This sleek doorbell camera is also a smart home hub
Aqara revealed the long-awaited update to its Video Doorbell G4 at CES this week, and it looks like it’s been worth the wait. The Aqara Doorbell Camera Hub G410 adds 2K video quality, a 4:3 aspect ratio, and end-to-end encryption on live and recorded video. It is also one of the first doorbells to use an mmWave sensor for more accurate person detection.
The G410 works over dual-band Wi-Fi and has Thread and Zigbee radios on board. So — yes — it’s a full-on smart home hub. It can connect to and integrate both Aqara accessories and third-party Matter devices into your smart home.
Aqara is also adding Real-Time Streaming Protocol support so you can send its feed locally to a third-party client such as Home Assistant. And this is all in addition to features carried over from the G4, such as Apple Home compatibility (including HomeKit Secure Video support), on-device facial recognition, local storage, and the ability to work on battery (six AAs) or be hardwired to your home’s wiring. When hardwired, it offers 24/7 continuous recording to a microSD card.
The doorbell also supports Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings to stream to compatible smart displays. It works with Aqara’s new Panel Hub S1 Plus, which can act as a video intercom inside your house.
There are a few disappointments, though. The field of view is wider than the G4’s, at 172 degrees on the diagonal, and it now offers a top-to-bottom 4:3 aspect ratio, but the G410 doesn’t have HDR imaging, which means it may be harder to see faces in some lighting. Its weather rating is still IPX3, meaning it really needs to be mounted under a porch or something similar to protect against heavy rainfall.
The doorbell’s smart alerts are limited to people and motion — there are no package, animal, or vehicle alerts (but you can get them through Apple Home). It also only records clips for up to 12 seconds at a time. Like the G4, the G410 won’t ring your existing chime and still requires that you plug in a small chime repeater to a nearby power outlet. This can house a microSD card for local storage.
The G4 offered free cloud storage, but the G410 will require a subscription. Local storage is free, though, and you can also use Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video service for recorded video. There’s no pricing or release date yet, but the G4 was $150, so this will likely land somewhere around that price.