Aqara G350 vs Aqara G3: Which Should You Buy?

Overview

These are the two camera-hubs most Aqara shoppers end up choosing between, and they share more than the name suggests. Both are white, robot-shaped indoor pan-and-tilt cameras of almost identical size (the G350 measures 123 × 85 × 68 mm; the G3 measures 123.4 × 85.1 × 67.8 mm), both run on 5V/2A USB-C power, both record locally to microSD as well as to Apple HomeKit Secure Video, and both double as smart-home hubs for Aqara's Zigbee sensors. If you want the full single-product breakdowns first, read our Aqara Camera Hub G350 review and our Aqara Camera Hub G3 review — this page is the head-to-head.

The split is generational. The G3 (model CH-H03) is the established design: one 2K lens, a Zigbee 3.0 hub, face and gesture recognition on a local NPU, and an infrared blaster that can run a TV or air conditioner. The G350 (models CH-C14E/CH-C14DE), whose official product page Aqara published in March 2026, rebuilds the same idea around 2026 standards: two lenses instead of one, 4K instead of 2K, Wi-Fi 6 instead of Wi-Fi 5, Thread alongside Zigbee, and Matter — including Matter camera certification, which Aqara markets as a world first. The price gap at Aqara's own US store is only $20 ($139.99 vs $119.99, checked October 25, 2026), so this decision is mostly about features, not budget.

Full specification comparison

Sources: Aqara's official product pages (aqara.com/en/product/camera-hub-g350 and /camera-hub-g3), Aqara's official US store (us.aqara.com) and EU store (eu.aqara.com), and Aqara's partnerships/spec pages for the G3, all re-checked October 25, 2026. Two honesty notes: Aqara's G350 page prints inch and Fahrenheit conversions that do not match its own metric figures, so this table uses metric only; and Aqara's global G350 page says the HomeGuardian free trial activates automatically while its EU store says cloud storage is manual opt-in with no automatic trials — check which applies in your region before relying on either.

Video: dual-lens 4K vs single-lens 2K

This is the G350's clearest win on paper. Its wide lens records 3840×2160 through a 133° field of view, and a second 2560×1440 telephoto lens (43°) feeds a 9x hybrid zoom you can drive with a dial, a tap, a drag-box or a pinch. The G3 records a single 2304×1296 stream through a 110° lens — respectable 2K, but there is no second lens to zoom with, so distant detail is whatever the one sensor captured.

Both cameras use 940 nm infrared night vision, the near-invisible kind with no red glow to disturb a nursery. The G350 pairs it with an f/1.6 aperture, which Aqara says delivers brighter night video with less motion blur. One limit is shared and worth underlining: in Apple Home, both cameras are capped at 1080p by HomeKit Secure Video, so the G350's 4K advantage lives in the Aqara Home app (and other supported platforms), not in the Apple Home timeline.

Pan, tilt and tracking

Aqara markets both cameras as full-room coverage devices, but it documents them differently. For the G3 it publishes exact mechanics — 340° of pan and 45° of tilt (30° up, 15° down), automatic cruising, and face and pet tracking. For the G350 it markets “360° coverage” with presets (up to 30 preset angles on the EU store page), scheduled cruise, tap-to-position and panorama modes, but its spec table does not break out separate pan and tilt degree figures, so we report the claim as Aqara makes it rather than inventing numbers.

Tracking is where the G350 pulls ahead functionally: its on-device AI follows people and pets and can zoom in for a close-up while tracking, slowing its pan/tilt as the zoom increases, then returns to its start position. The G3 tracks faces and pets too, but without a telephoto lens there is no close-up step. Aqara notes that the G350's tracking options are configured in the Aqara Home app — another setting that does not carry into Apple Home.

Detection and audio

The G350 runs the longer detection list, all of it on-device per Aqara: person, pet, face, lens-obstruction, smile and gesture recognition (static and dynamic gestures), plus six sound detections, with baby crying, coughing and dog barking given as examples. The G3's local NPU covers face, gesture and pet recognition — the set that made it popular for automations like disarming when a family face is recognised — but Aqara does not list sound detection or lens-obstruction detection for it.

On audio, both offer two-way talk. Aqara quantifies only the G350: full-duplex conversation within 5 m, voice pickup up to 8 m in a quiet indoor environment, and a 95 dB siren the G3 does not list. If a built-in siren or sound-based alerts (a crying baby, a barking dog) matter to you, that is a G350-only column.

Hub duties: Matter and Thread vs Zigbee and infrared

Both cameras are hubs, but for different eras of the smart home. The G350 is a Zigbee and Thread hub that also works as a Matter Controller and a Matter bridge: it can bring Aqara devices into Matter platforms and bring third-party Matter devices into Aqara Home. Aqara's EU store puts its capacity at up to 80 Aqara Zigbee sub-devices, or 40 Zigbee plus 40 Thread, and notes third-party Zigbee sub-devices are not supported. The G3 is a Zigbee 3.0 hub for up to 128 Aqara child devices — a bigger Zigbee ceiling, with Aqara's caveat that repeater devices are needed to reach it — but it has no Thread radio and is not itself a Matter device.

