New Tuya 24GHz Zigbee Presence Sensor Review

In this article, I’m testing and reviewing a new 24GHz Zigbee presence sensor with a round shape from the Tuya ecosystem. This device has no white label model, other than it’s manufacturer identifier set as _TZE204_ztqnh5cg. It’s available on AliExpress for less than $15.

Technical Specification

• Model: Tuya _TZE204_ztqnh5cg
• Input: 5V1A
• Interface: USB-C
• Connectivity: Zigbee 3.0
• Static detection range: 0-600cm
• Moving detection range: 0-1000cm
• Illuminance value: 0-3000 lux
• Operating Temperature: -10°C-55°C
• Operating Humidity: 0-95%

Teardown

This presence sensor arrived in a cheap paper box containing the device itself, a USB-C cable, a user manual, and a pair of stickers for installation. Everything was wobbly inside the box, so it gets an F for packaging.

The front of the device is equipped with a small status LED, blinking faint red whenever presence is detected or when the device is set in pairing mode. A familiar logo is printed on the front as well, the one found in the original version of the Tuya ZY-M100 presence sensor.

The back side has some basic info about the device like input voltage and detection frequency, but there is no labelling of a model number. Three rubber legs are installed for preventing the device from slipping. Which is weird, because this device is not meant to be laid flat on its back.

The device feels very light when handled, which is why it did not surprise me to find a small and lightweight PCB inside it. It’s held together in place by three screws and uses an USB-C connector for power. Zigbee communication is handled by the Tuya ZTU [Datasheet] module, which seems to be the only SoC I’m encountering these days in Tuya devices. Don’t get me wrong, I have no complaints against this module, it operates very well within a Zigbee mesh network, at least from the devices I’ve tested.

Reference: BSEED 16A Smart Socket, 12-Channel Relay Board, Climate sensor and Alarm Clock.

The mmWave radar sensor used in this device is the S3KM111L [Datasheet], developed by company ICLegend Micro from Shenzhen, China. Discovering this got me all exited, since this is the same mmWave radar sensor used in one of my favorite Zigbee presence sensors ever made – the Tuya MTG075-ZB-RL.

For reference, the Tuya MTG075 is a ceiling-mounted and mains powered presence sensor with incredible versatility and flexibility. I’ve never found a similar Zigbee presence sensor, offering so much configuration variables. To top it all off, it uses a relay for locally controlling lights based on the radar sensor. I highly suggest you check out my full review of the MTG075.

Home Assistant Integration

This Tuya 24GHz Presence Sensor is compatible with Zigbee2MQTT, but sadly not ZHA. It requires a custom quirk to get it partially working, but will not perform as well as Zigbee2MQTT. To pair it to your coordinator, you need to hold the button for about 6-7 seconds until the LED starts blinking red.

Zigbee2MQTT

Once paired in Zigbee2MQTT, the device is identified as model _TZE204_ztqnh5cg by iHenso, probably referring to the store selling these sensors on AliExpress. It’s set as a router, capable of relaying mesh traffic from adjacent devices back to the coordinator. A device photo is missing in Zigbee2MQTT, which is irrelevant.

It exposes several configuration parameters in Home Assistant through Zigbee2MQTT. You can change the radar sensitivity, set minimum and maximum detection range, as well as change the detection delay and fading (clear) time.

ZHA

I was able to get the configuration parameters working in ZHA by loading and enabling this quirk someone shared in the Github Zigpy repo. This quirk is recycled from the ZY-M100 and uses milliseconds and centimeters to define cooldown and range parameters.

Once I tweaked the parameters, I was able to get it to operate correctly. However, It’s performance was crippled with this custom quirk and it did not perform as well as it should. The presence cleared randomly and it did not respect the presence detection delay parameter. I would say at this time, this Tuya Presence Sensor is unusable in ZHA.

Testing and benchmarks

To benchmark the performance of this new Tuya 24GHz presence sensor, I set it up it in my office and ran some tests. I have the Apollo MSR-1 deployed as a main presence sensor in the office which has been working great since day one. I consider the Apollo the best presence sensor in my arsenal, so I’m not cutting the Tuya some slack and I will compare it’s performance to the MSR-1.

Network load

The first thing to check is the Zigbee network load. Recent Tuya presence sensors are known for flooding and overloading your Zigbee mesh network, eventually crashing it. For example, the Moes/Linptech Presence Sensor ZSS-LP-HP02 pushes a payload about 5 times per second!

This Tuya 24GHz round sensor sends a payload every 2 seconds on average. The illuminance and target distance clusters are the reason for this update rate. Although frequent, It’s still significantly lower than the Moes model and I would not consider it spam.

To put this in perspective, I would say deploying two Moes sensors would overload and eventually crash your Zigbee network. With this one, you would need about 7-10, depending on the number of other devices in your network.

Initial detection speed

I configured the device parameters to match my office space. Sensitivity set to 7, minimum range to 50cm, maximum to 7 meters and the detection delay set to 0. After several tests, entering the office from different angles I can confidently say that the detection speed of this sensor is instant.

If you’ve used the Apollo MSR-1, then you already know the LD-2410b it uses is very quick and reliable in the initial movement detection. This sensor matched it very closely, offset by unmeasurable milliseconds. In some instances, with the sensitivity set to 8, it was able to detect me coming in before the MSR-1 did.

Static presence performance

Just like with most presence sensors, static detection was a challenge. I purposefully aimed the sensor towards my PC case, so I could check if it will get triggered by the PC fan. It did, which means tweaking was needed to eliminate false triggers.

When I actually took the time to properly set the device and configure the parameters like I explained above, it performed like it should. It never failed to detect me sitting in front of the PC at a distance of about 4.5 meters.

What I really liked about this device is that the configuration parameters are properly respected. Setting the presence clear time to 1 second indeed clears presence in a second, when the room is empty. This is very rare in Zigbee presence sensors, as they will usually clear presence at random intervals.

I suggest playing with the parameters to get the optimum performance of this device. For me, those turned out to be: sensitivity: 7, minimum range: 50cm, maximum range: 7 meters, detection delay: 0 and fading time: 30 seconds.

Final Thoughts

The S3KM111L radar sensor inside this device performs as advertised, detecting presence and motion very reliably. My first experience with this radar sensor was in the MTG075, which completely caught me off guard with its capability and configurability. It has so many configuration parameters that it’s very overwhelming to even think about. If you are looking for a very versatile Zigbee presence sensor, I would say the MTG075 is king.

I would label this Tuya round model as a light version of the MTG075. Even though it uses the same mmWave radar sensor, you can only configure and setup it’s basic operating parameters. These are enough for most people and for those that want a sensor that just works.

It’s worth noting that the illuminance reading is unreliable in this Tuya round model. It’s jumping up and down, and you will not be able to automate based on the raw reading of the sensor. It does go to 0 zero when it’s dark and stays above 1500lx when bright, but the values in between are not representative of the actual illuminance levels of the room.

If you prefer to have complete control over every little aspect on your presence sensor, while also getting the best performance in a device of this type, I would highly recommend getting the Apollo MSR-1. I still haven’t found anything that beats it in reliability, configurability and overall presence detection. Check out the full MSR-1 review here.

Here’s some links for the Tuya Zigbee Round Presence Sensor from this article, if you would like to try it yourself:

AliExpress | AliExpress | AliExpress


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