Introducing the Aqara Camera Hub G350 Double the Lens, 360° recognised as the world’s first Matter Certified camera.
A stand-out feature of the G350 is the dual lens arrangement, offering 4K on the wider lens and dropping down to 2.5K when you use the 3x zoom function, then you can use digital zoom all the way to 9x zoom.
We’ve talked about Aqara recently with their U400 Smart Lock, and we went a ways to explaining Matter over Thread networking, continuing the very compelling Aqara theme, we have the new Aqara 4K Dual Lens Security Rabbit Hub on the test bench today (Well, for the last couple of weeks actually!) – Simon, hold up, why did you call it a rabbit? Well, the first thing you’re going to spot when you unbox the little fella are its cute bunny ears!
The G350 is the world’s first Matter-certified camera. In plain English, that means it speaks a kind of “universal language” for smart homes.
In the past, buying a smart camera meant checking whether it worked with Apple, Google or Amazon and hoping you picked the right ecosystem. The Aqara Camera Hub G350 removes most of that friction. Because it’s Matter-certified, it’s designed to slot straight into whichever major platform you’re already using, making setup far more straightforward.
The Highlights – What Aqara Say
Universal compatibility
You can view the live feed and use two-way audio directly inside Apple Home, Google Home, Amazon Alexa or Samsung SmartThings. You’re not locked into using the manufacturer’s app full-time.
One camera, two perspectives
Think of it as having two sets of eyes. One lens captures a wide 4K view of the room, while the second telephoto lens zooms in on detail without turning everything into a pixelated mess.
A smart brain onboard
Instead of sending all your footage off to the cloud to be analysed, the G350 processes things locally. It can track movement, follow people or pets, and recognise what it’s looking at, all without constantly shipping your data elsewhere.
More than just a camera
It also acts as a smart home hub, connecting smaller devices like sensors or buttons and bringing them into your ecosystem without needing extra hardware.
Physical privacy control
If you want complete privacy, you don’t have to unplug it. The lenses physically rotate back into the body of the camera, so you’ve got a clear, visible indication that it isn’t watching. (Check it out, below)
In use, setup is as simple as plugging the camera into a USB-C port with the supplied cable. I’ve got mine plugged directly into a Belkin powerboard with two USB-C ports, but any decent USB-C power adaptor will do the job.
Now, this is where things get interesting. Because the camera is Matter-certified, you could install and use the fully featured Aqara Home app. However, if you’re already running other smart home ecosystems like Apple Home, Google Home, Amazon Alexa or Samsung SmartThings, you can simply scan the Matter QR code directly in those apps.
There is still a bit of a trade-off while other platforms catch up. For this review, I mostly used Apple Home, but I do also have the Aqara Home app installed.
Right now, more advanced features like tracking and PTZ (pan, tilt and zoom), along with firmware updates, can be limited if you only set the camera up through a third-party app. The workaround is simple: install the free Aqara Home app first, set up tracking behaviour and home positioning, then add the camera to your preferred platform and use it as normal.
You can then tuck the Aqara app away for updates and fine-tuning, while still enjoying the convenience of your everyday smart home platform. That said, it likely won’t take long for other platforms to catch up as Matter 1.5 rolls out more broadly.
If you set up the camera directly with Apple Home, you’ll get HD live streaming and recordings (with Apple HomeKit Secure Video capped at 1080p), motion notifications, and two-way talk. In my experience, both at home and away, Apple Home has been responsive and largely glitch-free.
That said, because I have the Aqara app installed, its notifications tend to come through just a fraction quicker. I often end up tapping those instead, but it really comes down to personal preference. The beauty of a Matter certified camera makes it simple: you’ve got choice.
In day-to-day use, the G350 is a solid little security camera. It uses AI to track movement (including my dog), and it can also trigger recordings based on sound. I didn’t even realise it was recording when the dog barked at first, but it quietly got on with the job. Video quality is sharp on the wide 4K lens, and perfectly usable when zoomed in using the 2.5K lens. (It is a digital zoom at 9x and that can break up a little, but certainly detailed enough for most applications) Night vision kicks in automatically and is clear enough to actually be useful, not just a box-ticking feature. It is an IR Night Vision, while it’s not quite the amazing colour night vision of the G5 Pro, it’s still very clear and totally useable. I’m a big fan of the “tap to centre” function in the Aqara app, and the zoom is very fluid.
Aside from cloud storage via the Home Guardian plan, you can keep it local and store your footage to MicroSD 24/7 (Not Included, Supports up to 512gb) and, if you have a memory card in the G350, you can also take advantage of local NAS transfer, so offloading of footage local to your camera and saving it to your NAS (Network attached storage – If you don’t know what one of these is, this option likely doesn’t apply to you, but it’s available!) The G350 has really good audio quality, too. More speakers (well, that’s what it looks like) compared with the previous model, and in practice, the audio has been effective enough to have two conversations with my 12yo who was trying to take chocolate off my desk!
The camera is a wireless only camera, no extra cables, and it support 2.4Ghz and 5Hhz Wi-Fi connections.
Detection Feature highlights include:
- Person, pet, face and lens obstruction detection
- Smile and gesture detection
- Sound detection (crying, coughing, barking and more)
The G350 also comes with a free trial of Aqara’s Home Guardian plan. Unlike some other brands, the camera works perfectly well without a subscription. You’ll still get notifications with video previews, recordings, and on-device AI tracking.
What you miss out on are extended cloud storage (up to 90 days), more advanced AI detection (like packages and vehicles), and AI-generated summaries.
Is that a deal-breaker? Not at all. Home Guardian is a nice optional extra, but the fact that the camera does everything it should without locking you into a subscription is a big win.
If you’re after a super-flexible home security camera, or just a camera to monitor your pet pooch while you’re at work, this is a ripper of an option! Keep up the great work, Aqara!
