Aqara Home

The G5 Pro outdoor cameras (PoE, not WiFi) have exceeded expectations! Love them. And the live video integration with the Home app has been excellent. The U100 door lock works great too. Lights, Thermostat, sensors — the Aqara products have been working great. Only issue is the G410 doorbell sync with Apple Home isn't always consistent.

Despite some UI complaints — controls becoming tiny after an update, missing 24-hour time format, and no dark mode — I still give it four stars. Overall the app does its job pretty well. I wish they'd add webhooks to the automation actions, but the core smart home functionality is solid.

This app has worked great with my new G3 camera. The interface is very easy to use, and has plenty of features. Setting the camera up with HomeKit Secure Video worked flawlessly. One of my favorite features is the IR control for mini-splits and other appliances. My suggestion is to add Celsius to Fahrenheit conversion for the IR temperature control.

App is generally fine to work with. I'm able to navigate through it without much issue, and have several temperature sensors running in various locations. Overall I don't have many issues with the app except for the 24 hour time format. I'd update the review to 5 stars if they deployed a 12-hour time format option.

I use this for temperature/humidity sensors. They work great, but it's very difficult to see trends over time. The graphs auto-adjust scale is too jumpy. The full scale is too extreme. There needs to be a third option to set the scale so you can see data trends without the graph jumping around.

I don't like having to create a cloud account to access a local device. Hopefully I can work around that and use the G410 doorbell camera fully locally. IMHO, cloud services should always be an optional add-on that enhances the device's capabilities, but should only be required in extremely limited cases.

The hub is pretty limited and expensive, and because it depends on the cloud, is pretty much always offline at times. I mostly use the IR commands, but can't map them to a main screen widget so have to fumble through sub menus. The hub also has a speaker but it can't be used as a routine target.

• WHEN — A trigger event occurs (sunrise, door opens, motion detected)
• IF — A state condition is met (weather is sunny, room is dark)
• THEN — An action executes (open curtains, turn on lights, arm security)

Additional Automation 2.0 features include batch device selection for faster setup, sequential triggering (e.g., single → double → single press for different actions), and state-based conditions that make automations context-aware.

Scenes

Create manually triggered presets controlling multiple devices simultaneously:

• "Movie Night" — dims lights, lowers blinds, quiets fans
• "Leave Home" — turns off lights, arms security, switches off plugs
• "Morning Routine" — opens curtains at sunrise, adjusts thermostat

AI-Powered Features

• Soft Sensor — AI-driven virtual occupancy detection using existing sensor data
• AI Video Search & Summary — Intelligent camera footage analysis
• Aqara Copilot — AI assistant for smart home management
• On-device facial recognition (Video Doorbell G410) and gesture recognition (Camera Hub G3)

Local Control via LAN

With supported hubs like the Hub M3, Aqara Home can control devices locally over LAN — improving responsiveness and reliability even without internet. This is a key advantage for privacy-conscious users.

Platform Compatibility

Aqara Home is designed for multi-ecosystem coexistence:

• Apple HomeKit / Apple Home — Deepest integration with Home Key, Adaptive Temperature, Siri, Apple Watch control, and HomeKit Secure Video
• Amazon Alexa — Matter pairing and Alexa Skill support
• Google Home / Assistant — Matter integration with automatic sensor discovery
• Samsung SmartThings — Matter-based device pairing
• Home Assistant — Official partnership with Zigbee2MQTT support
• Tesla — EV charging automation integration (announced IFA 2024)

Multi-Admin Support allows adding the same hub to multiple platforms simultaneously without re-pairing.

Supported Device Categories

Aqara Home manages a comprehensive range of smart home products:

• Security — Smart locks (fingerprint, NFC, Apple Home Key, UWB), video doorbells, indoor/outdoor cameras, motion & contact sensors, water leak detectors
• Lighting — Smart switches (with/without neutral wire), dimmers, smart bulbs, LED controllers
• Climate — Temperature/humidity sensors, thermostats, AC controllers (IR-based)
• Window Coverings — Motorized curtain drivers, roller shade motors
• Smart Plugs — Outlets with power monitoring
• Sensors — Presence (mmWave FP2/FP300), light, vibration, air quality, smoke, CO
• Control Devices — Cube controller, wireless mini switches, wall panels, remotes
• Hubs — Hub M3, M2, M1S, E1, Camera Hub G3, G5 Pro, Panel Hub S1 Plus

The Hub M3 also supports third-party Matter devices from any brand.

Security & Privacy

• End-to-end encrypted camera streams and recordings
• Local automation engine keeps activity data within the home network
• WPA3 Wi-Fi security on supported hubs
• eMMC storage with cloud and local NAS sync options
• Featured in How-To Geek's "Privacy-Respecting Smart Home Brands"

Developer Background

Lumi United Technology (parent company, founded 2009 in Shenzhen, China) entered the smart home industry in 2014 and launched the Aqara brand in 2016. Aqara has since expanded to a global presence with millions of users, 600+ Aqara Home stores, and deep partnerships with Apple, Google, Amazon, Samsung, and the Home Assistant community. The app is developed by Shenzhen Aqara Software Service Co., Ltd.