If you're a HomeKit user, chances are you're familiar with Aqara products. A brand that under the umbrella of Xiaomi offers very attractive solutions for Apple users. And it is that they are devices compatible with HomeKit, the platform for the smart home of the Cupertino firm. Well now they come new Aqara HUBs and they do it with interesting novelties such as support for the latest version of the Zigbee standard.
Aqara launches two new HUBs compatible with HomeKit
Aqara for those who could not yet know it is the brand for Xiaomi smart home and offers a very attractive set of sensors and solutions overall, especially for HomeKit users. And it is that it is one of the few options on the market that supports the Apple platform and in turn maintains very attractive prices.
These have been the main keys to his proposal since its inception and the reasons why they have gained so much popularity. In addition to the fact that as products they offer that design and good finishes that Xiaomi usually offers at home, which it does.
Well, at the end of 2020 the brand already let us see what would be its new Hub, but at that time it was only a launch for South Korea. Now is when it has been officially launched outside the country. Although it does not come alone, it does so accompanied by a second Hub that is an improvement on the original, but let's go one by one.
El Aqara M2 It is the first of the Hubs launched by the manufacturer and it could be said that the most interesting of the two. With a completely black design, the new Hub introduces an ethernet port and an IR (360 degree broadcast). With the first, you can easily connect it to your router, of course, in order to be able to interact with the different voice assistants it supports. With the second, what is allowed is to be able to control old devices and accessories again through all those voice commands, routines and other automations.
Of course, the most interesting thing about this new Aqara M2 Hub is, without the slightest doubt, the support for Zigbee version 3.0. Thanks to this, the Hub is capable of supporting up to 128 devices connected to it at the same time. That is, you will have to add many bulbs and sensors so that you have control or saturation problems. And it is that one of the advantages of Zigbee compared to other standards or connectivity options such as WiFi or Bluetooth is that, that it allows a greater number of devices without congesting the wireless network.
On the other hand is the Aqara M1S which is basically the original model only with some logical improvements for being a more recent release. But at the level of options it continues to have practically the same, such as support for Amazon Alexa, Google Home and also HomeKit. So you can take advantage of all these platforms to create your own automations.
Price and Availability
You can find the new Aqara Hub in various online stores such as Amazon, where you can find a starter set of the original version that we have already recommended on more than one occasion for all that it provides. If you now want to improve what you already have or start building your smart home, keeping up with the new Hubs can be a great idea.
The Aqara M2 will be priced at 57 euros, while the Aqara M1S will be around 49 euros.
So now you know where to start, because this year between the release of Matter, the ability to integrate Siri on third-party devices, and the improvements that other platforms and assistants continue to add, it seems that the time has definitely come to seriously consider how home automation can help you improve your quality of life. Or, at least, live more comfortably depending on what things.
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