Aqara Video Doorbell G4 with Chime, HomeKit Secure Video

Excellent video quality, very easy to set up and as it works with both HomeKit and can record to an SD card, it means you don’t need an ongoing subscription unlike other video-doorbells. I choose this over the similar Eufy one as it is compatible with HomeKit secure video, and will be upgraded to support matter. In terms of privacy, all recordings are encrypted before being uploaded to he cloud, so there aren’t the privacy concerns that I had with the Ring or Nest doorbells. The Facial recognition works well, but relies on the data from your Apple Photos app (if using in the Apple ecosystem), so if you don’t have faces labelled in your photos it won’t work with the doorbell. The motion recognition also works well, but if people move past very quickly it will not always wake up in time, but that may be because I have mine battery powered. If it is wired I think it can be more responsive. The motion activation is easy to customise and I have not had any false alerts, and you can also set an activation zone, but I have not tried this. As for the battery life, it is too early to tell. It has dropped to 80% after 2 weeks, but I have been using it a lot more than normal during this time to check it and set it up. Firmware updates automatically install easily and the doorbell rings through my HomePod and through the chime which is fantastic. The night vision is excellent, and although my upstream internet speed is only 1mb/s the live view seems to work well. My only criticism is that the chime, which acts as the hub, needs to be plugged in which limits where it can be placed. I would have preferred if this had a rechargeable battery so it can be more freely placed. UPDATE - on high use settings the batteries lasted 4 months. Based on this they could probably last 6 months in less sensitive settings.

UPDATE 2: Customer support from Aqara is awful. Doesn’t reply to any emails after the initial one. Have initiated a refund. Avoid! UPDATE: As of the 1st Feb the doorbell has stopped working. Doesn’t connect to app or HomeKit, when you press the button it doesn’t do anything either. Thought it was a power issue as it was hardwired in, but even with batteries it doesn’t work. As many have stated on here, looks like it isn’t weatherproof… Have contacted Aqara for support. Hopefully will get a new one as I genuinely did like it, but if it breaks again I will be seeking a refund. ——————- Original review below: Ordered this as it’s one of the few smart doorbells I could find that actually works with Apple’s HomeKit… This replaced a Ring doorbell. Setup was very easy. The doorbell was much easier to install vs my Ring one, I could use the back plate to line up the screw holes properly and it’s flush against the wall now. I’ve wired this in so I can’t comment on battery life, but even as someone with minimal DIY experience it was really easy to install! I think it also looks better than my previous Ring doorbell - while it’s bigger, it looks a lot more premium! After installing the doorbell, setting it up was very easy. Just installed their app to guide me through the process, and scan a QR code on the chime to add it to HomeKit. Thanks to having an upgraded iCloud plan, Apple stores 30 days of footage for me and doesn’t go against my storage quota! Clips are also super easy to save, which is reassuring in case I need to save them. Video quality is good, seems about on par with the Ring doorbell. Records and streams in 1080p. One feature this has that I don’t think my Ring doorbell had is facial recognition. This is really cool but I doubt it’s a feature I’d use much. Overall I’m really happy with this doorbell and I hope it lasts a long time!

I’m unable to have a wired doorbell so have been waiting literally years for this battery powered HomeKit doorbell. Although the instructions that come with it are very limited (so check the website for instructions) it works straight out of the box and I encountered no setup problems. Great video and really clear although only 1080P due to HomeKit constraints, faces are very easily recognised. I don’t have great Wi-Fi but have had no connection problems. I have no idea how long the batteries last but will update when they eventually run out and talking of batteries my only gripe is why AA and not a rechargeable battery? I would have paid a little extra for a rechargeable version if one was available. This why I give it 4 stars and not 5. Still overall very pleased so far.

Had a couple of other brands but this came up on Prime day and was an absolute steal. The Aqara app is OK but not much more than that. The hardware, however, is excellent. Good quality video and reliable motion detection. It works like a charm with Apple HomeKit. Using HomeKit does not require the Aqara app to be installed after set-up is complete. It has the advantage that you can use the Apple iCloud to store the video and easily access it on Apple kit. The two-way intercom with callers is a bit flaky and does not work at all well when away from home but aside from that, it’s a good piece of kit.

