Aqara vs SONOFF for energy monitoring

Aqara and SONOFF both sell the hardware a household needs to see where its electricity goes, and both do it at the budget end of the market. The difference is not really about which one measures better. It is about how each brand expects your data to travel: SONOFF leans on its eWeLink app and a growing set of Matter and Zigbee devices that can run locally, while Aqara builds a hub-centred ecosystem that presents itself to Apple Home, Google Home and Amazon Alexa.

On the monitoring side, SONOFF's range is unusually wide for the money. The MINI ONE PM switch monitors energy flow in both directions, tracking device consumption and solar generation¹, and the same bidirectional metering appears on the Zigbee version². The POW Origin reports power, current, voltage and total energy consumption in real time³, the S60 series plug shows daily, monthly and yearly cumulative consumption⁴, and the iPlug Gen2 S61STPB adds runtime and data export⁵. Aqara's energy story is narrower and more climate-led: its Energy Saver Pack bundles a Radiator Thermostat E1, Presence Sensor FP2, Hub M2 and Temperature and Humidity Sensor T1⁶.

Aqara vs SONOFF at a glance

The two brands overlap on plugs, relays and sensors, but they are not interchangeable. SONOFF's monitoring devices are mostly self-contained: a plug, a DIN rail switch or an inline relay that reports to the eWeLink app. Aqara's monitoring is usually one function inside a broader home system built around a hub.

The practical consequence is that a household wanting appliance-level monitoring with solar awareness will find more ready-made options in SONOFF's catalogue, while a household already invested in Apple Home or Alexa and wanting climate control alongside monitoring will find Aqara's bundles more coherent. Neither brand publishes a UK price on the pages reviewed here, so costs are installer-quoted or retailer-quoted rather than fixed.

The makers behind each brand

Aqara states it was founded in 2016 and describes itself as a leading smart home provider with offices in New York and Shenzhen⁷. The same press material claims more than 5 million customers worldwide and more than 600 Aqara stores opened⁷. Those are the company's own figures, dated 2023, and they describe the position at that time rather than today. Aqara's product direction has since moved into security and climate: it announced the Camera Hub G350 and Doorbell Camera G400 (Wired) in March 2026, and unveiled the UWB-powered Smart Lock U400 at CES 2026 for the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore⁷.

SONOFF's public material reviewed here does not state a founding date, a customer count or a company structure. What it does publish is a security advisory, SONOFFCVE-2026-001, covering CVE-2019-9506, a KNOB vulnerability affecting NSPanel Pro firmware v4.2.3 and before, with the resolution being an upgrade to firmware v4.4.0 and above⁸. That advisory is dated 2 October 2026 and is the clearest signal of how the company handles a known flaw: it names the affected firmware, the CVE and the fix.

For a household, the maker matters less than the exit route. Aqara's devices depend on an Aqara hub and account for full function. SONOFF's depend on eWeLink for cloud features, though several models keep working locally. Neither brand is a UK utility or a regulated metering provider, so neither carries the obligations a smart meter supplier does.

Ecosystem and app: where each brand fits

SONOFF's compatibility list is broad and explicit. The Orb Socket supports Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, SmartThings and Home Assistant via Matter⁹, and the S61s Outdoor plug connects to Apple Home, Google Home and Alexa through Matter¹⁰. The POWR3 works with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, SmartThings and Alice¹¹. The NSPanel Pro supports voice control via Alexa and Google Home¹².

Aqara's compatibility is stated at bundle level. The Energy Saver Pack is described as widely compatible with third-party ecosystems such as Apple Home, Google Home and Amazon Alexa⁶, and the Smart Curtain Controller lists Amazon Alexa, Apple Home and Google Home¹³. Aqara's Smart Plug guidance notes that the European version provides the same features for European outlets¹⁴.

The app is where the two diverge most. SONOFF's eWeLink app carries the monitoring history: the S60ZBTPF plug shows real-time and historical consumption with history by hour, day and month⁴, and the POWR3 tracks active power, voltage and current directly in the app¹¹. Aqara's app manages its hub, sensors and climate devices as one system.

That is a real limitation for anyone expecting full statistics in Apple Home. Matter carries the device, but the energy data may not follow it into every platform.

Price and promotions: what to expect

Neither brand publishes a UK price on the pages reviewed here, so any figure a household sees will be retailer-quoted or installer-quoted rather than a manufacturer's list price. What the material does show is a promotional rhythm.

