos! Just picked up a few of these using your link. Would love to see a similar one for motion sensors.
I have been pleased with all of the Aqara equipment that I have. They haven't steered me wrong yet. I just wish they had outdoor versions of the motion sensors, although I might be able to get my Reolink cameras to fill that duty once I get the wires run.
Phew I have only these ones in my house so glad they are the best ones haha. Great video as always. The amount of effort you put in is amazing and so well done. 👍
I've got several of the aqara contact sensors embedded behind the strike plate for each of my doors, with a magnets added into the end of the deadbolt, so I get a nightly notification it's any of my doors are not locked, or if they open after 10pm. Batteries going on 2 years now on all of them.
I'd love to see a video on how you did that and what you learned. Like how you drilled/chiseled out the space, how you change batteries (eventually!), did you just glue a magnet at the end or drill a hole in the deadbolt and insert a cylinder magnet, magnetic orientation, etc. Just knowing that a door or window is closed (or nearly closed) does not tell us whether the lock is set - and your approach would!
Nice work, I had purchased 4 of the Aqaras and was quite happy with them. I’m using these with HA and love that there’s also a temperature entity presented from them.
I really love the Aeotec sensor, as it detects vibrations and I saw in some tests that it has one of the biggest range (between the sensor and the magnet). More expensive but worth it IMO.
I'm almost done switching out all my Wifi sensors and switches to Yo-link. It's been super dependable and could not be easier to setup. And my internet "fiber" has only went out twice in 5 years, so I don't sweat the "lost internet" issue. All the serious sensors like "water leak detectors" are D2D with the water shut off valve and don't need internet or grid power to operate, its all automated.
Thank you for this video, I've been patiently waiting for it after seeing you were testing these. Thanks to you, now I'll also have the option to use Zigbee devices from now on ;).
Never heard of or considered Aqara but I’m definitely interested now, as I currently use Smarthings! Thanks for a well put together comparison and breakdown!🙌🏾
this is exactly what i needed, thanks! My Wyze contact sensors are great but lately have been starting to fail, plus they discontinued the ones i have so it’s only a matter of time before they all stop working. These Aqara sensors look like they’ll fit nicely into my Home Assistant setup!
Rob - Great video. I have played with the Sonoff Zigbee and the Shelly WiFi contact sensors, with rather poor results... I have had good luck with the one aqara contact sensor I bough; seeing your video gave me the confidence to order a bunch more for a whole slew of automations I have planned. Keep up the great work!
@@DanielSchoonover Totally agree. I was really disappointed. I'd rather pay 2X for the Aqara sensors and get something that is more solidly built, and works reliably.
I could not agree more. Been using these for at least a year. My home is mainly zwave, wifi and insteon so I didn’t have much Zigbee. I added a Conbee stick to Home Assistant to use with these. I have to say that initially I was disappointed with their performance. But after adding three strategically placed Zigbee plugs around my house, these have become one of my most reliable components. And I have not had to replace any batteries yet. Similar great experience with Aqara motion sensors too.
Did you use all new batteries from a reputable brand when testing? I run into extremely varying battery life based on what battery brand, distance from hub, etc. Just curious, and great review!
Great video! I love how you get right to it and don't bury the results way down in the video. I'm looking for something for an outdoor gate but really don't want to go with anything cloud only. Did you try any methods of waterproofing the aqara by any chance? I'm curious if you might be able to get away just plastidipping one or something like that.
I have several Aqara sensors, the battery is still at 40% after 2 years. With a small mod, I hooked it up to a pressure mat, place it under my bedsheets and Wa-La, a Zigbee bed occupancy sensor.
Brilliant, I was looking for new sensors and considering the aqara, and you've given me the push I needed. I'm going to use a sonoff zigbee bridge to connect to my node red setup! Thanks
Great, I made the right choice about a month ago :) Only the built in temperature sensors are completely useless showing 26 and 27C on a pair that are sitting on my desk in a
This is amazing. Please do something like this for Motion Sensors, presence sensors, and any other sensors you can think of. I would also be very interested in a test of the new Ikea sensors that just came out, and the new Aqara Matter-enabled Thread sensors that are much more expensive.
