According to Sveum, Alexa Plus is now being rolled out to customers with Echo smart speakers and displays “at an increasing pace” following its late March launch, and the company will “make it even more broadly available over the summer,” he says.
The slow rollout is down to Panos Panay’s insistence that all Alexa Plus problems be ironed out before the full release, according to a recent profile of the new head of Amazon devices and services in The Wall Street Journal. It reported that “he knows that getting Alexa+ right is critical because it will be released to millions of people who depend on the technology across multiple devices. It’s a very public rollout.”
First announced in September 2023, the supercharged Alexa faced more than a year of delays, reportedly in part due to the challenges of imposing the new technology on top of the existing Alexa assistant.
It was finally relaunched under Panay last February as an entirely new assistant, and was slated to roll out to US users in the Early Access program in March. When it eventually gets its full release, the new assistant will cost $19.99 a month and be free for Prime members.
However, it sounds like it’s not fully ready for primetime. Several features announced at the launch event aren’t yet in Early Access. According to Sveum these include asking Alexa to “jump to your favorite scene on Fire TV; order groceries hands-free; order delivery through Grubhub; schedule your next spa visit; brainstorm the perfect gift idea; set personalized reminders and Routines for your family; create personalized music — on the fly” and “Access Alexa+ on browser.” That last one feels big, as personal computers are a place that Alexa has long struggled to gain traction and is somewhere it will need to be to compete with ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.
Sveum says that these missing features “will ship over the coming weeks and months” and that nearly 90 percent of announced features are live in Early Access. These include the big one, a more conversational voice assistant, which I tested briefly at the launch event. Plus, the ability to ask Alexa to remember important details you tell it and recall things from documents you’ve sent to it (Alexa now has its own email address).
Several features announced at the launch event are still not part of the Early Access program.
Alexa Plus can also manage your calendar and move music from room to room, says Sveum. It can book you an Uber, find tickets for an upcoming event, and source someone to come fix something via Thumbtack. For smart home control, you can create Alexa Routines by voice, control multiple devices at once, and customize your own smart home widget on Echo Show devices. Smart cooking timers are also live, says Sveum.
“A lot of customers are telling us they love having natural, free-flowing conversations with Alexa. It enables them to complete more complex requests like controlling multiple smart home devices at once, deep dive on music or trending topics,” Sveum says. “We’re also getting lots of positive feedback about how easy and helpful it is to get things done — like coordinating calendars, making reservations, and taking care of weekly meal planning.”
There haven’t been any formal reviews of Alexa Plus yet (Amazon PR seems to be keeping a tight lid on this one), but one USA Today columnist got in through the Early Access program. He was largely complimentary about the experience, writing he’s “been very pleased – and occasionally quite impressed.”
This is also the general vibe on Facebook and Reddit user groups from those with access, but there are clearly some bugs to work out. “It’s early days, but it feels a tiny bit closer to what I have with ChatGPT,” said one Reddit user.
Another user agreed, noting they liked how it remembered things they mentioned to it and could recall them. But they did say they weren’t happy that Alexa couldn’t access some smart temperature sensors that the previous Alexa could. One user said controlling multiple smart home devices at once was impressive, but another said they reverted to regular Alexa as the Plus version couldn’t control their smart air fryer.
Control of smart home devices is clearly going to be a huge hurdle here. Existing smart voice assistants with their command and control structure can generally be relied upon to do the correct thing (assuming they heard/understood you). However, the transition to these more conversational, intuitive assistants is potentially fraught with danger, especially when it comes to controlling things in your home. Still, I’m very much looking forward to putting it to the test.
Today’s robot vacuums are becoming a bit like cars: with all the features, upgrades, and fancy trimmings available these days, it’s easy to forget that they can just be simple machines that get us from point A to point B. Yes, some bots blow hot air on their bums (mop pads), deftly navigate dog poop, and have arms to pick up your socks, but there are plenty of basic budget robot vacuums that just do a decent job of cleaning your floor autonomously — as long as you tidy up first.
Fancier models have obstacle recognition, and some even use AI-powered cameras to tell popcorn from poop and avoid the latter. If you want one of those, check out my best robot vacuum buying guide. But if you think you can manage the task of picking up after yourself (and your puppy), a budget bot will save you a lot of money and still do a good job cleaning your floor.
