Hi,
I’d love to share how I used the power of Matter, the Aqara M3 Hub, and Aqara Camera G5 to automate my Govee Permanent Outdoor Lights 2 (H705) into a smart, responsive, and energy-efficient lighting setup.
My Setup
- Aqara Hub M3 – my Matter controller and automation brain
- Aqara Camera G5 – motion and person detection
- Govee Permanent Outdoor Lights 2 (H705) Matter-compatible RGBIC outdoor fixture
All devices are paired and fully controllable within Aqara Home, thanks to the M3’s Matter support.
Automation Logic Subtle When Idle, Bright When It Matters
At sunset, the Govee light turns on at a soft 1% brightness to provide a subtle ambient glow.
When the Camera G5 detects a person:
- The light instantly jumps to 25% brightness, lighting up the area and signaling presence.
- A timer keeps it at 25% for 2 minutes.
- If motion continues, the brightness stays at 25%.
- After 2 minutes without motion, it dims back to 1%.
This automation isn’t just smart, it’s energy-smart!
The light stays low to save power, but jumps to life when it sees someone. Super practical when I come home in the dark, have friends dropping by, or when a heroic pizza delivery shows up during a late-night snack attack.
Because let’s face it, no one wants to trip over the steps holding a pepperoni pizza at 11 PM!
Its also a nice security feature.
Everything runs locally on the M3, ensuring fast and reliable execution with no reliance on cloud services.
My outdoor light is sheduled to turn on when the outdoor lux is under 50lx and turn off at 1 AM. So based of this, I have one automatisation to set back the light at 1% and an other one to turn off the light if it’s trigger after 1 AM.
Pairing Experience
- Pairing the Govee H705 via Matter QR code into Aqara Home was quick and smooth.
- Brightness control and on/off features are fully accessible in the Aqara app.
- The Camera G5’s person detection is highly responsive and accurate but slow.
- The automation performs flawlessly — consistent, fast, and dependable.
Limitations & Workarounds
While RGBIC effects are not available in Aqara Home (only via the Govee app), I’m using this light strictly for brightness-based automation and that works perfectly through Matter.
The G5 is also a little bit slow reporting poeple detection. There is a 2 sec delay.
It feels responsive and natural the kind of automation that makes you smile every time it happens.
Final Thoughts
This integration shows how powerful and seamless Matter can be when used with Aqara’s ecosystem. The M3 Hub makes third-party lights feel native, and the Camera G5 ties it all together with smart detection.
Thanks Aqara for enabling these kinds of creative automations! Hope to see more fonction from Matter in the future and more automatisation (if-condition-action)
Best,
Marc
MatterWithAqaraHome
