Aqara makes a range of HomeKit-compatible smart home devices that are stocked in Apple Stores around the world. This review takes a look at some of Akara’s latest products, including its TVOC Air Quality Monitor and the Akara Roller Shade Driver E1, which are launching today.
With these new accessories, I was able to add to the HomeKit setup I built earlier this year with some of Akara’s devices and test out the company’s new additions to the smart home.
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Although Akara has its own app to control and set up accessories, they can be controlled, automated and fully managed through Apple’s Home app.
Hub M1S
To connect the new device, I used the Aqara Hub M1S. The Hub M1S acts as a smart home control center for a wide range of Akara sensors, controllers and other child devices using the ZigBee 3.0 protocol, connecting up to 128 devices. The Hub M1S will also support a new smart home protocol mater developed by companies including Apple and Amazon via an over-the-air software update in the future.
In terms of design, the Hub M1S features a compact, circular design with matte white plastic. There’s a patterned speaker grill up front, an RGB 18-LED ring around the outside, and a handy ‘HomeKit’ pairing sticker at the top.
Unlike many ‘HomeKit’ hubs, the M1S plugs directly into a power outlet, requiring no additional cables or adapters. This design is much more convenient, although it comes at the cost of not having an Ethernet port for a wired connection to a router. As a result, the hub M1S connects via Wi-Fi, but I didn’t notice significantly slower latency than other wired hubs.
The hub’s design is more expansive than you’d expect due to the need for a built-in adapter, but it’s slim enough to plug in once and is as discreetly good-looking as you’d expect with a device. .
The Hub M1S integrates seamlessly with the Home app, initiated by a simple scan of the ‘HomeKit’ code sticker above. The initial pairing process was frustration-free, and any subsequent devices paired with the Hub M1S automatically appear in Apple’s Home app.
The Hub M1S also supports four native ‘HomeKit’ alarm modes and features a surprisingly loud two-watt built-in speaker. The speaker doesn’t sound like a high-fidelity component, but since it’s not for music, the quality is adequate for short vigils and can easily project across a large room. Like other Akara hubs, the Hub M1S uses its speaker to talk you through the setup process and to pair other accessories, and it can also be used to provide alerts through automation in the Akara app.
The illumination sensor and RGB LED array are similarly configurable in the Akara app, with brightness and color options. While the speaker and LED ring aren’t directly integrated with the Home app due to Apple restrictions, they do allow the Hub M1S to be used as an alarm, doorbell, or even a night light via the Akara app. ‘Homekit’ capabilities.
Akara Roller Shade Driver E1
The Aqara Roller Shade Driver E1 is a new product that allows users to easily restore smart home functionality to their existing roller shades by motorizing its beaded cord. The design mirrors other Akara products with matte white plastic, but it’s surprisingly heavy due to its motor and internal battery. It feels very substantial and well-built, and subtle enough to not be an eyesore when mounted against a wall.
Behind the roller shade driver is a detachable plastic runner with screw holes to screw directly into the wall. The correct screws and wall anchors come in the box, as well as an optional adhesive strip. Although it demands to be screwed into a wall, any other shade requires drivers, then the installation process is relatively simple.
The roller shade driver offers two power modes. You can either operate the device wirelessly, and then recharge its internal battery via its USB-C port every two months or so, or have a power cable inserted to avoid the need for recharging.
The roller shade driver comes with a selection of four adapters to accommodate different beaded cords, meaning it should work with most roller shade cords with between three and six millimeter beads, as well as both plastic and metal chains. After simply feeding your shade’s cord into the adapter, it’s easy to pair the shades with an Akara Hub like the company’s other devices using ZigBee 3.0, a simple push of the pairing button and an instant connection to the Akara Hub, which also automatically adds the shade to the Home app.
In the Akara app, you can change the preset open and close positions so the driver knows when to stop opening or closing the shades and understand the percentages within that range. After that, you can use the Home app alone and set up automations to control shades, such as during sunsets and sunrises, or add shades to scenes and shortcuts. A nice addition to the design is the physical buttons for quick manual control, if you don’t have a Siri-enabled device nearby and want to close or open the shades.
In day-to-day use, I found the motor to be much quieter than some competing ‘HomeKit’ roller shade drivers, and there was also much less risk of slippage and losing the correct open and close positions. Importantly, I’ve found reliable connectivity to be the biggest issue with some existing brands that offer roller shade drivers, but the Akara roller shade driver’s connection has been consistently reliable. Its USB-C port for power and manual buttons are nice practical advantages over some competing products.
The roller shade driver was launched today as the product begins to roll out to countries around the world, starting with Europe and Asia.
TVOC Air Quality Monitor
Akara’s TVOC Air Quality Monitor is a small HomeKit-enabled temperature, humidity, and air quality sensor that can show this information directly on the sensor via an e-ink display. This means you can see changes in real-time and glance at current metrics without needing to open Siri or use the Home app, but still feed these metrics into the Home app when you want that functionality.
With a simple press of the top button to pair via Zigbee 3.0, pairing is super quick and easy after setting up the Aqara HomeKit hub, which automatically adds to the Home app. The Home app displays the sensor’s current temperature, humidity, and air quality information, allowing you to use these metrics to trigger automations in the Shortcut app, or view current conditions at a glance in the Home app.
The design is very small, thin and compact, set in a front perspex matte white casing. The back of the sensor is flat and magnetic, allowing users to stick it to a surface like a refrigerator.
The air quality monitor is powered by two small disposable batteries, which Akara says should power the device for about a year before needing replacement. When trying to replace the batteries, I found the plastic backplate extremely difficult to pry off, even having to use a flathead screwdriver to get enough leverage, but thankfully this won’t be something you’ll need to do very often.
bottom line
With these accessories, Akara maintains its high design standards, easy pairing and reliability. The company’s support for HomeKit and its focus on seamless integration with Apple’s Home app are better than many other smart home brands. Akara’s practical design, easy setup process and reliable connectivity still exist with the Hub M1S, Roller Shade Driver and TVOC Air Quality Monitor.
The Hub M1S, while not as full-featured as the Hub M2, has an outstanding minimalist design that minimizes cables, and I wish more smart home brands would adopt this more practical design for their hubs. Added features like speaker LED rings make an otherwise exciting product more useful, even if these aspects aren’t integrated with the Home app.
The Roller Shade Driver is an affordable and convenient way to upgrade your manual roller shades with smart functionality and offers a distinctly better experience than other competing devices I’ve tried. While the need to screw into the wall may put some users off, once complete, setup is fairly effortless and makes for a device that works reliably in the background.
The Air Quality Monitor makes a great addition to any desk with its eye-catching e-ink display and minimalist aesthetic, but is also useful within the Home app for any growing ‘HomeKit’ setup. While it’s a bit pricey at $44.99, the combination of the e-Ink display and HomeKit–integration, as well as multiple metrics, will make it worth the price for many people.
How to buy
- Hub M1S – $49.99 (10% off on-page coupon currently available)
- TVOC Air Quality Monitor – $44.99 (10% off on-page coupon currently available)
- Akara Roller Shade Driver E1 (only available in the UK, expanding to other countries in Europe and Asia in the coming weeks)
Akara is currently offering 15 percent off the Roller Shade Driver E1 at its Amazon store in the UK with a promo code RSDE1PR1Valid till September 24, 2021.
Note: Provided by Aqara MacRumors For the purpose of this review a Roller Shade Driver E1, with TVOC Air Quality Monitor and Hub M1S. No other compensation was received.
