Aqara FP2 vs FP300 for Home Assistant: Which to Buy?

These two sensors share a brand and a product line name, but for anyone running Home Assistant in a local-first setup, they are almost entirely different products. Different radio protocols, different integration paths, different entity inventories, different cloud dependencies. Lumping them together as “Aqara mmWave presence sensors” and picking based on price misses the actual decision.

I’ve spent time with both and with the integrations behind them. Here’s a comparison built around what actually matters for a Home Assistant user who wants to minimize cloud involvement.

Quick Verdict

The FP300 is the better default choice for most Home Assistant users. It pairs to Zigbee2MQTT, exposes over 35 configurable entities, runs fully locally after a one-time Bluetooth protocol switch, and doesn’t need power near an outlet. For straightforward room presence — is someone here, yes or no — it’s hard to beat at its price point.

The FP2 is the right pick when you need something the FP300 fundamentally cannot do: count multiple people at once, map presence to a 2D spatial grid with configurable zones, or run fall detection or sleep tracking. If your use case is “automate based on where in the room I am, not just whether I’m there,” the FP2 is your answer.

For everything else, get the FP300.

How Each Device Connects to Home Assistant

FP2 — Wi-Fi and HomeKit Controller

The FP2 is a Wi-Fi device. It does not use Zigbee, it does not pair to Zigbee2MQTT or ZHA, and it does not need an Aqara hub. It connects to your Wi-Fi network and exposes itself over HomeKit, which Home Assistant picks up via the HomeKit Controller integration.

The initial setup path requires the Aqara app and a cloud account. You configure zones, sensitivity, and detection areas in the app — which requires talking to Aqara’s servers. Once that initial configuration is done, the HomeKit Controller integration in HA takes over and communicates with the FP2 entirely over your local network. Zone reconfiguration, though, pulls you back into the Aqara app and back onto the cloud.

The FP2 needs a USB-C power source. There is no battery option. This shapes where you can realistically install it — you need a nearby outlet or a way to run a cable.

For a deeper walk-through of the FP2 integration, see my FP2 local setup guide.

FP300 — Zigbee and Zigbee2MQTT

The FP300 is a dual-protocol device that ships with Thread firmware by default. For Home Assistant the correct path is Zigbee, not Thread. Before you can pair it to Zigbee2MQTT, you need to switch it to Zigbee firmware using the Aqara app over Bluetooth — a one-time step that takes a few minutes.

After that switch, the FP300 is a standard Zigbee end device. Pair it to Zigbee2MQTT, and it runs fully locally from that point forward. No Aqara account required for ongoing operation, no cloud relay, no Wi-Fi dependency. It uses two CR2450 batteries and can go anywhere in your home within Zigbee range.

ZHA users should note: as of early 2026, stock ZHA does not expose occupancy on the FP300. A community-maintained custom quirk exists, but you have to install it manually. Zigbee2MQTT is the path of least friction.

A separate walk-through of the FP300 Zigbee pairing and tuning is on the editorial backlog for this site.

Local Control and Cloud Dependency Compared

Both devices achieve ongoing local operation, but the paths to get there are different. The FP2’s cloud dependency is front-loaded and recurs whenever you need to adjust detection zones. The FP300’s cloud touch is a single Bluetooth firmware switch, after which Aqara’s infrastructure is entirely out of the picture.

For a fuller treatment of when “no internet” still works and when it doesn’t across the Aqara line, see my explainer on Aqara without internet.

What Each Sensor Actually Detects

Presence Accuracy

The FP2 uses pure mmWave radar. The FP300 combines mmWave with a passive infrared (PIR) sensor as a hybrid. In practice the FP300’s hybrid approach is well-regarded for reducing false negatives — slight movement that might not register on a pure mmWave sensor (a person sitting still reading, for instance) is more reliably held present by the PIR component.

Both sensors handle the “frozen-person” problem better than traditional PIR-only sensors, which is the whole point of mmWave for presence detection.

Zone Configuration Differences

This is one of the clearest functional divides between the two.

The FP2 supports up to 30 zones in a 2D spatial layout. You draw zones on a top-down map of the room in the Aqara app. Each zone gets a label and can trigger automations independently — “person in zone ‘desk'” vs “person in zone ‘couch'” are distinct states. This spatial granularity is what makes it useful for multi-occupant or multi-activity-area rooms.

The FP300 does not offer 2D zone mapping. It uses 24 quarter-metre detection-range increments — essentially adjusting how far out detection extends, not where horizontally it applies. If your use case involves knowing where in a room someone is, the FP300 cannot do this. If your use case is “is anyone in this room,” it is more than adequate.

The FP2’s zone configuration also carries the cloud caveat mentioned above. Editing zones after initial setup requires returning to the Aqara app, which means touching Aqara’s servers again.