The perfect addicting to my Apple ecosystem smart home. It has motion sensors, a wide view angle and integrates easily with your Apple HomeKit. It comes with chime. You can set it to record certain instances like if someone rings the doorbell. The video quality is bright and clear. It’s easy to use to and looks good. I bought an anti theft mount from Temu as it was the biggest one I could find and I was able to fit it in after a bit of adjustments made to the mount. I feel much safer now

I've seen the scathing review left by someone who has owned it for a whole 5 weeks on battery presumably without devices in the Apple ecosystem that make sense for this purchase, like HomePods etc for chimes. so I thought it would be good to give some feedback as someone who knows what they are doing and has owned the device for 18 months and is well invested in the Apple ecosystem and my home network. To counter their points - - If you can't see who is who with this doorbell in day or night mode then you need a bigger screen to view it on or a trip to specsavers, sorry. Looks great on my 4K Apple TV. - Why you would want to use the manufacturers cloud features and HomeKit is beyond me, but yes you won't find any of Aqara's propriety cloud based AI on HomeKit directly. HomeKit itself supports various video detections and 7 day recording with an iCloud plan. Nothing stops you using both at the same time and you can record to the SD card to keep it local as a backup regardless, them claiming you can't is again user error. - The alarm function works perfectly. If you try and remove the device without disabling it, then it will go off. That's user error if you don't disable it prior, even if you think you did you obviously didn't. - The device has survived the UK rain on my uncovered porch for 18 months. What isn't waterproof? Oh wait, they are talking about the video based motion going off during rain. Yes, this happens with any video camera that uses video rather than an actual motion sensor. If you've set it up for alerts on any motion rather than people/packages/animals you are going to have a bad time with notifications. This isn't specific to this doorbell. - The batteries will die fast using 24/7 HKSV recording especially when you've set it up to record the motion of rain. It's a no brainer. Hardwire it in if you're doing 24/7 cloud based recording. Battery power is fine for the SD card recording setup with a bit of care into what you want it to do rather than recording rain and also battery will be massively affected by the below... - The chime has to have good wifi and be close to your doorbell to operate correctly. Using a router provided by BT over the other side of your house with the chime no where near the doorbell will give you a bad time. The manual is very clear on ideal conditions, but some people refuse to invest in their own network infrastructure. It will also cause more battery drain. - 720p stream is there for low quality connections so you can still view it rather than seeing nothing. If you're constantly seeing 720p stream remotely you need to look at your local networks upload and your current connections speed and wifi quality. I have never seen the 720p mode, so again points to the setup of device/local network being a huge problem for the reviewer!

On the plus side the app works reasonably well and picture quality is respectable. App doesn't crash like many. If you have an SD card and power the bell from a transformer you get free 24/7 recording - when it feels like it. On the negative side there are a number of physical design and software flaws that need urgent addressing: 1) The security screw is on the right side, which becomes inaccessible if installed against a recessed door jamb. Unless it's done up the anti-theft alarm can't be enabled and won't work. It really would be better underneath. The security screw is not 'Secure' as it can be undone with any small cross-head screwdriver. 2) The external power screws are placed too close to the battery area and any electrical tags on the wiring will hang out over the topmost battery and could short against the battery body if it were not coated. Also fixing and adjusting them is plain awkward when the wires are short. They have to be short otherwise the bell won't push back into the mounting. Not enough cavity space. Many doorbells have this particular flaw. 3) Neither iPhones nor Androids receive alerts when the doorbell button is depressed. All notification settings are enabled on bell and phones but nowt happens. Not something you'd expect when it's the devices primary role. 4) My AC power failed but no notification sent so device was not recording to SD card. 5) The device doesn't run on a 12V DC 500ma transformer contrary to the spec. It flips between Normal and External power mode and never records to SD card. 6) App sometimes shows erroneous 'Battery low' warnings when they're almost new. 7) Reviewing recorded footage using the timeline slider is difficult as the scale is too coarse. App needs a separate review frame with finer controls.

I really wanted this to work, but unfortunately it has fallen short on several key factors. The good: It looks great, albeit very plasticy, setup was pretty simple. The bad: I made an assumption that being a doorbell which is placed outside, that it would have decent water protection. It does not. Unless your door is completely covered, do NOT get this product. Our doorway is actually fairly well protected but when the device stopped working, I found water in the battery compartment. Before it died due to water ingress, I did have issues with the dreaded "poor connection" problem which many users online have noted. The chime was placed directly on the inside of the door, about 20-30cm away from the doorbell, away from router interference (can't remember if its in the setup, or other customers commenting that having a router physically near it can cause issues) on its own 2.4ghz IOT wifi channel with very strong wifi signal. Some people are saying they have "excellent connection" through thick walls, yet mine wouldn't even go through a wooden door frame. The connection was so poor that it wouldn't even notify you that the doorbell has gone off, and forget about being able to look at the live feed. It's fairly cheap compared to others that include HomeKit support, so I had little expectation, however to find out it has a water protection level of IPX3 ("protection against direct moisture sprays") when other manufacturers are IP65 (Dust tight and protection against low pressure water jets) I feel is very disappointing.