@@audreywy1743 I guess it’s purpose is up to you. You can use it as a measure of the temperature in the room. You could use it to see if the temperature is dropping or increasing while the window or door is open. It may be useful for battery compensation too. If the temp is low, the battery voltage can be lower too… just a couple of ideas.
This video has convinced me to switch to ZigBee. I've been using wifi and tuya (plus some Shellies) since forever. How've tuya sucks (keeps becoming unresponsive and some devices randomly require me to start them) even though I live in an apt and thus the distances aren't large. And forget anything with a battery, things eating batteries left and right.
Slowly changing my sensors over to Ring (from Samsung multipurpose). What I like about Ring is how easily it is to remove the sensor to replace the batteries. For your next updated video on this subject, maybe add the distance to register the change event as windows and doors are seldom flush. I'm sure the Ring sensor's battery life can be improved by changing the heartbeat interval but this video is about the OOB experience.
I've been using a ring door sensor for some time, but this week I got an Ecolink ZWave sensor. The cool thing about is it has two terminals, when closed will report. So I added it to a dry contact relay to monitor my power outlet Sump Pump, which has a separate circuit breaker, and recently I found out it was out of power.
I just installed an aqara contact sensor a few weeks ago - glad I made the right choice 🤠 ….but that eco link zwave tilt sensor (I know not contact) has been using the same battery for 3+ years and still at 99%
Got 9 of them around the house and haven't had any issues with them. All original batteries over 3 years later. Looks like the prices have jumped up a bit but still good value.
Excellent channel- you get right to the point, and your prep and production quality is perfect. I think battery life is important, but for someone with an existing system, the compatibility factor may win out over outright battery performance and price. Please keep the comparison videos coming, especially about home automation products.
It would have been great to see a Thread based sensor like the one from Eve in this comparison. Love the rig, who would’ve thought it could use an automatic lubricator!
I purchased a 3 pack and connected them to my Smartthings hub. They were a little difficult to pair but finally got them working. Since then I have had nothing but trouble with them going offline. I have to re-pair them constantly.
@@TheHookUp I should have specified in my post that I was talking about the Aqara sensor. I had originally installed the Xiaomi handler that was on GitHub. When SmartThings changed to Matter, I installed the Yakov driver from the SmartThings site.
I just bought a simple zigbee door sensor (ewelink, but its a rebrand/generic one) witch uses AAA batteries for 3,70€/piece. The batteries are still small enough to fit into my windows' gaps. And have a big battery, nice
Hmm, nice video, but Sonoff SNZB-04 is notably missing and is half the price of Aqara. Also, Aqara zigbee devices tend to "stick" to a single zigbee router or coordinator, so there might be connection issues if you move devices around the house.
like the features, setup was difficult for some of my devices (August Door lock, ruclips.net/user/postUgkxhB5YOMNj04GuoAosExygP4cH-dKeb4aB Bose speaker)... but all switches and outlets (5), thermostat, tankless water heater. Unfortunately all I can do is turn on/off Bose. It doesn't support volume or changing channels, but I believe that is due to the particular speaker I have.... Worth getting if you already have other devices to use it with... I don't sit around and ask Alexa questions much so that doesn't really matter to me....
Great video!! Can you do a video on how to start with Zigbeee and Home Assistant? That will be interesting and will help me to understand what I need to get started there!
You videos are so well done and you even put the results in the title. The fact you took that effort at the risk of people not watching it shows that your videos are above and beyond.
I'll upvote any video 4 months in the making
Absolutely right, no clickbait and super high quality!
Delegate all of your home security data/access to Chinese companies... what could possibly go wrong? :-)
@@jacklewis100 Just don't use the Aqara sensor with the Aqara hub. I use it with my own local hub within Home Assistant, works perfectly. I agree with you about the Chinese cloud services...
@@jacklewis100 The top two sensors are locally controlled, not sure what you are talking about.
I can only imagine the obscene amount of work and data that went into making this video, great job doing this and great video!
I have a confession: I like excel even more than arduino.
@@TheHookUp @The Hook Up A second channel that shows more of the behind the scenes, setup, tools used, etc would be awesome. The how and why you did what you did... An example of a channel that does this is "BUILD2" which is the 2nd channel of "Quint BUILDs".
No to mention the time it took - he had to wait until the last sensor's battery died! This isn't an "I'll release a video next week" kinda deal.
