Aqara is a top-tier HomeKit good residence system producer. Window/door, temperature, movement, and vibration sensors are among the many gadgets you should buy from them however if you put a tool just like the Digicam Hub G2H Professional within the combine, now you can join all the things while not having a separate hub. That and a few robust privateness and safety features make this an indoor safety digicam effectively value taking a tough have a look at.Â
Aqara Digicam Hub G2H Professional: Worth and availability
 The Digicam Hub G2H Professional is presently out there on Amazon within the U.S. for $69.99 and in any coloration you need, so long as it is white.Â
Aqara Digicam Hub G2H Professional: Specs and options
What I like about Aqara and this digicam hub is their consideration to privateness options and ease of use. Going into the Aqara Residence app, you’ll be able to faucet into the video settings and arrange a privateness occlusion space. Let’s say you’re in a condominium and your kids’s bed room home windows are on the primary ground. You wish to place a digicam however don’t need them recorded, solely the window. Faucet into the privateness occlusion space characteristic, and utilizing a grid, you’ll be able to drag as much as three areas on the display which is able to place black bars over your recordings. No picture, or motion/movement can be recorded within the occluded space. You possibly can even disable audio recording to offer you much more privateness.
For a 1080P digicam, the video is fairly good. There’s higher on the market, however finally HomeKit Safe Video takes all these 2k and 4k cameras and information in 1080P anyway. Mounted reverse a big sliding glass door, the sunshine streaming in from it washes out some particulars on that aspect of the room, however you’re going to take care of that from many cameras to various levels. Particulars in movies like lettering on an image on the wall, and faces are simple to make out inside round 20 ft from the digicam, however the additional out you go, they’ll lose high quality element.
Supporting Siri, Alexa, and Google Residence makes this a terrific digicam for somebody like me who makes use of iOS primarily, however whose spouse prefers Google and Alexa. Utilizing Ark 2.0 Â makes this a novel choice for failsafe automation utilization.Â
In a nutshell, Ark 2.0 permits a few of your units to connect with others through a mesh community and nonetheless run native automation even when the web connection goes down. This can be a crucial safety perform as a result of there are these with nefarious intentions who use Wi-Fi jammers to knock out internet-connected cameras earlier than breaking into a house. And people jammers are pretty simple to come back by for these curious about committing property crimes.Â
When it comes to connectivity, the G2H is 2.4GHz Wi-Fi solely, with a built-in Zigbee 3.0 hub. It’s powered by a dated microUSB to USB-A cable.
Aqara Digicam Hub G2H Professional: Construct and appears
The Digicam Hub G2H Professional is a plastic affair, however I have not seen a bunch of damaging opinions or Reddit posts complaining about long-term sturdiness. It is smaller than Aqara’s G3, and E1, standing a diminutive 3.24 inches tall by 2 inches extensive, until you increase it up on its extendable base.Â
The underside of the G2H Professional includes a magnet that’s robust sufficient to connect to many metallic or iron surfaces. I mounted mine to an iron apron hook thingy in my kitchen/eating room space, and it feels fairly stable there. Additionally, on the underside, you will discover a microSD slot that helps as much as 512GB of storage and, subsequent to that, a reset button.
Aqara Digicam Hub G2H Professional: Ease of use
 Aqara’s Digicam Hub G2H Professional is simple to arrange and use. Opening the field, you’re met with a micro USB to USB A cable, however no energy adapter, a 3M patch for mounting to varied surfaces, the handbook, an ejector device, and a metallic plate. I didn’t use the metallic plate or the 3M sticker for mounting; as a substitute, I used the highly effective magnet to connect it to an apron hook mounted on the wall between my kitchen and eating room. Mounting there felt fairly safe and gave me views of my eating space, lounge, and a portion of my kitchen.Â
Connecting the digicam to the Aqara app and HomeKit was as simple as scanning some QR codes, and following the prompts, which took lower than 10 minutes to do.
As soon as linked to Wi-Fi, you’ll be able to undergo the Aqara app and configure the entire privateness and safety, automation, movement/irregular sound detection, and customized ringtone settings. For the reason that Hub G2H Professional now helps Apple HomeKit Safety, you’ll be able to soar into the Apple Residence app and arrange automation and alerts based mostly on the four-alarm modes supported in that app. With these alarm modes and any movement or sound detection configured, you need to use the out there onboard storage, as much as 512GB through microSD, to run your video repeatedly 24/7 or per alarm occasion. You’ll get a couple of week’s value of video in case you run it 24/7.
Aqara Digicam Hub G2H Professional: Competitors
At $69.99 the Digicam Hub G2H Professional doesn’t actually have a direct competitor as a result of it consists of the Zigbee 3.0 hub. That mentioned, for $40 extra it is best to check out Aqara’s Digicam Hub G3.Â
The Hub G3 additionally helps reference to as much as 128 Aqara good residence units, nevertheless it advances each characteristic the G2H Professional has apart from picture occlusion. The G3 additionally provides pan and tilt to the equation. And if a $40 distinction appears steep, a fast have a look at historic pricing exhibits that the G3 has been on sale twice within the final 4 months for $87.49, which is barely a ~$15 distinction.Â
Aqara Digicam Hub G2H Professional: Do you have to purchase it?
You should purchase this if…
- You might be invested within the Aqara ecosystem
- You desire a digicam with nice mounting choices
- You desire a digicam with nice privateness choices
You shouldn’t purchase it if…
- You need pan/tilt/zoom performance
- You need 5GHz Wi-Fi connectivity
Aqara Digicam Hub G2H Professional: Verdict
A built-in Zigbee 3.0 hub, versatile mounting choices, nice privateness controls, and good video make the Aqara Digicam Hub G2H Professional a terrific choice for these eager to fill their residence up with Aqara’s wallet-friendly sensors and digicam choices. And the $69.99 worth level for all of that isn’t unhealthy both. Add onto that HomeKit Safety and Ark 2.0 assist and you’ve got a sturdy hub, digicam, and fundamental safety system to assist watch over and shield what’s treasured to you.Â
In case you’re simply leaping into the market, I’d counsel trying on the newer Digicam Hub G3, however you could not want all that has to supply. Both means, the G2H Professional is an effective buy in constructing out your good residence safety. Â
The underside line:
The Aqara Digicam Hub G2H Professional is filled with good privateness options, seems to be good in daylight and no mild, and might management as much as 128 Aqara units. You will not discover a lot better at this worth!
