Aqara G3 Camera Launches in China

While evidence of the latest camera from Aqara has been floating around for at least a year by our estimates, the new G3 has finally officially launched in China, with preorders on jd.com, with shipments expected five days later. With this, more details have also emerged, many of which we’ve already covered.

So, we’ve already confirmed that it’s HomeKit compatible of course, and it also contains a Zigbee 3.0 hub, as well as working with both 2.4 and 5GHZ WiFi networks – 802.11b/g/n/a/ac (great!).

We’re now able to confirm that the camera does indeed contain a special chip that allows for advance onboard AI functionality, that can not only discern between people, pets and vehicles, like HomeKit Secure Video but can also recognise hand gestures! Of course, motion detection is included as standard, as well as abnormal sound detection via the Aqara app. As the G3 has pan and tilt functionality, the company also include motion tracking as well, which should even work in HomeKit, even if it’s only managed via the Aqara app. There’s also the option for the camera to automatically survey its entire view via automations and schedules.

the G3 upgrades the image quality from the G2H, with 2K recording (2304 x 1296px), although as it stands at the time of writing, HomeKit only supports 1080p, so 2K viewing and recording are restricted to the Aqara app, much like the 2K Eufy indoor cameras. However, like the G2H, you still have the option to record to both an on-device SD Card, as well as the Aqara Cloud, with the maximum SD card size now bumped up to 128GB.

As if that wasn’t enough, the G3 also includes a built-in Infrared transceiver, like the Aqara M2 hub. This will allow you to control pretty much any device that uses an IR remote and include the control of those devices in automations within the Aqara app. One other minor detail is that the G3 uses a USB-C port and cable for power. The pan & tilt coverage is 340º in the horizontal plane, and 45º in the vertical (30º up and 15º down). There’s also a sleep mode, which retracts the camera and sensor, revealing not only a slot for an SD card, but a cute graphic to emphasise a ‘sleepy face’.

Similarly to the Arlo Baby cam, Aqara also seem to be offering a covering for the G3 that give the camera ears! This is probably for when the camera is used as a baby monitor, for young children.

All of this comes at a price of course, with the G3 going on sale in China for just under 800RMB (roughly US$125 / €102 / UK£88), so the price is fairly high compared to a lot of cameras in HomeKit right now, albeit with a lot less functionality in most cases.

Once we have one for testing, we’ll be doing a full written and video review so keep an eye out for that.