Hi there,
I’m planning to replace all the light switches in my home with smart ones and found the Aqara Light Switch H2 EU very promising. To test it out, I ordered just one—but I’m facing major issues.
My goal is to integrate it into Home Assistant via Zigbee2MQTT. I don’t have an Aqara Hub, but I read that you can connect to the switch via Bluetooth and flash the Zigbee firmware that way. That’s exactly where I’m stuck - Bluetooth pairing doesn’t work. The device simply doesn’t appear in the list.
When I try to manually add the H2 EU (2-button, 1 channel) in the Aqara app (Bluetooth mode is selected in the top right), nothing shows up. I’ve tested this on a Pixel, a Xiaomi phone, and a Xiaomi tablet. Bluetooth, location, and nearby devices permissions are all enabled, and Wi-Fi is connected.
I’ve initiated pairing mode by double-pressing and then holding the button for 5 seconds - the switch blinks as expected. I also tried adding it via the Amazon Alexa app using Matter - it blinks rapidly for a moment but fails, likely because I don’t have a Thread-enabled hub, just an Echo Dot.
(I’ve also performed several factory resets (holding the button for 10 seconds) & switched App Region from Germany to Other - but still no success.)
How can I connect the switch via Bluetooth to my phone and enable Zigbee mode without an Aqara Hub?
How do I switch from Thread protocol to Zigbee protocol?
Install the Aqua Home app, turn on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
Reset the device to factory settings (press any button 10 times).
The slow blinking of the indicator indicates that the device is in network connection mode, and the red light of the indicator indicates that the connection mode has expired and been turned off (reset the settings again to activate the connection mode).
Click on “Add Device” in the Aqua Home app, then scan the Matter QR code under the device button. In the menu that appears, select “Change Protocol” and choose the desired protocol type.
Wait for the device to change the protocol.
Yes, I already followed those exact steps several times (and just repeated them again now to be sure).
I did the factory reset by pressing the button 10 times, and also tried the pairing mode via double-press + 5-second hold. The switch then starts blinking, and “Matter” shows automatically up on the phone, but it never appears under the manual Bluetooth connection in the Aqara app - the bluetooth list stays empty.
I managed to solve the issue myself.
After turning the main circuit breaker for the entire house off and on again, nothing seemed to change at first.
But then, when I tapped on the H2 switch (with the Matter symbol) in the Aqara app, instead of immediately getting the “Add an Aqara Matter Hub” prompt, I finally got the correct one - asking if I wanted to switch the protocol.
I’m not sure what triggered it, but it worked!