Aqara’s AI-powered microphone only listens when you pick it up

How many times has your smart speaker woken up at the wrong time? We’ve counted countless times in our household, but now Aqara has a different idea: a smart microphone that doesn’t listen to you until you physically pick it up.

Unveiled this week at IFA in Berlin, the Aqara Voice Mate H1 is a small, battery-powered device shaped like a hockey puck. It has a microphone inside that supports Alexa, Apple’s Alexa, and Google Assistant, unlike the microphones on the speakers.not constantly listening for a wake-up word.

Voice Mate H1, on the other hand, only activates its microphone when it detects you.

This is part of the news story TechHive’s comprehensive review of the best smart home systems.

Finally, when you speak to Voice Mate, your words will be relayed to Aqara Copilot, the new LLM-powered Aqara smart assistant that lets you control smart devices, activate scenes, create home automations, and adjust smart settings via the required Aqara M3 hub.

First announced at CES earlier this year, the generative AI-powered Aqara Copilot was previously only accessible via the Aqara mobile app, but with the arrival of the Voice Mate H1, you’ll be able to interact with the assistant without your phone.

Since the Voice Mate H1 doesn’t listen until you put it away, its battery is supposed to last a year (it’s not yet clear whether the battery can be recharged or will need to be replaced).

That’s nice, but you’ll have to be patient if you want to try out Aqara’s upcoming AI microphone. Aqara says the Voice Mate H1 won’t be available until later this year or early next year. Pricing hasn’t been announced yet.

The Voice Mate H1 wasn’t Aqara’s only announcement at IFA this week. The smart home brand also announced its first outdoor security camera, the Camera Hub G5 Pro. This camera is a 4MP camera with on-device AI to detect faces, vehicles, pets, and packages.

Coming in Wi-Fi and PoE versions and equipped with its own Zigbee 3.0 hub, the Camera Hub G5 Pro will also feature color night vision, local eMMC storage, the ability to sync videos to cloud or NAS servers, and end-to-end encryption.

Next up is the Garage Door Controller T2 Kit, a first for Aqara (unless you count the Dual Relay Module T2, a multipurpose device that can control garage doors, among other things). The Garage Door Controller T2 supports geofencing, app and voice control, and automations, while a wireless sensor lets you keep track of the door’s status.

Meanwhile, the Valve Controller T1 is designed to prevent one of the most damaging events that can happen in a home: a burst water pipe. The Valve Controller T1 works with leak sensors, including the Aqara Water Leak Sensor, and can quickly shut off your water or gas valve if it detects a potential leak. The wireless retrofit device works with lever and butterfly valves on DN15, DN20 and DN25 pipes (DN is short for “diameter nominal”, the metric equivalent of “nominal pipe size” or NPS).

The upcoming Aqara Smoke Detector boasts an 85dB alarm, Zigbee connectivity, and a battery life of up to 10 years. If it detects smoke, the Smoke Detector can trigger alarm-equipped Aqara hubs and other grouped detectors.

Finally, the Aqara LED Bulb T2 series with Thread comes in three form factors, E26, E27, and GUI10, with tunable white light from a warm 2,000 Kelvin to a cool 9,000K, while the RGB CCT variety can shine in up to 16 million colors. In addition to Thread, the LED Bulb T2 lights can also connect via Zigbee.

On the software front, Aqara says it’s participating in the Work with Home Assistant program, which allows smart home users to connect select Aqara devices to their Home Assistant setup. Belly M3, Smart Lock U200Aqara says the , and Motion and Light Sensor P2 are Aqara’s first Home Assistant-certified devices, with more to come “in the coming months.”

Aqara is also adding Advanced Matter Bridging to the M3 Hub, allowing the device to sync “IF” conditions and “THEN” actions with third-party Matter apps. Another new addition is an integration for Tesla electric vehicles.