Thanks
OMG you built a testing rig that ran for FOUR months???! You're my hero! :)
Seriously, what a badass
Thanks
Instead of stretching this out to a 30 minute long review after all the testing, you just made a 6 minute video and gave us your recommendation right at the beginning. You, sir, have earned yourself a new subscriber.
Thanks
Update: So I got the Aqara D&W sensors, combined with the Sonoff USB Zigbee dongle, and I must say: wow. The delay is non-existent and I haven't lost a single update yet. I'm so glad I waited all those months for you to finish this test, absolutely worth it.
Glad to hear it Tim. Hope they continue to perform perfectly!
So do you use this with eWelink, since I see you mention Sonoff.
Sonoff sensors are not so good quality.
Do the have any compatibility issue with other sistem repeaters from different brands? Can you specify your sensor model as there are 3 of them? Thanks.
Hello,
Not super familiar with these things, but you only needed the 1. Sonoff USB Zigbee and 2. Aqara sensor and you have a working system that notifies your phone when the sensor goes off?
@@JayWind111 there are reports of aqara devices not Being 100% zigbee compilant, causing problems thats why I ask
Thank you Rob, great video as always. Just to let you know I am disabled and have trouble with legs. you have changed my life, with credit to Paul and Brian. I came close to not being here and if it wasn't for your ideas that has made my life so much easier and given me purpose again. Thank you so much for everything you done for everyone. Just amazing how you can change somebodies life This is more than home automation, to some people its a life line. God bless x
Wow, I’m so glad to hear you are doing better Alan. We’ve definitely got an awesome community here, I couldn’t be happier to be a part of it.
I already use ring and don't plan on changing sensors, but since you included the result in the title I sat through this entire video, subscribed to the channel, liked the video, and am now commenting. Hopefully that helps the channel metrics!
Engagement!
I’ve been using Aqara contact sensors and motion sensors for about 3 years now. Never had to change the batteries in any of them so far. Super cheap and reliable
do you need to use their hub? or can use straight with home assisstant? how is integration with google/alexa? tossing up between these and yolink. Yolink seems easy to trigger an alarm or let me know a door is open with Alexa
@@mathiasconde6201 you need a hub for that. But dont worry, unlike other hub which only collecting dust. Aqara hub does give you additional purpose for examples, camera or IR blasters
Will it alert my phone if I’m not home? (Not connected to the same wifi)
Are these still going strong for you and which hub are you using?
@@mathiasconde6201 I use the Aqara hubs (one of the older versions), but I think you could integrate directly with Home Assistant by using something like Zigbee2MQTT on your server. I haven’t tried it yet since I use the hub lights as indicators for certain things
I have no idea what else you even review/cover, but I'm subscribing purely because of the effort of this video.
Impressive job, love the test rig. I'm picking up some of these Aqara sensors now! Thanks for your work compiling all the data.
I just bought a Moes contact sensor from Amazon a few weeks ago. It appears similar to the Aqara. It is Zigbee and works with my new Amazon speaker. This replaces my Wyze Sense sensor which went belly up after 2.5 years. I have a plastic mailbox about 50 feet (16m) from my house. I didn't know what I was doing, but the Alexa app worked fine.
When the mailbox is opened, my smart speaker announces that I have mail and two of my home lights change to red. I use my Google Home routine to reset the lights. I could have used Alexa for that too, but the Google Home was already set up.
Nice review.
You are a legend Rob! That test rig is amazing! As always your comparison is excellent and it’s crazy how much better the Aqara is!
I smashed subscribe by knowing the fact that you tested it for 4 months with a diy rig, content is all bonus for me at this point.
Man, I dropped some serious money on a houseful of 5800MINIs (SDR to receive signal) because I thought they were the smallest around. Any future openings are getting the Aqaras! Small, easy to pair/use (ConBee dongle -> hass -> Node-RED)... thanks for going through all this testing labor for our benefit! You're so concise with your videos... much appreciated.
Really appreciate you giving us your answer / best choice right off the bat. Top notch video.
So much time went into making this video. Incredible! I really like your setup for thoroughly testing these sensors and loved the battery power over time animation. Thanks so much! 😃
I'm watching and liking the video solely because you answered the question in the title. Thank you for not click-baiting!
