Aqara G3 Officially Released in US, Canada, France
Aqara today announced the launch of its latest home security camera, the Camera Hub G3 (albeit accidentally letting the cat out of the bag the night before – but hey we’ve all done it!). The new camera is a 2K, pan-and-tilt camera with the local facial and gesture recognition features, as well as including a built-in Zigbee 3.0 hub, allowing the device to connect up to 128 Aqara accessories*. It’s now available on the Aqara Amazon brand stores in the US, Canada and France, and is also expected to be sold by authorized Aqara retailers in North America, Europe and Asia in the following weeks**.
Thanks to a powerful NPU-equipped processor, the Aqara Camera Hub G3 supports facial recognition and gesture recognition features, both of which can be used to trigger home automations. Users can create automations to receive push notifications when their kids arrive home or when a stranger is detected (i.e. an unfamiliar face was detected), or to stop video recording when the face of a family member or a preset hand gesture is recognised.
The G3 camera hub also supports automatic cruising, human tracking as well as pet tracking, all enabled by the 110° wide-angle lens and the pan-and-tilt motor which provides a 340° rotation angle but with the 100º FoV, you’re effectively getting 360º coverage. The pan-and-tilt motor can be controlled manually, by the preset cruising path, or via home automations (for example, to turn to the front door when Door & Window Sensor is triggered). Combined with the high-resolution 2304×1296 pixel sensor and the infrared night vision enabled by the 940 nm LEDs, which are invisible at night, the G3 protects homes in 360-degree with no blind spot, day and night.
Compared to the previous G2H Camera Hub, the new G3 provides other advanced features including:
- Wider compatibility with third-party platforms: as a camera, it supports not only HomeKit Secure Video*** but also streaming to Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant smart displays, while as a hub it allows connected child devices to support a wide range of third-party ecosystems and voice assistants, such as HomeKit, Alexa, Google Home, IFTTT, and more;
- Local infrared control: the built-in IR controller allows the G3 to automate infrared-compatible devices (TVs, Fans, Streaming boxes, Games consoles, ACs etc), with the IR automation being local which means it remains functioning without an Internet connection;
- Dual-band Wi-Fi support: both 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi networks are supported;
- Privacy protection: The G3 is equipped with a privacy shutter that physically covers the camera lens, with the possibility to close the shutter manually or automatically;
- Type-C port with video out: the G3 uses the modern universal connector that supports low-latency, high-definition video output via UVC protocol.
To celebrate the launch, Aqara is now offering limited-time discounts for the new Camera Hub G3 on its Amazon brand stores. North American customers will enjoy a 20% discount at check with the promo code USG3PRGE in the US and Canada, and the code will be valid through Nov 24, 2021. Aqara also offers French customers a 20€ OFF discount at its Amazon.fr store, with the promo code CAMERAG3FR, and the offering will expire on Nov 25, 2021.
You can watch our video above of the G3 we posted a while back (when it first came out in China), or you can check our in-depth written review below;
* To connect up to 128 devices, Zigbee routers/repeaters such as Smart Wall Switch (With Neutral) and Smart Plug are required.
** Product availability may vary among different retail channels and could be updated all the time. It’s recommended to check with the regional retailer(s) for real-time availability.
*** In HomeKit Secure Video mode, the camera records in Full HD 1080p and Pan/Tilt controls are not available due to the current limitations of HomeKit technology.
Can it record to SD card and HKSV (iCloud) at the same time? G2H can do that, but (via Amazon) Aqara is telling me that the G3 can’t.
Hi Ken, I’m not sure why Aqara are telling you that, as it’s not correct. The G3 – like the G2H – can record to SD card (via the Aqara app) and record to HSV in Apple Home, as expected. I’ve been doing this since I first got the G3 5 months ago. Obviously, in order to record to SD card you do need to set it up in the Aqara app which means creating an account, but it is entirety doable.
That’s what I thought. But ultimately, my question is, can it save to SD card in 2k while recording to HKSV in 1080p (as is the well known limitation of HKSV)? Do you know? Thanks
Is the privacy shutter exposed in HomeKit for automation? If I’m not wrong Vocolinc’s camera does and, if so, it would be great if the Aqara G3 does too. That would steer me into replacing my Eufy’s with them at the soonest.
The “NPU-equipped processor” also got me curious. Does this also improve HomeKit Secure Video’s motion detection (accuracy for example compared to other HKSV cameras ) or is it only being taken advantaged in the Aqara app assuming Apple forces a level playing field among all cameras that use HKSV — at least as far as how the camera’s motion sensor goes.
Hi, the privacy shutter is not exposed to HomeKit as a separate ‘service’ unfortunately, so in order to ensure Privacy mode is fully working, you have to turn on privacy mode in the Aqara app, AND set the camera to ‘off’ in the Home app under the ‘Recording options’ section. I’m not using the Vocolinc Opto right now, but it was the same situation there, where turning off the camera in the Vocolinc app still allowed the stream to be visible in HomeKit. The problem is that it doesn’t appear you can automate the camera’s recording status in the Home app, with the exception of using Geofencing.
As for the NPU processor, I don’t know the answer to your question, but I would imagine it works totally separately from HSV, and probably has no influence or effect on the HomeKit side of things.
I see, that’s good to know! Thank you!
Now it seems like most HomeKit cameras are equal minus perhaps for the image quality. Would you say the Aqara G3 looks clearer (or overall better in quality when streaming from the Home app) than the Aqara G2H?
Seeing you’ve reviewed most (if not all) of the currently available indoor HomeKit cameras, if you have to pick one where the most important asset is the quality of the stream (i.e., less noise, more colour accurate than the others, etc.) what would you go with? That’s my primary concern right now as I have a Eufy 2K Pan & Tilt to work with a baseline and I’m curious if there are other HomeKit cameras that has improved streaming quality over it.