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Aqara, as you may or may not know by now, have been dipping their proverbial toes in the ‘HomeKit paddling pool’ since last August with the Aqara hub, followed by various sensors, switches and buttons. So now one of the next Aqara products to hit the stores, at least initially in China, will be the new Aqara G2 Smart Camera.

If you know anything about Xiaomi/Miji/Aqara, you’ll be aware of the abundance of cameras out there, with all manner of designs and functionality, but they’ve all so far lacked that elusive HomeKit compatibility we’d love to have (unless you’re using HomeBridge etc.). We’ve unofficially been told that this new camera from Aqara, that we estimate will be due out within the next couple of months, won’t be HomeKit compatible at launch, but will, according to our source, get HomeKit compatibility soon after. If this really happens, then with the price in China roughly around $35-$40, will be by far the cheapest HomeKit compatible camera on the market – and that’s even if you take into account importing it at an inflated price from stores like AliExpress, GearBest and the like.

Regardless of whether it does get HomeKit compatibility – and we seriously hope it does – the amount of tech and functionality in the tiny camera is quite astounding. First off the bat, it’s a 1080p camera, it can store footage on an SD Card, via a NAS, or via the Cloud (we presume one of their services). It has motion detection, two-way audio communication capabilities, and if that wasn’t enough it also acts as a Zigbee (v3) hub for Aqara’s own ZigBee-based sensors! If all this comes to pass and it gets the HomeKit update we hope for, then this could also be seen as either an extender for the current Aqara Hub (which is already HomeKit compatible) or even be a total replacement.

The mind boggles at the possibilities, but for now, we’ll just have to sit and wait…

More news as we get it.