I too am a fan of Aqara. Affordable, easy to set up, and most importantly RELIABLE. Aqara is a no brainer. I wish I had known about them before setting up my smart home. I would have saved hundreds of dollars. Thanks again for your reviews, keep up the good work.
My favorite is the Aqara sensor. Aqara will be releasing a Thread version soon which will eliminate the need for a hub. If the Onvis went with Thread, they would have a home run.
Hello! Thank you very much for the test!! How did you do for configuring the Aqara sensor as a HomeKit tile? I only have the sensor information in the summary under the room name.
if there's multiple sensors in the same room, it'll show the status of all of them in the summary tap of the room if there the labeled as the same type. this tile design is an older design from previous iOS versions at the time of recording. things look different now. Thanks for watching! 😊
I liked your stress test, was cool to see the results. I have Eve, Aqara and Ecobee in my home. I have chosen Ecobee for all of my doors and windows becuase I like the ability they provide to detect occupancy, they are fast and work well with HomeKit as well. I do pay for the subscription to take advantage of the pausing of my hvac and security. I like the Eve and Aqara and find them fast as well.
I think you missed a point about the Ecobee sensors. You won’t receive alerts or notifications while away from home without a subscription, making them almost useless unless you are paying money.
YES! Great video and thanks you. I’m pretty much convinced that between Aqara and Meross we can create a solid smart home on a budget. And by getting the Apple Card and paying the Cloud that gives you the 5 cameras options with the cash back you’ll gain from daily use, it’s basically a self sufficient personal cloud security system.
@@AdamsTechLife I have no experience with Aqara but I'm hoping to get some of their stuff soon, but I have a Merris power strip and it's definitely not the most reliable device in my Apple home and in fact it is strictly speaking based on the amount of times that has gone no response the least reliable device, in fact I am running a pretty complex instance of Homebridge which handles probably 90% of our smart home device needs as we initially built our smart home around Alexa, and that is more reliable than the, native HomeKit, I am not using the Homebridge Meross plug-in because the device is the HomeKit compatible version, Merris power strip.
Thank you for the content. I have just purchased EVE because of thread and Aqara because I have a load of other Aqara sitting in a box for 2 years. I have to swap out some of my old devices because one of the devices isn’t as reliable as before so I am going to swap it for Aqara. Finally after 2 years of buying Aqara I am going to implement them.
Excellent review on these sensors. I’m humming and hawing on which to get and this really helped. I was leaning to aqara and for my needs that’s the feeling I still have after watching this.
very faint tick sound, only when it's extremely quiet in the room. not noticeable in day to day use unless you put your ear next to it. i think some other sensors do this too.
I've only used the Aqara Sensor based on your previous videos as well as other HomeKit TH-camrs. Its been very reliable using it in our utility room that has several lights that were installed without a wall switch. The combo of the Aqara door sensor and basic Hue lights is lightening fast and nearly 100% reliable.
Woaw, excellent video and your stress test is a wonderful idea ! Thank you for the time spent into making this test. It makes me want to see other videos like this for example with smart plugs, switches or even cameras. 2 thumbs up 👍 👍 !
Great, detailed video Adam! I like the Aqara best myself too. One question for you regarding the Ecobee; I was tempted to get these but Ecobee told me they’re only exposed to HomeKit via the Thermostat, but not the camera. Can you confirm if this is the case, or are they exposed to HomeKit via the camera? I don’t have their Thermostat.
Glad you found it helpful! Great question. I know they’re compatible with the camera, but I don’t actually know if the camera exposes the sensors to HomeKit. I just have the thermostat.
Thanks for your deeply informative video. I was thinking about buying some Eve contact sensors due to Thread but my current security camera is Aqara G3 so I might think about Aqara. Btw how to create occupation trigger with motion sensor and contact sensor for bathroom/shower?
Incredible review! Was looking at Onvis (love their light strip) but your results have swayed me. Get what you pay for sometimes as this test shows. Well done.