The G3 keeps one feature the G350 dropped entirely: a 360° IR blaster that learns and fires infrared remote commands, so a dumb TV or air conditioner can join your automations, locally, even without internet. If your Aqara setup leans on that blaster, the G3 is not the “old” model — it is the only model. For wider context on where these two sit in Aqara's line, see our Aqara Camera Hub G2H Pro review and our Aqara Camera Hub G5 Pro review.

Storage, Wi-Fi and platforms

Local storage separates them by a factor of four: the G350 accepts microSD cards up to 512GB (Class 10 or above) and records 24/7, with NAS back-up available via the card and end-to-end encrypted cloud under Aqara's HomeGuardian plan. The G3 tops out at 128GB (Class 4 or above), with its cloud path being HomeKit Secure Video to iCloud+. Neither card is included with either camera.

On the network, the G350 is a generation ahead: dual-band Wi-Fi 6 with WPA3, plus Bluetooth in its protocol list. The G3 is dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac with WPA3 — still dual-band, which is more than many indoor cameras offer, but not Wi-Fi 6. Platform lists overlap heavily (Apple Home, Alexa, Google Home, Aqara Home on both); the G350 adds SmartThings and Home Assistant (Aqara describes Home Assistant support as streaming), while the G3 lists IFTTT. Apple households should read our best indoor cameras for Apple HomeKit guide for how the shared 1080p HomeKit cap compares across brands.

Privacy

Both cameras make privacy physical rather than a software promise, in different ways. On the G3, privacy mode tilts the lens assembly down into the head housing — the “sleepy face” — so the lens is mechanically masked; it is not a sliding shutter, and Aqara's partnerships page notes the privacy mode works through the Aqara Home app rather than Apple HomeKit. On the G350, Aqara describes a physical privacy mode in which the lens retracts completely when the camera is off.

Pros and cons

Aqara Camera Hub G350

Pros

• Dual lenses: 4K wide + 2.5K telephoto with 9x hybrid zoom — a real step up from any single-lens 2K camera
• World's first Matter-certified camera per Aqara, and the hub is a Matter Controller and bridge with Zigbee + Thread
• microSD up to 512GB with 24/7 recording and NAS back-up via the card
• The longest local detection list here, including sound detection, plus a 95 dB siren
• Wi-Fi 6 with WPA3; auto-tracking with close-up zoom
• Only $20 more than the G3 at Aqara's US store

Cons

• Still capped at 1080p in Apple Home / HomeKit Secure Video, like the G3
• No IR blaster — the G3's legacy-remote control is gone
• No power adapter in the box; Aqara's own pages contradict each other on whether the HomeGuardian trial activates automatically
• Aqara does not publish separate pan/tilt degree figures or a weight for it
• Hub capacity for Aqara Zigbee devices (80, per the EU store) is lower than the G3's 128

Aqara Camera Hub G3

Pros

• Proven 2K pan-and-tilt with published mechanics: 340° pan, 45° tilt, cruising, face/pet tracking
• Zigbee 3.0 hub for up to 128 Aqara devices — the bigger Aqara-only hub
• 360° IR blaster for TVs and air conditioners, running locally — unique in this pairing
• Physical privacy masking you can verify at a glance; USB-C doubles as a UVC video output
• $119.99 at Aqara's US store, and a power adapter is in the box

Cons

• Single 2K lens with no telephoto zoom; microSD stops at 128GB
• No Thread and no Matter on the camera itself — it will not bridge its Zigbee children to Matter
• HomeKit Secure Video caps it at 1080p and freezes pan/tilt in the Home app
• Wi-Fi 5 rather than Wi-Fi 6; Aqara lists no sound detection or siren for it
• Privacy mode is controlled from the Aqara app, not Apple HomeKit, per Aqara

Who it's for: the verdict

Buy the G350 if this camera will be the centre of a growing smart home. For $20 more you get the better camera by every published measure — 4K, a telephoto zoom, tracking close-ups, sound detection, a siren, four times the local storage — and the only hub of the two that speaks Matter and Thread, which is where new devices are heading. It is the default recommendation of this comparison.

Buy the G3 if any of three things is true: your automations depend on the IR blaster (the G350 cannot replace it at any price); your Aqara Zigbee network is large and Aqara-only, where the G3's 128-device ceiling beats the G350's 80; or you simply want the proven, cheaper HomeKit Secure Video camera and will never use a second lens, Wi-Fi 6 or Matter. Everyone else should spend the $20.

One shared warning for Apple households: whichever you buy, budget for the Apple side — HomeKit Secure Video needs an iCloud+ plan and a HomePod or Apple TV as a home hub, and both cameras drop to 1080p inside Apple Home. Buy them for the Aqara app experience and treat HomeKit as the encrypted bonus, not the main event.

Frequently asked questions