Aqara goes all in on smart lighting
What's happening
Aqara is expanding its smart home ambitions with a comprehensive new lighting lineup unveiled at IFA. The company's offerings now support both Zigbee and Thread connectivity, including a redesigned Floor Lamp T1 that replaces traditional lampshade aesthetics with an LED-equipped pole design.
Who's involved
Aqara is a smart home device manufacturer that has been building momentum in the connected home space, having recently showcased several smart home innovations at CES. The company is positioning itself as a competitor in the increasingly crowded smart lighting market dominated by larger players.
Why it matters
This move signals Aqara's commitment to establishing itself as a full-spectrum smart home platform rather than a single-category player. By supporting both major wireless protocols—Zigbee and Thread—Aqara is hedging its bets on competing standards and making its ecosystem more accessible to consumers with different smart home setups, potentially accelerating adoption among users who have already invested in either protocol.
The story
Aqara has unveiled an ambitious new smart lighting portfolio at IFA, demonstrating the company's intent to become a major player in the connected home market beyond its current product focus. According to The Verge, the company is returning to the annual Berlin tech conference with a major lineup of smart lighting products designed to work with both Zigbee and Thread—two competing wireless standards that have divided the smart home industry. This dual-protocol approach represents a strategic decision to avoid being locked into a single technology ecosystem.
Among the new products is the Floor Lamp T1, a departure from conventional lamp design that replaces a traditional lampshade with an LED-equipped pole. This design choice suggests Aqara is willing to rethink fundamental product form factors rather than simply digitizing existing hardware. The device exemplifies how smart home companies are using connectivity as an opportunity to reimagine everyday objects, not merely add control features to existing designs.
The announcement builds on momentum Aqara generated at CES earlier this year, where the company showcased several smart home firsts that caught industry attention. The company's strategy of attending major consumer electronics shows demonstrates its ambitions to compete at a global scale. By revealing new capabilities at consecutive major events, Aqara is maintaining visibility in a market where consumer awareness remains fragmented.
The decision to support both Zigbee and Thread reflects broader uncertainty in the smart home industry about which wireless standard will ultimately dominate. Zigbee has long been established in the smart home space, while Thread represents a newer alternative backed by major tech companies. For consumers, this fragmentation has been frustrating—a product supporting only one protocol could become obsolete if the market consolidates around the other. Aqara's dual-support approach reduces this risk for buyers.
Smart lighting represents a logical expansion category for Aqara, given how central it is to most smart home installations. Lighting is often one of the first systems consumers automate, making it a high-volume market segment. By offering a complete ecosystem of lighting products with compatible protocols, Aqara can serve as a one-stop shop for consumers building out their connected homes.