Someone comparing Aqara products keeps running into the same pattern: a capital letter and a digit tacked onto the end of a product name. T1, T2, E1, H1, P1, P2. The natural assumption, trained by every phone and console launch of the last decade, is that a higher number means newer, and a shared code means related. That assumption is right about half the time.
Cross-referencing Aqara’s own product and spec pages against Zigbee2MQTT’s device database, category by category, shows the suffix means something different depending on where in the catalog it shows up. Sometimes it’s a literal generation. Sometimes it’s a budget tier name reused across product types that have nothing to do with each other. Sometimes it’s just the name of a product line, with no numeric history behind it at all.
This piece sorts the system out by category, using only what Aqara and Zigbee2MQTT publish, so the next two-character suffix on an Aqara box stops being a guessing game.
Why Aqara’s suffixes look like generations, and usually aren’t
Phone and console makers train buyers to read a number as a timeline. iPhone 15 replaces iPhone 14. PS5 replaces PS4. Aqara borrows the same shorthand, letter plus digit, but doesn’t apply one consistent rule behind it across the whole catalog.
Checking Aqara’s spec pages against Zigbee2MQTT’s device entries turns up three distinct patterns wearing the same costume: a real sequential generation, a reused tier name, and a plain line label with no version history at all. The letter and number alone don’t tell you which one you’re looking at. The product category does, and that has to be checked separately every time.
T1 to T2: an actual generation, on relay modules
The Single Switch Module T1 and Dual Relay Module T2 are the case where the “generation” reading is simply correct. Aqara’s own spec pages for both modules describe the T2 as adding dry-contact mode and refined energy monitoring on top of what the T1 shipped with.
Within this specific relay-module line, T2 genuinely supersedes T1, the way a phone’s next model supersedes the last. That reading doesn’t automatically carry over to every other T-numbered Aqara product. It has to be confirmed line by line.
That’s the trap. One clean example of sequential numbering is enough to make the whole naming system look orderly, right up until the next category breaks the pattern.
E1: a tier name, not a generation
E1 is where the “higher number, newer product” instinct stops working. The suffix shows up on the Hub E1, the Door/Window Sensor E1, and the Curtain Driver E1: three unrelated device categories sharing one code.
None of these are generations of one another. The Door/Window Sensor E1 didn’t replace a “D1” or anything numbered before it. Read against how the products are actually positioned, “E1” functions more like Aqara’s shorthand for “the entry-tier option in this category” than a step in a running sequence.
Worth knowing: seeing “E1” on two different Aqara boxes tells you almost nothing about whether they’re related, compatible, or from the same design era. It tells you each is the budget pick within its own category, and nothing more.
H1: a product line, not a version number
The Smart Wall Switch H1, in both no-neutral and with-neutral variants, is the clearest case of a letter-plus-number that isn’t counting anything. There’s no “Smart Wall Switch H0” that an H1 replaced. H1 is simply the name Aqara gave this switch line, the way a car trim name doesn’t imply an earlier trim existed first.
Reading H1 as “generation one” is a natural mistake given how T1/T2 trains the eye. It just isn’t one the naming itself supports.
P1 and P2: a real generation inside one family, until the same code shows up somewhere else
P1 and P2 do track sequential revisions, the same way T1/T2 does, but only within their own sensor family. On Aqara’s door/window sensor line specifically, P1 is documented as a Zigbee 3.0 revision and P2 as an updated Matter/Thread revision. Inside that one family, the number really does track hardware and protocol history the way it looks like it should.
Then the same “P1” label turns up on a completely different family. The P1 motion sensor (RTCGQ14LM) and the P1 door/window sensor (MCCGQ13LM) are unrelated products that happen to share a suffix; they don’t supersede or connect to each other in any way.
| Product | Model code | Category |
|---|---|---|
| P1 Motion Sensor | RTCGQ14LM | Motion sensor |
| P1 Door/Window Sensor | MCCGQ13LM | Door/window sensor |
This collision is probably the single clearest piece of evidence for how the whole system works. Aqara appears to assign these suffixes per category, in waves, not as one running counter across the entire catalog. Two unrelated sensors landed under the same code purely because they happened to ship in the same “P1” wave for their respective categories.
