Shelly’s First mmWave Sensor Can Track 10 People Across 10 Zones — And It Works With Matter

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Shelly has released the Presence Gen4, its first mmWave radar sensor, in North America for a listed price of $84.99. The company says it can track up to 10 people across 10 customizable zones and supports Matter, local control and home automation integrations.

Smart home company Shelly has released its first mmWave radar sensor, the Presence Gen4, in North America. The device is designed to detect up to 10 people across 10 customizable zones and connect with Matter-compatible smart home systems, allowing automations to respond to where people are rather than simply whether motion occurred.

The Presence Gen4 is listed at a recommended retail price of $84.99 and is available through Shelly’s U.S. website, according to Matter Alpha’s report. The compact unit measures 64 by 41 by 26 millimeters without its stand. Shelly’s product can be wall-mounted or positioned with a built-in stand, and it requires a nearby power supply for its USB-C cable.

The report says the sensor has a 140-degree horizontal field of view when wall-mounted, with coverage of up to 650 square feet. Corner mounting narrows the field to 90 degrees and covers up to 525 square feet. Actual performance and coverage may depend on placement and the room; the report does not describe independent testing conditions for those figures.

Alongside Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Zigbee radios, the device supports Matter interoperability with platforms including Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Samsung SmartThings and Home Assistant, as described by the report. It also offers local control and custom scripting. The sensor can be configured to trigger actions when people enter or leave zones, and includes height settings that users can adjust to include or filter out pets, robot cleaners and other small objects. A light sensor can also detect changes in room lighting.

More Specific Room-Based Automations

Many basic motion sensors trigger after movement and may stop registering someone who remains still. The Presence Gen4 uses mmWave radar, which the report says can detect small movements even when a person is stationary. That could make it useful for automations that need to know whether a room is occupied, such as keeping lights on while someone is reading or adjusting heating and cooling when a zone is empty.

The ability to assign detections to multiple zones may also allow a single sensor to drive different actions in parts of a large room. For example, lighting or climate settings could respond to presence in one area without treating the whole space as occupied. These are potential uses, not results established by independent testing in the source material.

For households that prefer not to use cameras, occupancy sensing without video may offer another option. Shelly also advertises local control, which can reduce reliance on cloud services for supported functions. The exact data handling, network behavior and features available without an internet connection are not detailed in the report, so privacy and reliability benefits should not be assumed beyond those stated capabilities.

Shelly Enters mmWave Sensing

The Presence Gen4 is Shelly’s first mmWave sensor, according to the source report. MmWave refers to radar that uses millimeter-scale wavelengths. Unlike a conventional motion detector that primarily responds to movement, presence sensors using this approach can register subtle movement and are designed to continue identifying occupancy when someone is relatively still.

The product’s Matter support is intended to help it work across different smart home ecosystems. Matter is a connectivity standard used by participating devices and platforms, although compatibility can vary by specific functions and software versions. The report names several supported systems but does not provide a feature-by-feature comparison for each one.

“Accurate presence detection unlocks the kind of smart home experience customers have long dreamed about, where everything from lighting to HVAC respond automatically without needing to lift a finger.”

— Matt Brown, Shelly USA chief marketing officer

Performance Details Still Unverified

The product specifications and capabilities in the source report are not accompanied by independent test results, so real-world accuracy, response time and consistency across different room layouts remain unclear. It is also not specified how reliably the sensor distinguishes people from pets or small objects in varied conditions, despite the adjustable height and filtering options.

The report describes local control but does not spell out which features continue working during an internet outage, what information may be sent to Shelly’s cloud, or how long-term software support will work. It also does not give a confirmed date for Amazon availability or provide regional pricing outside the United States.

Availability and Testing Ahead

The Presence Gen4 is reported as available now through Shelly’s U.S. website at a recommended retail price of $84.99. The report also references Amazon availability without specifying a launch date, leaving the timing of that listing unclear.

Buyers will be able to assess how the sensor performs in their own rooms, including whether its zone mapping and pet-filtering settings suit their automation needs. Further product testing and clearer documentation about local operation, privacy practices and platform-specific Matter functions would help establish how the advertised capabilities work in everyday use.

Key Questions

What is the Shelly Presence Gen4?

It is Shelly’s first mmWave radar presence sensor, designed to detect occupancy and trigger smart home automations.

How many people and zones can it detect?

The source report says it can detect up to 10 people across up to 10 customizable zones. It does not provide independent test results for that capacity.

Does the Presence Gen4 work with Matter?

Yes. The report says it supports Matter-compatible platforms, including Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Samsung SmartThings and Home Assistant. Specific functions may depend on each platform.

How much does it cost, and where is it available?

The listed recommended retail price is $84.99. The source reports availability through Shelly’s U.S. website, but does not give a confirmed date for Amazon availability.

Does it require a cloud connection?

The report says the sensor supports local control, but does not identify which functions work without internet access or detail its cloud data practices.

Source: rss