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The Camera Hub G350 is my favourite indoor location information camera that I've tested to date, and not conscionable due to the fact that it's wearing a cute bunny-ear costume. It records successful 4K and has zoom capabilities, positive it has question tracking and tin rotate 360 degrees.
There are 2 cameras successful the G350, and the plan makes the lenses look similar eyes. If you don't similar the cutesy style, you tin instrumentality disconnected the silicone bunny hood, which makes the G350 look much similar a accepted information camera.
You tin presumption the G350's provender done Apple Home, and it connects arsenic a HomeKit Secure Video camera. Footage is stored successful iCloud, and arsenic with different ‌HomeKit Secure Video‌ (HSV) options, you request an ‌iCloud‌+ plan. The $0.99/month 50GB program supports a azygous HSV camera, the $2.99/month 200GB program supports 5 HSV cameras, and the higher-tier plans that commencement astatine $9.99/month for 2TB retention enactment an unlimited fig of cameras.
Using the G350 with HomeKit limits you to the ‌HomeKit‌ acceptable of features. You tin presumption the provender successful the Home app, adhd the camera to automations, and customize erstwhile the camera is signaling and erstwhile it's not utilizing geofencing. It supports notifications for movement, tin admit radical and animals for customized notifications, and it has facial recognition. Unfortunately, though this is simply a high-resolution camera, HSV is constricted to 1080p.
Because the Camera Hub G350 offers truthful galore features that are not disposable successful ‌HomeKit‌, it's not worthy getting if you're lone going to usage it with Apple Home. You request the Aqara app to get the afloat functionality, but I bash deliberation the diagnostic acceptable is worthy venturing retired of the Home app for.
The wide-angle 4K camera with a 133-degree tract of presumption is the main camera, but there's besides a 2.5K HD camera for zooming successful up to 9x to get a person look. The camera provender is clearer than what I get from ‌HomeKit‌ due to the fact that of the solution restrictions. This is the lone camera I person that has a 2nd lens for zooming in, and the zoom is sharper than what I get from single-lens cameras.
Aqara says the camera has an f/1.6 aperture and 940nm infrared LEDs for nighttime vision, and it does bash good successful debased lighting conditions and astatine night. Recordings are not arsenic wide arsenic erstwhile there's optimal lighting, but the nighttime imaginativeness works arsenic expected, offering a grayscale presumption of what's going on.
The G350 tin rotate 360 degrees, and determination is an included AI auto-tracking feature. It tin admit radical and pets, turning the camera to support them successful view, and zooming successful dilatory wherever appropriate. It tilts too, which is adjuvant for keeping radical and pets successful view. You tin person the camera way question with AI, but you tin besides usage cookware and tilt controls successful the app to power it portion watching the provender live. I don't request to reinvent the wheel, truthful Aqara's video showing the panning, tilt, and zoom is embedded below. The camera and the app bash enactment arsenic demonstrated successful the video.
The tracking works well, and it tin beryllium somewhat creepy to person a camera pursuing you, truthful it mightiness beryllium a bully theft deterrent. It's wide erstwhile it's moving to support you successful view, but determination is nary audible dependable erstwhile it's panning. It is meant to cookware slowly, truthful determination tin beryllium a small spot of blur successful recordings erstwhile the camera is moving oregon erstwhile you usage the zoom feature. The Aqara app has an enactment for selecting preset angles that the camera volition rapidly cookware to truthful you tin spot antithetic areas of a room.
The camera has on-device AI processing that tin admit faces, pets, gestures, and prime sounds. It tin observe coughing, snoring, large sounds, alarms, a canine barking, and a babe crying, sending alerts erstwhile it hears the sound.
I often deliberation that Aqara includes excessively galore features successful its products, but it gives radical options. The camera supports gestures, truthful you tin trigger scenes that you've acceptable up successful the Aqara app with a question oregon an OK sign. This is simply a beta feature, and it's not ace reliable, particularly erstwhile the lighting is bad. I don't cognize why, but the G350 besides has grin detection and volition nonstop you a notification erstwhile it detects idiosyncratic smiling. It does successfully observe motion, travel maine around, and observe smiles, though the second diagnostic hasn't worked 100 percent of the time.
For those who don't privation footage uploaded to the cloud, determination is an enactment to grounds to a 512GB microSD card. Footage tin beryllium saved to a NAS, you tin usage Apple Home's ‌iCloud‌ storage, oregon you tin usage Aqara's unreality storage. You don't request a subscription for Aqara's unreality storage, but immoderate features are locked down one.
Aqara has a HomeGuardian subscription work that's $4.99 per period oregon $49.99 per twelvemonth for a azygous camera, oregon treble that for unlimited cameras. It adds 90 days of video lawsuit history, bundle and conveyance detection, look detection, AI video summaries, AI video search, occurrence detection, alarm notifications, unlimited retention space, and video downloads from the app. So you tin usage section retention oregon the escaped unreality storage, but you suffer immoderate features.
There is simply a mode that physically disables the cameras with a screen that makes the "eyes" look similar they're closed, which is some cute and useful. This mode besides reveals the microSD paper slot, and you instrumentality the paper successful the "mouth." The camera-off mode tin beryllium enabled by tapping the small oculus icon successful the Aqara app. There is simply a talker and microphone for two-way conversation.
I cannot deliberation of a camera diagnostic that I privation that's not already successful the G350, but possibly affluent notifications. The question detection alerts that travel from the Aqara app don't supply maine with a preview of the question similar my Ring cameras do.
If you person different Aqara devices, the G350 works arsenic a hub for them. I person Aqara thermostats, truthful this serves arsenic a functional hub and improves connectivity betwixt Aqara products. It's besides a Thread Border Router for Thread devices and a Matter Controller. It tin usage either a 2.4GHz oregon 5GHz connection.
The Camera Hub G350 is meant to beryllium plugged successful each the time, but for immoderate crushed Aqara didn't see a powerfulness adapter. There's a USB-C cable, but nary charger, truthful you'll request to proviso your own. It takes a 10W USB-C powerfulness adapter oregon higher.
Bottom Line
With the cookware and tilt features and automatic tracking, the G350 is an fantabulous indoor camera. It's cleanable successful a baby's country oregon for tracking pets, but it besides works good for wide location information use.
It supports section retention for those who don't privation information uploaded to the cloud, and portion immoderate features are locked down a subscription, each of the astir utile options are readily disposable without paying extra.
How to Buy
The Aqara Camera Hub G350 is available from Amazon for $140.
Note: Aqara provided MacRumors with a G350 Camera Hub for the intent of this review. No different compensation was received.
This article, "Aqara Camera Hub G350 Review: 4K Recording, Dual Lenses, Pan-and-Tilt Tracking, and AI Subject Detection" archetypal appeared connected MacRumors.com
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