Lafaer LWR01 Wireless Presence Sensor Initial Review

Friday, Aug 15, 2025 by Reddit User @u/SacredWoobie

This is an update to some initial notes I posted yesterday and meant to be a little more in depth.

Included in the Box:

• 1 Presence Sensor
• 1 USB-C to USB-A Cable
• 1 adhesive mounting piece
• 2 AA batteries

Overall construction feels solid. All screw holes are covered with rubber plugs. I removed the two exposed screws but the shell did not come apart with light coaxing and I was not willing to break it, so I was not able to get a look at the internals.

Initial setup:

I reported yesterday that I was having trouble pairing it with my thread border router directly through Home Assistant and that I had to first pair with my iPhone HomeKit app and then transfer. This was user error and once I fixed my setup, my second sensor paired directly with Home Assistant with no issues.

Advanced settings are controlled via the Lafaer app. Once the sensor is paired with your thread network, the app will advise you to hold the button for three seconds which will allow it to pair with the Lafaer app as well. You can adjust various settings with range detection, and sensitivity at each range gate (see pictures below). There are various other options for doing an AI calibration based on where it is set up, changing the detection reset interval, performance vs battery save mode etc.

Range and Detection Notes:

Lafaer claims the LWR-01 can do motion detection out to 7 meters and will maintain presence detection out to 3.5 meters. It breaks its detection range gates out in 1.4 meter increments that can you individually change detect and maintain sensitivities for (see below picture).

From what I tested, the range gates are fairly accurate. When I disabled the further out range gates one by one, it would not detect me until I came close to the marker I had on the floor for the next range gate.

It was consistently triggering motion detections out to 7 meters but would in fact not maintain presence at that distance. My testing methodology for this was to walk into the scene to trigger motion detection and then I sat in a portable chair remaining still.

From my testing however, the sensor was consistently maintaining presence on me out to ~4 meters, so a little better than Lafaer claims.

I was having trouble yesterday with my corner mounted sensor detecting my ceiling fan. It had this issue both ½ and 2/3 of the way up the wall.

I adjusted various detect and maintain settings hoping that it was just the air movement it was detecting and not the blades. To confirm, I set up my second sensor so it was pointing down directly underneath the fan, where it couldn’t see the blades.

This sensor also triggers with default settings, but lowering the detect and maintain sensitivity did in fact cause this sensor not to trip. My fix for my other sensor was to 3d print a cover (the final version will only have foil on the bottom) in order to block the beams that we’re seeing the fan.

The speed that it triggers for the purposes of automation seems to be on par with my PIR sensors and I have been more than satisfied with it’s detection speed for purposes of turning on lights.

Someone asked yesterday so here is the link to the corner mount files if someone wants to make their own (they’re nothing fancy)

Overall impressed with the sensor, we will see how the battery life holds up but luckily they are AA, so easily sourced and easily replaced.

Remark

u/SacredWoobie is a verified customer of the LWR01 and generously shared this in-depth review based on their real-world experience. Originally posted in the Home Assistant subreddit, we are grateful for their permission to repost it here.