Aqara Smart Hub M2 (2.4 GHz Wi-Fi Required), Smart Home Bridge for Alarm System, IR Remote Control, Home Automation, Supports Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple HomeKit and IFTTT

Works Well With HomeKit-Aware Devices – IR Blaster A Bonus
This hub makes a solid connection to my 2.4 gHz WiFi network and provides good coverage.Most (and so far for me, all) Aqara smart items bridged through it can be addressed in HomeAssistant through the HomeKit integration. No need to bother with Matter – unless you want to. The IR blaster, however, only functions with the phone app and does not expose paired items with HomeAssistant – and that it’s only minus in my opinion. However, as I view the IR blaster as a nice bonus, and not core to the product I didn’t dock the item a star in my rating. However, if the IR blaster were to be exposed – now, that would be something special!Devices are easy to set up and this hub performs a good as advertised. It’s price point makes it a good choice for any home wanting to add good Zigbee coverage for the Aqara ecosystem. Nice.Also, note that I run this hub alongside another Zigbee coordinator (a USB stick) and both networks function without issue even though my 2.4 gHz spectrum is pretty saturated with competing networks. Again, nice!

Great for Aqara devices, not general zigbee devices
This was a breeze to install and configure. The instructions were clear, the device UI is well thought out, and it was updated to be Matter compatible shortly after I purchased.I initially bought it to manage Aqara’s excellent door sensors (my young child had a habit of trying to sneak out the house) but have added water and movement sensors which all integrate beautifully with the Amazon ecosystem, though I’m planning to switch to home assistant.In any case, the only shortcoming is that Aqara’s zigbee implementation is proprietary and thus I can’t use this with other zigbee devices. Not a huge deal as USB dongles are getting rather inexpensive and feature rich.Update: If you’ve got an old one, the Matter upgrade does not turn this into a controller; it’s still just an propriety Aqara-Zigbee controller, but a Matter bridge. So it plays semi-nicely with Home Assistant (for me at least) but it doesn’t directly control devices. Also, despite being careful, the USB power connector broke off the PCB. I’ve looked into repairing it and many others have reported similar outcomes. I thought it could also receive power via PoE, but that’s the newer M3 model. I was able to remove the lid without damage, then found 4/5 of the copper pads delaminated from the traces and are still soldered to the broken off usb-micro jack. So I scraped the traces down to copper and am hoping I can solder that small (sub 1mm). These traces should be thicker, they are for the main power bus. Will have to bridge with wire. only the ground pin came off without destroying the copper. Also, the data mode pin (4) doesn’t seem to be wired to anything (I’m assuming because it’s just for power). We’ll see So for all of these issues I’m docking a point, knocking it down to a 4-star rating.

The Aqara Smart Hub M2 has exceeded my expectations in every way. As a central component of my smart home setup, it seamlessly integrates with home assistant makes my setup easier.Setting up the hub was straightforward, requiring only a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi connection, it serves as a robust bridge for my alarm system, IR remote control, and home automation needs.The hub’s compatibility with Aqara devices and third-party smart home products makes it a versatile choice for expanding my smart home ecosystem. I appreciate its reliable performance and the convenience it adds to my daily routine.Overall, the Aqara Smart Hub M2 is a must-have for anyone looking to enhance their home with smart technology. It delivers on its promises of functionality, ease of use, and broad compatibility with popular smart assistants.

Been working on my smart home ever since the first echo dot was released. I wish I knew about Aqara sooner. As I’m now slowly changing each device over to theirs for the following reasons: easy set up, integration, ease of use and they just work. They do exactly what they are designed to do and the additional functionality of this hub being an ir blaster means I can also use it to control anything that uses a remote that does not have smart features built in. If you share starting out on your smart home journey. Do yourself a favour, save money in the long run and use Aqara. You won’t be disappointed

WIHIで接続して　動かしていましたが、動作が不安定でした。２台買いましたが、両方ともにダメでした。我が家のWIHI は、YAAHA の業務用です。LANで接続すると、バッチリ動作しました。