A HomeKit leak sensor is one of those devices that you never want to know is there, but are really glad when you do.  There aren’t a ton of choices on the market currently, but the Eve Water Guard is one that definitely stands out from the competition, but is it right for everyone.?  

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Features

• Water leak detector
• 2m detection cable extendable up to 150m
• 100 dB alarm and alert LED

Need to Knows

• Thread / Bluetooth
• Uses mains power
• Operating temp: -18º to 55º C

Pros

By far the stand-out benefit of the new Water Guard is Thread connectivity.  And not only does it support Thread, it acts as a Thread router which helps to expand and strengthen your Thread network.  A Lott of Eve’s other devices are end nodes which are necessary parts of the network, having routers ensures that those end nodes are communicating in the most efficient means possible.

There are a couple of other water leak sensors in the HomeKit space and they both bring something unique to the party, but only Water Guard has the detection cable which allows you to basically set up a perimeter.  You can of course do this in a room like a basement, laundry room, or mechanical room, but you can also use the cable to encircle a potential troublesome apparatus like a washing machine, water heater, or sump pump.

While the HomeKit leak sensors options will send notifications to your phone letting you know you need to investigate, they don’t come close to the local alerts of the Water Guard.  The 100 dB siren of the Water Guard is ridiculously loud, but in the best way, and the Fibaro Flood Sensor’s “alarm” is just meek and mild in comparison.  And though certain Aqara Hub do produce comparable volumes when Water Leak Sensor is set off, it’s nice to have an all-in-one solution.   

Cons

Looking at the hardware, this HomeKit leak sensor is pretty impressive with its 100 dB siren and LED warning light, but how do you turn it off?  There’s no physical button to deactivate the alarm in the event of a minor mishap or false alert.  Considering just how loud the siren is, when it is triggered the last thing you want to have to do is track down your phone, open an app, and try to figure out how to silence the alarm.

Eve Water Guard uses mains power which means you’ll not only need a free outlet to power the device, it’ll need to be fairly close to where you’re concerned about a potential leak, so the included cable will reach. You can, of course, purchase additional detection cable extensions to remedy this. This is obviously a limitation which could have been resolved by battery power, though we wouldn’t have Thread router support if this were the case.

Though it can potentially save you thousands in water damage repairs, Eve Water Guard’s price can be a bit hard to swallow for some.  Coming in at between $100 and $120 in the U.S. at the time of writing, it might seem a bit steep, especially when compared to something like the Aqara Water Leak Sensor.  Also, though technically you can receive alerts when the device is using Bluetooth, range is spotty and response times are abysmal, so you’ll probably want a Thread border router which is an additional cost.

The Apps

Other than the super useful Thread network info it provides, there’s surprisingly not a lot going on with the Water Guard in Eve’s app, though there are a couple of points of interest.

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Through the app, you have the option to perform an alarm test which is not something I’ve seen with the competition.  The alarm test doesn’t simply sound the siren and flash the lights, but it actually requires you to submerge the cable in water and it verifies it is in working order by sounding its siren at reduced volume,  flashing its LED, and sending a notification through the Home app to let you know everything is functioning as it should.  In addition to this, you can also have the Eve app send you reminder notifications to perform this test every so often which is a nice touch..

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As for automation triggers, you can of course use the leak detected status to trigger other HomeKit accessories like lights and even additional alarms through your HomePods or other AirPlay 2 speakers.  You can also use “General Fault” as a trigger to set up a status indicator which will let you know if anything with the detection cable is out of order.

As for Apple’s Home, the only detail worth mentioning is that this is where you configure your notifications.  If you decide you want push notifications, and you probably do, you have the option of deciding when you’ll receive them and whether you’ll receive them based on you or other Home invitees being home or away.

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It’s also worth mentioning that the notifications for the Water Guard are considered critical notifications in iOS.  This means that regardless of your device’s Focus mode or mute status, the notification will be pushed to your device.

Accessibility

There’s not a lot to talk about in terms of accessibility on the hardware side of this HomeKit leak sensor.  It’s a box that plugs into an outlet.  The leak detection cable is straight-forward to connect as it uses a standard 3.5mm style connector and the cable extensions connect in a similar fashion.

As far as VoiceOver support for the Eve app, is concerned, it’s a very straight-forward experience.  The navigability of the app itself is easy to understand and the device-specific buttons and menus are all accessible, if sometimes oddly.  I mentioned this last bit as the menu button for the log of alarm events for the Water Guard is labeled as “more_info_accessibility_label” which just makes me laugh, but I certainly appreciate the effort.

Final Thoughts

Eve Water Guard is a super snappy and far-reaching water leak detector which is exactly what you want in such a device.  Eve has a rock-solid reputation of delivering high-quality experiences on both hardware and software fronts and the Water Guard lives up to this.

However, I can’t recommend this device if you’re not in the HomeKit ecosystem.  Eve is dedicated to adopting Matter which theorhetically means it will eventually work with those other inferior platforms, but I’m not holding my breath for Matter and I definitely can’t recommend buying a product based on future promises, even if I have faith in Eve’s committment to Matter..

Eve Water Guard is a spectacular device for very specific applications and is super versatile.  You won’t likely regret it if you do decide to get yourself one and it definitely plays well in your HomeKit home.

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