Aqara Smart Light Switch review: Zigbee lighting control for less

Price When Reviewed

$39.99

Best Prices Today: Aqara Smart Light Switch (with neutral, model WS-USC03)

Aqara has come a long way since our first encounter with the platform four years ago. From its humble beginnings as a basic security-centric smart home system, it has evolved into a much broader platform, with various hubs, cameras, lighting strips, video doorbells, door locks, and more—there’s even a connected pet feeder—all of which are outfitted with Zigbee 3.0 radios.

Aqara’s smart wall switches aren’t new, but we recently got the chance to put them to the test alongside its Hub M2 controller. Note that you will need one of Aqara’s hubs to add this switch to your home network, even though it’s compatible with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple HomeKit. While some people report having success adding Aqara devices to Zigbee hubs from other manufacturers, the official word from Aqara is that you must have an Aqara hub use this switch.

That said, Aqara has been promising to render at least some of its smart home product compatible with the Samsung SmartThings ecosystem, most recently at the Samsung Developer Conference in October 2023. But as I said, I tested the switch with the Aqara Hub M2, which was a quick and seamless process. You simply select the appropriate device inside the Aqara Home app, and the app walks you through the rest, locating the device without requiring any QR code scanning or other interventions.

This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart switches and dimmers.

Design

Aqara offers this switch is available in single- and double-rocker formats, and each is available in a neutral-required or no-neutral-required configuration. Aqara’s online FAQ says if there’s a neutral wire in the box where you’ll install the switch, “…it is recommended to choose the Aqara Smart Wall Switch (With Neutral) which will be more stable.” I reviewed the $40 single-rocker version with a neutral wire (Aqara model number WS-USC03); the double-rocker version costs $5 more. There’s no difference in price between the neutral and no-neutral models; i.e., the single-rocker no neutral is also priced at $40, and the neutral and no-neutral double-rockers switches are both priced at $45.

Aqara’s smart switches support maximum loads of 600 watts for incandescent lights, 200watts for CFL/LED lights, or up to a 1/4 horsepower motor.

Christopher Null/Foundry

The switch offers a very clean and unsurprising design. The single-rocker version is distinguished only by a tiny blue LED that provides networking status information while also serving as an indicator that the switch is turned on. (This behavior cannot be modified.) You simply press the button to turn the connected load on or off; there is no dimming or other functionality. It’s worth noting that Aqara does not have an in-wall dimmer at this time.

Aqara’s smart switch isn’t the most compact in-wall switch I’ve tested, but its size is at least reasonable. I didn’t have much trouble getting it flush against the wall, even in an electrical box that’s crowded with wires. Four pigtails emerge from the backside of the switch—line, load, neutral, and ground—each of which must be connected via included wire nuts to the appropriate wires inside the wall.

Installation

Aqara makes things a little easier for you because the line and load wires (colored red and black) are interchangeable; in fact, the switch itself labels these connections only as “L” and “L1,” without explanation. The manual is mute on this topic as well, but it must be that the switch itself determines which wire is connected to line and which is connected to load. All the connections went smoothly, although I found the ground wire was a little tough to get a strong seal with the included wire nut.

The included cover plate comes in two parts: A bracket that you’ll attach to the switch using two tiny screws, and a cover plate that snaps on top of that, hiding the screw heads. The cover plate adds an extra step, but the resulting attractively clean look justifies the effort.

Christopher Null/Foundry

In the Aqara Home app, you’ll find a few extra options, including the ability to turn off the physical button altogether, transforming it into a wireless-only switch. The app also has a countdown timer for automatically turning the switch on or off when time expires. Energy monitoring is included, measuring consumption instantaneously as well as usage over time (both by the day and by the month). The app also logs all activity on the switch, giving you a complete view of every time the switch was turned on or off.

Should you buy an Aqara Smart Light Switch?

Aqara’s app also boasts a robust automation engine that lets you use an if-then-that scripting system to set up schedules or connect multiple Aqara devices to one another. I was easily able to set the light switch to turn on when I pressed the power button on an Aqara smart plug, for example. The switch (via the hub) also supports connections to Alexa, Google Home, HomeKit, and IFTTT if you want to set up broader automations with non-Aqara products. I didn’t have any trouble with any of these features, and I found the switch unilaterally responsive both via physical hardware and the app, with an unfaltering connection to the hub.

As of this writing, the Aqara Smart Switch was selling for around $29 on Amazon (after you clip a coupon). That makes it one of the most affordable Zigbee light switches on the market. And while it does tie you into a proprietary smart home ecosystem, it is an affordable and reliable one.