Aqara Presence Sensor FP2

The Aqara Presence Sensor FP2 detects that somebody is there, not merely that somebody moved. It uses 60 GHz millimetre-wave radar rather than the passive infrared used by ordinary motion sensors, so it keeps seeing a person who is sitting still at a desk, reading on a sofa or asleep in bed.

That single difference removes the most annoying failure in home automation: the light that switches itself off because you stopped waving your arms.

Zones and multiple people

The FP2 divides a room into separate zones and reports each one independently, and it tracks more than one person at a time. One sensor can therefore tell your Apple Home that the desk is occupied but the sofa is not, and drive two different automations from a single device.

What works in Apple Home

• Report occupancy for the room, and for each zone you set up, as separate accessories.
• Report ambient light level, which is useful for automations that should only run when the room is dark.
• Trigger scenes and automations, and be read by Siri.

Before you buy

The FP2 needs constant USB-C power. It is not a battery sensor you can stick anywhere, so plan the cable run before you choose a position.

Zone setup takes patience. You map the room in the Aqara app by walking around it, and radar reflects off furniture and glass in ways infrared does not, so expect to tune the zones after living with it for a few days.

Specifications