Back in January, at CES 2025, Aqara unveiled an avalanche of new devices, with the likes of the Panel Hub S1 and the Presence Multi-Sensor FP300 stealing most of the headlines.
However, it’s the Aqara Hub M100 that may prove to be the biggest hit from the CES launch bonanza, as it offers an incredibly wallet-friendly way – at less than $20 – of jumping on board the Matter smart home movement.
What’s more, it’s not just a Matter bridge for Aqara-branded devices, it also boasts Thread border routing capabilities too, like the flagship Aqara Hub M3.
That means it can also control non-Aqara Thread devices as well; think Nanoleaf smart lights and smart locks like the Kwikset Halo Select, and it also acts as a Thread extender to boost the mesh network.
Aqara tells us that the M100 can connect up to 20 Zigbee devices and 20 Thread devices at the same time.
Obviously, Zigbee isn’t part of the Matter standard so, on that front, it would act as a Matter bridge to let you control your Aqara ‘child’ devices within a Matter smart home system, whether you use Alexa, Google Home, HomeKit, Homey, SmartThings or Home Assistant.
You can, should you wish, ignore Matter completely, and simply use the M100 as a dedicated Aqara hub to control or expand an Aqara smart home system too.
If you did that though, you’d miss out on some nifty bells and whistles as the M100 also gives you access to Aqara’s recently announced Advanced Matter Bridging feature.
Originally introduced on the M3, it allows you to transfer automations and triggers from your Aqara system, into other Matter platforms.
You could create a virtual switch to kick start a robot vacuum and have it as part of a routine in a Google Home Matter setup, for example, or have person recognition from the likes of the Camera Hub G5 Pro act a a trigger for actions in a HomeKit system.
Looking a lot like the Aqara Hub E1 that went live back in 2021, the M100 is a USB-powered controller that simply plugs into a regular USB-A port (minimum 5V, 0.5A) to fire up.
It’s 2.4GHz only, and there’s no IR blasting nor Edge computing skills like the M3, but it’s less than 20% of the cost of Aqara’s top dog, so some compromises are to be expected.
At $19.99 Stateside and £19.99 in the UK, it’s a very attractive option for anyone looking to build of expand a Matter smart home system. You can get it direct from Aqara, or from Amazon.
As well as the M100, Aqara has also taken the covers off of the Climate Sensor W100.
With a 3.4-inch display on board, you’ll be able to see things like temperature and humidity readings, and user there are three buttons available for the likes of HVAC control or scene activation.
The W100 is a native Matter device with both Thread and Zigbee built in.
It’s $39.99 / £39.99 and is available direct from Aqara, or from Amazon now.
The final bit of Aqara news to bring you is the launch of the Camera Protect Kit Y100 bundle, which comprises the Camera Hub G3, the Door and Window Sensor, Motion Sensor P1, and Vibration Sensor T1.
It’s $139.99 / £139.99 and, like the two new launches above, is available from Aqara directly or via Amazon.
