Aqara Camera Hub G350

Aqara Camera Hub G350

By Aqara · Indoor Security Cameras · Cleaning & Smart Home

  • Frame rate 20 fps, H.264 video codec, 16:9 aspect ratio
  • Local microSD storage, Class 10 or above, up to 512GB (card not included)

Lowest price seen
~$139.99 (approx.)
from $139.99 at Amazon

Prices are snapshots. Check the current price with the store.

Problems, parts and running costs

Summary

An indoor dual-lens pan-tilt camera that doubles as an Aqara Zigbee and Thread hub with a Matter controller. Pick your app before you buy: the 4K feed, pan, tilt and zoom exist only in Aqara Home, and Apple Home caps the stream at 1080p with no pan, tilt or zoom at all.

Strengths

  • The telephoto lens is the reason to pay up; zoomed footage stays sharper than the digital zoom on single-lens pan-tilt cameras.
  • Auto-tracking held up for both people and pets in the homes testers used it in.
  • The 360-degree rotation is nearly silent, which matters with a pet in the room or a sleeping baby.
  • Recording and detection work with no subscription at all, as long as you use a card.
  • The hub half is real: Aqara Zigbee, Thread Border Router and Matter controller in one box.
  • Privacy is physical, with the lenses rotating into the body, and detection runs on the device.

Weaknesses

  • Apple Home caps the stream at 1080p and drops pan, tilt and zoom.
  • No USB-C power adapter is in the box, so bring your own 10 W or higher unit.
  • The wall and ceiling bracket is sold separately.
  • Night video is grayscale only, with no colour mode.
  • Gesture detection is beta and unreliable in poor light, and smile detection misses.
  • 90-day event history, package, vehicle and fire detection, AI summaries and AI search need the HomeGuardian plan.

Verified specifications

ModelCH-C14E/CH-C14DE on Aqara’s global pages, CH-C14E/CH-C14D in the user manual, CH-C14D on the New Zealand listing.
Wide lens3840 × 2160, 133° diagonal field of view, 2.8 mm focal length, f/1.6.
Telephoto lens2560 × 1440, 43° diagonal field of view, 8 mm focal length, f/1.6.
Frame rate and format20 fps, H.264, 16:9.
Zoomup to 9x, hybrid. The telephoto takes over around 3x and digital zoom handles the rest.
Siren95 dB.
Night vision940 nm invisible infrared, grayscale recordings.
WirelessWi-Fi 6 on 2.4 and 5 GHz, plus Zigbee, Thread and Bluetooth.
Hub capacityup to 80 Aqara Zigbee sub-devices, or 40 Zigbee plus 40 Thread. Third-party Zigbee devices are not accepted.
Local storagemicroSD, Class 10 or above, up to 512 GB. Card not included.
On-device detectionperson, pet, face, smile, gesture and lens obstruction, plus sound classes that include coughing, snoring, loud sounds, alarms, dog barking and baby crying. Aqara says the processing stays on the camera.
Presetsup to 30 preset angles.
HomeKit Secure Videosupported, capped at 1080p, and it needs an iCloud+ plan and an Apple home hub.
Home AssistantRTSP streaming only, not a native camera entity.
Power5V DC 2A over a USB-C port.
Dimensions123 × 85 × 68 mm, from the New Zealand listing for the CH-C14D. No weight figure is published anywhere.
Operating range-10 °C to 45 °C (14 °F to 113 °F), 0-95% relative humidity.
In the boxcamera, two user manuals and a USB-C to USB-C cable. No power adapter and no mount.
Full research notes and sources

Two lenses and one hub

The wide lens records 3840 × 2160 at 20 fps across 133 degrees. The second lens is a telephoto at 8 mm and 2560 × 1440 across 43 degrees, and it is what separates this camera from a cheaper single-lens pan-tilt. The telephoto engages around 3x and digital zoom carries it to 9x, where Digital Reviews Network says the picture can break up a little. Three separate sources that tested the camera describe that telephoto feed as visibly sharper than the digital zoom on single-lens models.

