Updated November 2026.
The most common complaint in any smart home is lights that turn off while you are sitting still. PIR motion sensors only see movement, so the moment you settle on the couch with a book, the room decides you left. mmWave presence sensors, which are small radar sensors, fix this by picking up tiny movements like breathing, and in the last two years they went from exotic to cheap.
AliExpress is where this category lives. The same OEM hardware that gets rebranded and marked up elsewhere sells there for a fraction of the price, often from the manufacturer’s own store. We compared six options you can order today, from a few dollar DIY radar module to the flagship Aqara FP2. Full product cards and the side by side table are further down this page.
Our picks at a glance
- Best overall: Aqara FP2. Thirty zones and multi-person tracking in one sensor. Nothing else comes close for open plan rooms.
- Best value: Tuya ZY-M100 (24 GHz Zigbee). Around $15 per room makes whole-home presence realistic.
- Best mid-range: Linptech ES1. True 24 GHz, solid Zigbee2MQTT support, none of the Tuya variant lottery.
- Best for Zigbee purists: Aqara FP1E. Aqara detection quality that pairs straight into Zigbee2MQTT or ZHA.
- Best for small rooms: Sonoff SNZB-06P. Honest about its limits and dead simple.
- Best for tinkerers: HLK-LD2410B + ESP32. A few dollars per room if you bring the soldering iron.
How we picked
Every sensor here had to work with Home Assistant without cloud dependency, through Zigbee2MQTT or ZHA (the two common ways to run Zigbee in Home Assistant), HomeKit or ESPHome. We weighted stationary detection (does it hold presence while you sit still), false trigger resistance (fans, pets, curtains), range, and something review sites usually skip: whether the AliExpress listing itself is a minefield of look-alike variants.
Before you buy: four things that matter
24 GHz beats 5.8 GHz
Radar frequency is the spec that separates real presence sensors from glorified motion sensors. 24 GHz mmWave resolves the tiny movements of a person at rest. 5.8 GHz radar (used in the Sonoff SNZB-06P and many unlabeled Tuya listings) is less precise, sees through thin walls and gets confused by fans. It still has a place in small rooms, but if a listing does not clearly say 24 GHz, assume it is not.
Check the exact variant
Tuya sensors are sold under dozens of names, and the same photo can hide a Wi-Fi version, a Zigbee version or a different radar chip. Pick the Zigbee option in the listing’s variant selector, check the model number on the product page, and save a screenshot of it in case you need to open a dispute.
Zigbee unless you have a reason not to
Zigbee is a low power wireless standard made for sensors. Zigbee sensors run fully local and stay off your Wi-Fi. The FP2 is the exception that earns it: it needs Wi-Fi bandwidth for its zone tracking and still runs locally through HomeKit. Avoid the Wi-Fi variants of the budget Tuya sensors, which are cloud tied out of the box.
Mains powered sensors need a cable
Continuous radar draws too much power for small batteries, so every sensor in this list needs USB or mains power. Before you order, think about where the cable goes in each room. A flat adhesive cable channel from the same AliExpress order solves most of it.
What you need in Home Assistant
Four of the six sensors are Zigbee, so you need a Zigbee coordinator if you do not have one yet. A USB stick like the Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 dongle or the Home Assistant Connect ZBT works with both ZHA and Zigbee2MQTT. Put it on a short USB extension cable, away from USB 3 ports and SSDs.
- Zigbee sensors (ZY-M100, ES1, FP1E, SNZB-06P): pair with ZHA under Settings > Devices & services > Zigbee Home Automation > Add device, or with Zigbee2MQTT using Permit join. Zigbee2MQTT tends to expose more tuning options for the Tuya models, like sensitivity and detection distance.
- Aqara FP2: set it up in the Aqara app, then pair it with the built-in HomeKit Device integration. Each zone becomes its own occupancy sensor.
- LD2410B + ESP32: flash ESPHome with the
ld2410component and it shows up under ESPHome in Home Assistant.
Whichever you choose, plan ten minutes for tuning. Budget sensors ship with aggressive defaults. Lower the sensitivity a step, set a sensible maximum distance so it does not see the hallway, and add a few seconds of hold time before “clear”. If you want the background on how mmWave radar works, see our millimeter-wave radar guide, and for a deeper look at the FP2 and its zones, read our Aqara FP2 review.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are cheap AliExpress presence sensors actually good?
Yes, with tuning. Sensors like the Tuya ZY-M100 use the same 24 GHz radar approach as units costing three times more. Budget sensors ship with aggressive default sensitivity and need some adjustment in Zigbee2MQTT or ZHA, while premium sensors like the Aqara FP2 work well out of the box.
What is the difference between mmWave and PIR motion sensors?
PIR sensors detect changes in infrared heat, so they only see movement. mmWave radar detects micro movements like breathing, so it knows you are still in the room while you sit motionless. That is why mmWave sensors are called presence sensors rather than motion sensors.
Should I buy a Zigbee or Wi-Fi presence sensor?
Zigbee for almost everyone. Zigbee sensors pair with Zigbee2MQTT or ZHA for fully local control and do not crowd your Wi-Fi. The main exception is the Aqara FP2, which uses Wi-Fi for its zone tracking and still runs locally through HomeKit.
Do these presence sensors work with Home Assistant?
All six do, locally. The Zigbee models pair through Zigbee2MQTT or ZHA, the Aqara FP2 through the built-in HomeKit Device integration, and the DIY LD2410B option runs ESPHome.
Can I combine a presence sensor with a motion sensor?
Yes, and it is a good pattern. Use the fast PIR sensor to turn lights on instantly and the mmWave sensor to keep them on while someone is still in the room.