Okay, not 'solely'. I'm also interested in the content. :)
Unreal. I was JUST looking for this for the first time and hoping you had a video on it. And here you are having posted one TODAY! Thank you sir!
Thank you for immediately providing the answer on not wasting time. Subscribed, liked, watched the full video.
Ok - instant follow on the animated battery graph. Well done sir!
GREAT Video. Aqara has been my device of choice as I liked the combination of size, cost and reliability with HomeAssistant. It is good to know how well it stacks up against the competiion. The only other one I have used is the Sonoff device and whilst slightly larger it is lower in cost. I think people underestimate the utility of these devices if you are prepared to do a little surgery on them by removing the magnetic reed switch and extending the terminals outside of the device using wires I have turning my devices into rain monitors, liquid level sensors and door lock sensors.
I’ve been using a couple of the Aqara sensors for almost a year now. They haven’t missed a beat. I have one on my sons bedroom door and if he opens the door after 9pm, it turns on the lamp in our bedroom. That way we know he’s up and he has a clear path to our room. The other one is on a baby gate at the top of the stairs. If the sensor breaks contact (gate open) a light at the top of the stairs comes on as a reminder to close the gate. Once it’s closed the light turns back off.
your videos never seize to amaze me. the selfless act of purchasing a series of products to test and recommend is not only generous, but extremely knowledegable. and though i don't have a zigbee network myself because i've been on the fence about it.. i am definitely going to move that to the top of the list because accurate affordable contact sensors have been something i've been wanting to add to my home assistant network. thanks again for an amazingly helpful video review!
Your videos are really the best smart home videos out there! I also own and use more than 10 Aqara door and window sensors across my house for over 2 years now and I can absolutely second your opinion on those sensors. They are very reliable and have a great battery life. Thanks for the video! BTW: The Aqara temperature, humidity and pressure sensor is also very good!
I have like 20 of these sensors (not aqara, original xiaomi) for two years now. Have not changed a single battery and they all report above 50%. There is zero lag, my automations are immediate and I can't recall a single issue over the time.
Paid like $8 each.
I also have them for like 2 years and the battery is still solid. Somtimes the motions sensors I have don't detect motion accurately again right after they stop detecting motion, and the contact sensor sometimes remains as open even though it was closed, but these are small issues. Probably changing the batteries will help
I’ve even read that some people have used them outside for years without them failing!
Thanks for sharing that! I have bought one of these sensors so far to test, and I was worried about the tiny battery in it. Great to know it won't be an issue!
@Nomad No, they all are Zigbee.
Do you have a link of where you got em and what the link of the hub?
Can confirm! Was in the market about 2 months ago for 20+ sensors for my new home and was looking for the most affordable Zigbee-compatible contact sensor. Bought an Aqara sensor to test, and at the time Amazon had them for 15 dollars. I already had a few z wave sensors and these came out to be half the size at half the price. I ended up purchasing all Aqara sensors after that.
Mr Yamaha. How is it going over 1 year? Do the sensors somehow report battery life? I am in the same boat. Want to put a contact on every window. Have circa 20 openings in the house. Need a solution that will last! And are you using HA by any chance? Thanks
Were you able to add them even without an aqara hub?
Great video, but I think you could mention that Aqara devices are not fully ZigBee compliant, so you'll have problems pairing with hubitat hubs, for example. Some people manage to pair them and they run well (with a driver), but most complain about loss of connectivity and unreliability. I think that should factor heavily on the ratings for the Aqara sensors. I'm returning the two I bought right now.
Did you install the device handler?
@@TheHookUp Hi, I did not, and the reason is that people using these sensors with hubitat say they while they may work with the drivers, they're still not fully ZigBee compatible, so they only work well with "Aqara friendly" ZigBee devices in the mesh. Also, the predominant opinion in the forums is that these devices disconnect frequently.
TL;DR I could probably hammer them into working by installing the driver, but that still won't solve the ZigBee compatibility and reliability issues.
That's fair. The main reason that the Aqara devices perform so much better than the rest is that they have a slightly different protocol that reduces the frequencies of keep alives and check ins. I've been using Aqara contact sensors since this video and haven't had any issues (home assistant with an iTead zigbee USB stick).
