Eve Motion with Thread review: Simple and speedy smarts

The next generation of Eve Motion sensor is available and although it only adds one major new feature, it’s a great one. The newest $40 Eve Motion adds Thread support, prepping it for Matter. That means you should be able to use with non-HomeKit devices in the future.

I have an Eve Motion review unit loaned to me from the company. And I’ve used it enough to already see how speedy the addition of Thread is. Instead of tripping down the stairs to a dark kitchen in the middle of the, for example, the kitchen lights are on before my feet hit the first floor.

Of course, I had to first add the Eve Motion sensor to my smart home. And, of course, the process was super simple and fast. I placed the two included AAA batteries into the device, scanned the HomeKit QR code with an iOS device, gave the device a name and room. The process takes 30 seconds and the Eve Motion then appeared in both my Eve and HomeKit apps.

The product includes two sensors: One is a PIR sensor for motion with a 30-foot range across 120-degrees, and one for light levels (LUX). And that’s all I need to stop stubbing my toe in the middle of the night when I need a drink of water.

To alleviate that painful situation, I used the Eve app to set motion detection as a trigger event. When it detects movement, an automation fires off the Lutron light switch I installed to manage my under-cabinet LED kitchen lighting. And it happens instantly.

Of course, I don’t want those lights to go on any old time, so I limited the automation to be active from 10:30pm to 5:30am daily. That’s the block of time when our lights are automatically turned off from prior automations.

An alternative method could be to use the light sensor since it’s dark when all of the lights are off. I could easily use the kitchen LUX, or brightness, level as my way to limit this.

Since I’m not the only one with sore feet from middle-of-the-night trips to the kitchen, I had my family test this setup with the Eve Motion. And it passed with flying colors. (ProTip: If your family isn’t as enthusiastic about smart homes as you are, set up a test like this to show them the benefits. It’s a great way to get buy in!)

Thanks to the replaceable batteries and an IPX3 water resistance rating, you can use the new Eve Motion for outdoor purposes as well. There’s a small screw hole on the back of it for mounting purposes. Indoors, I just leave it on the fireplace mantel where it’s fairly innocuous and barely noticeable.

For now, the Eve Motion works with the Eve app and Apple’s HomeKit platform over Bluetooth and Thread. You get most of the major functionality just with the Eve app but if you want notifications from the sensors, you have to use HomeKit.

Since the product has the “Built on Thread” logo, you’ll eventually be able to integrate it with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings and other platforms that support Matter.

If you’re a HomeKit user with any Thread Border Router such as the Eve Plug or an Apple HomePod, this sensor is worth the money. And if you’re not a HomeKit user but plan to add a Thread-based sensor in the future, I’d still consider buying this.

Maybe you wait until Matter is implemented later this year, of course. When it is though, the Eve Motion is a great choice to monitor motion and light, automating your smart home based on those data points.