They now have a Thread-based version, although not of the security contact sensor just of their standard contact sensor. I haven't tested it out, but I imagine that it is much faster than this one. I have their original SMS1 motion sensor which strictly uses Bluetooth, and that responds Fast enough I guess, but not that fast, especially for motion. But it has been 100% reliable. I also have their newer SMS2 sensor, and the adhesive on that is a bit ridiculous. I'm not sure if it was user error, but the thing fell off the wall the second day I had it installed And I believe I installed it correctly by pressing it on the wall firmly. Still, luckily the adhesive was not damaged so I was just able to put it back up, it lasted a month. Then it fell off the wall and the adhesive got all messed up so I replaced the adhesive on it. We also have three of the HS2 smart buttons. They have been rocksolid. However, their magnets aren't the strongest things in the world, but they are certainly not bad. Just in very high traffic areas where they are bound to get bumped, they will get bumped and they will fall off the wall. I have considered putting a small bit of double-sided tape on the back of the buttons so that it's not enough to prevent me from taking it off the wall intentionally but it won't get bumped off the wall.
Aqara for the win! I have had the same experience with the Eve sensors. As much as I wanted to love thread after all of the hype, there does seem to be some reliability issues. Not sure if it is the Eve device or the HomePod, but don’t trust it. I actually had concerns about the Aqara privacy, so I now use them with Zigbee2MQTT and Homebridge. They are very fast and reliable in this setup, and no concerns about the hubs “phoning home” to another country.
well,I prefer the wifi door sensor from the new brand Erdiegle. Their door sensor has time delay function and you can set the arm timer on the app. Also, when the door is opened, the door alarm will make a sound, at the same time, it will push a notificaiton our your app. The sound volume is adjustable on the app too. Also, you can arm or disarm the sensor on the app. Very helpful!
The Eve contact sensor will default to Bluetooth if it looses its Thread connection and there are no other Thread devices to "self heal" the Thread network. To use Thread effectively, you need a lot of Thread devices. But Thread is way better than Bluetooth, especially in range and response time. I have several Eve Energy plugs (Thread), two Eve Aquas (Thread, for outside faucets), one Eve Door and Window (Thread), and one Eve Water Guard (non thread). I have has mixed results with the Eve Dood and Window, but all of the other Eve products have worked great. The contact sensor range is not nearly as good as the contact sensors using Zigbee 3.0 with Aqara. I'm not sure if I will use the Eve Door and Window sensors in the future. I will be using more Eve Water Guards as soon as they come out with a Thread version this year.
There's not a review that doesn't praise the Aqara door sensor.. they're way out there.. one thing you did not test that some others did was battery life.. again aqara vastly outdoes the competition
Aqara is the king of homekit contact sensors. I did mention battery life at the end :) btw, it can take months for battery life to really show but it depends on how often it's opened or closed. opening/closing 100 times as i did in the video usually takes people on average a few months to accomplish so this was also a quick battery test
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What’s your favorite HomeKit contact sensor? Let me know here! ⬇️
I’m new at the Apple Eco system and HK
Do I need a hub for Aqara to work?
The video answers this question :)
I too am a fan of Aqara. Affordable, easy to set up, and most importantly RELIABLE. Aqara is a no brainer. I wish I had known about them before setting up my smart home. I would have saved hundreds of dollars. Thanks again for your reviews, keep up the good work.
Glad to here, Aqara is awesome. Glad I could help. Thanks for watching! 😊
My favorite is the Aqara sensor. Aqara will be releasing a Thread version soon which will eliminate the need for a hub. If the Onvis went with Thread, they would have a home run.
I’m excited to see Aqara with Thread, that’ll be awesome. Great insights. Thanks for watching! 😊
Makes me want to do a stress test on the VOCOlinc contact sensors. These are Bluetooth only but have been pretty responsive in our smart home.
that's great to hear! i'd guess they'd fair similar to fibaro or onvis if i had to guess since they use bluetooth as well
Hello! Thank you very much for the test!!
How did you do for configuring the Aqara sensor as a HomeKit tile? I only have the sensor information in the summary under the room name.
if there's multiple sensors in the same room, it'll show the status of all of them in the summary tap of the room if there the labeled as the same type. this tile design is an older design from previous iOS versions at the time of recording. things look different now. Thanks for watching! 😊
I liked your stress test, was cool to see the results. I have Eve, Aqara and Ecobee in my home. I have chosen Ecobee for all of my doors and windows becuase I like the ability they provide to detect occupancy, they are fast and work well with HomeKit as well. I do pay for the subscription to take advantage of the pausing of my hvac and security. I like the Eve and Aqara and find them fast as well.
Hello Danny, glad to hear you enjoyed the video and found it helpful. Ecobee is a good choose with the thermostat. Thanks for watching! 😊
Does HomeKit have status and notifications for the smart sensor, without the haven subscription?