@@TheHookUpI also tried the customer driver.. still issues with lost connectivity with hubitat… might be worth video update since a few of us purchased based on your recommendation.
What would the update say? The number of people reporting no problems is 100x more than those reporting problems. Those problems could be from bad units, bad meshes, competing meshes, or improper device handler information. All I'm able to do is test and report my data.
You and Shane Whatley are quickly selling me on the Aqara products. Great job!!
Thanks for being on point and not wasting anyone's time.
Opposite results here. I bought a bunch of those Aqara sensors a while ago for my doors and windows and after some usage I noticed they are very unreliable, mostly when opening or closing the door/window very slowly, they won't update the state. I would say that about 50% of the time they don't update.
It's not a defective unit because I bought 6 of them and they all failed similarly.
Then I replaced them all with the ones from BlitzWolf and they work a lot more reliably. Not perfect, but they fail to update their state very rarely.
If you hear the "click" of the magnet from both devices, the Aqara one sounds more "loose", like a spring and the BlitzWolf one sounds more "smooth", like a car's signals/blinkers sound.
Also, the BlitzWolf one have a red LED that blinks once everytime it opens or closes, which gives us extra confidence that the magnet toggled.
Anyway, I use them mostly for the alarm system, which requires all windows and doors to be closed. While I used the Aqara ones, I found myself going downstairs constantly just to go open and close a random window to make the sensor update its state. Like, almost everyday, sometimes for more than one sensor.
Since I'm using the BlitzWolf ones, it doesn't happen for several weeks in a row! Huge difference. The battery life has been great aswell, I've installed them in march/april and they're still at 75%.
Your workbench is very cool, but it has one flaw: the open/close movement is always the same, at the same angle and at the same speed, so the results are very limited to those factors.
Do you have metal Frome's in your windows , because that does affect the function of the magnetic switch .
@@supernova1976 Apart from the glass, they're entirely made of aluminium, which is not magnetic.
@@pdcmoreira Thanks for the feedback , I also have aluminium frame windows , I think I will have to test this before I buy the system.
Another great video, and thanks for somehow being both thorough and concise!
Great video and lead in with the data. 4 months is a dedicated amount of time to help suggest a quality sensor. Awesome.
Great review and thank you for putting in the time and effort to make these videos! Just picked up a few of these using your link. Would love to see a similar one for motion sensors.
I have been pleased with all of the Aqara equipment that I have. They haven't steered me wrong yet. I just wish they had outdoor versions of the motion sensors, although I might be able to get my Reolink cameras to fill that duty once I get the wires run.
Phew I have only these ones in my house so glad they are the best ones haha. Great video as always. The amount of effort you put in is amazing and so well done. 👍
I've got several of the aqara contact sensors embedded behind the strike plate for each of my doors, with a magnets added into the end of the deadbolt, so I get a nightly notification it's any of my doors are not locked, or if they open after 10pm. Batteries going on 2 years now on all of them.
Clever!
I'd love to see a video on how you did that and what you learned. Like how you drilled/chiseled out the space, how you change batteries (eventually!), did you just glue a magnet at the end or drill a hole in the deadbolt and insert a cylinder magnet, magnetic orientation, etc.
Just knowing that a door or window is closed (or nearly closed) does not tell us whether the lock is set - and your approach would!
Nice work, I had purchased 4 of the Aqaras and was quite happy with them. I’m using these with HA and love that there’s also a temperature entity presented from them.
Thanks. So much time invested and summarized in 6 minutes. Awesome work.
I really love the Aeotec sensor, as it detects vibrations and I saw in some tests that it has one of the biggest range (between the sensor and the magnet). More expensive but worth it IMO.
I'm almost done switching out all my Wifi sensors and switches to Yo-link. It's been super dependable and could not be easier to setup. And my internet "fiber" has only went out twice in 5 years, so I don't sweat the "lost internet" issue. All the serious sensors like "water leak detectors" are D2D with the water shut off valve and don't need internet or grid power to operate, its all automated.
I’m with you! YoLink is great. Fast to install, great app, no delay, inexpensive, works with Amazon out of the box. 👍👏
Thank you for this video, I've been patiently waiting for it after seeing you were testing these. Thanks to you, now I'll also have the option to use Zigbee devices from now on ;).
