Aqara Home Reviews

by Tommy Graham

every other firmware update, Aqara decides to completely brick their hardware by pushing an corruptive update to everyone’s hubs. this makes it so that the aqara products will only be online for a few hours and then they will all go offline. hub starts flashing blue. nothing you can do if you’re away from home. you’ll have to drive 50 miles to get back home to turn your hub on so you can check your inside temperature of your house from away so your cat doesn’t die. this completely defeats the purpose of owning ANY of their products. the software engineering team should be ashamed of themselves. trash company.

by Expl01t

Have to use this since some accessories I purchased on Mijia doesn’t work with Mijia app. AqaraHome is just bad from ground up. When it requests information from the net, whole app UI freezes for 30s. Mixed Chinese/English everywhere. Have to disable all the security features on my AP and tried more than 10 times (reset everything, reboot phone every time) to get the remote paired. By default names my AC remote “Thermostat”. I can’t set up my air conditioner with this AC remote but can set it up the remote as a security sensor or something. Why this is even a product needs serious questioning.

by KXNG DAVID

I bought this doorbell because I wanted local storage, but there’s no way to turn off Aqara’s cloud service. I had to go into my network just to stop the G4 from communicating with Aqara’s servers.

There should be an option within the Aqara app to stop data from being shared in their cloud service. Doorbell shouldn’t be communicating outside my LAN network without my permission. I want to be in full control of my data. Others have complained about this as well. Check Reddit.

Also, there’s a bug within the local storage that causes recordings to lose 4-12 seconds of footage. Please fix it in the next update.

The camera status light should flash green or stay green for about 5-10 seconds after a doorbell press to better alert the visitor that bell has successfully been pressed. The status light should turn a solid green only when speaking with someone via the doorbell and should automatically turn back to red when mic is not in use.

by Thehoneybadger1234

This was a great app I used it to set up my HomeKit home and change settings once in a a while well they decided to change there entire app and now I can't find the crucial parts of my security system or even adjust it because they either removed that feature or hid it I've been looking for 3 hours and all I'm trying to do is make my new contact sensors trigger the alarm if a door is open it can't and shouldn't be so complex that someone who's extremely tech savvy can't figure it out.

by @pcasearle On Twitter

I’d like to switch to my favorite TV channels using the IR function on the Aqara Hub M2 (via HomePod mini and Siri Shortcuts) “Hey Siri, put on Tennis Channel” I’m able to save each number on my remote as a button and create a scene made up of each button press separated by a delay… scene example for channel 217: “2” > 1s delay > “1” > 1s delay > “7” I say “Hey Siri, put on Tennis Channel” and my TV goes to the channel of the first number entered (channel 2) due to the one second minimum delay required by IR scenes in the Aqara Home app… a simple solution is to add time delay options shorter than one second, such as a half second, quarter of a second or even an eighth of a second… please fix this and unlock this capability for all Hub M2 users! note: I bought the Aqara Hub M2 specifically to see if I could have this capability since I read it can function as an IR blaster and use scenes with Siri Shortcuts… one star rating is simply to increase the odds of Aqara customers and employees seeing this review and being heard and making this capability possible

by DICKYN

Was working fine until last update. Stopped recording because the memory card was full. Also stopped recording in HKSV. Reset and reformatted memory card. But it’s now missing motion activity. Had high hopes for this camera since it’s the only one that records 24\7 on the market.

You guys have the upper hand on gaining here but your app needs some work.

Update: After resetting several times it’s now showing a date and time stamp of 1970. Can’t edit time so it’s refreshing in HomeKit but as soon as I try to view a live feed it times out and needs to be reset. Hope that helps the developers.

Update: As others have mentioned the g2h is causing problems since last update. Mine is the hub for my Aqara sensors which sometimes doesn’t communicate with hub always and cause sensors not to trigger.

Fix this or I’m returning all my Aqara products.

by Emyymmyy

I’ve bought and will keep buying Aqara products; but AqaraHome is terrible. They need to fix several issues which include: only being able to use If/Then commands in the automations, as opposed to If/And/Or/Then commands. Also, when using the sensors, the “open”, “close“ and the “is open”, “is closed” settings are exactly the same (and there is no setting for when all the sensors are closed to begin with). I hope they fix these issues in a future update because I think their products are overall really good.

by Drjdawg

The Aqara home app does work well, but the G4 camera app is buggy and needs improvement. Anyway, it’s brand new.

there’s lots of issues with equipment type for different international regions and the requirement to log into the China server to use certain equipment. Understanding and differentiating sensors is difficult for different regions. The model numbers seem to be the same but there’s different firmware in different items. no identification that I can fine.

by Mavirek12

If this camera allowed for the audio recording/listening to be shut off, then it would be perfection. Well, maybe one more thing. If it were black, it would not see its own reflection in the window for safe placement but still watching through a window.

Otherwise it picks up movement day or night with fairly good focus.

