Aqara Motion Sensor (plus Aqara vs Hue motion sensor tests)

[jcallaghan]

Brought one to test the occupancy sensor alongside my Hue motion sensors after talking to @frenck. If they outperform the Hue motion sensor I will consider upgrading to them and selling my Hue sensors (11 indoor, 7 outside).

• Ali Express
• Amazon

[jcallaghan]

Well it arrived. Much smaller than I expected. Now I plan to run some side-by-side tests with the Hue sensor.

First thoughts are is that is pretty damn quick at detecting motion, as well as detecting repeated motion. It also seems more accurate in detecting idle presence (room occupied but sitting still). I’ll continue with some tests and share my thoughts.

[jcallaghan]

Test Results

I wanted to give these two sensors a fair review. This isn't a particular scientific review but a review to compare the two devices side-by-side.

Sensors

These devices contain a number of sensors that are exposed and available in different places. Both devices include temperature and light level (LUX) sensors. Previously when I had the Hue sensor integrated via the Hue bridge I’m sure the humidity was also exposed.

Sensor	deCONZ Hue	deCONZ Aqara	HA Hue	HA Aqara
Motion	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Temperature	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Humidity	No	No	No	No
LUX	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Battery	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Motion refresh rate

To test the refresh rate I waved my arm continuously to see how often the device refreshed and if the state changed. For no motion, I placed the sensor in a cupboard. What was interesting is that the Aqara refreshes regularly whereas the Hue sensor doesn't update until no motion is detected. Furthermore, the Hue sensor becomes idle within 10 seconds but the Aqara takes 100 seconds to become idle after no motion is detected.

Device	Continued Motion	No motion
Aqara	5 seconds	100 seconds
Hue	Hue remains active	10 seconds

Temperature variance

Device	Temperature
Aqara	28°C
Hue	22°C
Aqara Temperature Sensor	23°C
Test thermometer	24.1°C

LUX variance

Both sensors reported close results when placed in the room but when placed in a closed cupboard with my Petzl Reactik + head torch (with three modes 110, 1350, and 2700 lux) the senors reported very different results. The torch was placed at close range within a cupboard. The Hue sensor appeared to be more accurate where at the Aqara seemed to max out at 851. The results in the room appear to be

Device	Dark cupboard	Torch (high) in cupboard	Torch (low) in cupboard	Room
Aqara	3 lux	851 lux	851 lux	192 lux
Hue	1 lux	14447 lux	6132 lux	137 lux

Note: I use a Conbee II zigbee gateway and deCONZ running in Docker.

Side-by-side testing from deCONZ.

[jcallaghan]

Here is a basic history comparison between the Hue and Aqara in a frequently active room.

[jcallaghan]

I've continued to use Hue motion sensors as my primary room motion sensor. The Aqara would be great for projects in the future.