Comparing Zigbee Motion Sensor Products

Hardware
#1

Hi there,

I am looking for a comparison of the various motion sensor products available for Zigbee networks.
I am already using some Aqara, Xiaomi and Tradfri motion sensors. Since I want to equip every room with a sensor now, I am looking into the various options available on the market. Since I am using zigbee2mqtt, I checked their supported devices:

They already list 43 compatible devices. Would it be great to have some feature comparison? Is there already e.g. a Google spreadsheet out there?

I am interested in multiple features:

  • battery life
  • additional sensors e.g. lux
  • sensitivity
  • etc.
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#2

From my experience, the Hue motion sensors, while expensive, are the best motion sensors for ZigBee.
The battery last like forever, I have one that is still running on the same batteries when I bought it more than 3 years ago.
They provide Lux and temperature as well and moubting and positioning id also really nice.

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Best zigbee motion and lux sensor
#3

Second vote for the Hue motion sensors. Also, be sure to skim this thread: How do you detect Motion. Advice needed

#4

That’s true for Hue Motion Sensors. They are really nice indeed.
However they have at least two drawbacks compared to most of the other competitors :

  • their price : they cost about 3 or 4 times more that the ‘chinese’ devices
  • their form factor : they are substantially bigger than most other

I haven’t had time yet to check how they behave when their parent routeur node is not available anymore : do they immediately switch to another available router or not.

They have also one very big advantage : there is a very good outdoor version of this PIR.

I’ve started my own comparison of Zigbee sensors with zigbee2MQTT. So far I’m focus on thermometer and door contact sensors, but will also do PIR right after. Main brand competitors are :

  • Xiaomi Aqara : they are already out of this competition but as I have plenty of them I will include them in the comparison.
  • Sonoff Zigbee,
  • Blitzwolf,
  • Philips Hue,
  • Samsung Smarthings,
  • Ikea Tradfri,
  • Terncy.

This a personnal list according to what I can find and what looks ‘serious’.

I’m just waiting for my new coordinator ( CC2652) and my new 2 routers ( CC2530 + CC2592) to put in place a solid network architecture and be sure of the end-device test results I will get.

#5

Yeah, Philips SUCKS when it comes to pricing. But, to be fair, the Zigbee radios that Philips uses in the Hue products are top-notch. I’ve used a ton of different motion sensors over the years and in terms of range and RSSi/LQi, the Hue motion sensors always seem to have the best stats, even at longer ranges. The Ikea Tradfri sensors, on the other hand, seem to always have the worst, even at short ranges with SmartThings sensors falling squarely in the middle.

Yes and no. They follow (damn near perfectly) the ZLL profile spec where they will try another repeater after a few minutes of their current repeater being unavailable. It’s really up to the controller to heal the mesh, so the amount of time really depends on how capable the controller is.

This is true, and I’ve been working on some ways to hide them. I typically mount them high up on a wall (in the corner) or above a door frame. While you can see them, they aren’t completely noticeable. I did see one instructable where someone was cutting out a portion of the molding around a door and counter-sinking them that way, thus making them less noticeable. However, my wife and I don’t really care all that much about them being seen. Plus, 2-3 year battery life is a BIG plus for me.

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#6

Did you publish your results for your existing comparison somewhere? Would be interested to read that.

What’s the issue with the Aqara ones?

Could we combine our efforts to share more details for motion sensors for others and ourselves?
I guess there is no device which outperforms on every dimension. E.g. a simple motion detection used for an alarm system should be much more easier that a reliable presence detection over time.

#7

+1 for Hue Motion sensors.

I have a bunch of the indoor ones and recently got one of the outdoor ones. They and the SmartThings multipurpose sensors are by far the most reliable battery-powered devices in my mesh. I’ve had a similar experience of the batteries lasting multiple years, too.

The response time when directly paired with a ConBee II is great, and I use them for motion lights in infrequently used rooms like bathrooms. The response time was lacking when connected to the Hue hub and having HA poll the Hue hub.

Every once in a while one of them will drop out of the network (usually when I’ve messed with something), and a quick re-pair has always fixed it. Examining the reported parent of the sensors via zha_map shows that the sensors do sometimes end up with a different parent from day to day, but that doesn’t seem to keep them from functioning properly.

I have one of them in a shed located on its inside back wall, about 50ft from my house. Usually, the parent is one of my exterior lights on the wall of the house, but sometimes it’s a light in a room along the back side of the house. I’ve had more issues with the Yale lock on the door than I’ve had with the motion sensor inside the shed about 10ft further away.

If you’re wanting to buy the indoor Philips sensors and don’t want to wait for a sale/deal, the best regular price I’ve seen is at Costco, which is 2 for $60. Still pricey, but at least that’s a little better than MSRP.

#8

Using Hue (indoor and outdoor) and the aqara. Don’t forget to HW mod the aqara, or it not update for 2 min after detecting motion.

#9

For me, now using 2 Aqara motion sensors, it feels like I have to jump up and down for it to see me.
And I have to do this nearby (within 2-4 meters/6-12ft) otherwise nothing happens.
Is that also your experience?

Is there any other Zigbee motion sensor besides the Philips and Aqara?

#10

Plenty. Besides Aqara I have IKEA and Sonoff motion sensors.

#11

@devastator I haven’t heard of the hardware mod, but it sounds like you can reduce the amount of time it takes for a Hue sensor to reset and send another motion signal? How do we do that and how low can you make it?

#12

I have no complaints of the hue motion sensor. I am not aware of any HW mods for the HUE motion sensor, only for the one from Xiaomi

#13

Hello, time change to 5 sec.