If you’re into home automation, Aqara just released an upgraded smart home controller that you may want to check out. The Aqara Cube T1 Pro features all the qualities of the previous Aqara Cube but adds HomeKit and Alexa support, plus a few extra goodies for your smart home.
Like the original Aqara Cube, the T1 Pro comes equipped with gesture recognition, meaning that you can do things like push on the top to turn on the lights, shake it to open your curtains, rotate it to adjust the brightness of a lamp, and more. But the T1 Pro adds some new gestures and more upgraded features such as Scene Mode.
Scene Mode recognizes different sides of the cube, and you can program them for various “scenes” in your home. For example, you can set a scene for your living room when you get home from work. It can turn the lights on to a specific brightness, draw the curtains, etc. Then when you want to settle down to watch a movie, you can flip the T1 Pro to a different side for the home cinema scene to dim the lights and close the curtains. And with the new printed indicators on each side of the cube, it’s easy to remember which side is programmed to which scenes.
The Aqara Cube T1 Pro supports all the popular home ecosystems, including Aqara, HomeKit, Alexa, IFTTT, and Matter (which arrives in a future update). And you can use it to control smart devices like lights, locks, outlets, thermostats, air conditioners, cameras, security apparatuses, and more. It has a two-year battery life and supports over-the-air updates.