What this means for the rest of the catalog
The three patterns above — a real generation, a reused tier name, and a plain line label — aren’t specific to relay modules, hubs, switches, or sensors. Across the product and spec pages checked for this piece, Aqara doesn’t publish a single document that spells out which pattern applies to which suffix: no naming-convention guide, no glossary, no key.
That absence is why this piece is built the way it is: cross-referencing individual product pages and Zigbee2MQTT’s device database, category by category, because there’s no shortcut that reads the pattern straight off the code.
How to actually check generation and compatibility
A short process, worth running every time a suffix shows up on two products you’re comparing:
- Confirm the exact product category first. A relay module, a sensor, and a switch don’t share a naming logic just because they share a letter.
- Compare the two products’ own spec pages side by side rather than assuming from the suffix alone.
- For anything going onto Zigbee2MQTT or ZHA, look up that device’s own entry on Zigbee2MQTT’s supported-devices list. The model number shown there, RTCGQ14LM rather than “P1,” plus its specific exposed entities, is the identifier that actually means something. The marketing suffix doesn’t appear in that database at all.
Aqara could save buyers a fair amount of confusion by keeping tier names and generation numbers visually distinct somehow, even something as small as always writing entry-tier products with a word like “Lite” instead of reusing plain digits that look identical to a real version bump.
For the wider ecosystem questions this naming confusion tends to sit next to, our explainer on why Aqara and Xiaomi devices are so often the same hardware under different branding covers that ground, and a separate look at Zigbee routers versus end devices covers a mesh-planning question worth understanding before buying a batch of similarly-suffixed devices.
FAQ
Is Aqara T2 newer than T1?
Yes, within the relay-module line specifically. The T2 is a real successor to the T1 with added features. That doesn’t extend the same “higher number means newer” reading to other Aqara products carrying different letters.
What does the E1 in Aqara Hub E1 mean?
It marks the Hub E1 as Aqara’s entry-tier hub, not a generation number. Aqara reuses the same “E1” tier label on unrelated products like the Door/Window Sensor E1 and the Curtain Driver E1.
Is Aqara H1 compatible with T1 accessories?
These sit in different product categories, a wall-switch line and a relay-module generation, so “compatible” isn’t really the right question to ask. Check accessory compatibility on the specific product’s own spec page rather than assuming it from the shared letter.
What’s the difference between Aqara’s P1 and P2 sensors?
Within their own sensor family, P1 marks a Zigbee 3.0 revision and P2 a Matter/Thread revision. The same “P1” label also shows up on an unrelated motion-sensor family, so confirm the exact model number before assuming two P1 products are related.
Does a higher number always mean a newer or better Aqara device?
No. It’s true within specific lines, like the relay-module T1/T2 pair. But Aqara’s tier names and product-line names reuse digits across the catalog with no generational meaning attached to them, so the number by itself doesn’t answer the question.
What this actually verifies, and what to check on your own setup
This is a research-synthesis piece, built by cross-referencing Aqara’s own product and spec pages against Zigbee2MQTT’s device database entries for the specific models named above. It isn’t a statement from Aqara about its own naming philosophy, because as far as these sources show, no such statement exists to check.
Verified against the sources cited throughout: the T1-to-T2 relay-module succession, E1 as a reused entry-tier label across unrelated categories, H1 as a line name with no numeric predecessor, P1-to-P2 as a within-family generation, and the reused-P1-across-unrelated-families collision. What’s not verified is whether these same five patterns hold for every current or future Aqara suffix. The catalog keeps growing, and as of mid-2026 nothing published explains the underlying logic in one place.
The reliable check on your own setup stays the same regardless: open the specific product’s page on Aqara’s site, or that model number’s entry on Zigbee2MQTT’s supported-devices list, before assuming two similarly-suffixed products are related. The model number, not the marketing suffix, is what actually identifies the device.