Hands On With Aqara’s New Matter-compatible Camera

The first Matter camera is present — benignant of. Camera support came to the smart location modular past year, and Aqara’s Camera Hub G350 is nan first to support it. The G350, which was announced astatine CES, launched this week and is simply a pan-and-tilt indoor information camera pinch up to 4K video resolution.

Today, nan G350 only supports Matter connected Samsung SmartThings, arsenic nary of nan different platforms person added Matter 1.5 yet. I’ve only had nan camera setup for a day, and it took respective firmware updates earlier I could link it arsenic a Matter camera. So far, each it tin do is watercourse a unrecorded feed, which is acold little than what Samsung promises Matter cameras successful SmartThings will do. But there’s plentifulness of imaginable here.

The G350 has awesome specs for an indoor camera. It boasts dual-lenses — a 4K wide-angle lens and a 2.5K telephoto lens — and up to 9x hybrid zoom. A compact pan-tilt system provides 360-degree sum pinch auto-tracking for group and pets, and a beingness lens shutter activates erstwhile nan camera is turned off.

Along pinch Matter, nan Aqara G350 supports Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video service and tin link to Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and different platforms via nan cloud. You tin besides shop footage locally connected a microSD card, and RTSP support enables streaming video to platforms for illustration Home Assistant and NVRs. Aqara offers its ain unreality retention service, which is end-to-end encrypted.

While nan G350 worked perfectly successful nan Aqara app, my Matter acquisition pinch it was little so. My first attempts to onboard nan camera straight to SmartThings by scanning its Matter codification failed, adding nan instrumentality arsenic a hub alternatively than a camera. (Like galore of Aqara’s cameras, nan G350 is besides a smart location hub for Aqara’s Zigbee devices, positive it’s a Matter controller, bridge, and Thread Border Router.)

Instead, I added it to Aqara’s app. Here, it showed arsenic a camera and yet offered maine respective firmware updates, 1 of which brought Matter 1.5 support, yet allowing maine to adhd it to SmartThings arsenic a camera utilizing Matter’s multi-admin feature. (You’ll request a SmartThings Matter Controller to link to nan platform.)

One of nan promised benefits of Matter-supported cameras is nan expertise to negociate each your cameras done your main smart location platform, without being constricted by brand.

Today, if you person a operation of cameras — opportunity a Ring Doorbell, an Aqara indoor camera, and a Eufy floodlight camera — you’ll request to usage aggregate apps to entree each nan features. And while you tin watercourse unrecorded views from galore different camera brands pinch a level for illustration Alexa, you can’t position recorded video aliases set settings for illustration cookware and tilt without going to nan manufacturer’s app. Matter supports each those features and could bring you person to utilizing conscionable 1 app to negociate your smart home.

Integrating cameras into your smart location app besides allows for much precocious automations, specified arsenic “when I unlock nan door, move connected nan lights, and move nan camera off.”

With Matter, information cameras tin support unrecorded video and audio streaming, two-way talk, and section and distant access. The modular besides allows pan-tilt-zoom controls for nan cameras, nan mounting of discovery and privateness zones, and continuous and event-based signaling pinch nan expertise to shop footage locally aliases successful a unreality work (with nan action of end-to-end encryption) — each wrong nan smart location level app.

According to Samsung, nan SmartThings app should connection each of those features, though not each are disposable yet. I was only capable to position a livestream, return a snapshot, and usage two-way talk. While I saw controls for pan, tilt, and zoom, and a tab for video history, I wasn’t capable to usage them. According to nan Matter Alpha blog, this is because nan G350 doesn’t support pan-tilt controls successful Matter yet, but they should beryllium coming via a firmware update.

The livestream was clear and responsive, and it loaded instantly pinch nary lag, pinch only a 2nd aliases 2 of first buffering. Two-way talk worked well, and I could perceive and beryllium heard clearly. Matter is simply a section protocol, and you really spot its benefits here.

A settings page showed options for motion-activated recording, adjusting nan camera’s solution and volume, and creating presets to show different areas. However, only nan measurement and solution buttons worked. I couldn’t toggle connected signaling aliases position immoderate recorded video successful nan SmartThings app’s History tab, moreover pinch a microSD paper successful nan camera. The scrollable timeline conscionable said “no history.”

It’s not clear whether you’ll request a subscription to position recorded footage done SmartThings, aliases if you’ll request to usage Aqara’s service, starting astatine $4.99 a period / $49.99 annually, if you don’t usage section storage. I’ve reached retired to Samsung to corroborate and will update this article erstwhile I cognize more.

There wasn’t immoderate action successful nan app to alteration smart alerts, specified arsenic facial nickname and package and conveyance alerts, that nan G350 offers. For those, you’ll still request to trust connected Aqara’s app.

I did person a weird acquisition pinch Android versus iOS. Only nan livestream showed successful nan SmartThings app connected my Galaxy S22 Ultra, nary controls. It besides conscionable showed a blank settings screen. But connected my iPhone 17 Pro, nan controls were visible, arsenic was nan settings page.

As mentioned, only SmartThings presently supports Matter cameras. It’s apt Apple will travel suit (at immoderate point), and Home Assistant has said it’s working connected support. But I’m not expecting Google Home aliases Amazon Alexa to get connected committee anytime soon — if ever. Neither has committed to support, and some person their ain camera ecosystems. So, nan elemental setup and seamless guidance of information cameras successful a azygous app whitethorn still beryllium a agelong measurement off.

However, while my first acquisition pinch cameras successful Matter was very basic, it shows promise. I tin spot a early (if everyone gets connected board) wherever Matter camera support resembles Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video — only much unfastened and interoperable.

The benefits of Apple’s implementation — cameras much integrated into your smart home, brand-agnostic, and unafraid and backstage — are features each smart location personification would beryllium happy to see. Right now, each we person is nan first camera to support Matter, and astir of its features aren’t moving yet. But it’s a start.

Photography by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge