Aqara Camera Hub G5 Pro: A Versatile Smart Home Security Solution

This security camera flattens all compatibility hurdles save one

This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined The G5 Pro is Aqara's newest outdoor security camera, designed to protect your home while extending your smart-home network outdoors. It pulls double duty, providing real-time monitoring and connecting your Aqara and many third-party smart devices in one integrated hub. Sitting at the higher end of Aqara's camera lineup, the G5 Pro emphasizes ease of use, solid image quality, and smooth integration with popular smart-home ecosystems. We review the Aqara G5 Pro Wi-Fi here; a power-over-ethernet (PoE) version is also available for about $20 more. Both models sport a compact design that can withstand outdoor conditions year-round. Its IP65 weatherization rating indicates it's impervious to dust ingress and that it can withstand water jets projected from any direction (check out TechHive's IP code decoder for more). And with an operating range of -22 degrees Fahrenheit to 122 F (-30 to +50 C), you can expect reliable performance whether it's braving winter freezes or baking in summer heat. Measuring 2.78 x 2.78 x 3.50 inches (excluding its detachable stand), the G5 Pro is discreet enough for versatile placement anywhere around your home. The rotatable stand can easily attach to walls, ceilings, or any other flat surface, and you can swap it out with any standard 1/4-inch threaded mount for even more flexibility. While it's billed as an outdoor camera, there's absolutely no reason it couldn't be deployed indoors as well. The G5 Pro is outfitted a 4-megapixel camera boasting a wide 133-degree field of view. True Color Night Vision boosts visibility in low-light conditions and, paired with an advanced f/1.0 aperture lens, it can capture detailed footage even in near-total darkness. A spotlight adjacent to its lens and motion sensor can help illuminate intruders or simply light your path at night. The G5 Pro also features a 100dB siren for deterring unwanted visitors, two-way audio for clear communication, and customizable alerts to notify you immediately about relevant events. Beyond basic surveillance, the Aqara G5 Pro incorporates advanced local AI detection. The camera intelligently identifies people, faces, vehicles, animals, packages, and even alerts you if its lens becomes obstructed -- all without relying on cloud-based processing. Local processing offers faster detection and notifications, improved privacy by keeping data within your home network, and it ensures the camera continues operating even if your internet connection goes down. The G5 Pro supports encrypted local storage via 32GB of built-in eMMC storage. While that's not user expandable, you can connect the camera to your own network-attached storage, with support for both RTSP (Real Time Streaming Protocol) and SMB (Server Message Block) protocols. your other storage alternative is to purchase a subscription from either Apple (iCloud+) or Aqara itself. You'll get end-to-end encryption in either scenario, ensuring that only you and authorized users can access your recordings. Aqara's HomeGuardian service, available via the Aqara Home app, costs $4.99 per month or $49.99 annually, but it only supports a single Aqara camera. HomeGuardian Plus covers an unlimited number of Aqara cameras and costs $9.99 per month or $99.99 annually. Both plans provide a rolling 90 days of video event history. The camera supports Apple's HomeKit Secure Video if you go the iCloud+ route, which limits you to Apple's ecosystem, but not to a single brand of camera. That storage can also be used to store digital photos, music, documents, device backups and more. Apple's cloud-storage subscriptions range in price from 99 cents per month for 50GB of storage to $60/mo for 12TB (that's far more than most consumers will ever need; Apple also offers 200GB, 2TB, and 6TB storage tiers, and any of Apple's iCloud+ subscriptions can be shared with family members). Connectivity options round out this camera's features. It supports dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4GHz and 5GHz) for smooth streaming, a simple USB-C connection for power (in the Wi-Fi version. The PoE model, of course, transmits data over an ethernet cable that is also used to send electrical power to the camera, provided you have a PoE switch or router or a PoE power injector.) With the exception of its Zigbee hub, which is compatible only with Aqara's own Zigbee smart home devices, the G5 Pro is smart home platform agnostic, compatible with Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, Home Assistant, and Samsung SmartThings. Once I downloaded the Aqara Home app, getting the G5 Pro set up took just a few minutes. You scan the device's QR code to pair the camera and then follow the prompts to connect it with your wireless network. Screws and anchors are provided for mounting the camera, but you need to supply a screwdriver or drill. In my testing, the G5 Pro consistently delivered clear, detailed images. Daytime footage is sharp, with accurate colors and strong contrast. Night vision performance is especially impressive; True Color Night Vision significantly enhances visibility after dark, producing bright, color-accurate images even in low-light scenarios, thanks to its advanced image sensor and the wide aperture of its lens. The camera's on-device AI detection worked reliably, quickly distinguishing between people, vehicles, animals, and packages. Notifications arrived promptly, allowing me to respond immediately if something looked amiss. The built-in spotlight is bright enough to illuminate a porch or driveway, serving both as a deterrent and a convenience. The 100dB siren should ward off unwanted visitors, and the two-way audio enabled clear conversation at typical outdoor distances. As a smart-home hub, the G5 Pro significantly expands your outdoor connectivity options. Pairing Aqara accessories and third-party Matter devices is simple and intuitive. The camera serves as a Matter controller and a Thread border router, allowing you to expand your smart-home setup outdoors. The onboard Zigbee hub, on the other hand, is limited to controlling Aqara's own Zigbee smart home devices and sensors-of which there are many. The Aqara Home app has a user-friendly interface, featuring a clean layout and intuitive navigation. It streamlines camera management with a large control panel below the video feed, allowing you to quickly review footage, manage alerts, and configure advanced settings such as AI detection and cloud storage. With an asking price of $179.99 ($199.99 for the PoE version), the Aqara G5 Pro costs a lot more than the typical outdoor security camera, but its performance and feature set-its one of the few outdoor-rated devices to include a Thread border router-fully justify its price tag. (Yes, the new Eero 7 Outdoor also has an onboard Thread border router, but that Wi-Fi access point costs $400.) Whether it's deployed indoors or out, this security camera can form the basis of a complete smart home and home security system. If you're looking for professional security monitoring, on the other hand, a paid service where a third party can summon first responders on your behalf in the event of an emergency, you should know that Aqara doesn't offer such a service at this time.

