Aqara T1M ceiling light, compatible with Matter and HomeKit

We tested Aqara’s first lamp, the huge T1M which has two independent lights, compatible with Matter and therefore with any home automation platform, including HomeKit.

Features

The first thing that impresses about the T1M is its size: 495 mm. It is a large ceiling light, so it is perfect to be the only lighting point in any medium-sized room (kitchen, living room, etc.). It is made of good quality plastic, there is no glass, with a metal main structure. It is designed to be fixed to the ceiling, and for this it offers two systems, one using a metal plate, and the other directly with holes in the body of the lamp. It is much more convenient to use the first system, mounting to the ceiling is quite quick and easy with minimal knowledge of electricity.

Connectivity with Matter makes it compatible with any home automation platform, but You will need an Aqara Hub to be able to connect it. If you don’t have Aqara products, it can be a problem, but it is a more than profitable investment since this Hub will open the door to countless home automation products at an excellent price. You have many types of Hubs, some integrated with video surveillance cameras. On our YouTube channel you will find a long list of videos on HomeKit with examples (link). The link to the Hub is very simple through the Aqara app, with very detailed instructions on the procedure in the app itself and in Spanish, so you will not have any problems. But just in case, you have it well explained in the video. If Matter does not interest you, do not worry because it also has Zigbee connectivity and also acts as a repeater to extend your network.

We are really dealing with two lights in one. On the one hand, we have a side light which is a multi-color RGB LED strip with 16 million colors that you can configure to display statically or with animations combining multiple colors. We also have a main light that only offers white color, but can range from 2700K to 6500K. Both lights can also be adjusted in intensity and are compatible with HomeKit adaptive lighting so that the white light varies automatically depending on the time of day. According to the manufacturer, the lamps are ready to offer us 50,000 hours of light, so it is a lamp that will last a long time. In addition to all this, something very important in this type of device: if the light goes out, you can configure it so that it remembers the last state it had, that is, if it was off, it will turn off when the electricity returns.

Aqara and Casa, two ways to control it

The Awara app is necessary not only to configure the light, but also to be able to control it and get the most out of it. We will be able to control both lights independently, taking advantage of all the different functions that each of them offers us. With the outer ring we have endless possibilities, creating environments of all kinds, animations, etc. With the Home app, the only thing we can do is adjust the intensity and a single color for the entire ring, and fixed, no animations. The main lighting offers fewer possibilities, there is practically no difference with the Home app, since here both can do the same thing. With Aqara we can also establish automations with devices of other brandsfor example when someone calls the Aqara video intercom, the light turns on in one color and flashes, or if the smoke detector is activated, the light also acts as a visual alarm.

The advantage of the Casa app is that we can integrate it with our entire home automation systemso that we can create other types of automations that combine them with any device that we have added to our home automation network, regardless of the brand. It does not offer possibilities as advanced as those offered by the Aqara application, but it is perfect for creating environments that activate at certain times, or when a door is opened, or to turn off all the lights in the house in a certain situation. . As the two applications are not exclusive, it is better to have both and thus be able to take advantage of all the potential that this ceiling light offers in combination with all our devices.

Editor’s Review

The T1M ceiling light is perfect for lighting any room; it can illuminate rooms of up to 20 square meters on its own. Its automation possibilities, its fast response and its simple and modern design make it suitable for any room, and the compatibility with any home automation system is its great strength. Its price is a little high for what we are used to with Aqara, but it is worth what it costs, especially if we compare it with other similar products from other brands, which are much more expensive. You can buy it on Amazon for $149.99 (link)