Would I buy these Door Sensors Again?

[@SlackerLabs]

@Mike-Ch reached out to me and said he has battery percentage with his aqara devices in home assistant. His comment didn't post. So he is the screenshot. imgur.com/a/Vzq1ucY Now I need to go figure out why I don't get that data...

[@SlackerLabs]

It looks like that is zigbee2mqtt based on entity names. Or are you using ZHA?

[@magicmanchloe]

Thank you so much this was an amazing video. There are simply enough KZbinrs giving long-term smart home review and advice. Smart home devices unlike a lot of other tech are gonna be in your house for a long time so it’s really important to know the reliability and stability overtime. Thanks so much and I’d love to see more like this with other devices

[@johngeib]

My Aqara door sensors (along with other sensors) do show battery life. I have them connected through a Conbee stick and ZHA. They are reasonably responsive (less than 3 seconds from across the house, around 70', multiple walls and Zigbee jumps). The battery state does not update frequently (like 1/hr) but that is fine for the battery status.

[@pepsionin]

It does show the battery life but the problem is it always says 100% then suddenly dies. I'm wondering how long do you see the numbers other than 100%.

[@johngeib]

@pepsionin I've have sensors showing data for months. They seem to go through a very quick drop off after first replacement of the battery and then hold at a near steady state for a LONG time.

[@donpowers6033]

I have been using Aqara contact sensors exclusively for a couple of years. You are correct that the battery level pretty much stays at 100% until it is close to death, but I do generally get a drop in % shortly before they are done. Even so, those silly CR1632 batteries (I easily get them in bulk off Amazon often same-day delivery) last a lot longer than one might suspect. We just moved so I have started bringing them into Home Assistant via Matter and while some functionality is lost, the key thing I need for automations (open/closed) is available. I like using Matter with Aqara devices because firmware updates are tons easier. Even so, in some cases I loose too much using Matter with Aqara devices (e.g. light sensor in their P1 motion sensor) so still choose to use Z2M. Sorry, got a little off topic here.

[@grahamshaw5531]

I have just bought some TP-Link tapo T110 sensors, They do need a hub but until upgraded hub to Matter took over 20 sec to respond . Now just work fine.

[@KeithConley]

My experience with the ThirdReality sensors has been on par with what you've reported. They stay connected and work well for what I need. I've tried other inexpensive brands and they absolutely ate batteries. Replacing a CR3050 battery every couple of months negated the up front cost savings of a cheap sensor. I have Aqara temperature sensors throughout my house that while the battery life of the CR2030 batteries are OK, they require constant repairing. I think I will eventually replace those with ThirdReality sensors.

[@illusion116]

I haven’t had any problems with my thirdreality sensors. I like that they use easily findable batteries. I also have aqara sensors. They are normally great. Very small and seemingly great battery life. However I continue to have connection issues, and they are painful to reconnect. Not sure why that is

[@vegaswayne247]

My house has hard wired contact sensors. I never have to change a battery and they cannot be jammed. They are installed in the top of the door frames and are totally concealed. I hate changing batteries.

[@Rich33527]

I really like the Ring(V2) door sensors. Ive had the ring sensors for about 3 years with no failures. I have had 1 Aqara fail on me in that same time period.

[@Bigglare]

I love the Ecolink. My home was prewired for an old alarm panel. The two screw terminals on the Ecolink let me convert each of the old wired zones into zwave to use with Home Assistant. I just recently started using Ikea's new Parasoll sensors that use a Single AAA battery and work with ZHA, or Third Reality's Matter Smart Bridge (which works the best IMO) and they are only $10

[@Bigglare]

I'm sorry, the ikea are $12

[@superdave67]

What application are you using on your computer with the Third Reality sensors?

[@daveforrester61]

We've got 2 types of contact sensor. The Aqara and the SONOFF. Both show battery level, but so far, both seem to just die without any warning. The Third Reality sensor might be my next purchase for security, given the unreliability of the Aqara battery level entity.

[@OGKenG]

I just bought two Aqara door/window sensors for the two doors at my apartment. No problems so far, but I do wish this video would have come out a couple of months ago when I was making the decision. I would have gone Third Reality.

[@jmr]

Some door and window sensors only transmit a signal that they were activated and they don't transmit the state(open/closed).That's probably only on cheap sensors but it's something you have to watch out for. The one on my mailbox is like that but the good part is the battery lasts forever and the distance is amazing if you place the receiver well.

[@gerryf7015]

While I think calling them door and window sensor is common, I think it limits their capability. These contact sensors can be used or adapted to a huge array of binary sensor automations. While I do like ThirdReality sensors, a con can be their size. All the AA and AAA based sensors are big, and it makes them difficult to be discrete and also difficult to mount of traditional trim that has curves or patterns. Two better and cheaper Z-Wave contact sensors are the Ring and Zooz ZSE41. By far, the most reliable (open/close) and longest battery life is the Aqara contact sensor - Ref:- The Hook Up 4 month continuous (yes, continuous) test from two years ago. The ThirdReality was not included, as it did not exist then. The newer Aqara T1 contact sensor (brown-ish box and not the blue box) is Zigbee 3.0. The blue ones are 1.0 or 1.1. T1 NOT on Amazon. You can get at Best Buy or Home Depot. And cheaper - $17, than the old ones - $18.

[@Rob_65]

I tried the Sonoff SNZB-04 Zigbee door/window sensor but do not use those anymore. The battery runs out within a few months, it is hard to replace the battery and the battery contact are too easy damaged during replacement of the battery. I think I'll give the Third Reality ones a go instead.

[@ryanandrewbaker]

The best part of the aqara sensors is you can route out a place for them inside a door and put a magnet in the doorframe and you have a completly hidden and attractive contact sensor solution. can't do that with any of the other chunkybois and they are so ugly sitting there like a wart.

[@SlackerLabs]

I hadn't even thought of adding them to the door. I might need to try that.

[@Saturn2888]

Are any of these not made by a Chinese company? I own smart switches (outlets) and have been looking for a plug-in alternative. Belkin WeMo was bought by Foxconn, and I can't seem to find anyone in the smart home space that's not based outta China for some of these basic devices. Are there any others like Shelly that make these everyday smart home items where they're not based outta China? I'm in the US, so many of Shelly's products won't work here.

[@SlackerLabs]

Actually I'm not sure. Are you looking for devices that are just not assembled in China? Or products that don't use internal parts sourced from China?

[@Saturn2888]

​@@SlackerLabs I don't want products from Chinese companies. I would prefer they weren't assembled or sourced from China too, but that's harder to figure out and work around. I don't trust Chinese companies to follow the same rules as everyone else because they're frequently seen to not be doing that. I have other reasons too, but I don't wanna get into a debate or anything. The main issue is there are security risks with Chinese-company products that I simply don't see from other countries' products. Things like: "will this device blow up?", "Does it use some sort of paint that could kill you if your house caught on fire?", "Can I get electrocuted through regular use?", etc. That's only one piece of the puzzle for me. I'm not sure if many folks care about if it's a Chinese-company product these days, but I've been burned one too many times by products from Chinese companies and actively avoid them.

[@SlackerLabs]

Ok cool. Yea I figure one is going to be easier to find or track than the other. Heck I am not even sure you can get one completely free of China parts just given the current supply chain. But it makes me curious. I will have to see what's out there in terms of information.