GoveeLife Human Presence Sensor, mmWave Radar & PIR Wired Motion Sensor

A SENSE of security! The app notifications work well. I also connected it to alexa, and the automations work flawlessly. Anything you want to do when presence is detected or not detected, it will work. For example, I have it set to notify my phone with 2 notifications. One voice and one push notification. Alexa will say "MOTION DETECTED!". You can do anything, turn on a light doesn't have to be a govee product. Easy to install, I'd say its worth its price if you focus on alexa integration. Notifies me instantly, no delay. This does exactly what I needed it to and well. I may buy into the lights. Maybe an govee air filter too. The GoveeHome app notifies you when presence is detected and when there is absence. You can adjust the distance very accurately. There are settings to make it more accurate/sensitive. With one setting it can see through a plant for example. Although, when connecting to google home there is almost nothing it can do. I have tried every button, cannot create anything from it detecting motion. Only thing google home will do after adding it, is change from presence detected, to absence. No automation. If you jumped ahead, go back read what I say about Alexa. Good product.

I wanted to use this in my garage to detect if I was in there and turn my motion sensing Govee light switch on. I can’t just use the motion sensor as my car blocks the motion sensing if I am on the other side. After installing I created an Alexa routine that said if presence detected turn on light. This worked but it only sends this message to Alexa once. So even though it sensed my presence the motion sensor switch detected nothing and eventually shut off. I will most likely replace the motion sensing switch and try just using the presence sensor. Just be aware that if you are using it with Alexa it detects and sends presence and no presence once each time. My use case is probably a fringe example but wanted to make any buyers aware of how the Alexa routine integration worked.

Imagine this: You walk into your cozy living room, and the lights gently brighten as if they’ve been expecting you. The GoveeLife Human Presence Sensor is the magic behind this seamless experience. Here’s why I’m genuinely impressed: Ultra-High Accuracy: This sensor isn’t just smart; it’s Sherlock-level smart. It combines radar and infrared technology to detect human movement and static presence with jaw-dropping precision. Whether you’re tiptoeing through the hallway or settling into your favorite reading nook, it’s got your back. Easy Integration: No tech headaches here. Connect the GoveeLife Presence Sensor to your Wi-Fi (it’s a friendly 2.4GHz connection) and watch it sync effortlessly with your smart home ecosystem. Alexa, Google Home—everyone’s invited to the automation party. Versatility: Picture this: You’re in the kitchen, hands full of groceries, and suddenly the lights come on. The sensor sensed you, even when you didn’t have a free hand to flip a switch. Plus, it’s not just for indoors—use it in the garage, the home office, or wherever you need that extra layer of awareness. Multi-Person Detection: Unlike those basic motion sensors that get flustered when more than one person moves around, the GoveeLife Sensor stays cool. It identifies multiple family members or colleagues, making it ideal for busy households or bustling offices. Sleek Design: It’s like the James Bond of sensors—compact, unobtrusive, and effortlessly stylish. Mount it discreetly on walls or place it strategically. Your guests won’t even know it’s there, but your smart home will thank you. In summary, the GoveeLife Human Presence Sensor isn’t just a gadget; it’s a silent guardian, a watchful companion. Elevate your home security game and embrace the future of automation. 🏠🔒

This sensor is a bit hit or miss if I am being honest, but it still gets the job done for what I needed. I bought it to turn regular light bulbs into smart lights that respond to whether someone is in the room. The idea is it detects human presence rather than just motion, so it should keep lights on while you are sitting still and not just when you are walking around. In practice, it works more like a motion sensor than a true presence detector. If I am sitting still at my desk for a while, sometimes it decides nobody is there and triggers whatever automation I have set up. That is a little annoying when you are working and the lights suddenly change because the sensor lost track of you. It is not perfect and I had to adjust my expectations. That said, it does work for basic automation. When I walk into a room, it detects me immediately and triggers the lights. When I leave, it eventually figures that out and turns things off. For simple use cases like lighting up a hallway or bathroom when someone enters, it handles that fine. The detection is quick and reliable for actual movement. Setup through the Govee app was easy enough. It connected to my wifi without issues and integrating it with my other smart home devices was straightforward. You can set up routines and automations based on the sensor output. I have it linked to smart bulbs so certain rooms light up automatically when occupied. Convenient when it works correctly. The range and sensitivity are adjustable in the app, which helps dial in the performance for your specific space. I played around with the settings and got it working better than the default configuration. It took some trial and error but eventually I found a sweet spot that reduced false negatives. For the price, it is a reasonable way to add presence detection to your smart home without spending a fortune. Just know that it is not flawless. If you need bulletproof detection for critical automations, you might want something higher end. But if you want an affordable way to make your dumb lights a little smarter and can tolerate occasional quirks, this gets the job done. I am satisfied enough to keep using it.

Let me preface this by saying the sensor itself works superbly, within its companion app. It was dead on accurate regarding whether the area is occupied and how far away they are. The problem arises in getting the data from the sensor. I tried setting this up with Home Assistant, and the initial setup is painless and straightforward. When you add the sensor to HA, you apply to get an API key which is used in the integration, which is as far as I got. Apparently GoVee servers are well overloaded. I never managed to connect to HA, kept getting an error, "API busy, try again later". I gave up after several hours of this. If you do a basic Google search you will find everyone has to reduce the polling rate to once per minute or once per 2 minutes to get the integration to work at all. This is where my question lies, who is this for? I assume there is not a special server just for HA so Amazon/Apple/Google/Smart Things setups will see similar latency. I don't know about you but I don't want to wait up to 2 minutes for my lights to turn on.

On the bright side, setup is simple enough and the power cord is long enough. The sensor itself is pretty small and has a good amount of articulation. But... Sometimes when I'm sitting at my desk (with minimal but detectable movement) my lights will turn off and I have to wave my hands around like an idiot to turn them back on. And when I'm in bed watching a movie or on my phone, the lights will turn off and I have to do the same thing. I've also found in the app that the target exclusion is horrible, like it'll suggest to ignore a range between 5 and 10 feet which is literally half of my room, so I suggest never using that and angling the sensor in a way that it doesn't detect the object you're trying to ignore (like angle it downwards if you want to ignore a ceiling fan). I accidentally threw away the box and I wish I didn't. I wasted $40 on this and will be looking for smarter, more accurate options.

Getting this thing combined 2 devices into 1 (PIR and M-Wave). Physical installation was easy: I used command strips to secure the base and rotated the sensor. Setup in the Govee app was easy and straightforward. The configuration is easy in the app, but it does take some time as you have to input and limit it's effective range of sensing movement and presence. Thankfully the app screen is easy to read and interpret during the configuration process. I have it so the lights can change color at specific times of the day depending on the presence in a room. Some things to be mindful of: it has to remain plugged in; it seems to only command Govee products ( I use google home and it just says if someone is present or not); it will take a few seconds to register that a person is in a room so it isn't as fast as a dedicated PIR sensor. Hover makes good stuff - especially their lights - so I'd light to get more to make my house even smarter. Wireless controls FTW.

Does exactly what I want it to. Walk into the closet and the lights turn on. When I leave it turns the lights off after 30 seconds. I had to turn the sensitivity down a bit, because before it would turn on the lights if I was in the bedroom nowhere near the closet. This was with the closet door closed somehow. After adjusting the sensitivity it works perfectly. Setting up the automation commands was easy enough in the govee app. Overall it does exactly what I want and I'll probably end up grabbing another for under-cabinet lighting.