Temperature and humidity sensors are now commonplace, although integration with voice assistants, and Alexa in particular, is close to the lousy. Moes goes further by offering a sensor measuring temperature, humidity and brightness called Moes ZSS-ZK-THL!
Everything works in ZigBee on home automation boxes such as Jeedom, but also with a Hub Tuya / Smart Life ! Charts, data extraction, scenarios… The possibilities of this module are enormous, but is it flawless?
ZSS-ZK-THL Moes: a multi-data sensor…
Unboxing
Moes was created a little over 5 years ago by lovers of connected objects and since then has strived to provide innovative products in accordance with the wishes of their customers.
The sensor Moes ZSS-ZK-THL comes in a small cardboard packaging of 7 x 7 x 2,5 cm, white and golden green, quite nice. The front panel shows a visual of the module and how it works with Tuya. The measurements of temperature, humidity and brightness are highlighted on the sides. ZigBee operation is a hand check mark on the back (the product is also available in Bluetooth).
Le Moes ZSS-ZK-THL is a block of 6,6 cm side et 1,1 cm thick. Its design is quite nice and versatile. The screen is quite largee with its 45 mm side and above all it has the advantage of being completely readable, both from the side and in direct sunlight. Liquid crystals are always a safe bet.
Battery operated CR2032 not supplied, it weighs 39 grams, battery included. This featherweight allows it to be attached to the wall with the double sided provided. There is also a magnetizable adhesive to install it on a metal surface. The design is really nice with its rounded corners and the quality of the materials does not suffer from any defect.
There is a cover on the back that serves both as a cover for the battery compartment and as a foot to make it stand on a piece of furniture. On the right side, you will find an orange button used to pair the product.
Goes everywhere, it will find its place in the smallest space. Let's look at the features of this module.
Information
- Brand : Moes
- Origin : developed by Moes, made in China
- Dimensions : 66 x 66 x 11 mm for 39 grams with batteries. 45 x 45 mm screen.
- Food : CR2032 battery, not included.
- Connectivity :
- Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b / g / n 2.4 GHz
- ZigBee
- Application :Tuya/ Smart Life. JEEDOM compatible, with the "ZigBee" plugin (can work with ZigBee Zigate, USB-ZIGBEE_EFR32 and Conbee2 USB keys
- Measuring range :
- Temperature : 0 to 50 ° C +/- 0,3 ° C
- Humidity : 0 to 99% RH + / - 3%
- Brightness : 0 to 999 lux +/- 0,01 lux
- Voice use : No.
- Remote upgrade :OTA
- Programming : Yes, via the app. Very suitable for home automation and API's.
The characteristics are quite interesting for the precision of the data. Being able to follow the ambient light is a great asset. Thanks to its operation via the Tuya / Smart Life, it will be possible to integrate it into scenarios to open or close shutters according to the ambient lux, but also to activate a CMV in accordance with the relative humidity ...
Moes ZSS-ZK-THL: installation and use of the sensor
With Smart Life of Tuya
Moes decided to create products " Powered by Tuya ". So they are fully compatible with ZigBee Tuya hubs or Smart Life. For our test, we used a gateway the Zemismart Wireless ZigBee Hub, but the operation will be the same with another brand, in particular with the very widespread Lidl gateway.
To install it, you need to enter your hub and then do " add a sub-element ». Press 5 seconds on the orange button to enter the module in pairing mode. A logo will appear and flash. Let the app search for your new gear. You can press the button again during the search if you wish. Once detected, come and change its name if you wish and it's over.
So it's very simple. From there on the home page you have a visual of the brightness on the top and just below the temperature and humidity. By pressing the orange button, you can change the unit of measurement to ° F or ° C. For information, degrees Fahrenheit were developed in 1724 by the German Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit. In this unit, 96 ° F corresponds to the temperature of the human body and 32 ° F to the solidification of water (thus 0 ° C) while its boiling point is 212 ° F (thus 100 ° C).
The settings via the application are starving.
You have access to:
- Visualization of battery level. Be careful, in one week of testing, the latter lost 20% ...
- Luminance sensitivity : determined the light fluctuation, in lux, which will allow the device to come out of its torpor to display the values live. You can determine a value between 10 and 100 lux.
- Low battery,
- SMS notifications and by phone: optional payable via Smart Life.
Nothing really crazy then ...
Where it gets interesting is with the tab Smart. You can come and create one or more scenarios involving the module. Thus, choose a limit value for temperature, humidity or brightness and define an action to be implemented. You can thus choose activate a connected device in your Tuya application or Smart Life. Thus, it is possible to close the shutters of a room if the brightness is too high, turn on a light in the opposite case, turn on an air conditioning according to the temperature ...