Independent hands-on testing was positive. TechRadar found auto-tracking invaluable for following a dog recovering from surgery and rated the build highly. MacRumors’ reviewer confirmed the telephoto beats what single-lens cameras produce and reported tracking working well for people and pets. Digital Reviews Network found the day image sharp on the wide lens, the zoomed 2.5K feed usable, the audio good enough for a real conversation, and the infrared clear enough to be useful rather than decorative. None of that is instrumented lab work, and no objective image-quality figures were published for this model.

The hub is the quieter half. It acts as an Aqara Zigbee hub, a Thread Border Router and a Matter controller. MacRumors reported that having it in the room measurably improved the connection between their Aqara thermostats. Third-party Zigbee sensors will not pair as sub-devices, so existing non-Aqara Zigbee gear gets nothing from it. The bunny-ear silicone hood comes off, which turns the unit into a plainer security camera.

Which app you set it up in

Everything that makes this camera interesting lives in Aqara Home: the 4K feed, pan, tilt, zoom, up to 30 preset angles and the tracking configuration. In Apple Home, HomeKit Secure Video caps the stream at 1080p and there is no pan, tilt or zoom. Aqara’s own UK page states the same 1080p limit. MacRumors is blunt that the camera is not worth buying for Apple Home alone without the Aqara app. Home Assistant users get an RTSP stream and nothing more.

Set it up in Aqara Home first, then add it to your platform. That is the order Digital Reviews Network used, and it also keeps the preset and tracking features working, which they report can be limited when you onboard through a third-party app only.

There is a privacy trap worth knowing about. One owner reported the lenses would not rotate away in privacy mode, and a forum reply traced it to setting sleep in the Aqara app and then opening Apple Home, which pulls the camera back out of sleep. It is an ecosystem interaction rather than a hardware fault, but it means you should check where the lenses actually sit before you walk away from the house.

What it costs to run

Two things are missing from the box that you may have to buy: a microSD card, up to 512 GB, if you record locally, and a USB-C power adapter, 10 W or higher. Add a mount if the camera is not living on a shelf. It can record 24/7 to the card, which makes card upkeep yours; no formatting interval is published. The manual documents a 10-second hold on the function button to reset the network for re-pairing.

Cloud retention is the real running cost. Aqara’s New Zealand page states plainly that cloud storage requires a HomeGuardian plan, with a free trial that activates by itself. MacRumors lists HomeGuardian at $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year for a single camera, double that for unlimited cameras (May 2026). TechRadar quotes UK figures of £3.99 a month or £39.99 a year for the single-device tier, and £7.99 a month or £79.99 a year for unlimited (April 2026). HomeGuardian is where 90-day event history, package, vehicle and fire detection, and the AI summaries and AI search live. Two outlets ran the camera with no plan at all, so treat the subscription as optional rather than required, and know that the trial starts itself.

Apple Home carries its own charge. HomeKit Secure Video needs iCloud+, and MacRumors notes that the $0.99 a month 50 GB tier covers one camera while $2.99 a month for 200 GB covers five (May 2026).

On hardware, Aqara’s US store lists the camera at $139.99 (October 2026), the same figure TechRadar’s price block and Consumer Reports show. TechRadar’s price panel lists $124.99 for a 512 GB bundle at Best Buy (April 2026). The model launched in March 2026, so there is no dated price series to lean on yet.

Is it worth it?

The price sits above the indoor pan-tilt band. TechRadar points to a competing 4K indoor pan-tilt available for under £50 and calls this one slightly pricey at £139. The extra money buys the second lens, the hub functions and the on-device detection set.

It earns that money if you want a Matter controller and an Aqara Zigbee hub in a single box, plan to run the Aqara app, and record to a card rather than the cloud. The value drops if you only need a camera, if the household is Apple-only, or if you want colour night vision, which this model does not offer. Check the store panel above before you commit, and confirm the warranty terms with Aqara US first, since no US warranty length appeared on any page reviewed.

Which model this is

This page covers the Aqara Camera Hub G350, model CH-C14E/CH-C14D, on sale in the US since March 2026. The Amazon listing for it is ASIN B0G4W6R4SG. It is not the G5 Pro, a separate Aqara camera that reviewers bring up when they compare colour night vision, and not the older G3 or G100 camera hubs. A UK variant is sold as the Camera Hub G350 Select.

Sources

Manufacturer:

Independent reviews:

Owner reports:

Buying guides for this category

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