I think you missed a point about the Ecobee sensors. You won’t receive alerts or notifications while away from home without a subscription, making them almost useless unless you are paying money.
Thanks for watching! 😊
YES! Great video and thanks you. I’m pretty much convinced that between Aqara and Meross we can create a solid smart home on a budget. And by getting the Apple Card and paying the Cloud that gives you the 5 cameras options with the cash back you’ll gain from daily use, it’s basically a self sufficient personal cloud security system.
Those are some of my favorite brands for reliability and price and yes it’s great! Thanks for watching! 😊
@@AdamsTechLife I have no experience with Aqara but I'm hoping to get some of their stuff soon, but I have a Merris power strip and it's definitely not the most reliable device in my Apple home and in fact it is strictly speaking based on the amount of times that has gone no response the least reliable device, in fact I am running a pretty complex instance of Homebridge which handles probably 90% of our smart home device needs as we initially built our smart home around Alexa, and that is more reliable than the, native HomeKit, I am not using the Homebridge Meross plug-in because the device is the HomeKit compatible version, Merris power strip.
Thank you for the content. I have just purchased EVE because of thread and Aqara because I have a load of other Aqara sitting in a box for 2 years. I have to swap out some of my old devices because one of the devices isn’t as reliable as before so I am going to swap it for Aqara. Finally after 2 years of buying Aqara I am going to implement them.
Great to hear! Aqara is a great option. Thanks for watching! 😊
Excellent review on these sensors. I’m humming and hawing on which to get and this really helped. I was leaning to aqara and for my needs that’s the feeling I still have after watching this.
Hello PapaJ2200, glad to hear you enjoyed the video and found it helpful. Thanks for watching! 😊
does the Aqara sensor make any noise when you open or close a window/door?
very faint tick sound, only when it's extremely quiet in the room. not noticeable in day to day use unless you put your ear next to it. i think some other sensors do this too.
I've only used the Aqara Sensor based on your previous videos as well as other HomeKit TH-camrs. Its been very reliable using it in our utility room that has several lights that were installed without a wall switch. The combo of the Aqara door sensor and basic Hue lights is lightening fast and nearly 100% reliable.
That’s good to hear! Aqara is awesome. Thanks for watching! 😊
Can you use HomeKits status and notifications for ecobee smart sensor WITHOUT a haven subscription?
Yep, that goes for any HomeKit sensor. Thanks for watching! 😊
Woaw, excellent video and your stress test is a wonderful idea ! Thank you for the time spent into making this test. It makes me want to see other videos like this for example with smart plugs, switches or even cameras. 2 thumbs up 👍 👍 !
Hello Julien, so glad to hear you enjoyed the video and found it helpful. Thanks for watching! 😊
Very valuable and informative video about deciding which door sensors to purchase for my fully automated 3,500 square foot house! Thanks!🙏👍🏻
Great to hear, glad I could help! Thanks for watching! 😊
Great, detailed video Adam! I like the Aqara best myself too. One question for you regarding the Ecobee; I was tempted to get these but Ecobee told me they’re only exposed to HomeKit via the Thermostat, but not the camera. Can you confirm if this is the case, or are they exposed to HomeKit via the camera? I don’t have their Thermostat.
Glad you found it helpful! Great question. I know they’re compatible with the camera, but I don’t actually know if the camera exposes the sensors to HomeKit. I just have the thermostat.
I wanna use Aqara but I have a big home 2 floors what is he maximum allowed distance between the Aqara hub and door sensors
I’m not quite sure it’s on aqaras website but it also depends on the material as well but it’s usually a wide range.
@@AdamsTechLife thanks for your reply. all the best
Thanks for your deeply informative video. I was thinking about buying some Eve contact sensors due to Thread but my current security camera is Aqara G3 so I might think about Aqara. Btw how to create occupation trigger with motion sensor and contact sensor for bathroom/shower?
Glad you found it helpful! And I don’t quite understand your question. Are you trying to create an automation?
Incredible review! Was looking at Onvis (love their light strip) but your results have swayed me. Get what you pay for sometimes as this test shows. Well done.