Never heard of or considered Aqara but I’m definitely interested now, as I currently use Smarthings! Thanks for a well put together comparison and breakdown!🙌🏾
Short sweet and concise love it! Keep bringing great videos!
Definitely agree on the aqara sensor. I have several and they've been going strong for over a year now.
Immediate subscribe for the effort and quality. More tech videos should be like this. Well done!
this is exactly what i needed, thanks! My Wyze contact sensors are great but lately have been starting to fail, plus they discontinued the ones i have so it’s only a matter of time before they all stop working. These Aqara sensors look like they’ll fit nicely into my Home Assistant setup!
Thansk for the test. i followed your linkto order 10 pcs from Aliexpress. i hope you received your reward.
That testing rig is next level commitment.
Good video. The only suggestion I can make is that you add the Aqara hub to your list of affiliate links.
Rob - Great video. I have played with the Sonoff Zigbee and the Shelly WiFi contact sensors, with rather poor results... I have had good luck with the one aqara contact sensor I bough; seeing your video gave me the confidence to order a bunch more for a whole slew of automations I have planned. Keep up the great work!
The sonoff ones suck. The battery contacts are very hit or miss from my experience.
@@DanielSchoonover Totally agree. I was really disappointed. I'd rather pay 2X for the Aqara sensors and get something that is more solidly built, and works reliably.
I could not agree more. Been using these for at least a year. My home is mainly zwave, wifi and insteon so I didn’t have much Zigbee. I added a Conbee stick to Home Assistant to use with these. I have to say that initially I was disappointed with their performance. But after adding three strategically placed Zigbee plugs around my house, these have become one of my most reliable components. And I have not had to replace any batteries yet. Similar great experience with Aqara motion sensors too.
Huge thanks for the video, you do save a lot of time for many people. Keep up the good work!
Great work! I´m not even looking for door sensors, but it is plainly brilliant. Thanks!
Have the host and everybody here a great 2022 start!
Do you intend to redo do the test
With the Aqara p2 contact sensor, eve door & window (matter), Onvis CS3, Onvis CT2, Philips hue contact sensor.
Thanks Rob. I recently purchased Aqara sensors and they work great. Happy New Year!
Happy new year Ron!
Did you use all new batteries from a reputable brand when testing? I run into extremely varying battery life based on what battery brand, distance from hub, etc. Just curious, and great review!
Awesome effort on the testing rig and letting it run for so long.
Great video! I love how you get right to it and don't bury the results way down in the video. I'm looking for something for an outdoor gate but really don't want to go with anything cloud only. Did you try any methods of waterproofing the aqara by any chance? I'm curious if you might be able to get away just plastidipping one or something like that.
I have several Aqara sensors, the battery is still at 40% after 2 years. With a small mod, I hooked it up to a pressure mat, place it under my bedsheets and Wa-La, a Zigbee bed occupancy sensor.
Great video as always. I have just one of these running on Home Assistant and its been flawless since I put in on my door.
Nice, short and to the point :) Really appreciated this video and for discovering your channel! Wish you an awesome new year!
Great video, straight to the point and pragmatic.
I loved that you skipped the BS and told us the result. And I still stayed to watch the entire video. Thank you.
Thanks for the extensive test and comparison. I ordered me one thru your link. I will probably order more.
Another spectacular job Rob!
Brilliant, I was looking for new sensors and considering the aqara, and you've given me the push I needed. I'm going to use a sonoff zigbee bridge to connect to my node red setup! Thanks
You'll be happy with them, they are super solid.
You are the hero we don't deserve!
Another great video, I much prefer this short and sweet approach.
1:58 - wow that is an awesome test rig. Love it!
Great, I made the right choice about a month ago :) Only the built in temperature sensors are completely useless showing 26 and 27C on a pair that are sitting on my desk in a
Great job. I appreciate you getting to the point (recommendation) quickly.
This is amazing. Please do something like this for Motion Sensors, presence sensors, and any other sensors you can think of.
I would also be very interested in a test of the new Ikea sensors that just came out, and the new Aqara Matter-enabled Thread sensors that are much more expensive.
I second your recommendation. I’ve a few of these on doors and the batteries last for ever it seems. They read temperature too - which is handy.
What is the purpose for a temperature read?