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How I test robot vacuums
To judge its vacuuming power, I run every robot vacuum through a series of tests on hardwood and carpet, including flour, kitty litter, oatmeal, and pet and human hair. I test obstacle avoidance using cables, shoes, socks, and bed skirts. I test mopping effectiveness on hardwood and tile floors using dried and moist messes.
If the robot has an auto-empty dock, I test to see how well it empties the onboard bin as well as any other features of the dock. I run the robot vacs around three different levels in my home to see how they handle different surfaces, room transitions, and edge sensing. I evaluate how long they run before needing to recharge and test each app, focusing on its mapping functions to see how simple they are to use and how reliable they are.
I also examine each robot’s build quality and parts availability, and I totally judge them based on how much my cat Boone likes to play with them.
Price
Yes, there are sub-$200 robots out there. No, I do not recommend you buy them. With so many new models coming out almost daily, it’s better to look for a sale on an older model from a well-known company than buy a no-name budget bot.
You can pick up a brand new, two-year-old Roomba or Roborock with mapping and advanced navigation for half its original price. These gadgets should last for years, so it’s not like buying last season’s Prada slip-ons.
That said, sales are hard to keep track of, so some of the prices listed here may seem high for a budget bot. If you see one that fits your needs, keep an eye on The Verge’s deals page for when they go on an even better sale.
Cleaning prowess
The cheaper the bot, the more important suction power is, as they tend to have fewer features that improve cleaning. Higher-end robots have things like better brushes, carpet boost mode, and dirt detection.
At a minimum, look for 2,500Pa (if the manufacturer lists suction power; some don’t). I also much prefer rubber roller brushes or a rubber/bristle hybrid over just bristle brushes. Rubber rollers get up more dirt and get tangled less than bristles.
A mop (or not)
Bear in mind that most budget mopping bots don’t really mop — it’s more just using a damp cloth to pick up the fine dust the robot’s vacuum left behind, which is useful but not essential. Mop attachments with water reservoirs also take up space on a robot and mean a smaller bin.
A big bin
A big bin means you don’t need to empty it as often. Eight hundred milliliters is the largest I’ve seen, but anything over 450 ml is decent on a budget bot. With many bots now pulling double duty as mopping robots and the prevalence of auto-empty docks, it’s hard to find robots with big bins. But if you’re on a budget and don’t want to spend extra for the dock, a big bin will mean less hands-on time with your vacuum.
Or an auto-empty option
If you can swing it, I strongly recommend an auto-empty dock, and there are finally some cheaper versions out there. While it’s a nice-to-have rather than a must-have, delegating the chore of emptying the bin to the robot does mean your floors will be cleaner since a vacuum with a full bin won’t suck up dirt. Many standalone robots now have an auto-empty dock option you can add later if you want to wait and see, but buying them together is generally cheaper.
Choosing an older version of a high-end robot will get you the better navigation, but I’ve also included a few bump-and-roll bots with basic mapping capability, which makes the experience better all around. Non-mapping bots may miss entire sections of your home and, when they start again after charging, may go over the area they last cleaned. However, mapping is less important if you want a bot for a single room or small apartment.
Good battery life / long runtime
While most bots can recharge and resume (go back to their charging base and refuel before going back out again), a bot that can go for at least two hours on one charge will get the job done more quickly and be less annoying. I look for at least 120 minutes of runtime (180 is the best).
A decent app
A lot of budget bots have barely usable apps; this is another reason why buying a lower-cost option from a company with higher-end models gets you a better experience, as the app is usually more polished. A good basic app, though, should have the ability to set multiple schedules to send the robot out, an option for a do-not-disturb period (so it doesn’t start up again at 2AM because it finally recharged), and a way to link to voice assistants and smart home platforms like Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Apple’s Siri.
Repairability
Even at the budget end, you’ll be spending $200 to $300 on a robot vacuum, so repairability and the availability of replacement parts are a big bonus.
Best budget robot vacuum
Suction power: 5,300Pa / Dustbin capacity: 300ml/ Self-empty dock option: Yes/ Mopping option: Yes / Mapping: Yes, lidar/ Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Runtime: 100 mins, 2,600mAh battery/ Brush style: Single rubber bristle hybrid/ Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts
For around $300, the Tapo RV30 Max Plus is a very capable robot vacuum and mop with some key features usually only found on vacuums that are more than twice its price. These include room-specific cleaning, multiple suction and water levels, smart lidar-based navigation, and an auto-empty dock. With brands like Roomba and Roborock, you’re often paying double for the privilege of not having to empty the bot’s bin.
