Aqara has launched a brand new Zigbee RGB sensible mild strip called the LED Strip T1. It prices $49.99, requires an Aqara hub, and is suitable with Apple Residence, Amazon Alexa, Google Residence, and IFTTT. When paired with sure hubs, together with the Aqara Hub M2, the sunshine strip can be suitable with the Matter sensible residence protocol.
The T1 is likely one of the only a few mild strips that assist Apple’s Adaptive Lighting characteristic — and the one one which helps each Adaptive Lighting and Matter. It doesn’t assist Adaptive Lighting via Matter, sadly; nothing does. Nonetheless, it’s good to see new, Matter-compliant lighting come to market utilizing the strong Zigbee commonplace. (No matter occurred to that Hue-to-Matter bridge, I ponder?)
The 6.6ft (2m)-long mild strip’s Adaptive Lighting assist means you possibly can set it to mechanically tune its colours all through the day to be hotter or cooler relying on the time. The one different mild strips that assist Apple’s circadian lighting characteristic for the time being come from Hue and Eve (additionally the old Nanoleaf Essentials strip, which doesn’t, er, Matter).
As I mentioned although, connecting the Aqara Strip T1 to Apple Residence utilizing the Matter protocol as an alternative of the old school manner means you’ll lose Adaptive Lighting, for the reason that still-nascent “common” sensible residence commonplace doesn’t presently assist it. The good factor is that — in contrast to Nanoleaf’s Matter Essentials strip, which solely helps Apple Residence via Matter and thus doesn’t assist Adaptive Lighting in any respect — Aqara’s Apple HomeKit certification means you don’t have to offer that up.
The T1 is an RGBIC strip, which means it might probably present a number of colours concurrently (versus older-style mild strips that may solely present one colour at a time). Additionally, Aqara says every of its ten segments is addressable, so you possibly can management them individually when altering colours, although that doesn’t apply to the tunable white mild portion of the LEDs, which applies to your complete strip without delay.
Lastly, like different colourful sensible bulbs and light-weight strips from corporations like Govee, you possibly can arrange customized results inside the Aqara app if you wish to showcase enjoyable snaking gradients or flashing colours — it might probably even sync to music utilizing a built-in microphone.
The trimmable, IP44-rated Aqara T1 LED Strip prices $49.99, and a 1-meter extension package prices $14.99. It’s out there at Amazon within the US, Canada, and a number of other European nations and at different retailers listed on its “where to buy” web page.