Review of the Aqara S1 Plus panel concentrator

Aqara panel hub s1 plus: introduction

• Connectivity: Dual Band 2.4/5GHz Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Bluetooth
• Compatibility: Aqara app, Matter, Alexa, Homekit, Google Home, Homey, Home Assistant, Smartthings

In January in Ces, Aqara, as it usually does, removed the covers of a lot of new kits, including some new elegant additions that compete by their wall space.

The most notable of which was the aqara panel hub s1 plus, which is in revision here.

The Hub S1 Plus, which I have been stuck to the wall of my kitchen during the last weeks, is an intelligent domestic center of 6.9 inches of touch screen designed to face the tastes of the Amazon Echo Hub, or high -end control panels of control tastes4 or crestron.

It is also practically a direct rival of the tastes of the bright panel and the Rithum switch too, since it is directly fed with the existing cables of a normal light switch.

Keep reading to get my full review of the Hub S1 Plus panel. Actually, it is the EU version that I have been testing here; An US launch is still TB.

Design and build

• Visualization of 1440 x 720 hd
• It can be mounted or used on a dock on a dock
• Driven by existing or USB-C light circuit cables

If the hub s1 plus panel design looks familiar, it is probably because it is more or less a coal copy of Magicpad S1 Plus that was launched in Southeast Asia and the Middle East a couple of years ago.

However, in the meantime, many bells and whistles have been added and that reused design is not necessarily bad, since it is a piece of incredibly elegant aspect kit.

Metering 199 × 113 × 56 mm and with a weight of just over 500 g, it is a much more slender approach to obtain intelligent control in its wall than the tastes of echo show 15 or 21, and it is also more trimmer than the Hub of Amazon.

With a double -band Wi -Fi and duplicating as a zigbee cube and a matter bridge, the S1 Plus can handle everything from live camera foods to thermostat adjustments and users can customize topics, panels and widgets, or load family photos, all shown on a very pleasant screen of 1440 × 720.

It is not the largest resolution in the world, but the visualization angles are good and does a job decent enough even in sunlight. It is not designed to watch movies, so it is sharp enough.

With a totally black front and only a thin bezel, you can choose a white or black edge to better improve its wall.

As for control, there is not much, since everything is handled on the OA screen through the application (more on that at one time), but you will find 4 microphones up for bidirectional communication, and some small speakers at the bottom, along with a USB-C port and a restart button.

Keep in mind that the S1 Plus, unlike many of the last Hubs of Aqara, is not a controller of the matter, but can be used as a dedicated center Aqara Zigbee 3.0 for ‘children’ devices and can join those devices in a matter system.

There is bluetooth on board, but not to transmit music, just to easily synchronize new devices Aqara to the system.

Facility

• You need a neutral cable for food
• Makes silly bulbs intelligent
• Designed for 200–240V

There is always a concern, when a gadget needs hard on the electricity grid, that installation will be complicated. The good news with the Hub S1 Plus panel is that this is not the case at all.

In fact, you are calm as soon as you open the box because apart from the manual, there are only a few screws, along with a mini screwdriver.

Actually, there are two ways to turn on the S1 Plus. Most people will mount it on the wall I imagine, since for that it was designed, but, if you want to put it on a dock and have it on a side table, then there is a USB-C port at the bottom for this same purpose.

If you want to take this option, you should simply remove the food block from the back by removing the two screws that hold it instead.

In fact, you will have to do that anyway, even if you are riding it on the wall like the Bods Aqara intended, since that is the first step of the installation.

Actually, the first installation step is to make sure that your existing ignition setback table is compatible. You will see that the power block is a lot of gang box size, but it will also adjust with some double gangs, provided that the screw holes are aligned. Aqara has a guide for this on the destination page S1 Plus.

This power block in the back is actually rounded in the corners, which should mean that it will adjust both in the EU boxes and in the United Kingdom.

As mentioned, this is officially a device from the United Kingdom/EU, and the entry energy load is established as 200-240V, 50/60Hz.

Once you have removed the feed block, you are ready to connect it to your light switch, with a pair of physical relay switches offered from the terminals on the back: N, L1 and L2, quite standard, and exactly what you would expect to see in a silly double light switch.

Obviously, it has turned off the energy at this point, so you just have to connect the correct cables, according to its lighting circuit, screw it in the posterior box as it would with any other light switch and the device is ready to start; Once you have cut it and put the two screws, that is.

The S1 Plus is able to control a pair of silly lights that are connected to the switch cables, but also admits the intelligent load mode of Mars Tech, which means that it can also obtain a much more specific wireless control of the intelligent lights AQARA, with a constant diet that is offered to the light circuit.

Using this (and configurable through the application) you can choose what mode you want to use: normal, intelligent or power, and create much more precise control not only of the intelligent lights Aqara but also as curtains and intelligent tones, and thermostats too.

Initial synchronization

However, you decide to turn on the S1 Plus, and you will know that you have done it correctly as soon as you see that the Aqara logo appears after turning on the feed again, you will find that adding it to your smart start system is as simple as adding an intelligent sensor, perhaps even easier. And, if it is your first Aqara device, then it is equally easy.

The first step is to select your language and touch the next button. Then a QR code will be presented to scan to synchronize it with your smart home.

Now, at this point, you actually have two options: you can add it to the AQARA application, or you can complete that completely and go directly to Homekit.

