Aqara Releases Video Doorbell G4 With Facial Recognition and HomeKit Secure Video Support

[Jay-Jacob]

Just ordered one to replace my existing Netatmo Smart Video Doorbell (which has been a disaster).

Can I ask what is wrong with your Netatmo doorbell? I also have one? Ours thankfully still working okay. But worried might die suddenly like indoor camera (below).

We also have indoor Netatmo camera, and it work perfectly for few years then last year September first one suddenly died stopped working, paid small amount get repaired and still not working and they eventually agreed send replacement. Then few weeks ago our 2nd one died exact same way and now Netatmo ignore our emails about it. So very annoying. Need replacement for 2nd camera but hard to find no subscription camera that allow SD card and backup to cloud I want like Dropbox or NAS.

 

[Powerbooky]

Yeah, local is what I’m looking for as well. I have a few WiFi cameras at home but they are in a segregated LAN with zero internet access. Any device that needs to “call home” to operate is a non-starter.

Especially a China owned company. Besides... an HD camera and with how much compression? For good security one needs at least 4K with good HDR to have good picture of muggers.

 

[twistedpixel8]

Just noticed it only has IP X3 rating. Gonna have to cancel my order, what a miss 😔

 

[Vado]

Can I ask what is wrong with your Netatmo doorbell? I also have one? Ours thankfully still working okay. But worried might die suddenly like indoor camera (below).

We also have indoor Netatmo camera, and it work perfectly for few years then last year September first one suddenly died stopped working, paid small amount get repaired and still not working and they eventually agreed send replacement. Then few weeks ago our 2nd one died exact same way and now Netatmo ignore our emails about it. So very annoying. Need replacement for 2nd camera but hard to find no subscription camera that allow SD card and backup to cloud I want like Dropbox or NAS.

I've find the doorbell to be somewhat unreliable. I answer a doorbell push event it's slow to connect when it works or I either get a black screen or a message saying an error occurred. This is on a Wifi 6 network.

I was extremely disappointed when they announced they couldn't deliver HKSV to the doorbell as originally promised de to overheating concerns (lesson learnt the hard way never buy into a product on a promise ). When I enquired into the possibility of a partial refund as a goodwill gesture due to the announcement I was brushed off completely.

They still haven't delivered on new firmware promised to enable pre-roll event recording a much requested feature, this was due back in November 2022 iirc and still hasn't been released. This was part of the announcement regarding HKSV support.

On their own support forum ass far as I can see they don't engage with their user base or offer any practical support. It's left to users to support other users.

In my view it's a product that was rushed to market with unfinished firmware and with a fix it on the fly approach to maintaining it.

I'll never purchase another Netatmo product again.

 

[MacRumuer]

I’m still deciding whether I want to purchase this or not. I would love to have the aspect ratios reversed so that there’s more height. This way I can see packages. Also, would like to know whether the HSV is good at detecting packages. I currently have a nest battery doorbell and it does a very good job with its AI.

 

[Jay-Jacob]

I've find the doorbell to be somewhat unreliable. I answer a doorbell push event it's slow to connect when it works or I either get a black screen or a message saying an error occurred. This is on a Wifi 6 network.

I was extremely disappointed when they announced they couldn't deliver HKSV to the doorbell as originally promised de to overheating concerns (lesson learnt the hard way never buy into a product on a promise ). When I enquired into the possibility of a partial refund as a goodwill gesture due to the announcement I was brushed off completely.

They still haven't delivered on new firmware promised to enable pre-roll event recording a much requested feature, this was due back in November 2022 iirc and still hasn't been released. This was part of the announcement regarding HKSV support.

On their own support forum ass far as I can see they don't engage with their user base or offer any practical support. It's left to users to support other users.

In my view it's a product that was rushed to market with unfinished firmware and with a fix it on the fly approach to maintaining it.

I'll never purchase another Netatmo product again.

I see. That sounds really bad. Thankfully for me not happening to me doorbell. Yeah it disappointing over HomeKit secure video never come.

I hope mine works for longer while cos it is expensive.

I will never buy another Netatmo product again after 2 indoor cameras nightmare. It works perfectly for about 2 years then suddenly first camera died, support was good then, paid £50 get it repaired, repair come back and still not working and send me replacement for free and it works perfectly since then.

Then about 5 months later my 2nd camera died exact same way as 1st camera. Now support is awful, no reply to my any emails for over 2 weeks now. I think they ignoring me because my 2nd one died. I wonder if they thinking I am trying to fake it or something? One camera died bad luck but have 2 die same way defo something wrong with hardware, not bad luck. I can’t trust their hardware and unfortunately I brought doorbell long before 1st camera died. I hope doorbell don’t suffer same hardware issue 2 years later.

 

[Sikh]

Confusing design.

Looks like two large buttons. Which button to press? Start at the top and work down?

