Aqara G4 Smart Doorbell review - The First HomeKit battery powered smart doorbelll

One of the most highly anticiptated HomeKit devices is finally here, the Aqara G4 Doorbell. The new device from Aqara is the first battery powered HomeKit Secure Video doorbell that also features local AI face processing. 

I have been testing this for just over 2 months and tbh have mixed thought on the performance of it. So continue watching to find out my thoughts and some of the issues I have uncovered.

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Intro 0:00
Design 0:54
Install 2:33
Settings and HomeKit 4:09
Performance 7:09
Review summary 10:47

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#HomeKit #Aqara #smarthome

[MichelBouman]

The screw on the side is such a design flaw. Many homes have brick walls on the side of the door. No way to screw/unscrew the plate. The screw shouldve been on the top or bottom

[Byte_J]

I have one running on battery power and I haven’t had any issues with the Home app showing a live feed in the tile.

[Nardes]

Installed mine yesterday and I have not had ANY HomeKit issues that you or Shane have mentioned. Everything has been rock solid. I did have a firmware update waiting for me after installation and maybe that fixed some issues? For the record I am wired in and not using batteries.

[thejayzed]

Excellent review and very impressed to see you remain unbiased and provide your honest experience. I have owned it for a month now and have had the same issues plus also the "blinking blue light of death" which causes the doorbell to lost connection to the chime permanently and require a power reboot on the doorbell almost on a daily basis.

Between the extremely frequent connection issues, poor PIR motion detection, buggy software and notifications I have to say this doorbell is currently not fit for purpose which is a real shame as we have all been eagerly awaiting for it. I have engaged with aqara support and I really hope they fix these issues ASAP or most of us will end up returning it,

[gmac.]

One thing I can not find an answer to is, can you chime your home pods through out the home like you can with the Logitec? Thanks G.

[mavirek]

Can an automation be created that triggers when the Aqara doorbell is run? Or is the only option to trigger an automation when the Aqara doorbell detects motion? If only the latter is possible, then can the field be limited so only someone directly in front of the doorbell camera is detected?

[hopalong]

Your videos are great but please don’t have background music. It’s really off putting

[vitorppt]

Thanks for the excellent review 😃
I was long waiting for this doorbell and got very disappointed when I saw the specs recommending the installation in a shaded area.
You were the first installing it outside at the rain. I was wondering if it would survive if I built a small plastic protection around protruding 15mm, until I saw your review.
Did you actually got serious rain in the testing period or only light rain?
Any recommendation regarding this topic?
Many thanks

[sarpeeletronica]

its possible to use without Apple Hubs as Apple TV or home pod?

[IamJewz]

Chiming in to say I’m on battery and live preview is working for me. Love the product though my gripes are the aspect ratio and the colors are kinda washed out compared to when I used my Ring doorbell via Scrypted for HKSV.

[ljieyao]

hi, are you putting it at the outdoor? how does it perform when there is raining or high temperature?

[alfredoferrentino]

Is it possible to improve the signal between the receiver and the doorbell in case of weak signal, in your opinion, maybe with an extender or similar device?

[JMC]

The “updating” thing is a HomeKit issue. It’s every single device in my house. It’s also something people are complaining about on Reddit.

[emmasoccer]

Installed mine the day it came out and have to say it works flawless. I do like your review but what I’ve experienced isn’t the same. Great product from me in Canada. Cheers

[trauatsgg]

Thanks for the video. Great information. I have the aqara doorbell. When the doorbell is pressed the video pops up on my Home kit apple TV. My question is...How do I make the video popup on Home kit when 'motion' is detected?

[Shaneb]

Will the home kit live view work when it has wired power supply? As it can be set to Constant streaming and recording? Also what’s the notification response time on devices when motion or doorbell is triggered?

[siobhanellis]

You obviously had a pre-production unit, as you've been testing for 2 months. I've just got a new one (UK).

It ran for 2 days, and then I lost connection to WiFi. I had to completely reset and it to get it back. However, this was with a beta FW and it has now been working issue. So I think the issue is they released too soon.

I added to HK without adding to Aqara App. However, you nee dto add to Aqara App to upgrade FW.

I completely agree about the camera. I also had a Netatmo door bell and I found that Netatmo saw my doorstep, and Aqara did not.

I do think the picture quality is better from Aqara.

I found the ring responsiveness to be very good, especially compared to Netatmo.

[victorli]

I have similar HK integration issue with the D100 door lock that it drops off from HK and with a status of not responding. After speaking with Aqara support and without making any changes, it started to reconnect and has been working fine since. My G3 hub has been rock solid since day one. Without much understanding on how integration with HK works, I am guessing there could be an integration server on Aqara side somewhere to perform the HK registration before Zigbee comes into play.

[justinphy]

Just got it today. And mine does give me the live updates in the home app on the main screen

[mikedavis]

Is there an ideal height to mount doorbell camera so that heads aren’t cut off as person approaches door? My present doorbell is mounted just a little above the door knob height. I know that would be too low.