I recently replaced my Wemo Video Doorbells with this Aqara G4. I could not be more pleased with the upgrade. This review is written after three weeks of continuous use. I have generally found that Aqara devices just work without hassle, hang-up, or mishap out of the box. The G4 Video Doorbell was no different. Wired installation was a breeze (and having batteries installed as a backup is a bonus). The video quality is excellent. Homekit limits you to 1080 but somehow the picture looks obviously more detailed and superior to our prior doorbell cameras. I'd also add that both within Homekit and Aqara's App, the "load" time for real time video is much quicker compared with the Wemo's as well as our Eufy indoor cameras. That's super handy when responding to alerts or doorbells. I wasn't sure about the internal chime, but after using it a bit I can say they are great. Easy install of a microSD allows you to keep extended recordings locally (Homekit secure video stores video for 7 days). Because the chimes are installed indoors they are not at risk for being stolen. It's easy to assign different chimes to each doorbell so that we always know which doorbell is ringing. We're an Apple Homekit home and integration is flawless. Connectivity has been outstanding and we've not lost connection once still installation - my Wemo's would drop at least once a week. Finally, I want to acknowledge that Aqara cleverly safeguarded the security screw that must be loosened in order to change the batteries (not that I will do that often given our wired configuration) - I dropped that screw on my Wemo's on multiple occasions and it was a real nuisance to find it again. All in all, the Aqara G4 Video Doorbell delivers excellent performance, a great picture, and outstanding integration with Homekit.

OJO: si tienes una puerta de metal o de seguridad, es imposible que tengas buena señal entre la cámara y el repetidor. Lo mismo si tienes paredes de verdad (no tablaroca), pésima señal wifi hagas lo que hagas. En mi caso la única forma de que funcione medio decente es que esté tanto el repetidor como el módem afuera de la casa, lo cual no tiene ningún sentido. Está diseñado para las casas de madera de USA, no para tabique, concreto y metal como en la mayoría de las casas de México.

Llevo ya meses con ella instalada y funciona muy bien, decir que la tengo conectada de continuo a una fuente de alimentación, pero detecta perfectamente lo que pasa en la escalera, la app te avisa en pocos segundos. Yo lo tengo integrado dentro del Apple Home Kit que tengo instalado en casa y funciona sin ningún problema. totalmente recomendable.

Ich nutze die Aqara G4 Türklingel jetzt schon eine Weile und bin insgesamt wirklich sehr zufrieden. Die Installation war überraschend einfach und gut erklärt. Innerhalb kurzer Zeit war alles eingerichtet und einsatzbereit, sowohl über WLAN als auch in der App. Die Bildqualität ist sehr gut – tagsüber scharf und klar, und auch nachts überzeugt die Nachtsicht. Personen sind gut zu erkennen und der Ton ist deutlich, ohne Rauschen oder Verzögerungen. Die Bewegungserkennung reagiert zuverlässig und die Benachrichtigungen kommen schnell auf das Handy. Besonders gut gefällt mir die Smart-Home-Integration. Ich selbst nutze das Apple-Home-System, und die Türklingel lässt sich problemlos einbinden und läuft stabil. Gerade unterwegs ist es sehr praktisch, da man reagieren und direkt über die App sprechen kann, auch wenn man nicht zu Hause ist. Die Türklingel besteht zwar größtenteils aus Kunststoff, was sie nicht ganz so hochwertig wirken lässt, sie ist aber trotzdem gut verarbeitet. Bisher hatte ich keine Verbindungsprobleme oder Ausfälle. Insgesamt macht die Aqara G4 genau das, was sie soll und das sehr zuverlässig. Für den Preis bekommt man hier eine wirklich gute Türklingel mit vielen sinnvollen Funktionen. Ich würde sie auf jeden Fall weiterempfehlen.

Objectivement un produit fantastique que je recommande à tous, surtout et surtout pour ce prix. Compatible Apple Homekit, qualité d’image incroyable, reconnaissance faciale assez efficace (bien qu’il ne reconnaisse pas ma femme sans maquillage) et possibilité de parler à distance. Si je ne devais remonter que deux points un temps soit peu négatif : - Possibilité de l’alimenter par pile ou en direct, mais si en direct il vous faudra un petit transformateur (220 à 9 de mémoire), ça ne coûte rien (4 à 8€) et c’est petit, mais ça nécessite un espace vide tout de même et c’est à prévoir - Si vous êtes deux et qu’une personne sonne, vous recevrez tous deux une notification et serait peut être amené à parler en même temps, créant une cacophonie, rien ne préviendra que vous parler à deux en même temps sauf la tête d’incompréhension de votre interlocuteur Mais ce sont de faux problèmes, le produit reste top ! Il semble que la reconnaissance faciale puisse s’allier avec la serrure intelligente de la marque, j’aimerais tester mais je n’y suis pas encore.