At a glance
Expert's Rating
Pros
- Tons of features
- Broad third-party ecosystem support, HomeKit in particular
- No subscription required (unless you want HomeKit Secure Video)
Cons
- Very short video recordings—12 second max
- 1080p resolution is relatively low these days
- Many buyers will find it’s not sufficiently weatherized
Our Verdict
This video doorbell checks off a lot of boxes, but a couple of glaring oversights relegate it to a second-tier product.
Price When Reviewed
$119.99
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The Aqara Smart Video Doorbell G4 is as no-nonsense a smart doorbell as you’ll find. Read its spec sheet and you’ll find that it’s crammed with features, but study it in detail and you’ll find some are more impressive than others.
This black monolith couldn’t be simpler in design: large camera lens up top, equally large, backlit button below that. The whole thing measures 5.5 x 3 inches—about the size of a smartphone. A small AC-powered chime with a microSD card slot sits inside the house (no card is included, but the chime can host cards with capacities all the way up to 512GB).
If the Aqara Smart Video Doorbell’s ring tones aren’t to your liking, you can upload an MP3 file to have your signature song play whenever the bell is rung.
You’ll also need to provide the USB-C AC adapter needed to power the chime, although Aqara does provide the required USB-C cable. The chime and the doorbell come from the factory pre-paired, so you need only set up the chime to onboard the doorbell. Be aware, however, that the chime needs to be located no more than 16 feet from the doorbell and 65 feet from your router. Pro tip: The printed manual that comes in the box skips over almost all of this; grab the online PDF instead to guide you through setup.
Christopher Null/Foundry
The physical installation process is similar to that of other doorbells, with mounting hardware and an optional angled bracket to give you some flexibility as to how the camera is positioned. The entire backside of the camera is covered in adhesive if you prefer a less permanent mounting solution—or if you want to mount it to glass or some similarly smooth surface. The unit can be powered by six AA batteries (included) or wired to a standard doorbell transformer (12V-24V AC 0.2A 50/60Hz 8V-24V 0.5A).
Aqara doesn’t quote an IP weatherization rating for the G4, stating in an FAQ on its website that “[it’s] recommended to be installed on a porch or in other shaded areas,” and its user manual notes that it’s suitable only for operating environments with “no condensation.” If your front porch gets wet, consider the G4 an automatic pass.
This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best video doorbells.
The G4 is a Wi-Fi device (2.4GHz only); as such, it doesn’t technically rely on one of Aqara’s Zigbee-based smart home hubs to work. If you do use an Aqara hub—such as the Aqara Home Hub M2—you can use it as part of an automation routine with other Aqara devices. The doorbell also supports Apple’s HomeKit ecosystem—including HomeKit Secure Video—and can be easily configured without the Aqara app at all by just scanning the QR code on the chime. If you have both environments installed, scanning the code will configure the doorbell on both platforms. I tested the G4 with both.
Aqara
The core of any modern video doorbell is its camera, and while the G4 is dated at best, it’s not completely useless. The resolution of 1920 x 1080 leaves something to be desired, but the 162-degree viewing angle at least provides a massive (if distorted) look at the goings on outside. I found the image to be a bit dim—there’s no support for HDR—but good enough for up-close use. Infrared night vision is also included; it’s likewise fine, but has a slight pinhole effect that causes the sides of the image to remain darkened.
The detection features of the camera require a section all to their own. You can register faces with the Aqara app to teach the doorbell who’s who, and their identity is recorded in the app logs whenever they arrive. (You’ll need a photo of them on your phone to do this initial registration.) Configurable loitering alerts can also be set to let you know if someone’s hanging around the door for a while.
Lastly a “privacy occlusion area” can be set to prevent recording of any motion detected outside the bounds you set. This is particularly important if the lens captures part of your neighbor’s yard. I found these features worked fairly well, but be aware that while the doorbell has an integrated speaker and two-way audio, it can’t send pre-recorded voice alerts to loiterers to encourage them to move along.
Christopher Null/Foundry
The doorbell chime is plenty loud (and is adjustable in volume), and it includes three standard “ding-dong” style tones to pick from. If those aren’t to your liking, you can upload an MP3 file to have your signature song play whenever the bell is rung. Each account can support 10 ringtones, and 5 can be downloaded to each doorbell. Do not miss the chance as well to use the built-in voice-disguising feature to communicate with visitors as a “robot,” “clown,” or “uncle.”
Aqara’s video library is easy to scroll. Clips are stored chronologically beneath the primary viewscreen and can be further accessed via a “More” icon that continues the thumbnail-based viewing layout. Clips are well-labeled and quick to navigate, but they are very short: either 6 or 12 seconds long. Clips are stored on your local microSD card, in the cloud, or both. Using a microSD card enables an additional timeline-based view that lets you scrub back and forth in time. As with all Aqara devices, no subscriptions are required or offered.
The ultra-short clip length is an issue, but I understand this can be bypassed by connecting the doorbell to an Apple Home hardware device (e.g., a HomePod, HomePod mini, or Apple TV) paying for an Apple iCloud+ plan. I don’t have own any of these devices, so I wasn’t able to test this option. That said, even without a HomePod, the HomeKit support makes it handy to be able to quickly check out who’s at the door in the Apple Home app and get alerts through that system instead of having to rely on Aqara’s app. You can also connect the doorbell to IFTTT, Google Home, and Alexa devices.
At $120 with no subscription required, the G4 offers a fairly good value, even though its resolution is limited (and it’s worth noting here that HomeKit Secure Video is limited to 1080p resolution anyway). The clip-length issue—which seems to be restricted for no apparent reason—is a much greater concern that limits the G4’s overall utility, as is the camera’s apparent inability to stand up to even light weather conditions. But casual users who need a functional doorbell for a low-traffic, low-weather setting might find it suitable.