In any way you choose, you will also obtain the option to add a PIN security code to the device itself (which is not mandatory).

I would recommend following the AQara application route, since it is the only way to obtain complete functionality and complete customization options for the S1 Plus; Think about things like photo wallpapers, icons and the like.

And just because Aqara chooses for the initial configuration, that does not mean that I cannot add it to Homekit, or in fact expose it to import, in the future; That was exactly what I did.

Synchronize with intelligent domestic systems

Whatever the method you choose, keep in mind that you are probably for one or two hours of arguing so that everything works exactly as you want.

I have, as you imagine, give proof of a smart house kit to make a living, an incredibly ‘occupied’ smart home configuration, with a comprehensive aqara system that is already in its place, along with Alexa, Apple Home, Homey and Smartthings.

For my case of use of the S1 Plus, I wanted the two ‘real’ buttons (that is, those physically connected to my lighting circuit) to control two silly games in my kitchen: the sources and the subcabin lights, and I wanted to use the wireless ” (up to 6) switches (up to 6) to control some permanent bulbs of my Mulio system.

The first bit worked perfectly as soon as it was lit, the next bit made some effort.

I assumed that I could simply match the S1 Plus with my Alexa system through the matter, and the two wired switches and six wireless would be displayed as individual devices … but that was not the case, since Alexa has just attracted the wiring.

I also tried the old skill approach, which exerted an even more strange result that only the panel was presented as a device, without switches at all.

My solution was to use Homekit, a system that the S1 Plus (and Aqara in general, in my experience), configure those wireless buttons.

I have my lights together with Homekit through the matter, and when I added the S1 Plus to my Apple’s house (after generating a Home K -code on the device itself), I could see a configuration of the wired and wireless switches.

I could also have followed the route of exposing my bridge to my aqara hub m3, since that is a dedicated matter controller, but I have had problems with the M3 and the tone in the past.

As I said, prepare for one or two hours of adjustment, especially if you have a complex intelligent home configuration like me, but there are many options … I guess I could also have done the above using the domestic, homemade or intelligence assistant.

In daily use

I have focused much on the light control options of the Hub S1 Plus panel, but classifying it as an smart light switch is doing a bad service.

Yes, you can obviously control two sets of physical lights from those cable switches, but wireless buttons can actually be configured in a multitude of ways.

Within the AQARA application, you can cause these wireless buttons to control almost anything that has synchronized with your existing intelligent domestic system, whether they are native Aqara devices, third -party devices that work with Aqara, or even devices that can be opened with your other Aqara centers, such as Hub M3.

But to be really complex, you can configure them to start starting automation within Apple Home or Homey.

I already talked about the use of my wireless buttons to control some tone lights through Homekit, but that is quite basic compared to what you can do. Essentially, any automation that can be created in the Apple Home application can be configured to run after pressing the wireless button in the S1 Plus.

Through the AQARA application, you can customize the name and icon of the wireless buttons (and in fact the wiring) to better adapt to the actions they start.

Unlike Aqara’s smart buttons, these wireless buttons are restricted to a single pressure only, there is no option to configure a double touch or a long press.

But it is not just about the buttons, since another great case of use for the S1 Plus is to see its aqara camera or live views on the screen. You can choose that all your cameras are grouped into a single ‘card’ by which you move, or you can create individual cards for each one.

You can also create automizations such as having an alarm sound or a personalized sound, and live the beginning of view, if a recognized or non -recognized person is detected (if you have a new AQara camera with intelligence of facial recognition on board).

The live view from the camera is very agile and the footage is shown with great clarity and can also speak with its bells and cameras.

I have talked a little about the cards and all of these participate in the local board that it configured (it can actually be 10). This local board is a bit like the AQARA application, with mosaics and buttons, which makes it easy to control different devices. It is aqara who calls these “cards”, and you can have up to 60 of them in the S1 Plus.

The predetermined screen in the S1 Plus is the switching plate, which shows the wired and wireless switches that it has configured, along with a widget that shows time and weather. It moves down this to access its board (s).

All this is customizable in the application, you can choose several different screen issues and backgrounds and can even add your own photos to the mixture, although with a limit of 50 MB; I could only get 10 photos to synchronize my iPhone using the AQARA application.

By default, the S1 Plus shows an attenuated version of a screen protector (there are some to choose from) in the application and use a proximity sensor to turn on your custom penny when approaching, with friendly options for available children too.

The official spiel states that there is the voice assistant of Aqara Copilot on board, but that is not the case outside of China.

Another feature, which I cannot really say, was that energy monitoring is available for the two wired switches and can monitor them in the application.

Final thoughts

I am already a great user of Aqara, but the Hub S1 Plus panel really impressed me. Yes, the initial configuration with a complex intelligent home may require some patience, but the rewards are quite skilled. This is not just an elegant light switch; It is a centralized command center for all its intelligent configuration, which offers excellent control and customization for Aqara, Homekit and Matter devices.

How do we try

When we publish our reviews, they may be sure they are the result of “living” with long -term tests.

Smart houses and bridges play a key role in control, an intelligent home ecosystem or a range of products that supposedly work in harmony.

Because we are testing the smart house kit all day, every day, we know what matters and how a particular intelligent controller compares with the alternatives that could also be considering.

Our reviews are integral, objective and fair and, of course, we are never paid directly to check a device.

Read our guide on how we try the smart home centers for more information.

Aqara panel hub s1 plus: specifications