Thanks to lidar navigation, the RV30 did an excellent job of navigating my house, cleaning the perimeters of the rooms, and then using a mesh grid to clean inside the rooms. I did have to tidy up before it ran, though, as there’s no camera on board or AI-powered obstacle detection — so cables and socks will trip it up.
Its 5,200Pa suction power is impressive on a bot at this price, and ably sucked up Cheerios and dry oatmeal on hard flooring. It left some of the finer dust and debris, as its single bristle / rubber brush isn’t super effective. It fared less well on carpet. However, in the app, I could set it to clean a room three times for each job, after which it generally picked up all visible debris.
Mopping was better than average for a mop with no pressure or oscillation. It has a wide mop pad, and the bot has a big 300ml tank (which also incorporates a 300ml dustbin), so it applies enough water for a good surface clean.
Another unique feature for a budget robot is the ability to set customized cleaning for each room, choosing from five suction levels and three water levels as well as three rotations.
5,200Pa suction power is impressive on a bot at this price
The Tapo app is very simple to use, with an easy-to-edit map that lets you add virtual walls and no-go zones, add furniture, and designate carpet areas. There’s no carpet sensing, so you need to tell it where carpets are if you don’t want it to mop them. You can also set the cleaning direction and build up to four maps — again, features usually only found on higher-end robots.
It’s also easy to start a clean from the app, and I really like that you can tap on the map to send the robot to that spot.
The biggest downside of the Tapo is its tiny battery, which is just 2,600mAh. That is half the size of most vacs, and it couldn’t clean my entire 800-square-foot downstairs without needing to go back and recharge. It also takes a while to charge and occasionally has trouble repositioning itself on its dock.
You can get the RV30 without the auto-empty dock for around $80 less if you prefer an even simpler robot vacuum setup. This way, it will fit under a couch or bed, but you’ll have to manually empty its bin.
The Roborock S8 is a great vacuum that mops well and has AI-powered obstacle detection—a rarity at this price point. Its dual rubber roller brushes and 6,000Pa of suction do an excellent job on hard floors and carpets, and its flat mop that vibrates is effective at scrubbing your floors.
There’s the option of pairing the S8 with a fairly sleek auto-empty dock, but unlike Roborock’s QRevo line (which starts at around $600), the dock won’t automatically fill the water tank or wash the mop; you’ll have to do that work manually.
Formerly a flagship robot vacuum for Roborock, this once $750 bot can now be found for well under $500, even with its auto-empty dock. Its flat mop pad vibrates 3,000 times a second to simulate some good old-fashioned scrubbing, and the bot comes with an extra-large on-board water tank, which means it actually gets wet enough to be effective.
The S8 can be set to mop only — something few budget bots offer, and its mop-only mode does an excellent job, moving in a tighter “Z” pattern and going over the floors twice. It also has a slow option for a more thorough cleaning. I liked to send it out to vacuum everywhere first, then recharge and go out again to mop, which resulted in sparklingly clean floors. It does take a long time, though.
Another great feature at this price is that the S8 has carpet sensing and can raise its mops a few millimeters to avoid dampening your carpets. Most other budget mopping bots require you to remove the mop pads when vacuuming carpet or set keep-out zones around your rugs. This bot can also raise its wheels when it cleans messes like ketchup to prevent its brushes from getting sticky.
However, the mop-raising feature can only clear low-pile rugs, so I had to set no-mopping zones around my plush floor coverings. The S8 requires a fair amount of hands-on time since you have to refill its reservoir manually and wash the mopping pads (you can throw them in the washing machine). If you want to avoid those chores, you’ll need to bump up to about $600 and get whichever Roborock QRevo vac and mop is on sale. This adds spinning mopping pads and an auto wash/dry/refill dock.
My recommendation for families with pets who don’t want to spend a small fortune on an auto-empty robot vacuum is to buy a good bot with a big bin. These are getting harder to find now that every bot wants to be a multitasker and also mop (the water reservoir takes up valuable dustbin room). So, I’m very pleased with Roborock’s Q5 Pro with its 770ml dustbin.
This huge bin pairs with dual rubber roller brushes that are better at getting pet hair out of rugs than single brushes. The rubber is also less prone than bristles to getting tangled with hair, and combined with 5,500Pa suction power, this vacuum does a good job on very dirty floors. It does have a removable mopping pad with a small water tank built into it, too, which is useful for cleaning up the fine dust left behind by the vacuum, but it isn’t going to scrub your floors. It will, however, keep the pet hair at bay.
