Smart home accessory maker Aqara unveiled two new security cameras Tuesday — the Camera Hub G350 and the Doorbell Camera G400. Both are designed to work well in Apple Home setups, among others. The bigger story is the G350, which marks a significant milestone: Aqara’s first Matter-certified camera, billed as the first Matter-certified camera hub for multi-platform homes.
Aqara Camera Hub G350 and Doorbell Camera G400
For Apple users who have been waiting for a capable, well-priced indoor camera and doorbell that integrate smoothly into their Home app setup (formerly known as HomeKit), Aqara Camera Hub G350 and Doorbell Camera G400 make a compelling case. And with Matter smart-home standard support already baked into the G350, they should only get more capable as Apple expands its smart home platform.
As a hub with support for the Matter standard, Thread networking and Zigbee-enabled devices, the G350 can serve as a sort of HQ or smart manager for your Apple smart home through the Aqara Home app. It will let you manage Aqara Zigbee accessories and third-party Matter devices as a single interoperable system.
Aqara Camera Hub G350
Photo: Aqara
The G350 is a 4K indoor camera with a dual-lens system. It combines a 4K wide-angle lens and a 2.5K telephoto lens that enables up to 9x hybrid zoom. It sits on a motorized base and can rotate 360 degrees, allowing its automatic tracking to follow people and pets wherever they roam.
For night use, the G350 includes 940mm invisible infrared LEDs for clear night vision with no conspicuous red glow. It also goes beyond basic motion detection. The camera can detect faces, pets and six specific sounds like a baby crying, someone coughing or a dog barking.
Privacy-conscious users will appreciate that the G350 includes a physical lens shield that automatically covers the camera when you turn it off.
For storage, a microSD slot provides support for up to 512GB of 24/7 local recording. Or users can optionally leverage Aqara’s encrypted cloud storage. The camera also supports Apple Home Secure Video for iCloud+ subscribers. But it’s worth noting that Apple Home is still limited to 1080p for Secure Video recordings.
Two-way audio and a live view can be accessed via Apple’s HomeKit, Samsung SmartThings, Alexa and Google Home.
More than just a camera
One of the G350’s most practical features for Apple users building out a broader smart home is its hub capabilities. The G350 also functions as a Zigbee hub, Thread Border Router and Matter Controller within the Aqara Home app. That allows you to manage Aqara Zigbee accessories and third-party Matter devices as a single interoperable system.
The Matter certification is a notable milestone, though there is a caveat. So far, only Samsung has adopted Matter 1.5, which introduced camera support to the universal smart home protocol back in November. Apple has not yet updated its platforms to support Matter cameras, so for now, the G350 connects to Apple Home via the traditional Home integration rather than through Matter directly — but the groundwork is already laid for when Apple adds support.
The 4K UHD dual-lens camera hub is Matter-certified for smart homes. It's an indoor security camera with 9X zoom, 360-degree pan and tilt, AI auto-tracking and face/gesture recognition. It works with Apple Home, Alexa, Google Home and Samsung SmartThings.
- The first Matter-certified camera hub
- AI support enables face, gesture and sound recognition
- No blind spots
- Not cheap, but probably worth it
Introducing the Doorbell Camera G400
Photo: Aqara
Alongside the G350, Aqara also launched Doorbell Camera G400, a wired doorbell designed for Apple Home users who want a capable front-door camera. The G400 features 2K resolution and a 165-degree ultra-wide field of view, and 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 both power and a wired network connection. That said, it also works with existing doorbell wiring and 2.4 and 5 GHz Wi-Fi 6 for homes without an Ethernet run to the front door.
On the intelligence side, without an internet connection, the camera detects people and general motion. When online, it can identify faces, packages, vehicles, animals and other events. The G400 also supports Apple Home, Secure Video and RTSP streaming for those who want to connect it to a network video recorder.
Pricing and availability
You can order Aqara Camera Hub G350 ($140) and Aqara Doorbell Camera G400 ($100) now on Amazon.
This doorbell camera features chime, wired/PoE, Apple Home Secure Video, 2K HD head-to-toe view, 2-way audio and 2.4/5GHz Wi-Fi 6. Supports Apple Home/Alexa/Google/SmartThings.
- Works with Apple Home
- Supports Secure Video
- 2-way audio
- Not a smart-home hub
David Snow, an expert on Apple hardware and software, writes on a variety of technological and cultural topics for Cult of Mac. They include Apple news, technology buying guides, and features about computer setups and Apple TV shows and movies.
With 30 years of experience covering technology and other subjects, he has written and edited for numerous print and online publications, including CMP Media, TechTV.com, CNET, Wired News, Red Herring magazine, Law.com, The National Law Journal and Law Technology News magazine. Among other roles, he served as executive editor of the Law.com network of websites and editorial director, technology, for ALM Media.
Snow graduated with a B.A. from Syracuse University with majors in magazine journalism and psychology. While there, he worked as a reporter for The Daily Orange newspaper and associate editor of Equal Time magazine.
Founder of the blog At the Waterline, he can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) via @atthewaterline and on Mastodon via @dsnow.
