Aqara Water leak sensor review
Aqara is a smart home accessory manufacturer that focuses on reasonably priced HomeKit devices. In this Aqara Water Leak sensor review, we will look at the design, setup and performance.
For the last couple of months I have been extensively testing several of Aqara’s devices and comparing them to some leading brands in the smart home space. So If you have not read the motion sensor review, then check that one out.
Please note – For this review, I only used the Aqara water leak sensor with HomeKit and the rest of this article reflects that. You can use this device with the Mi Home/Aqara app for additional functionality.
Aqara Water leak sensor specs
- Price: £14 / $19
- Battery: CR2032
- Wireless Protocol: Zigbee
- Dimensions: 50 × 50 × 15 mm (1.97 × 1.97 × 0.59 in.)
- Operating Temperature: -10° – +55° C
- Operating Humidity: 0 – 100% RH
- What’s in the Box: Water Leak Sensor, Quick Start Guide
- Smart home platforms: HomeKit
- App: Apple Home app (iOS 10.3 or later), Aqara Home app (Android 5.0 or later, iOS 10.3 or later)
Aqara Water Leak sensor review in pictures
Unboxing
Similar to the Aqara Motion sensor, they package the water leak sensor in a plain and simple box, similar to Apple packaging. Inside the box you get the Aqara water leak sensor, welcome card, and a manual in English, various European languages and Chinese.
Design
The Aqara Water leak sensor is small, measuring 50 × 50 × 15 mm, which means you can get this into tight locations. The main body of the device is plastic with a water icon on the top of the sensor. The top of the sensor is softer than the rest of the body as this is where the pair and reset button is located allowing you to press it.
Turning over the sensor you will find the centre of the base is raised 0.5mm and this houses the battery cover and at either side Hex screws which act as water contact sensors. The outer edge has a shallower profile which exposes the contact sensors and allows the water to travel under and around the device.
Removing the battery is simple enough, which can be done using a coin and features a watertight seal. The sensor uses a CR2032 battery and Aqara claim the battery will last up to 2 years in normal circumstances.
As already mentioned the water contact sensors are Hex screws, which you can adjust with a (Hex) screwdriver if required. You can also attach a pair of wires to extend the reach of the sensor.
The sensor has an IP67 waterproof and dustproof rating. Which means it will work in humid and dusty environments.
Setting up the Aqara water leak sensor
As this is a Zigbee device, you need the Aqara hub to make it work, and this is regardless if you plan to use with HomeKit or not.
Open up the Aqara app and follow the on-screen instructions. You will promoted to press the pair button on the device, you do this by pressing down on the plastic top.
As soon as it has added your device, the Aqara hub will let you know along with the on-screen message. It will then give you the option to rename the device and and select from the rooms setup in HomeKit
leak detection performance and HomeKit
As mentioned above the device gets exposed in HomeKit and this is thanks to the Aqara hubs HomeKit certification. However, other than being displayed in HomeKit, it does not do much unless the sensor detects a leak.
To test the performance and capabilities of the water leak sensor, I was not prepared to flood any rooms in the house. So, I setup a simple test in my kitchen sink to simulate flowing water at a slow pace and then at a rapid pace.
Both the slow trickle and fast flowing tests passed with flying colours. The alert via the Home App was almost instant. As expected, the leak detection would not show cleared in the app until the sensor no longer detected water.
If you are using the Mi Home app with the device, you can also set it to trigger the siren in the Aqara hub.
Aqara water leak sensor review verdict
The Aqara Water leak sensor is a great buy if you are on a budget. The detection performance has been excellent during my testing both with slow trickles and fast flowing water.
The only downside is that you need an Aqara hub, but this is the tradeoff when using Zigbee. But if you plan on investing in other Aqara devices, then the investment stacks up. Also, when you take into account, the cost to purchase the cost of Aqara water leak sensor compared to the Fibaro flood sensor, then it makes it more compelling.
So that’s a wrap on the Aqara water leak sensor review. Don’t forget to subscribe to receive the latest on smart home and HomeKit. If you have questions, then leave them below.