Environmental Sensors

The FP300 includes temperature, humidity, and illuminance sensors. In Zigbee2MQTT, these appear as their own entities alongside presence data. Getting three sensor types in one device is a real practical advantage — one pairing, one device to mount, three data streams.

The FP2 measures illuminance only. No temperature or humidity.

Advanced Features — FP2 Only

Three significant capabilities exist on the FP2 with no equivalent on the FP300:

Multi-person detection and counting. The FP2 can detect and count multiple people simultaneously. The FP300 reports presence or absence — a binary state. If you need “two people in the bedroom” vs “one person in the bedroom” as distinct automation conditions, the FP300 cannot provide this.

Fall detection. The FP2 can detect a fall event and trigger an alert. The FP300 has no equivalent feature.

Sleep tracking. The FP2 can monitor breathing patterns and movement during sleep, exposing sleep state as an entity. This is a genuine capability for anyone building health-adjacent automations. The FP300 does not offer this.

These features remain tied to the Aqara app for configuration. In Home Assistant via HomeKit Controller, they surface as entities, but the initial setup and any tuning of detection thresholds happens in the Aqara interface.

Installation and Power Requirements

The FP2 needs permanent power via USB-C. It’s designed to be positioned on a shelf, desk edge, or wall bracket with cable management. Detection range is up to 8 metres with a wide coverage area. The power requirement shapes placement decisions — you’re constrained by where you can run a cable or where an outlet is available.

The FP300 is battery-powered on two CR2450 cells, which is a meaningful installation advantage. You can place it anywhere: in the center of a room, on a ceiling mount, in a corner without an outlet. Maximum detection range is 6 metres at a 120° field of view.

If you’re retrofitting a space without convenient power runs, the FP300 wins on flexibility. If you’re building out a new installation where cabling is going in anyway, power supply is less of a factor.

One operational note: OTA firmware updates for the FP300 in Zigbee mode cannot be done through Zigbee2MQTT. You need to use the Aqara app manually to push firmware updates. The FP2 also updates through the Aqara app. Neither sensor offers fully hands-off OTA via HA.

Entities Available in Home Assistant

The FP300 via Zigbee2MQTT exposes over 35 configurable entities. This includes presence state, PIR detection, motion sensitivity, absence delay timer, distance tracking, temperature, humidity, illuminance, spatial learning, and a long list of sampling and reporting parameters. The entity depth gives you fine-grained tuning from within HA without touching the Aqara app.

The FP2 via HomeKit Controller exposes the presence-related entities that the HomeKit protocol surfaces — zones, presence states, illuminance, and the advanced feature entities (multi-person count, fall detection, sleep state). The HomeKit layer doesn’t give you the same low-level parameter control that Z2M’s direct device access does. You’re working with what HomeKit exposes, not the full device API.

For users who want to tune detection behavior from within HA rather than from the Aqara app, the FP300’s Z2M entity inventory is richer.

Which to Choose

The practical case for FP2 is narrower but real. If your home automation involves tracking specific activity zones within a room — presence at the desk means desk lamp on, presence at the couch means TV switches on — the FP2’s spatial mapping is what makes that work. The FP300 cannot replicate that functionality.

If what you need is a reliable, local, battery-powered “is this room occupied” signal with rich HA integration and no cloud strings attached after initial setup, the FP300 covers that well and usually at a lower price.

For the wider context of running Aqara Zigbee devices in HA without an Aqara hub, see my pillar guide on the topic.

Where to Buy

Prices for both sensors shift frequently across regions. Before buying, check current listings on Amazon and AliExpress — the FP2 typically retails higher than the FP300 given its feature set, but that gap varies by region and sale timing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Aqara FP2 or FP300 better for Home Assistant?

For most HA users, the FP300 integrates more cleanly: Zigbee2MQTT, dozens of entities, no ongoing cloud dependency. The FP2 is better when you specifically need multi-person counting, 2D spatial zones, or fall/sleep detection. If you’re not sure which you need, get the FP300.

Does the Aqara FP300 need an Aqara hub?

No. After you switch it to Zigbee firmware using the Aqara app once over Bluetooth, it pairs directly to Zigbee2MQTT and runs without any Aqara hub or ongoing account.

Can the Aqara FP2 detect multiple people at once?

Yes. The FP2 supports multi-person detection and counting. The FP300 reports only presence or absence — it cannot distinguish how many people are in the room.

What is the difference between FP2 and FP300 presence detection?

The FP2 uses pure mmWave radar and supports 2D spatial zones. The FP300 is a hybrid mmWave plus PIR sensor with 24 adjustable range increments but no 2D zone mapping. Both are significantly better than traditional PIR-only detectors at handling stationary presence.

Does the Aqara FP300 work without Wi-Fi?

Yes. The FP300 uses Zigbee, not Wi-Fi. Once paired to Zigbee2MQTT, it communicates entirely over the Zigbee mesh to your coordinator. Wi-Fi state is irrelevant to its operation.