Here is an example of what can be done:
This is a very great strength of this product: its perfect integration into the application. Another big advantage is the visualization of measurements in the form of daily, monthly and annual graphs. We would however preferred a more harmonious, less raw and more ergonomic reproduction (you have to scroll through the days using arrows without any possibility of dragging).
And it doesn't stop there. By pressing the small arrow on the right, you can email yourself an .xls extraction in order to make your own graphics yourself. Great no?
However, under Tuya, no further calibration or configuration. This will only be possible via Jeedom or Home Assistant. Hey, yes, home automation boxes have a lot of advantages, especially this one.
We tried to install it via a ZigBee Hub integrated into the Amazon Echo. Here, only the temperature rises, nothing else. No interest therefore. Alexa is still limited regarding sensors ...
The reliability of the Moes ZSS-ZK-THL in question
The question that interests us all regarding this type of product is: is it reliable ? The answer is yes and no. There is no problem with temperature and humidity measurements. We compared the values with two other devices and they are quite representative. Reliable and repeatable. Very well.
On the other hand, things get worse with the brightness measurement. The latter is good too random because of the design of its sensor. This is pushed into its housing and it regularly has a projected shadow phenomenon as well as a restricted angle which vary the measurements depending on the location and inclination of the module. You can measure half the lux by turning the Moes a little by a few centimeters, by putting it straight or tilted, on the wall or on its foot ...
In comparison with a calibrated luxmeter, the values are fair under ideal conditions, that is to say with the sensor facing the source and an incidence of 90 °. But the ideal conditions do not really exist with this type of material.
Another weak point: the Moes ZSS-ZK-THL light sensor saturates very quickly. 999 lux is not much. For example, outside, under a cloudy sky, we go up to 25.000 lux. And in full sun, we can exceed 100.000! So 999… If a ray of sunlight gets too close, hop, E1 or Error. In a room that is too bright, it is therefore unusable.
It is not at all a precision luxmeter but rather a device suitable for measuring changes in brightness over time. Once set up, assume that the measurements are not right but simply repeatable. Then define the limit values corresponding to a brightness that seems low to you, or conversely too high, and use these "limits" as benchmarks either for yourself or in a scenario.
Starting from this principle, it retains its usefulness ... Depending on what you want to do with it.
We invite you to get a more precise idea of this multi data module via our video (like, subscribe, it's nice):
20% of battery in 1 week it is not terrible on the other hand for ZigBee… Point rather negative I find. Is the trend confirmed?
This seems less true, so it is probably linked both to the poor quality of the batteries supplied and to the numerous tests carried out (several gateways, a lot of load on the light sensor, etc.).
Hello,
I confirm to you the very great unreliability of this sensor, to be avoided absolutely.
One of my worst experiences with a product buy from Amazon.
I cracked, he went back to the seller.
Hi,
It's a shame, the characteristics were interesting… 🙂
Hello,
great review 😉
two little questions,
- I am thinking of replacing my zigbee aqara thermometers (without display) by a thermometer with display ...
I hesitate between this model (Moes) and the round zigbee model from Tuya too ...
autonomy level is the tuya better? (main use: retrieving information via conbee2 on home assistant, home automation will do the rest 😉).
- On the Moes side, is it possible to increase the temperature instead of the brightness?
Thank you for the feedback !
looking forward to reading your new articles! 😉
++
Seb
Hi Seb,
Thank you ! 😉
This Moes sensor is surely not much different from other Tuya models. If the measurement of the luminosity, which you saw works rather badly, is not a determining criterion, I advise you to take a look at our Orvibo sensor test. It's round, the display is larger, and it works great with a ConBee II. 😉
To come back to the Moes, a priori no, the display will stay like this, but I will look at that. 😉
Goodbye ! 😉
I confirm Fabrice's comment. I have one connected to Jeedom for a week to try to control the boiler. For some reason, the temperature and humidity drop to zero from. from time to time, it's a shame and above all unusable!
To forbid !
Anyone know of a reliable temperature sensor?
To be honest, I haven't found the ultimate sensor yet. Despite dozens of tests from all brands, I cannot decide on the reliability of this or that model, and I often have two sensors of the same model not agreeing in the same place. However, with Jeedom, you can calibrate your sensors and calibrate them to the same level. Otherwise, in Z-Wave, I am rather satisfied with the Multisensor 6 Aeotec. In short, in the end, I often rely on my Netatmo weather station. 😉
Hello,
I've had this sensor for a few months, it's impossible to get information on the temperature or humidity, they've been at zero since the start. no reset of the device changes anything. I use Smartlife with LIDL platform in zigbee 3.
To avoid any possible firmware update.