Don’t confuse this with the cheaper Roborock Q5, however. That bot has a smaller bin, lower suction, shorter runtime, and only one roller brush. It’s worth spending the extra for the Pro.
The Q5 Pro Plus pairs the bot with the redesigned Roborock auto-empty dock if you really don’t like emptying the robot’s onboard bin, normally a hefty price bump, it’s on sale for $360 at Amazon. The dock is relatively compact and lightweight compared to previous versions. However, considering the size of the Q5 Pro’s bin, you’d only have to empty it three times before the dock’s 2.5-liter bag is also full.
The Q5 Pro doesn’t have AI-powered obstacle avoidance, although it will dodge shoes and larger objects. It does have a huge 5,200mAh battery that will run for about four hours. It uses the excellent Roborock app and has all the same software features of the higher-end Roborock’s family, including lidar mapping and navigation, digital keep-out zones, room-specific cleaning, zone cleaning, and voice control.
Best basic bump-and-roll bot
Suction power: unknown / Dustbin capacity: 425ml / Runtime: 120 mins / Brush style: single bristle / rubber hybrid / Auto-empty dock option: no / Mapping: no / Keep-out zones: no / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home
The Shark Ion’s big bin, simple app experience, decent battery life, repairability, and bullish nature make this an excellent bump-and-roll bot. It doesn’t map or have any special navigation features other than colliding with things and changing direction. It’s not fancy, but it gets the job done.
It’s a good one to stick under a bed or desk and set to run when you’re not home, as it’s loud and rattly and will bang into everything in its path. But its big wheels and 120-minute runtime mean it’s less prone to getting stuck or running out of juice than simpler $200 bots.
Unlike many budget bots, it uses a hybrid roller brush that’s both bristle and plastic and doesn’t get as tangled as standard bristle brushes. Its short, squat side brushes are surprisingly effective at getting debris into the robot’s path, and because they’re short, they’re less prone to getting tangled in stray cords.
But the best thing ‘bout this bot is its tank-like wheels that will roll right over anything in its path, including high transitions between rooms, obstacles like lounger chair legs, and other furniture traps that regularly stump other bots. That’s a good thing, as there’s no mapping, obstacle detection, or any way to set keep-out zones here. This bot just goes.
Another bonus: replacement parts are easily available, making it simple to repair and just keep going.
Shark doesn’t share suction power specs, but it ably handled all my tests, including the toughest: raw oatmeal. Those little flakes are hard to pick up; side brushes will spin them all over the floor. It did a good job on pet hair, too, although, like most robots I tested, it required at least two runs to get everything up effectively.
The app is super basic: just on / off, scheduling, and a choice of three power levels (all loud). Disappointingly, you can only schedule it once a day. Most robots can be programmed to do two to three passes, but in place of that, I like the option to schedule it to go out twice to make sure it gets the job done. I couldn’t do that with the Shark. Still, you can press its button or use the app to send it out again if needed.
Best budget Roomba robot vacuum
Suction power: unknown /Dustbin capacity: 419ml /Runtime: 90 minutes /Brush style: dual rubber /Auto-empty dock option: yes /Mopping option: yes / Mapping: yes /Keep-out zones: physical only / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts
The Roomba i5 is the follow-up to my previous top pick for a budget robot, the Roomba i3. It’s not the cheapest bot on the block, but its cleaning chops, attractive design, good software, and robust, easily-repairable hardware make it a good choice for spending a smaller budget.
The i5 brings mopping capability to the lower end of iRobot’s line via a swappable mopping bin that adds a flat mopping pad and a sizable 210ml reservoir. There’s no carpet avoidance, though, so I had to roll up the ends of my carpets to block it from going on them.
But this bot is best as a vacuum, and it cleans almost as well as iRobot’s higher-end j7 but for a lot less money. It has slightly lower suction power, but it boasts Roomba’s signature dual roller rubber brushes, which do an excellent job of removing pet hair from hardwood floors and sucking up oatmeal from plush carpets. These are slightly different from the Roborock dual brushes, and I find the nubs make them more effective at digging out the dirt, especially from carpet.
The i5 has mapping and room-specific cleaning, so you can send it to clean the kitchen if you want. However, unlike my top pick, the Tapo RV30, there’s no option to set virtual keep-out zones. If you have somewhere you don’t want the bot to roam, you’ll need to buy iRobot’s virtual wall towers. It also has a relatively small bin, but you can pair it with an auto-empty base (although that doubles the cost).
