Is there any leading lux sensor which can periodically report the lux that I can use in other automations?
I have a few places I want to trigger lights, depending on ambient light… but also don’t want to pay for a Hue sensor for every area when the cheaper ones work just as well!
I figure I can reliably place the lux sensor in my main area and work off that
Lots of people do like the Hue sensors, though it seems you don't like the price (can't blame you). If you don't mind shopping somewhere like AliExpress and waiting for shipping, the Neo Coolcam Z-Wave 700 Motion/5-in-1 sensor (model NAS-PD07) has worked well for me, and I see a couple other people on the forum who like it, too--they're just hard to find in the US. I also like the Dome DMMS1, but it's been out of stock for a while, or the similar-sized Fibaro FGMS-001. But Fibaro won't exactly look favorable in any price comparisons, and that particular model only supports S0 and will try to pair as such on the C-7, which I'd try to avoid.
One I'd try to avoid if you need real lux measurements is any generation of the Zooz 4-in-1 (ZSE40), which reports illuminance in some arbitrary 0-100 scale that maxes out fairly low, not actual lux -- though it may be good for telling whether it's "bright enough" or not if that's all you need. The Q Sensor does better at this, but I wasn't impressed with battery life. So can the outdoor sensor, but it is likely too bulky for most people to want to use indoors.
So...maybe the Neo? Or Hue if price isn't the only consideration? 
Perhaps others will have some ideas as well.
Is this Neo Coolcam NAS-PD07 Motion Sensor a knock off of the Dome motions sensor? I have 2 Dome motion sensors in my house and I've wanted to buy more but they have been out of stock or discontinued for a long time. They have a lot of adjustment in sensitivity and cool-of period, lux sensitivity and they are great at building automations with their lux sensor. However I have a hard time with them not picking up our cat's movement but still detecting humans from a reasonable distance.
What driver do you use with these NAS-PD07 and would it have the same level of customization that the Dome motion sensors have given they look identical?
Hmm, maybe I have the wrong model number. This was what the box next to me said (and Z-Wave if they re-use the number for other protocols--they do have similar looking Zigbee and other models of many devices). It's this one though: https://www.aliexpress.com/i/3256802123335448.html?gatewayAdapt=4itemAdapt
I haven't seen a Done sensor they looks like that one, though there may be more Dome models than I know.
I'd go with some cheapy ones like this:
This adds in new variables like potential reliability issues, the placement/effectiveness of the motion sensor etc. whereas my current sensors I’m happy with their motion sensing… just want separate lux.
I don’t think that one you linked would periodically just report the lux? Those only go on motion trigger I think?
I use the Fibaro Motion sensors for Lux. I have a couple that I use solely for lux that I'm using to control external lights and curtains. They work well but are a pain to pair as to avoid S0 security they need to be included using a Z stick paired as a secondary controller.
I have used these inexpensive Mijia sensors for three years. And am very happy with them. They only do illuminance/lux and nothing else ...
https://www.aliexpress.com/i/2255800290064863.html
There's a community driver for them. And you can still find them at other vendors.
I've been using the Xiaomi Mijia Smart Light Sensor going on 3 years now. I use it to turn on some accent lights when the outside lux drops below a certain number.
I've never had any issues with it. I'm on my 2nd battery.
Kinda bizzare, this item is no longer on Aliexpress (which I won't purchase from) and when looking on banggood I see:
????
Except that the link says:
Sorry, this item is no longer available!
I have 4 of them and they do work great -- if you make sure to have Mijia/Aqara friendly Zigbee repeaters on your mesh.
But they disappeared off the market about 18 months ago, and can no longer be found anywhere.
Like other zigbee 3.0 devices, these are actually not picky - unusual for Xiaomi devices 
I see them on eBay occasionally, but yeah - I have no idea why they disappeared from the market. I have a few spare stuck in a drawer somewhere.
Probably because they've been replaced by the Aqara variants. Looks like xiaomi is gradually phasing out the xiaomi brand for these devices (the door contacts are also getting harder to find).
Aha - that makes sense. I don't know if the Aqara versions work with Hubitat though. Perhaps @kkossev might know?
All my aqara sensors work fine with markus' drivers. The only things I have that don't work in HE are their Opple buttons (but that's why we have zigbee2mqtt right 
)
There are several HE custom drivers that work very well with the old Xiaomi/Mija light sensors ( * model: lumi.sen_ill.mgl01), but I am not sure about 2023 Aqara Light sensor T1 - Hubitat has problems with some newer Zigbee 3.0 devices that do not fall back to the old ZHA 1.2 protocol ...
Aren’t zigbee 3.0 devices supposed to fall back to ZHA 1.2? 
Yes, falling down from Zigbee 3.0 to ZHA 1.2 is part of the 3.0 specs, and should be also a part of the certification. But seems like not all manufacturers obeyed that, or could be simply bugs that were not noticed during the testing. Some newer Aqara Zigbee products fall in this category.
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