I really hope your kidding. The top obviously looks like a camera and the bottom is a button and has a bell icon on it. From the picture, you can clearly tell which one is the button just by looking at it.

 

[DaveWil]

If you want to hardwire it does anyone know what power requirements it has. The manual says nothing about hardwiring or really anything.

 

[johnparjr]

Super easy install works great with my homes doorbell transformer no issues at all. Will have to give it some time to use it but so far it’s all good and for $110 I’m happy

 

[KrisLord]

I’ve also bought and installed one, replacing my eufy doorbell.

setup should have been easy but disabling 5ghz isn’t obvious on eero and also it seems to fail if WPA3 is enabled.

once I worked that out yesterday it’s been working fine. I’ve mainly used it through the home app and it’s great having HKSV support which was something the eufy lacked.

for £101 I’m pretty happy with this.

 

[api314]

I've been using it almost 2 weeks now and it works great. I'm in US and have the US version integrated with Homekit. You do not need another hub but the doorbell side is what joins your wifi. Once you set it up on Homekit you no longer need their app unless you want tamper alarms and other alarms that do not work in Homekit. It was very easy to setup, I ran it on battery at first but connected my doorbell cable to it and now it uses the battery just for backup. The night vision is impressive, the iCloud+ integration is excellent. It's a great bargain for what it is and works great. My only complaint is I'm concerned about water getting in it as the back has holes in it which was surprising to me and the website has a conflicting statement of installing in direct sunlight but then a an asterick saying they do not recommend it. Overall very happy. I'm happy to answer any questions.

 

[Seeds]

Stop telling people you need a hub for this doorbell. YOU DO NOT.

I get why people are confused. You technically do need a hub. But it comes with the hub you need and it’s the chime.

 

[_Spinn_]

I’ve been happy with my Circle View Doorbell since Logitech fixed the overheating issue.

 

[twistedpixel8]

I get why people are confused. You technically do need a hub. But it comes with the hub you need and it’s the chime.

The chime isn’t a hub though, it’s a bridge. You can’t add other things to the chime. It’s just a 2-part product. No hub.

 

[CouldBeWorse]

Their products send information to steal information.

You can do what I did with the G4 - connect it via Homekit Secure Video and disable the device's internet connection.

 

[Seeds]

The chime isn’t a hub though, it’s a bridge. You can’t add other things to the chime. It’s just a 2-part product. No hub.

I’m just saying I can see how it’s confusing. The chime is what’s actually connecting it to internet. I think you actually nailed it calling it a bridge. That’s more of what it is. Going back does the original commenter referring to just a home hub in general??

 

[Seeds]

If you want to hardwire it does anyone know what power requirements it has. The manual says nothing about hardwiring or really anything.

From Shane Whatley’s YouTube review.

 

[munpip214]

It is convenient for many people to use only batteries without barging wires, but this is a Chinese product. They have no credit for privacy and security at all. This is a consideration. Their products send information to steal information.

And that’s why you set up homekit secure video exclusively

 

[humankapital]

I’ve also bought and installed one, replacing my eufy doorbell.

setup should have been easy but disabling 5ghz isn’t obvious on eero and also it seems to fail if WPA3 is enabled.

once I worked that out yesterday it’s been working fine. I’ve mainly used it through the home app and it’s great having HKSV support which was something the eufy lacked.

for £101 I’m pretty happy with this.

I do have the same problem with my Eero. If WPA3 is enabled one of the Aqara Connections is WPA 3 and the other WPA 2. But nothing works.
Hopefully a firmware update will fix this and the losing connection problem on wired connections.

Otherwise it seems like a good value for money.

 

[humankapital]

And that’s why you set up homekit secure video exclusively

How do I do that? When I set the HomeKit Accessory Security to „restrict to home“ the Bell seems to stop working.
In the Aqara App I could not find a Setting in this regard.
Thanks a lot.

 

[CouldBeWorse]

How do I do that? When I set the HomeKit Accessory Security to „restrict to home“ the Bell seems to stop working.
In the Aqara App I could not find a Setting in this regard.
Thanks a lot.

You don’t need to use the Aqara app at all. Just set it up in the Home app the way you would any HomeKit accessory.

 

[Meeomo]

Is it possible to connect the Ring solar charger directly to the Aqara doorbell for reduced battery usage?

 

[Lasermoon]

You don’t need to use the Aqara app at all. Just set it up in the Home app the way you would any HomeKit accessory.

But you have to use the Aqara app for the firmware updates, mine has had two firmware updates so far.

 

[Lasermoon]

Is it possible to connect the Ring solar charger directly to the Aqara doorbell for reduced battery usage?

I use Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA4, battery is still on 100% installed 28th March, very low battery usage.

 

[Seeds]

Is it possible to connect the Ring solar charger directly to the Aqara doorbell for reduced battery usage?

Does the solar charger connect with two wires? I’d imagine you could if it just connects through the wires as long as the voltage is correct.