Product Library / Sensors & Detectors
Research profile · last verified 2026-07-19SwitchBot Presence Sensor
Compatibility
| Ecosystem | Support | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon Alexa | WorksWorks with this ecosystem | Requires a SwitchBot hub (Hub Mini, Hub 2, Hub Mini Matter Enabled or Hub 3); SwitchBot publishes a dedicated setup guide. |
| Google Home | PartialPartial support — see the catch | Requires a hub, and SwitchBot documents a hard platform limit: Google Home does not allow the sensor to be used as an automation CONDITION at all. It reports state and nothing more — which for a presence sensor removes most of the reason to buy one. |
| Apple Home | PartialPartial support — see the catch | Requires both a SwitchBot hub and an Apple Matter controller (HomePod or Apple TV). It arrives bridged rather than native, and bridged SwitchBot devices can surface under Matter Setup > Secondary Devices > Lab Feature (Beta) rather than as an ordinary accessory. |
| SmartThings | PartialPartial support — see the catch | Requires a hub. SmartThings appears in SwitchBot's platform enumeration, but no dedicated setup guide or capability detail was found, so which entities and attributes actually surface is unconfirmed. |
| Home Assistant | WorksWorks with this ecosystem | The one ecosystem that does NOT need a hub — Home Assistant's Bluetooth integration talks to the sensor directly. A cloud integration also exists and that path does require a hub. |
Protocols: BLUETOOTH · MATTER
Subscription reality
✓ Works without a subscription: Yes.
No subscription found and no vendor statement of one.
Maintenance reality
- Batteries: 2x AAA — expect roughly 24 months per set
- Cloud dependence: No — core function survives without the vendor's cloud
- SwitchBot describes the radar as ultra-low-power, which is how AAA cells reach a stated two years despite mmWave sensing. The product page's 'single charge' wording is a vendor copy error — the cells are disposable AAAs, not a rechargeable pack. IPX5, rotatable magnetic base for aiming.
The catch
The hub economics matter more than the $29.99 price. Without a SwitchBot hub you get app viewing plus 'Local Linkage', which is capped at two linkages driving one device each, both within Bluetooth range — everything else, including all voice assistants and Matter, needs a hub you buy separately. The exception runs opposite to expectation: Home Assistant reaches it over Bluetooth with no hub at all. And in Google Home the sensor cannot be used as an automation condition, which is most of what a presence sensor is for.
Who it's for
Home Assistant households wanting cheap mmWave presence with no hub purchase, or SwitchBot owners who already run a hub. A Google Home household should read the automation-condition limit before buying.
Sources & method
https://us.switch-bot.com/products/switchbot-mmwave-presence-sensor.json (title 'SwitchBot mmWave Presence Sensor', SKU 810150546385, $29.99) + https://us.switch-bot.com/collections/sensors/products.json (complete US sensors collection is four devices: this, Motion Sensor $19.99 PIR, Contact Sensor, Water Leak Detector). No 'Motion Sensor 3' and no separate 'Human Presence Sensor' exist in the US catalog. Naming is inconsistent across SwitchBot's own properties — the US store says 'mmWave Presence Sensor' while the EU store, press release and every support article say 'Presence Sensor'; the short name is recorded with the long one as an alias. — vendor structured-data research (Shopify product JSON), verified 2026-07-19 · https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/switchbot-launches-the-new-presence-sensor-with-mmwave-radar-302616822.html — 60GHz mmWave radar plus PIR plus ambient light sensor; two AAA batteries rated up to two years. Product page gives 8m moving / 5m stationary detection at 120 degrees. NOTE: the press release text reads '60Hz', an evident typo for 60GHz; the corrected figure is recorded rather than the raw one. — vendor press-release and product-page research, verified 2026-07-19 · SwitchBot support articles 35160600522775 and 35615000659095 — the sensor's own radio is Bluetooth; without a hub it supports app viewing and 'Local Linkage', capped at a maximum of two local linkages driving one device each with both units in Bluetooth range. To trigger other devices via SwitchBot automation 'you will need to purchase one of hub products'. Remote access, cloud automation, all voice assistants and all Matter exposure require a hub. — vendor-support-doc research (see access caveat below), verified 2026-07-19 · SwitchBot support articles 38979658026519 and 35927178604311 — the hub acts as a 'protocol translator' converting Bluetooth to Matter; the sensor is not itself a Matter device. Matter does define an Occupancy Sensor device type, so a suitable target exists, but SwitchBot never states which Matter device type or cluster it maps to. — vendor-support-doc research (see access caveat below), verified 2026-07-19 · google: SwitchBot support 35590663694999 documents that Google Home's platform restriction prevents the sensor being used as an automation condition; alexa: support 35590018658839 (dedicated setup guide); apple: product page plus support 13282638111127; home_assistant: support 37084079366551 (Bluetooth integration needs no hub, cloud integration does). Every level above rests on an affirmative vendor statement rather than silence. — vendor-support-doc research (see access caveat below), verified 2026-07-19 · support.switch-bot.com sits behind a Cloudflare bot challenge, which was not bypassed. The support findings come from search-result extracts of those articles plus their titles rather than full verbatim page reads. Article IDs are recorded so the claims can be confirmed in a browser. Flagged rather than presented as full-text verification. — gap record — partial source access, verified 2026-07-19 · An Amazon listing title claims 'Zone Positioning' but no primary SwitchBot source corroborates distance or multi-zone reporting; SwitchBot's own 'zone' language refers only to physically aiming the magnetic base. The sensor reports a binary Space-Occupied / Space-Unoccupied state plus an unoccupied timer. Deliberately excluded rather than carried over from a marketplace listing. — gap record — claim rejected, verified 2026-07-19. This is a research profile: compiled from manufacturer documentation, certification registries, and published testing — we state facts, not verdicts, and we have not physically tested this unit. How we work →
Compatibility and lifecycle information reflects the last-verified date above and can change without notice (firmware updates, cloud-service changes, discontinuations). It is provided as-is, for information — verify with the manufacturer before purchasing. Spot an error? Tell us and we'll fix it. Full terms: Terms of Service.