AqaraPresence Sensor FP2, 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi Required, mmWave Radar Wired Motion Sensor, Zone Positioning, Multi-Person & Fall Detection, Supports HomeKit, Alexa, Google Home and Home Assistant

Ok first, earlier reviews that talk about the shortcomings of the app and installation were on point at the time of their writing, however, with updates to the app and device, that is no longer the case. The app is much more intuitive and I’ve had no issues with detection and clearing. So much so, I now have three. I have one in the master bathroom, one in the kitchen, and another in the garage. These are all places where we might be for a while, moving too little for a traditional PIR motion sensor to pick up that we’re still present and so cut off the lights on us. This sensor is double the price of other motion sensors out there, but then there is a Great Deal more going on under the hood with this sensor. Also, the device is not battery powered, which I love. One less to keep up with and given all that it’s doing, you would be constantly changing the batteries anyway.Now if you want to add this device to Home Assistant as I did (it was useless to me otherwise), that too is an absolute breeze as an Apple iOS user, as long as you know how to do it - Apologies , I cannot speak for the Android path. There’s only one video out there describing it. It’s important that you know that this device DOES NOT require the Aqara hub as their customer service will tell you. In fact, it’s actually incompatible with it. The hub is used to add Zigbee based devices and the FP2 is WiFi based. It does not use Matter for the connection either. When adding the FP2 via the Aqara Home app in iOS, the app will automatically add the device to the Apple Home app. Once the entire set up m/config process is complete, you just need to open the Apple Home app, use the ellipsis in the upper-right to navigate to the room you selected for the device and remove either the luminosity or presence sensor from the app. Now open Home Assistant, navigate to Settings —> Devices and look for an as yet configured HomeKit integration with “FP2” in the name. Click configure and it will ask you for the 8 digit PIN code that is just above the QR code located on the swing arm on the back of the FP2 sensor. Once entered, the device is now available for automations and you done.Again, while this process is a cinch to execute, it is anything but intuitive so the process could either use some work or at the least they should make that process clear in the instructions or that the sensor ties itself to Apple Homekit. I also think they should make it clear in both the instructions and on the item page in Amazon that the FP2 cannot be added to the Aqara hub rendering the hub irrelevant for the FP2.Other than that, this sensor hits all the marks and is Exactly what we needed.

I now own and use two different Presence Detectors. I bought the FP2 Detector because, unlike my first unit, it supports multiple detection zones. Being able to designate detection zones works much better for me. I am glad I made this purchase.The FP2 actually has three modes of operation – Fall Detection, Sleep Monitoring, and Zone Detection. I only use Zone Detection, and have set up 6 out of a maximum of 30 detection zones. The unit’s coverage area is divided into 320 checkerboard squares, and you can configure which of those squares compose each zone that you wish to create.My house has an open concept floor plan, and I have located my FP2 such that it can detect presence in my Kitchen, Dining Room, and Living Room. I have setup zones for controlling the ceiling lights in each of those these rooms, along with several individual lamps in various locations.The competitor’s Presence Detector I purchased earlier detected anything and everything within a 120° angle in front of it that was within a certain distance based on a ballpark sensitivity setting. It failed to detect some areas I wanted included, and detected other areas I didn’t wanted included. The FP2, with its zone detection, resolves that issue. For example, I have a small 2 square zone that encompasses our piano bench, which I use to turn ON the piano music light when and only when someone is sitting there.I noticed this product has some poor reviews. I suspect this is because some users had difficulty getting it setup and configured. I personally was a bit challenged getting mine setup and working, despite already having done lots of automations using dozens of smart devices. For this reason I have deducted one star. However, now that I am familiar with this unit and its capabilities, I would not hesitate to order another one – and I would not consider an alternate cheaper unit as I did for my first presence sensor.The instructions are sparse. I ended up setting it up three times before I got it working like I wanted. I discovered it helps to configure the Edge Zones along the perimeter of the detection area, as well as Entrance & Exit Areas to minimize unwanted detections. I also discovered it helps to be slightly generous on most Detection Zones because the exact location a person is in becomes less precise the further you are located from the sensor, or when a person is near a reflective surface such as a refrigerator.The Aqara App only controls Aqara devices. Thus, out of the box I couldn’t use it to perform any automation! Fortunately, it links to Alexa, and once I linked Aqara to Amazon’s Alexa, I could start controlling the lights and lamps in my house. The Aqara App claims to also link to Home Assistant, Google Home, and IFTTT. I don’t use IFTTT and was unable to get it to link to Home Assistant. For my more complex automations, I use Smartthings since Alexa routines are limited to a single Trigger. Thus, I ended up creating Virtual Switches in Smartthings and used Alexa to flip those switches based on Presence in each of the zones I created. Later, I got a Smartthings Hub which would recognize the FP2, which allowed me to use Smartthings without going through the overhead of Alexa. Smartthings and its ability to use virtual switches allowed me to create more complex routines, such as turning off the lamp between my recliner and couch when some leaves the couch zone and no one is in the recliner zone – but if someone is still using the recliner, only turn Off the far couch lamp (multiple ‘IF’ triggers required).The FP2 has a Luminance meter, but getting that to control whether automated lights are turned On or not when Presence is detected was a big challenge for me. The workaround I initially came up with was to create a dummy zone in Aqara and use Aqara automation to control Home & Away status in that zone based on the Lux level. I then used an Alexa routine that would flip a Smartthings virtual switch based on the Aqara ‘Simple Security System’ device value of Home or Away. Why that functionality couldn’t have been made much more straight forward is beyond me. However, after I got my Smartthings Hub to recognize the FP2, I was able to add conditional triggers in my Smartthings automations that were tied to luminance levels, making FP2 luminance levels easier to include in automations and also make Lux thresholds flexible.The bottom line is that the FP2 is a very capable device. But more capabilities equates to more complexity. Thus, don’t expect to have lots of automation configured and working an hour after unpacking the unit. And unless you have other Aqara devices or a hub that recognizes the FP2, don’t expect to perform to automations until you link it to another App such as Alexa. Note that once you link Aqara to Alexa, you can pretty much do any automation that you would normally do in Alexa. It’s only when your automations get too complex for Alexa that automation understandably becomes a bit more involved, and has to jump through hoops involving products/apps from multiple manufacturers.