The smart home world is continually moving toward Matter, and Aqara is one of the companies driving this transition forward at a steady pace with its new products this year. Their latest hub, the Aqara Hub M200, replaces their older hubs and features a cleaner design, along with support for Matter. For HomeKit users, this means another step toward a future where more Aqara accessories can integrate seamlessly with the Home app, while still leveraging the benefits of Zigbee behind the scenes.
HomeKit Weekly is a series focused on smart home accessories, automation tips and tricks, and everything to do with Apple’s smart home framework.
What the Aqara Hub M200 does for HomeKit
The Aqara Hub M200 serves as the new entry point into the Aqara ecosystem, unlocking numerous low-cost accessory options. At its core, it is a Zigbee 3.0 hub that supports Matter and therefore HomeKit. That means accessories paired to the M200 can be shared with HomeKit through Matter, giving Apple users an easy path to bring switches, sensors, buttons, and other Aqara gear into the Home app. This is very similar to how the Hub M3 works, but in a more compact design.
Matter is the piece Apple and HomeKit fans will care about, though if you are using HomeKit as your primary smart home platform, the M200 serves as a hub that easily brings supported Aqara accessories into HomeKit. There is no need to manage multiple ecosystems. As the Matter specification changes, upgrades and adds new functionality, more Aqara products will be compatible with the M200 and automatically appear in HomeKit to function alongside your other gear.
Why Aqara is still important in a Matter world
Even with Matter rolling out across the industry, Zigbee remains a rock-solid protocol with low-cost devices that people still love. Aqara sensors are known for their speed, power efficiency, and reliability. The Aqara Hub M200 allows you to leverage all the benefits of Zigbee while also participating in the Matter ecosystem as well. For Apple users, this means you can build out your smart home with Aqara sensors that cost significantly less than Wi-Fi-only options, while still enjoying full HomeKit access through Matter. One nice feature of the Wi-Fi is that it supports both 2.4 and 5 GHz connections.
The Hub M200 also supports the new Aqara Mobile Scenes feature, which enables you to trigger multi-device scenes by long pressing your iPhone or iPad. It is not a HomeKit feature, but it is a nice convenience add-on if you want fast access to a routine without opening the Home app. It will really depend on whether you do much with the Aqara ecosystem outside of HomeKit support.
Aqara Hub M200 key features
- Matter support for bridging Aqara devices into HomeKit, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and others
- Zigbee 3.0 hub that pairs with Aqara gear
- Local automation engine that keeps rules working even if the internet goes out
- Compact design with a soft status light that doubles as a night light
- Works with the Aqara app for advanced scenes and the Mobile Scenes shortcuts
- 2.4 and 5 GHz Wi-Fi
If you already have an Apple TV or HomePod acting as your HomeKit hub, the M200 becomes your bridge for Aqara hardware. It pulls in sensors, buttons, and switches and exposes them to HomeKit through Matter. From there, you can drop them into scenes or automations just like you would with native HomeKit gear from other vendors.
Why you might want the Hub M200 over other Aqara hubs
Aqara now has multiple hubs on the market, but the M200 sits in a nice spot. It is smaller and more affordable than the M3, and it does not require Ethernet if you do not want it. It also works fully with Matter from day one. For a HomeKit-focused setup, you do not need every advanced feature the M3 adds. You just need a stable bridge that brings devices into Apple Home with no fuss.
If you already have an older Aqara hub, the M200 remains an interesting upgrade option because it utilizes a newer Matter implementation. It may become the better choice moving forward as more Aqara products adopt Matter through Thread or Zigbee.
Wrap up
The Aqara Hub M200 looks like a simple device on the surface, but it plays a big role in HomeKit. With Matter becoming the standard language for smart home devices, hubs like the M200 help extend the life of existing Zigbee accessories while making them usable in HomeKit. If you want the reliability of Aqara sensors and the convenience of the Home app, the Aqara Hub M200 is an easy recommendation. Aqara has many accessories that are incredibly affordable as well.
You can buy the Aqara Hub M200 from Aqara or Amazon.
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