Aqara E1, unbeatable value for money | iPhone News

We are trying one of the cameras with the best specifications on the market despite its low price. The new Aqara E1 is almost a must-buy for anyone who wants a home video surveillance service.

Aqara’s new E1 camera has everything you need to make it first on your shopping list. Compact, discreet, with 2K resolution, possibility of recording in the cloud or on microSD card, compatible with HomeKit Secure Video (and other platforms), motorized, night vision and with privacy mode, all this for an official price of $59.99 which may be lower with some promotion. It is a round product whose main virtues we explain below.

Features

• 2K resolution (1296p) f/2.0 lens
• 101º viewing angle (360º thanks to motorization)
• Two-way audio
• Local microSD storage up to 512 GB (not included), cloud and NAS
• USB-C connection
• Connectivity WiFi-6 b/g/n/ax 2.4 GHz
• People and animal detection
• Tracking people in motion
• Compatibility with HomeKit Secure Video, Alexa, Google Home, IFTTT

We have before us a small, discreet camera with a design and color that make it suitable for any corner of the house. It can also be placed on a wall using a screw support, or on the ceiling, using the support provided in the box. From the application we can then configure it to rotate the image without this being necessary. A shelf, a display case… the only requirement to take into account when placing the Aqara E1 is that we need a nearby outlet, since it does not have a built-in battery, therefore the connection to the network electrical must be constant. We also need to have good WiFi coverage, which won’t be complicated if our router is half decent thanks to WiFi 6 compatibility.

In the camera we find few elements that attract attention. A front LED that indicates the status of the camera (on, viewing and recording), the speaker grill and the USB-C connector to connect the cable that will supply power. The camera head is motorized and, with its 110º viewing angle, allows it to cover 360º of the room in which you place it.. The movement is horizontal and vertical, which allows it to perfectly follow the people it detects, if that’s how you have it set up. The microSD slot for local storage appears when the lens is in the most vertical position possible.

Setting

As usual, the configuration process can be done directly from the iOS Home app or from the Aqara app, and it is better to do it from the latter since the configuration options are greater. It is a very direct and simple procedure, scan the camera QR code with our iPhone camera. If you start the setup process with the Aqara app, at the end of it you will have the steps to add it to your HomeKit network.

The E1 camera gives us many configuration options in its Aqara application. It doesn’t have as many features as the excellent (and much more expensive) G3, but for many, this E1 will be more than enough, as it offers much more than most HomeKit surveillance cameras. For example, we can configure people detection, so that it does not notify us if our dog is detected, but when a person appears in its field of vision. We can also configure it to follow it around the room

, thanks to the fact that it is a motorized camera. We also have the ability to detect noises, such as alarms. We can configure the recordings on the microSD card or in the Aqara cloud, so that it records continuously or only when it detects a person. Not to mention the long list of automations that we can configure with the camera, which can serve either as the “start” of the automation (if it detects something, for example), or as the “end” of it ( If something happens that we preset, it will enable or disable certain camera features).

The motorization of the camera allows interesting options, such as capturing panoramic views of the room where it is located at times that you have previously set in the settings, or of course the possibility of seeing the camera live from our mobile and be able to manually move the camera with the control button that appears on the screen. We can set up predefined positions, and we can have the camera return to one of the positions once it has finished moving, so that it is always placed in the desired position. Another very nice option that not many cameras have is Privacy mode, in which the camera turns completely and stops recording at the times you have scheduled. Or the possibility of establishing areas which will not be recorded, in your field of vision.

The Home app doesn’t offer us as many features. For starters, image quality is limited to 1920×1080, and we won’t have any control over camera movements. But rather We have iCloud cloud recording for free if we have contracted additional storage in the Apple cloud. Additionally, anything recorded will not count as occupied space, so it is a great option for storing videos from our cameras. We can configure when we want it to be recorded, and also establish two different settings depending on whether we are at home or not.

Editor’s opinion

The Aqara E1 is a perfect surveillance camera for those looking for great value for money, with advanced recognition features that only much more expensive cameras usually have. Good image quality, motorization and integration with HomeKit Secure Video, all that’s missing is being able to be a Zigbee Hub, like the G3, but which is also much more expensive. Its price is $59.99 (official) and can be purchased on Amazon (link) sometimes at even lower prices.