Aqara Camera Hub G3 Review

The Aqara Camera Hub G3 is our editor's pick for a HomeKit indoor camera. Aqara's 2K pan-and-tilt camera includes a physical shutter and HomeKit Secure Video, and the base is a Zigbee hub if you want that later. We prefer it to the Logitech Circle View, which is fixed and 1080p, and we prefer it to guessing whether a eufy model is the HomeKit one.

The costs that do not appear in Aqara's sale price are the Apple home hub and the iCloud tier. Add them. If they turn you off, the honest camera is a Tapo C225, not a G3 you never connect to Home. HomeKit is a choice about where video lives. Make it on purpose.

Place the G3 where the shutter faces the room you agreed to watch, leave the Zigbee radio alone until you have a sensor that needs it, and confirm 2.4 GHz coverage before you blame the lens for a stalling picture.

Invite only the people who should see the room, then remove a test user and confirm the feed actually disappears for them. HomeKit sharing is easy to turn on and easy to forget. The shutter is your local off switch when a guest is in the room and you do not want a debate about settings. Between the Apple invite list and the physical shutter, the G3 gives you two ways to keep the nursery from becoming a group chat.

G3 at a glance

HomeKit recording uses iCloud, not a card-only story. Budget the Apple plan.

The HomeKit camera we would buy

If you want an indoor camera in Apple Home, buy the G3 rather than hunting a Logitech Circle View. You get pan, 2K, and a shutter. The head-to-head is short because the newer camera does more. You need a HomePod or Apple TV as a home hub, and an iCloud plan that allows cameras. Those are not optional footnotes. They are the platform.

If you do not want that platform, do not buy the G3 as a generic pan camera. A C225 is cheaper and records to a card without Apple. The G3's privacy argument is iCloud's HomeKit design plus the shutter. Without HomeKit, you are paying for a hub you may not use.

The Zigbee part

Pair sensors if you own them. Do not buy a pile of sensors because the camera can host them. A camera review is not a smart-home starter kit. The hub can sit quiet.

2.4 GHz Wi-Fi is a placement limit, same as many indoor cameras. The spinning head needs an open shelf. The shutter should be tested the day it arrives.

Where to check the current price

Street prices move with sales. These links search a major retailer for the model named in this review. Confirm the exact model number on the listing before you pay.

• See the Aqara Camera Hub G3

Questions people ask before they buy

Does the G3 record to a card as well as iCloud?

Aqara has included local options on the G3, and HomeKit Secure Video is the path we are recommending it for. Decide which history you will actually open. Do not assume both are unlimited.

Is it a baby monitor?

It can show a nursery inside HomeKit, with a shutter you can close. It is not a medical device. Read the nursery guide.

Will it work on Android?

The Aqara app is not only Apple. HomeKit Secure Video is the Apple feature. If nobody in the house uses an iPhone, this is the wrong pick.