Aqara Camera E1

The Aqara Camera E1 is an indoor pan-and-tilt camera. The head motors round through a full circle and tilts up and down, so one unit covers a whole room instead of a single fixed angle. That suits an open-plan space, a nursery or a room where the useful view changes during the day.

What HomeKit Secure Video gives you

Secure Video moves the clever part of the camera onto hardware you own. A HomePod or an Apple TV in the house analyses the footage, and the clips go to iCloud encrypted end to end, where they do not count against your storage allowance.

In return you get person, animal, vehicle and package detection, activity zones so the camera ignores a busy pavement, and face recognition drawn from the People album in your own Photos library.

You need an iCloud+ plan for it. The 50 GB tier covers one camera, 200 GB covers five, and 2 TB removes the limit.

Before you buy

Pan-and-tilt cameras are a compromise. They see everywhere, but only one place at a time, so a moving camera is not the same as full coverage. If you need to be certain a doorway is always watched, a fixed camera pointed at it is the safer choice.

Placement matters too. The camera needs a flat surface or a fixed mount at a height where the head can actually sweep the room without looking at a wall.

For an outdoor position, or if you also want the camera to act as a hub for other Aqara accessories, look at the Aqara Camera Hub G5 Pro instead.

Specifications