SONOFF ran a Christmas sale from 19 to 31 December 2025 with up to 35% off selected products and quantity-based extra discounts¹⁶. A Valentine's Day promotion ran from 2 to 15 February 2026, offering a buy-two discount with code VADA12 across the official store¹⁷. Individual product pages also carry standing reductions, such as 13% off the SNZB-02D sensor¹⁸.

The pattern is a discount calendar tied to retail events rather than to energy market conditions. A household buying several devices at once is more likely to benefit from a bundle promotion than from a single-unit discount, and the quantity-based extra discounts in the Christmas sale point the same way¹⁶.

It is worth separating the cost of the monitoring hardware from the cost of acting on what it shows. A smart time of use tariff, which is what makes half-hourly consumption data financially useful, is offered by British Gas, E.ON Next, EDF Energy, Octopus Energy, Ovo Energy and Scottish Power, as well as smaller firms including 100Green, Fuse Energy, Good Energy and So Energy¹⁹. The hardware is the cheap part; the tariff is where the money moves.

Security updates and firmware support

Firmware support is the part of a budget ecosystem that decides whether the hardware is still worth having in five years. SONOFF's published advisory is the strongest evidence available here: SONOFFCVE-2026-001 covers CVE-2019-9506, affecting NSPanel Pro firmware v4.2.3 and before, resolved by upgrading to firmware v4.4.0 and above⁸. The company also flags a firmware issue on the NSPanel Pro Gen2, where devices running factory firmware v4.4.3 may experience delayed updates for time or weather information, with an over-the-air update recommended²⁰.

The S61s Outdoor plug shows how firmware gates features rather than just fixing bugs. Energy statistics need firmware 1.0.5 or later, and "Energy Consumption" data on Samsung SmartThings and Home Assistant needs V1.0.6 or above¹⁰. Bidirectional metering on that model is not yet available and is expected in Q3¹⁵.

Data retention is handled differently across the range. The MINI ONE PM stores energy data locally when offline in eWeLink and re-synchronises when back online, with no storage when completely powered off¹. The SNZB-02P sensor includes up to 6 months of free cloud storage²¹. The AirGuard TH reports at a default 5 second interval, adjustable from 5 seconds to 1 hour when a value changes²², and the SNZB-02P reports at least once every 60 minutes when nothing changes²¹.

For a household, the test is simple: check whether the model you are considering has a published firmware version and a route to update it. Aqara's material reviewed here does not include a comparable security advisory.

Which suits a UK energy-monitoring setup

The choice turns on what the household wants to measure and how much it wants to depend on a manufacturer's cloud.

SONOFF fits appliance-level and circuit-level monitoring well. The MINI ONE PM tracks consumption and solar generation in both directions¹, the POW Origin reports power, current, voltage and total energy consumption³, and the Basic DIN Rail switch tracks voltage, current, power and energy with cost calculation and data export²³. That DIN rail model carries a condition worth noting: energy monitoring is only available when the load neutral wire is connected to the Basic DIN Rail output neutral terminal²⁴. Get the wiring wrong and the monitoring simply does not work.

Aqara fits a climate-led setup. Its Energy Saver Pack pairs a radiator thermostat, presence sensor, hub and temperature sensor⁶, and the company has added a smart radiator thermostat to its portfolio⁷. That is a system for managing heat and presence, with monitoring as a supporting function rather than the main event.

For a household thinking about independence, the honest position is that both brands reduce dependence on the supplier's own reporting and increase dependence on a manufacturer's app and account. SONOFF's local control on the S61s Outdoor plug, usable without internet access¹⁰, and its offline data storage on the MINI ONE PM¹, are the features that push in the independent direction. Aqara's hub model centralises function in a device the household does not control.

Where a home already has solar and battery, the monitoring question sits alongside the inverter's own platform. A whole-home system such as the SOFAR PowerAll, an integrated residential energy storage product composed of a single-phase hybrid inverter and a high voltage battery module, offers remote real-time monitoring and management through SOFAR Monitor²⁵. In that case a plug-level system is a supplement, not the main instrument.

For a wider view of how these devices sit alongside meter data, see home energy management systems and smart plugs and appliance-level energy monitoring. Households comparing hub options may also find Aqara Hub M3 and SONOFF iHost useful, and the Zigbee, Matter, Thread and KNX page explains the protocol differences that decide which platform sees your energy data.