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Aqara are finally due to release their highly anticipated in-wall switches, which, as with all other Aqara products, use Zigbee to communicate via the Aqara hub, and then onto your network, and of course HomeKit. These new switches are a departure from the Square single and double rocker switches designed for Mainland China, which typically measure 86 x 86mm, meaning you can’t use them with regular switch recesses found in North American homes, with the exception of the wireless versions, of course.

the new US models still come in single and double configurations, but unlike the Chinese versions, the US models aren’t of the rocker switch type, instead, being a simple rectangular button for the single switch, and two square buttons for the double switch. Also, unlike the Chinese switches, there seem to be no plans to release wireless versions of these switches. The good news for owners of older properties is that both of these switches come in ‘neutral’ and ‘no-neutral’ versions, meaning the ‘no-neutral’ models simply don’t require a neutral wire. The trade-off with the ‘no-neutral’ models is that they can’t act as signal repeaters to extend the Zigbee mesh network, however.

The US models come with LED indicator light on the front to let you know they’re active. These switches are also only suitable for single pole switches, and so can’t be used in three-way lighting setups. Finally, these switches will also be Zigbee 3.0 compatible.

Single no neutral – US$39.99

Double no neutral – US$44.99

Single with neutral – US$35.99

Double with neutral – US$39.99

Using the discount code – AQARA427 – will get you a discount upon checkout. The discount will be good through to May 1st, so act fast!

You can check out Rey G’s video review below;

for our European readers, there are rumours that models specifically designed for EU switch recesses (round in shape) are in the works, and could be released later in the year, although bear in mind that due to the dire circumstances around the world right now, things could change.

The company also announced the official launch of the Aqara cube within their own store, which is a smart controller that can control devices or scenes with various types of movements – flip 90º or 180º, push, rotate, shake, knock etc. although to be clear, whilst it does work with the Aqara hub, it isn’t officially HomeKit compatible. However, if you check out our recently released video tutorial, there is a workaround.