So glad I could help. Their lights strips are nice, I have a couple. Thanks for watching! 😊
They now have a Thread-based version, although not of the security contact sensor just of their standard contact sensor. I haven't tested it out, but I imagine that it is much faster than this one. I have their original SMS1 motion sensor which strictly uses Bluetooth, and that responds Fast enough I guess, but not that fast, especially for motion. But it has been 100% reliable. I also have their newer SMS2 sensor, and the adhesive on that is a bit ridiculous. I'm not sure if it was user error, but the thing fell off the wall the second day I had it installed And I believe I installed it correctly by pressing it on the wall firmly. Still, luckily the adhesive was not damaged so I was just able to put it back up, it lasted a month. Then it fell off the wall and the adhesive got all messed up so I replaced the adhesive on it. We also have three of the HS2 smart buttons. They have been rocksolid. However, their magnets aren't the strongest things in the world, but they are certainly not bad. Just in very high traffic areas where they are bound to get bumped, they will get bumped and they will fall off the wall. I have considered putting a small bit of double-sided tape on the back of the buttons so that it's not enough to prevent me from taking it off the wall intentionally but it won't get bumped off the wall.
Aqara for the win! I have had the same experience with the Eve sensors. As much as I wanted to love thread after all of the hype, there does seem to be some reliability issues. Not sure if it is the Eve device or the HomePod, but don’t trust it. I actually had concerns about the Aqara privacy, so I now use them with Zigbee2MQTT and Homebridge. They are very fast and reliable in this setup, and no concerns about the hubs “phoning home” to another country.
I agree as well! And that’s a good setup! Thanks for watching! 😊
Hi Adam, im looking for window sensor that will phone alarm. Is that possible?
They will alert when open/close. Some will alert if left opened for x time. Thanks for watching! 😊
Good test and information. Thanks.
Hello John, glad to hear you enjoyed the video and found it helpful. Thanks for watching! 😊
well,I prefer the wifi door sensor from the new brand Erdiegle. Their door sensor has time delay function and you can set the arm timer on the app. Also, when the door is opened, the door alarm will make a sound, at the same time, it will push a notificaiton our your app. The sound volume is adjustable on the app too. Also, you can arm or disarm the sensor on the app. Very helpful!
That’s great!! Thanks for sharing :)
Aqara by far! I just wish they would come out with their own version of automatic blinds for wands. Sort of like Sansa brand
Now that would be cool 👌🏽 Thanks for watching! 😊
Do you have any idea if a contact sensor can shut off the heating on a mysa thermostat?
if the thermostat is exposed to homekit, then yes when the sensor is open/closed. Thanks for watching! 😊
@@AdamsTechLife thank you for responding. It is on HomeKit. I will have to source one and try it out.
After I saw your video of contact sensor . I still prefer aqara .. hehe thanks 🙏🏻
Thanks for watching! 😊
OK, here is a free tip. Use Velcro on the stick on devices when you test them. :-)
Great tip! Thanks for watching! 😊
The Eve contact sensor will default to Bluetooth if it looses its Thread connection and there are no other Thread devices to "self heal" the Thread network. To use Thread effectively, you need a lot of Thread devices. But Thread is way better than Bluetooth, especially in range and response time. I have several Eve Energy plugs (Thread), two Eve Aquas (Thread, for outside faucets), one Eve Door and Window (Thread), and one Eve Water Guard (non thread). I have has mixed results with the Eve Dood and Window, but all of the other Eve products have worked great. The contact sensor range is not nearly as good as the contact sensors using Zigbee 3.0 with Aqara. I'm not sure if I will use the Eve Door and Window sensors in the future. I will be using more Eve Water Guards as soon as they come out with a Thread version this year.
Great information, thanks for sharing! Eve has some good products!
Hi Adam have you test Sonoff products before ?
I have not. Thanks for watching! 😊
@@AdamsTechLife thank you for reply …
Aqara is my favourite. Cheap and tiny.
Exactly 👌🏽 Thanks for watching! 😊
Aqara for the win
I agree!! Thanks for watching! 😊
There's not a review that doesn't praise the Aqara door sensor.. they're way out there.. one thing you did not test that some others did was battery life.. again aqara vastly outdoes the competition
Aqara is the king of homekit contact sensors. I did mention battery life at the end :) btw, it can take months for battery life to really show but it depends on how often it's opened or closed. opening/closing 100 times as i did in the video usually takes people on average a few months to accomplish so this was also a quick battery test
Thread bad?
I showcase the difference in thread and Bluetooth :)
Fibaro is very slow and not worth it, its design is also bad. Unfortunately, it is inaccurate and often does not even detect it.
I agree with this. Thanks for watching! 😊