The Aqara Spatial Multi-Sensor FP400 takes presence detection beyond simply knowing whether somebody is in a room. Using 60GHz mmWave radar, the FP400 can track the position of up to 10 people simultaneously and allows a room to be divided into up to eight individual detection zones.
For Apple Home users, those zones are particularly interesting because they can be exposed as separate presence sensors. This opens up much more precise automations, allowing different lights, devices or scenes to react depending on exactly where somebody is within a room rather than simply whether the room is occupied. The FP400 supports Matter over Thread as well as Zigbee and also includes an ambient light sensor that can be incorporated into automations.
For my review, I installed the FP400 in my living room and created several individual detection zones using the Aqara Home app. I then exposed those zones to Apple Home and created automations that turned different lights on and off as I moved between different areas of the room.
I also tested how well the FP400 handles static presence by lying completely still, along with testing Aqara’s AI Enhanced Person Detection. This included allowing both my dog and robot vacuum to move around the living room and directly through the zones I’d created to see whether they would accidentally trigger my Apple Home lighting automations.