Most everything else I could say is really a dig at Apple and the limitations it puts on third party devices.

by Lupanart

My main issue is “AUTOMATION ALARMS” TAKING OVER 30% of AqaraHome screen EACH TIME I need to quickly check on a camera. Already get these same exact alerts on my device screen. Why are AqaraHome developers DOUBLING these with no option to disable? Let us choose if we want multiple alerts. Dread opening AqaraHome every time the screen is blocked. Just make a notification TAB with all that in chronological order?
Overall good quality, very reliable, EXTENSIVE automation capabilities.

by Xhd45!

Install was blessedly easy. Had a moment of difficulty connecting to wifi but resetting worked. It automatically streams and you have to buy something else in order to change settings to record or detect activity.

by GiuliaNYC

I tried several other brands and experienced a split second or even 1-2 second delay, compared to Aqara which is basically instant. Also - the other brands had glitchy behavior if there were two sensors in one room, or getting the lights back on if they went off while it was in the room. In contrast - Aqara works logically and flawlessly.

by Svrnclv

AqaraHome with the temp/humidity sensors attached does exactly what I need it to do and is very precise about it. You can zoom in and out on the charts which is incredibly helpful if you want more detailed information. My only gripe is the name cards have such a big icon. Would be better if the actual information that I’m seeking was biggest and everything else prioritized after that by descending size, with name being second of course, and somewhere after that would be icon size.

by 311isanokayband

AqaraHome has worked great with my new G3 camera. The interface is very easy to use, and has plenty of features. Setting the camera up with HomeKit Secure Video worked flawlessly. One of my favorite features of the camera and app is the IR control for mini-splits and other appliances.

My suggestion though with the IR control setting is to have the ability to change the temperature control from Celsius to Fahrenheit, or to have that change depending on region. It works with my Mirage, under the Midea configuration, but will change the display on the mini split to Celsius.

If AqaraHome developers can add that feature, it would be very appreciated!

by ISteve-0

I bought my first smart home devices about 2 years ago, not expecting much as technology hadn’t really impressed me (especially not inexpensive tech). So I gave Aqara a shot, buying a few switches and sensors for a great deal on prime day, and I just couldn’t believe how well everything worked.

Most manufacturers make similar products to compete, but Aqara takes those similar products and improves on them giving the customer exactly what they want at a great price, and most importantly it all works!

I have 55 Aqara accessories in my house, from wall switches (with & w/o neutral wires) to motion, contact & light sensors to curtain drivers, cameras & locks, I have been extremely impressed with how everything works.

AqaraHome ties all of this together so well and allows for so much control & functionality that anyone would be able to setup a cutting edge smart home in any of the big-3 ecosystems with ease, whether a novice or grizzled home automation elder.

Aqara support is extremely responsive & they fix issues quickly, as well as incorporating good new ideas from users into the product. Maybe you can tell by now, but I love Aqara & I highly recommend their products to anyone!

by TommyG7

If you follow the online website PDF and set up the system in the suggested order using their app it was quick and easy. The included indoor chime/speaker actually speaks and guides you through the initial setup. The feature set is incredible. Good job! Reasonable price. Good design, technology, build quality.

by Y_Squared

I just did a major upgrade from a 13 y/o MacBook to the newer MacBook Pro, 2020, running Monterey and AqaraHome works well. First time using it on the MacOS. I have several Aqara sensors (w/ Hub) and been using with the iOS. Great to have access on my laptop.

After a download the install was a bit clunky, but it eventually synced up well with the wifi, the hub and sensors. Seems to have transferred a new sensor install over to Homekit with no problems.

The only glitchy bug I see... is when there's a "red dot" notification on the dock app icon, it stays there even after deleting it within AqaraHome . Thanks Aqara for taking the time to do this.

by User135711

I have literally hundreds of cameras from blink, Wyze, ring, sightbulb, cloudedge. This is the only one that works out of the box without a subscription to detect humans. so it is the most useful because if I subscribe to the subscription of all my cameras, I would pay hundreds a month. I can just check this one to see the actual interesting times and then if necessary go back to any other camera at that time.

by Thismusicloverlovesapple

Have been using multiple devices with Aqara over the last couple of months. AqaraHome is responsive and the data AqaraHome provides me is much better than expected. The initial setup (of devices) can get frustrating but just work through it cause AqaraHome is super stable and easy to use once you are setup.

by Kreclj

It’s simple… AqaraHome does what its suppose to, has a simple navigation, does more than other apps of its kind, and has a good dashboard thats customizable! The only things I’d like to see is a little tweaking to the iPad landscape view and either the 1) ability to trigger Shortcuts or 2) ability to share some of their if/then triggers in their app to HomeKit.

by Vaughn House

Works with HomeKit and iCloud also. This is a great camera for home security, garage, baby monitor and pet monitor. With 2 way communication it makes a great tool for speaking to someone like a delivery person. It’s not IP65 rated (outdoors) but for covered areas like porches and back covered patios it has worked fine. I did spray the 2 for outside with boot water proofed. Just remember to put tape over the lens first.