Aqara News

Aqara, a leading provider of smart home products, is thrilled to announce its participation in CES 2024. At the event, Aqara will showcase its latest innovations, including the new Border Router Plug and Smart Lock U300, as well as other advanced smart home solutions and prototypes at its booth in the Venetian Expo (#53513).

Aqara is an early advocate of the industry-unifying Matter standard and is committed to delivering seamless smart home experiences for users. The Border Router Plug and Smart Lock U300 will be Thread-capable, which will add to Aqara’s growing number of native Matter products, making Aqara devices more interoperable. These two new products previewed at CES are expected to become available for order in the coming months.

Border Router Plug

The Aqara Border Router Plug represents an innovative advancement in smart plug and is among the first smart plugs announced to incorporate Thread Border Router capabilities. Equipped with Thread and dual-band Wi-Fi, this plug enables Matter controllers without Thread capability to manage Thread devices, allowing seamless integration of Thread devices into smart home systems without needing a new Matter controller.

This plug is energy-efficient, particularly in Thread-only mode, which reduces idle consumption while extending the mesh Thread network by routing the data packets. It is also energy-conscious, providing real-time and historical data on home energy consumption, enabling users to automate their electrical devices to reduce energy waste. Additionally, the Border Router Plug can sense the on/off status of the connected appliance and trigger Aqara Home automations accordingly. For example, users can have the curtains close automatically when the TV is on to eliminate potential sun glare.

The Aqara Border Router Plug utilizes an NXP^® Semiconductors’ secure wireless MCU. As part of the ongoing collaboration between Aqara and NXP Semiconductors, the Border Router Plug will also be featured in NXP’s Smart Home Experience showcase during CES 2024, along with the NXP-powered Aqara Door and Window Sensor P2.

Smart Lock U300

The Aqara Smart Lock U300 is one of the first smart lever locks announced to feature Matter and Thread compatibility, and offers unprecedented interoperability with various smart home platforms. This versatility is coupled with an extended battery life of up to 8 months and enhanced local control, which improves responsiveness, privacy and security.

Designed for both indoor and outdoor use, the U300 replaces the traditional US lever or knob on single-bore doors and is ideal for side entries, garage entries, home offices, basements and storage rooms. It enables a key-free lifestyle with multiple access options, including fingerprints, PIN codes, NFC, or voice assistants. Homeowners can control the lock remotely, grant temporary access to guests, and receive real-time notifications of who comes and goes – all from a smartphone.

Aqara Home App Update

At CES 2024, Aqara will also showcase Home Copilot, the new chatbot interface for the Aqara Home app, which is powered by Gen-AI. Home Copilot is designed to enhance user experiences by utilizing ambient intelligence, which helps convert real-time data and insights into actions. Ultimately, Home Copilot will be able to analyze the usage patterns in an Aqara home and proactively suggest customized automations. It will also understand natural language and configure automations per user requests. Users can automate their homes via simple voice and text instructions, which makes smart home even more intuitive and easy to use.

Initially, Home Copilot will enable Aqara Insights, a daily, weekly and monthly smart home reports for users, and provide tailored plans for energy-saving automation. It will support natural language queries for Aqara devices and automations and offer proactive assistance with device setup and troubleshooting. Home Copilot will also spearhead the AI-powered customer support interface for Aqara users in over 10 languages.

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About Aqara

Founded in 2016, Aqara is a leading smart home provider with offices in New York and Shenzhen. With a comprehensive portfolio ranging from a variety of smart sensors to switches, cameras, curtain controllers, and smart door locks, the Company is committed to enabling smart homes experience that is seamless, proactive and intuitive. Aqara is also one of the early advocates of the new IoT connectivity standard, Matter, and has been collaborating with industry partners to enhance the interoperability and simplicity of smart home technology.

Aqara currently serves more than 11 million customers worldwide, with distribution partners in 6 continents – Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Europe and Australia. The Company also offers one of the most comprehensive suite of Apple Home-compatible smart home solutions in the market, and Aqara devices can be found in Apple Stores across Asia, Europe and Oceania. As the Company continues to expand its global footprint, Aqara hopes to bring more accessible, smart home technology to households around the world.