The i5 is a solid vacuum with big wheels and a big bumper that can easily tackle any floor surface you throw at it. It can manage most transitions and is one of the only vacs I’ve tested that doesn’t get stuck on the uneven wooden floors in my screened-in porch. It does tend to bump into things, but it gets almost everywhere you want it to and won’t be put off by a bed skirt. But if you have delicate items on rickety tables, watch out.
As with all Roombas, the i5 is easy to self-repair, and you can buy (not inexpensive) replacements for all its parts. I’ve actually rebuilt an i3 (the previous model) after it rolled over some dog poop. There’s no obstacle avoidance here; you have to bump up to the Roomba j7 for that (which, if you can get it on sale anywhere, is a great robot vacuum.)
iRobot also offers the Combo j5 for $529.99 (currently on sale for $249.99 at Amazon), adding more advanced mapping, including virtual keep-out zones and better obstacle and carpet detection. It also has a shinier finish, whereas the i5 retains the fabric-covered body of the i3. If you can find the j5 on sale for close to or less than the i3 (it’s $379 with the auto-empty dock on Amazon at the time of writing), go for it. Otherwise, the i3 is your best bet for a budget Roomba.
Best budget robot vacuum without Wi-Fi
Suction power: 2,000Pa / Dustbin capacity: 600ml / Runtime: 100 mins / Brush style: single bristle / rubber hybrid / Auto-empty dock option: no / Mapping: no / Keep-out zones: no / Works with: n/a
The Eufy 11S Max is a rarity — a robot vacuum that doesn’t use Wi-Fi at all. There’s not even an app. Instead, you just press the button, and off it trundles. It also comes with a remote if you’d rather not get up off the couch, and you can use that to program it to clean at a specific time.
The 11S is super slim, 72.5 mm high, with no lidar tower, so it will get under most couches and very quiet. It has a big 600ml bin, and I was very impressed with how much it got up off my hardwood floors, even with its relatively small 2,000Pa of suction. There are three cleaning levels, and at the lowest, it registers around 55db, quiet enough to run in a home office.
It does have a smallish battery — only 100 minutes of runtime — but it will go back and recharge. For $200, this is the perfect budget bot for those wary of or who don’t want to deal with an app and Wi-Fi. It’s a bump-and-roll bot, meaning there are no real navigation skills. But it has plenty of replaceable parts, including the battery and wheels, so you can keep it going for a long time.
Best self-cleaning, self-emptying robot vacuum / mop under $500
Suction Power: 5,100Pa / Dustbin capacity: 360ml/ Self-empty dock option: Yes/ Mopping option: Yes / Mapping: Yes, lidar/ Suction power: 5,100Pa /Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Runtime/Battery: 180 mins, 5,400mAh / Brush style: Single rubber bristle hybrid/ Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home
The Yeedi Cube is the least expensive robot vacuum with the same kind of multifunction dock and high-end features as robots over $1,000. This means it can automatically fill its onboard water tank, clean and dry its mop, and empty the bin. It also has more advanced obstacle avoidance tech than most budget bots, although, unlike the pricier bots, it uses lasers to see objects, not an AI-powered camera, which is less effective. While it originally retailed for $699.99, it’s now an older model and is regularly on sale for less than $500.
The Yeedi resembles the Shark and Roomba in its full-speed-ahead nature. It will just run into things, and if it can clean them, great! It also only goes around larger objects. So, while it ably sucked up Cheerios and picked up all the oatmeal flakes, it got stuck on cords and socks. Definitely keep it away from pet waste.
The Yeedi’s mopping prowess is impressive. It scrubs the floor using a thin microfiber cloth that vibrates 2,500 times a minute to get up grime. The dock cleans the mopping pad, drains the dirty water, and auto empties the bin, but the robot carries its one-liter water tank around on its back, so it doesn’t need to go back and refill during a run.
One downside is that it uses a single hybrid rubber / bristle brush, which gets tangled with hair. However, combined with 5,100Pa of suction power, it did a good job of picking up dirt from the floors.
I really liked the handle; it makes it easy to pick up the vacuum and put it where you want to clean. An onboard spot clean button means you don’t need to fuss with the app to get it to clean up a dedicated area. The map offers room-specific cleaning and keep-out zones for vacuuming and mopping but can be a bit fiddly to use.
