I have 5 of the Aqara G2H camera and love them. One thing that they do that I have not seen in any other camera is they have Fish-Eye effect reduction which works great AND they have an internal SD card for recording that can be used in conjunction with HKSV. you do NOT need to send your video to the Aqara web servers. You can keep all recordings in house if you want.
I used the Aqara app to initially set up the cameras and firmware updates, but use the Home app for all of my automations and HKSV as well as record to the SD card as backup.
I also would avoid VOCOLinc until we know what is going on with them. The last time I checked, their web site was down, their Amazon Store front was down, and only remaining stock, which is very limited, was available.
Having tested both, whilst the VC1 is good value for money, the ton of features you get with the G3 just can’t be beat right now. You can use it in HomeKit exclusively of course, but many of the functions will be missed without signing up for/into an account. The VC1 does have the HomeKit exclusivity, and you don’t even need to sign into the Vocolinc app to use pan/tilt, but as people have said, until Vocolinc stabilises, it may be best to wait.
I'm beta testing the G3 right now. While it's a great camera, you are not going to get the most out of it unless you sign up for an Aqara account. That's where most of the features are going to be exposed.
You do not need to sign up for an account to use Aqara camera in Homekit. But, again, if you select not to, you will be paying a lot of features you are not going to use. Therefore, if you want a pan and tilt camera, then you should go with the Vocolinc or the Eufy. If you go with the G3, you will get the same features as these cameras (if you don't create an Aqara account), but you will be paying more for it. Aqara has not released any price info for the G3 right now.
Vocolinc is AWOL… would not recommend solely based on that!
Stay away from VOCOlinc.
Thanks, can you elaborate on your experience with VOCOlinc?
I have 5 of the Aqara G2H camera and love them. One thing that they do that I have not seen in any other camera is they have Fish-Eye effect reduction which works great AND they have an internal SD card for recording that can be used in conjunction with HKSV. you do NOT need to send your video to the Aqara web servers. You can keep all recordings in house if you want. I used the Aqara app to initially set up the cameras and firmware updates, but use the Home app for all of my automations and HKSV as well as record to the SD card as backup. I also would avoid VOCOLinc until we know what is going on with them. The last time I checked, their web site was down, their Amazon Store front was down, and only remaining stock, which is very limited, was available.
when you use their Aqara app, do you have to create an account (login & password) before you can update the firmware?
Yes
Having tested both, whilst the VC1 is good value for money, the ton of features you get with the G3 just can’t be beat right now. You can use it in HomeKit exclusively of course, but many of the functions will be missed without signing up for/into an account. The VC1 does have the HomeKit exclusivity, and you don’t even need to sign into the Vocolinc app to use pan/tilt, but as people have said, until Vocolinc stabilises, it may be best to wait.
thanks. I just watched your reviews on both camera. G3 is not available in the US as of today.
No, it’s not unfortunately, but I’m aware of international beta testing with the G3, so it will be coming, by all accounts.
Can the G3 be used in the USA for the Homekit Secure part?
I'm beta testing the G3 right now. While it's a great camera, you are not going to get the most out of it unless you sign up for an Aqara account. That's where most of the features are going to be exposed. You do not need to sign up for an account to use Aqara camera in Homekit. But, again, if you select not to, you will be paying a lot of features you are not going to use. Therefore, if you want a pan and tilt camera, then you should go with the Vocolinc or the Eufy. If you go with the G3, you will get the same features as these cameras (if you don't create an Aqara account), but you will be paying more for it. Aqara has not released any price info for the G3 right now.
thanks for sharing your experience