@@audreywy1743 I guess it’s purpose is up to you. You can use it as a measure of the temperature in the room. You could use it to see if the temperature is dropping or increasing while the window or door is open. It may be useful for battery compensation too. If the temp is low, the battery voltage can be lower too… just a couple of ideas.
You ran the test for 4 months 👏👏👏👏
This video has convinced me to switch to ZigBee. I've been using wifi and tuya (plus some Shellies) since forever. How've tuya sucks (keeps becoming unresponsive and some devices randomly require me to start them) even though I live in an apt and thus the distances aren't large.
And forget anything with a battery, things eating batteries left and right.
Great videos as always. Bought a half dozen of the Aqara sensors from Amazon via your affiliate link.
Slowly changing my sensors over to Ring (from Samsung multipurpose). What I like about Ring is how easily it is to remove the sensor to replace the batteries. For your next updated video on this subject, maybe add the distance to register the change event as windows and doors are seldom flush. I'm sure the Ring sensor's battery life can be improved by changing the heartbeat interval but this video is about the OOB experience.
I've been using a ring door sensor for some time, but this week I got an Ecolink ZWave sensor. The cool thing about is it has two terminals, when closed will report. So I added it to a dry contact relay to monitor my power outlet Sump Pump, which has a separate circuit breaker, and recently I found out it was out of power.
This remains the definitive test to this day!
OMG. This review redefined committed
Love these, and agree completely about the Aqara, best by far.
Great vid, and right on time for my system. Room occupancy sensors next?
I just installed an aqara contact sensor a few weeks ago - glad I made the right choice 🤠 ….but that eco link zwave tilt sensor (I know not contact) has been using the same battery for 3+ years and still at 99%
Another great on point video! You've inspired me to dig into low powered zigbee capable microcontrollers for temp control project. Cheers!
The test rig is incredible 😮
Got 9 of them around the house and haven't had any issues with them. All original batteries over 3 years later. Looks like the prices have jumped up a bit but still good value.
Great video Rob! You got right to the point!
Wow! What a review. I loved the testing rig!
amazing product testing!!! top tier content and help. thank you
Excellent channel- you get right to the point, and your prep and production quality is perfect. I think battery life is important, but for someone with an existing system, the compatibility factor may win out over outright battery performance and price. Please keep the comparison videos coming, especially about home automation products.
Amazing well done comparison! Thanks for this video!
It would have been great to see a Thread based sensor like the one from Eve in this comparison. Love the rig, who would’ve thought it could use an automatic lubricator!
Literally yesterday I was wondering where is your new video and I though "this guy's probably doing some big comparison video" and there it is haha 😁
Took quite a bit longer than expected, it's been in the works for a while.
I purchased a 3 pack and connected them to my Smartthings hub. They were a little difficult to pair but finally got them working. Since then I have had nothing but trouble with them going offline. I have to re-pair them constantly.
Did you install the custom device handler?
@@TheHookUp I should have specified in my post that I was talking about the Aqara sensor. I had originally installed the Xiaomi handler that was on GitHub. When SmartThings changed to Matter, I installed the Yakov driver from the SmartThings site.
I just bought a simple zigbee door sensor (ewelink, but its a rebrand/generic one) witch uses AAA batteries for 3,70€/piece.
The batteries are still small enough to fit into my windows' gaps. And have a big battery, nice
Affiliate link used, thanks for the great video as always!
Hmm, nice video, but Sonoff SNZB-04 is notably missing and is half the price of Aqara. Also, Aqara zigbee devices tend to "stick" to a single zigbee router or coordinator, so there might be connection issues if you move devices around the house.
like the features, setup was difficult for some of my devices (August Door lock, ruclips.net/user/postUgkxhB5YOMNj04GuoAosExygP4cH-dKeb4aB Bose speaker)... but all switches and outlets (5), thermostat, tankless water heater. Unfortunately all I can do is turn on/off Bose. It doesn't support volume or changing channels, but I believe that is due to the particular speaker I have.... Worth getting if you already have other devices to use it with... I don't sit around and ask Alexa questions much so that doesn't really matter to me....
Great video!! Can you do a video on how to start with Zigbeee and Home Assistant? That will be interesting and will help me to understand what I need to get started there!
Instalike when I saw your testing machine for battery life. You rock