GoKawiilAqara just announced two major additions to its smart home security lineup today. They have released the Camera Hub G350, which is the company’s first Matter-certified camera, along with the Doorbell Camera G400. I always look forward to seeing what Aqara does next, as they have been a great way to build out a low-cost smart home for years. These two devices bring so many needed features to the Apple Home ecosystem.
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HomeKit Weekly is a series focused on smart home accessories, automation tips and tricks, and everything to do with Apple’s smart home framework.
Camera Hub G350
Aqara has released the Camera Hub G350, its first Matter-certified camera (they previously shipped Apple HomeKit ones). Beyond being a camera, it also works as a Zigbee hub and a Matter Controller. It features a dual lens system that combines a 4K wide-angle camera with a 2.5K telephoto lens. Apple Home is still limited to 1080p, though you get up to 9x hybrid zoom and a smooth pan-tilt mechanism for full 360-degree coverage. Aqara’s onboard AI automatic tracking aims to keep people and pets in the frame.
Aqara included a physical lens shield that automatically covers the camera when you turn it off. You also get local microSD storage up to 512 GB and NAS backup options. HomeKit Secure Video is supported on this product, but I’ll know exactly how well it performs once I get my hands on the camera for a full review.
Doorbell Camera G400
For the front door, the Doorbell Camera G400 is a wired doorbell with 2K resolution and a 165-degree ultra-wide field of view. It uses a tall aspect ratio so you can easily see visitors and packages from head to toe. The biggest news here is that it supports Power over Ethernet for power and a wired network connection. If you do not have an Ethernet cable run to your door, it also works with existing doorbell wiring and 2.4 and 5 GHz Wi-Fi 6. It aims to work well with Apple Home and does support HomeKit Secure Video. It also supports RTSP if you want to stream video to an NVR. It also works with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and SmartThings.
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The local AI detection claims to recognize people and motion even without an internet connection. I will test this further once I get the doorbell in my home, but that sounds like a great feature.
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