Aqara's first outdoor camera is this smart home enthusiast's dream device

The camera is wired, so placement is limited, and there is no expandable storage, so you need a subscription to access video history or bypass it through video server software. Security cameras need to offer something unique to impress me. I've tested many brands and have come to prefer some over others, but I'm pleased to say the new Aqara Camera Hub G5 Pro is one I can genuinely get behind. This security camera is unique because it can double as a smart home hub and is Aqara's first outdoor security camera. Also: I tested this 2-in-1 smart lock with no subscription fees - and it impressed everyone The G5 Pro is a Thread border router and a Matter controller and has Zigbee support for Aqara devices that require a hub. You can buy this Aqara Camera Hub G5 Pro to surveil your home and add other Aqara devices without buying a separate hub. I have two Aqara hubs in my home, an Aqara Hub M2, that the newer Aqara Hub M3 replaced. This camera is enough to replace both of them -- and surveil inside or outside my house. Also: 7 crucial rules for setting up a home security camera - and risky spots to avoid This isn't the first Aqara camera to double as a smart home hub. Aqara already has the Camera Hub G3, a 2K indoor security camera, and the Camera Hub Indoor G2H Pro, a 1080p indoor camera. The new G5 Pro, however, is the first time Aqara is bringing a hub to the outside of the home, as this security camera is weatherproof, and the first Aqara outdoor camera, aside from its video doorbells. The Aqara Camera Hub G5 Pro doesn't support expanding its local storage, so you can't add a microSD card to record clips. But thanks to the G5 Pro's real-time streaming protocol (RTSP) support, you can get creative with it. With local RTSP access, you can use video server software via Home Assistant, Frigate, or Blue Iris to record and manage your footage locally. RTSP lets you store video locally on a NAS (network-attached storage) or SMB (server message block), bypassing cloud storage subscriptions. Of course, when you use Home Assistant to manage your camera, you can more easily customize your existing smart home devices and set up alerts without relying on Aqara's cloud services. I run a HomeKit smart home and use Apple Home as my central smart home controller. (Because I test smart home devices for a living, I also have Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and SmartThings running.) Also: This smart lock is feature-rich, solves a common problem - and it's 40% off The G5 Pro camera is natively compatible with Apple Home with HomeKit Secure Video (HKSV), so it works seamlessly and swiftly through the Apple app. It's also compatible with Alexa, Google, and SmartThings. Smart home hubs are typically single-function tabletop devices that only work to connect low-energy smart home devices that can't directly connect to your Wi-Fi. These smaller devices, like cameras and sensors, connect to a hub that connects to the internet. While a hub frees you from adding 12 devices to your Wi-Fi (potentially congesting your router), hubs generally don't do much else. I like the SwitchBot Hub because it also functions as a thermometer and has buttons that can be programmed to trigger routines and devices. With the launch of the G5 Pro -- Aqara's first outdoor camera that's also a hub -- the multifunctional hub just moved a bit more mainstream. Also: I switched to the EufyCam S3 Pro and can't go back to grainy night vision Aside from the convenience of combining home security with a smart home hub, the G5 Pro's ingenuity lies in its many AI-powered visual recognition features. The camera can detect vehicles, people, animals, and packages and learn to recognize faces and even specific vehicles. Using the camera's AI recognition, you can automate functions -- such as opening the garage when a specific vehicle approaches the house, prompting a camera response when a person has been lingering on your property, and triggering an alarm when the lens is obstructed. The camera has four AI-powered audio recognition capacities, including crying, an alarm sound, barking, and coughing. These allow the camera to be used as more than security surveillance, as evidenced by the notifications I got of my toddler crying while grandma was babysitting. Also: If you use Ring, this is the doorbell I recommend most (and it's easy to install) The AI runs locally on the G5 Pro, so you don't need a subscription to enjoy all the custom alerts and issue automations from them. I've tested the camera indoors and outdoors, and I love it so far. The Aqara Camera G5 Pro can be a smart home enthusiast's dream device, especially with PoE and RTSP support. While I got the Wi-Fi version to test it in different places in and around my house, I can appreciate how convenient a PoE model would be. Even if you don't like to tinker with your smart home and are OK with paying a monthly cloud subscription, this camera's ability to run on-device AI and double as a smart home hub makes it a great option for both new smart home users and seasoned tinkerers.