What is Xiaomi Aqara?
- Posted on
- By Francesca Celano
Due to their small size, simplicity of design and relatively low costs, Aqara devices have become more and more common in many countries where consumers try to incorporate them with their Smart Assistant platform.
Aqara's mission is to provide consumers with detailed, intelligent, affordable and easy to use solutions and devices for any home. The Aqara name is the combination of the name of the Latin words "acutulus" (intelligent) and "ara" (home). Aqara products support all big platforms, including Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and Mi Home, to assist as many consumers as possible.
Aqara is part of the Xiaomi ecosystem. By connecting the Aqara products with the Aqara hub you can make any house smarter! Even “normal products” can become smarter. Read this article to learn more about how to use these products and how to connect and control them.
Aqara Hub- How to make your home a smart home?
The Aqara hub is a control centre to help you connect all the Aqara devices. Indeed to use the Aqara smart cam, for example, you need to have the Aqara hub connected with your phone. The unique selling point of these products is the option of making rules to connect all the devices to work together.
You can place the vibration sensor on the door and make the rule to turn on all the lights when you open a door. You can then also say that when the lights turn off, as well a specific plug must turn off.
By using the Aqara plug all kind of products can be smarter and help you save energy. Think about the electricity that goes into the television when it is on stand-by. You can set a time to turn on/off that plug during the day.
How to use the Aqara smart devices?
Making your home smarter can make your life easier. How so? Through using a combination of sensors, a central hub and your Smartphone linked to WiFi, you can automate several mundane tasks at home. This saves you time and maybe money. This will save you time and money. That is the concept of a smart home.
The Aqara Hub and The Aqara camera are both hubs and play a similar role to a Wi-Fi network that shares the Internet through its network. All other smart devices are connected and linked to the internet via the App.
TThe Aqara Hub and the camera are both a control centre for an entire smart home. Connecting via Zigbee protocol, Aqara accessories can still work smoothly even if your home network is unstable or disconnected.
Therefore, The Aqara camera works like a hub. This means that to use the other devices you need to have already the Aqara camera or the Aqara hub.
To begin, you should start by Downloading the Aqara or Mi Home app from Android and iOS stores and add the Hub to your WiFi Note that it can only work with the 2.4GHz band).
You can use multiple products at the same time by combining them and establishing some rules. As an example, you could set the Aqara camera to turn on whenever someone enters a room and passes close to the motion sensor. You can save a lot of memories if you keep both items in your baby's room!
You can also set the rule to send a notification whenever someone opens a specific door where the vibration sensor is installed.
How do I connect Smart devices to Aqara?
- Connecting the Aqara smart devices is quite easy, you can follow these few steps.
- Download the Aqara or Mi Home app
- Plug the Aqara hub (remember to start always connecting the hub)
- Scan the QR code or search the device in the product list listed in the app (for iOS select Manually enter the HomeKit code.
- Write down the Wi-Fi password of your home Wi-fi
- Good! Your Aqara hub is connected now! You can start adding other devices.
- Select the device you want to connect to in the App.
- Keep the reset button of the device until the LED is blinking two or three times which shows that it is starting pair mode (2-3 Quick flashes show success; 1 long flash means the pairing hasn't begun).
- Done! You can now use your device with the app or your Home assistant. Check the app to see all the features for each Aqara product!
Does Aqara work with smart assistants?
If you have your devices connected with the Aqara Hub they can be easily controlled via your Smart Assistant. Aqara home ecosystem is suitable for Alexa, Google Home, Apple Homekit and Mi Home.
All products can then be controlled by voice or remotely with your phone even when you are not at home! Imagine turning off all the lights at once with just one click or a voice command. Would that be amazing right?
Did you know that Aqara products can be used through the Mi Home app as well? This means that you can control both the Aqara items the Yeelight smart lights at the same time.
Take a look at our Smart products from Aqara and Yeelights to learn more about their functionalities.