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The vast majority of our reviews come from verified purchases. Reviews from customers may include My Best Buy members, employees, and Tech Insider Network members (as tagged). Select reviewers may receive discounted products, promotional considerations or entries into drawings for honest, helpful reviews.

• Rated 4 out of 5 stars

  The Jury is Out

  • Tech Insider Network Member

  We, my husband and I, have been hesitant to install a video doorbell camera for some time, though we have been intrigued. There are a few reasons why we didn't think it would work well. What with the configuration of our long, covered brick porch, the current location of our wired doorbell, the metal front door with windows on each side and narrow door and window framing abutting to the brick walls not leaving many options for placement of a new unit. Well, we finally gave in and ordered the Aqara Video Doorbell Camera with a wide 175 degree angle field of vision and the option to install it either wired or battery powered. With the current wired doorbell to one side of the porch illogically mounted on brick at least 3 feet away from the door, we figured we could go with the battery power and the included 21 degree angled mounting plate and mount it on the wood on the side of the door and adjacent to the brick wall. When the unit arrived and we opened the box and saw how large was the video doorbell unit, we almost gave up right there. It just didn't seem like there would be enough room to mount the unit. However, my husband decided to mount the plates and give it a try. It ended up having just enough room to clear the brick wall and not cover too much of the window. The wireless setup with the Aqara application was not difficult and after placing the batteries into the Doorbell Camera Hub and plugging the USB cord to power the Sonnette Video Hub, they were up and running. Immediately, the sensor on the Video Hub started sending my phone multiple messages that someone was lingering at my door. It was me! I had not even had a chance to install the unit on its mounts and I had about 10 messages. Then it continued to do this as I tried to take a picture of the unit in its place and when having my husband come up the walkway to the door to test out the unit. Very annoying. There are a couple of other issues that we have such as in the daylight the long tunnel-like porch of ours causes the brightness to obscure the video image of the person at the door depending on where they are standing. This is not helpful and defeats the purpose of having a video image. Then there is the lack of intuitiveness of and instruction for the Aqara application in my opinion. I didn't even know that the G410 had voice capability until I read about in someone else's review. After searching around, I still am stymied on how to use that feature or what other features I may have missed. I am still seeking better instructions and have not even looked into setting up the units through Samsung SmartThings or Google Home. (It does support Apple Home, but we are not Apple aficionados.) Until I can find more info and resolve some of these issues, the jury is out for deliberation as to whether this unit stays at our home.

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  Posted 1 month ago by NatureLover2

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  Great Video Doorbell that Needs No Subscription!

  • Tech Insider Network Member

  The Aqara Camera Hub G 410 is a surprisingly polished system that works well without subscription. It works with Google, Apple, Amazon and Matter home automation systems. The video doorbell unit is completely wireless and is battery operated. The bell chime repeater unit is rated at 95 decibels, which is loud enough for a two-story home, and it is powered through a USB-C cable. I can configure how loud the bell is through the app. Installation is easy and is very intuitive. There’s an app to download, which will be useful to configure the system and to perform firmware update. Every time there’s a person approaching the door, the app will automatically send a notification, and the user can monitor the video feedback. There’s also an audio function through which we can communicate with people outside the door. User can even mask his voice with robotic, anonymous or clown voice. The video doorbell unit is rated to withstand weather conditions. However, it is recommended to install it on a porch or in other shaded areas. Video quality is very good both in the daylight and nighttime. The video maintains good quality in low light, with clear images and sufficient resolution to recognize people. The best part of this video doorbell system is that it works well without subscription. When they say no subscription required, they really mean it. Videos are saved to both local and cloud storage. For an increased level of privacy, the user can disable cloud video upload. Facial recognition system is also locally stored. There’s a micro-SD slot available on the bell chime repeater unit and we can also configure the system to connect to Network-Attached-Storage (NAS) for local video storage. This is a huge win for customers, since many video doorbell systems need a subscription to work well. The subscription system does give extra benefits such as premium AI event and AI video summary, as well as up to 90 days of video event history and 10-minute timed snapshot. However, these are just extra features since even without subscription the video doorbell system works great. Lastly, the app works really well. It’s quite easy to navigate the menu and access our videos. Accessing video archive through the cloud and local storage are both easy. The app is surprisingly polished, and it is very useful. Pros: Works great without subscription Great video quality App works well IP rating to withstand weather conditions Cons: None so far.

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  Posted 1 month ago by Fudgear

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  Flawless Apple Home Compatibility

  • Tech Insider Network Member
  • Top 50 Contributor

  I rely heavily on my home ecosystem, primarily using Apple Home, Google, and Amazon. However, none of my previous video doorbells that I used and am still using supported Apple HomeKit. After using this Aqara G410, I can confidently say, this doorbell complements my Apple ecosystem and allows me to control everything from one app, "Apple Home," which is fantastic. The installation is straightforward; it took me a few minutes to get everything up and running. Installation is versatile; the doorbell can be either wired or battery-powered with 6 AA batteries. I decided to power it up with a battery option to avoid drilling holes in my wall. Also, I used rechargeable batteries even though the package comes with 6 batteries. While the aesthetic design isn't that attractive in its class, it does offer great features that make it one of the best options that I could choose over other models. As such, Apple HomeKit-compatible, wired or battery powered, the chime serves as a Matter bridge for adding third-party devices, Thread, Zigbee hub, which is a plus, and powered by a USB-C port with an SD card slot for local storage (up to 512GB). In my case, I have Apple iCloud+, so I have no problem saving my clips on iCloud using Apple Home with a big caveat. streaming through Apple HomeKit reduces the camera resolution to 1080P; it's just an Apple limitation. It would be great if Apple offered full resolution in future updates. That said, the camera still captures clear videos. The doorbell supports dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4GHz and 5GHz), and I noticed it connected to the 5GHz band, which provides faster speeds. The camera’s 2K resolution offers a 4:3 aspect ratio with great viewing in the field of view. What sets this G410 apart from other models is that it uses mmWave technology instead of a passive infrared sensor. Such technology allows the cameras to detect and identify objects accurately, instead of giving false alerts every time the camera is triggered by a sound. relatedly, the Aqara seems to be a super friendly device and provides a wide range of configurations, and one of them caught my attention, which is how to answer a call on the app and talk to who rang the bell, is to mask your actual voice and use anonymous, robotic, or clown voices, etc... Aside from the default features that other smart doorbells have, the default ringtone can be customized by uploading MP3 format file and replace the default which adds a personal touch to it. I'm super happy with this doorbell, and finally, I have a doorbell that integrates smoothly with Apple Home alongside other services such as Google and Amazon. One note, for continuous streaming and longer recording, wiring the doorbell is required as a battery offers very short clips and no pre- and post-trigger feed only at the time of the event, at least based on my experience. One thing that I didn’t like about this doorbell is the placement of the security screw that is located on the side of the doorbell and covered with a rubber seal. It’s a bit inconvenient, and I would prefer if the screw were located on the bottom instead of the side, just in case I want it to be mounted close to the wall, where the screw hole has no clearance to unscrew it.

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  Posted 1 month ago by Zaid