What’s coming next
iRobot’s new Roomba lineup includes several budget-friendly options — including the $319.99 Roomba 105 Combo and the $469.99 Roomba 205 DustCompactor Combo, neither of which we’ve tested. Both entry-level models can vacuum and mop, offer lidar navigation and mapping, and tout 7,000Pa of suction power. They also both offer virtual keep-out zones and automatic carpet detection and avoidance; however, the 205 features a new onboard debris and dust compactor, which iRobot says allows you to go eight weeks without emptying the vacuum.
Update, June 10th: Adjusted pricing / availability and added several new links.
Aqara’s Matter controllers, including the Camera Hub G5 Pro, Doorbell Camera Hub G410, Hub M3, and Hub M100 pictured, can now support over 50 Matter device types.
The company is also bringing advanced bridging to all its Matter controllers, allowing you to integrate Aqara’s many advanced automation features into any Matter-compatible smart home platform via scenes and triggers. This includes Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, and Google Home. The new update also lets you bridge Matter devices that are not yet supported by a platform into those ecosystems.
The new Matter device types that can now connect to Aqara Matter controllers include:
Robotic vacuums
Dimmable plugs
Smoke and CO alarms
Air quality sensors
Leak, freeze, and rain sensors
Curtains and blinds
Fans and air purifiers
Air conditioners and heat pumps
Water valves and pumps
Pressure sensors
Solar panels and battery storage
Electric vehicle chargers
Washing machines and dryers
Fridges and freezers
Cooktops, hoods, and kitchen surfaces
Ovens and stoves
Water heaters
Video players and speakers
This is in addition to sensors, thermostats, switches, and lights, which were already supported. Aqara says the update will roll out with Aqara Home version 5.1.9 and Matter Controller firmware version 4.3.5 later this month.
Aqara seems committed to making its platform open and interoperable, stating that it believes interoperability is essential to move the smart home industry forward. “By extending Matter support, we aim to offer users greater flexibility and ensure that Aqara products remain useful across a wide range of platforms,” said Eugene You, CEO of Aqara.
Aqara has long worked with all the major smart home platforms, including Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and more recently SmartThings, and it’s now positioning itself as a central part of the Matter smart home.
Aqara hubs work with its line of Zigbee-based smart home products; several are also Thread border routers. The company says they have been optimized to support Thread network sharing, meaning they can join existing Thread networks managed by Apple HomePods, Amazon Echos, or Google Nest hubs, for example. However, compatibility will depend on those platforms’ implementation of Thread. This should help provide a stronger network for Thread smart home devices.
“By extending Matter support, we aim to offer users greater flexibility and ensure that Aqara products remain useful across a wide range of platforms.”
Advanced bridging, which was introduced with the M3 hub earlier this year, will come to all current and upcoming Aqara Matter controllers, even the entry-level Hub M100. This brings two benefits. First, you can bridge Matter devices into platforms that don’t yet support that device type, and second, you can use Aqara’s advanced automation features and scenes in any Matter-compatible platform.
The latter ability means that you can use Aqara’s G4 Video Doorbell’s facial recognition feature as a trigger in an Apple Home automation that turns your lights on when you come home. The facial recognition trigger is added to Apple Home as a virtual “occupancy sensor,” according to Aqara.
Other advanced features that can be translated as either “virtual occupancy sensors” or “virtual plugs” include package detection from a camera’s on-device AI, fall detection from Aqara FP2 mm-wave sensor, and automations triggered by a device’s energy usage. Fingerprint sensing, gesture control, and presence sensing can all also translate, according to Aqara.
This advanced bridging feature is not native to the Matter spec, but is something a hub manufacturer needs to develop. Home Assistant has similar capabilities that allow you to import its scenes, scripts, functions, and other non-Matter-supported entities to connected platforms.
Aqara says advanced bridging is essentially a stopgap solution that allows users to access its full features in any Matter platform until (or if) Matter gains support for these more advanced features.
President Donald Trumpâs latest round of tariffs â including a now 125 percent levy on Chinese imports â will hit the smart home industry hard.
Many smart home device makers are already struggling, thanks, in part, to Trumpâs first round of tariffs. Increased competition from budget smart home companies largely based in China has also played a part, and so has slower takeup from homeowners than the industry expected.
The sky-high tariffs on Chinese goods and components present a huge challenge for all smart home manufacturers. Most companies source products from China, and even if they moved manufacturing to other countries, they still may use Chinese-made components. The new, steeper tariffs on countries like Vietnam, where many companies relocated manufacturing, compound their problems.
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