Every camera in this search tells you, in brackets, at the end of a bullet, that HomeKit caps them at 1080p. The best seller is a 4K camera. Connect it to Apple Home and three quarters of the pixels you paid for stop existing. One camera here goes further and admits something worse: link it to HomeKit and it drops to 1080p in its own app too, and only returns to full resolution when you disconnect Apple again. And not one of these ten cameras mentions Matter.
At a glance
| Camera | Native resolution, and on HomeKit | Price tier | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aqara G100 (white) | 2K native, 1080p on HomeKit. IP65. Cheapest here | Budget | |
| Aqara G100 (black) | The same camera, minus one plain note | Budget | |
| eufy E30 | 4K native, 1080p on HomeKit. The best seller | Budget | |
| Aqara E1 | 2K native. 940nm IR chosen not to wake you | Mid-range | |
| eufy E220 2-Cam Kit | 2K native, 1080p on HomeKit. Two cameras | Mid-range | |
| eufy E30 2-Pack | Two 4K cameras, cheaper each than one | Premium | |
How to choose
HomeKit costs you three quarters of your pixels
This is the single fact that should decide your purchase and every listing here buries it in a bracket. HomeKit limits these cameras to 1080p, full stop, whatever the sensor is. So the 4K camera and the 2K camera become the same camera the moment they join Apple Home. If Apple Home is where you are going to live, stop paying for resolution you will never see and spend the money on the lens, the night vision or the privacy features instead. If you will use the maker’s own app, the sensor matters again.
Linking HomeKit can degrade the camera everywhere
Aqara’s G100 spells out the part nobody expects: connect it to both Apple Home and Aqara Home and it drops to 1080p in Aqara Home as well, returning to full 1296p only if you disconnect HomeKit. So this is not a case of Apple showing you a lower-quality stream while the good one carries on elsewhere. Joining HomeKit reaches back and turns the whole camera down. That sentence exists in one listing on this page and it applies to how you would actually use any of them.
Nothing here supports Matter
The word appears in the search and in none of the ten listings. These cameras integrate through HomeKit, Alexa, Google, IFTTT and, in Aqara’s case, Home Assistant over RTSP. If you are shopping for a camera because you want everything in one Matter setup, this category is not there yet, and no product on this page is pretending otherwise. Buy for the ecosystem you actually use today rather than the standard you hope will unify them.
HomeKit Secure Video is not free, and only one brand says so
Two listings here state it plainly: HomeKit Secure Video requires an active iCloud subscription and an Apple Home hub. Elsewhere on this page you will read no monthly fees in the same breath as works with HomeKit. Both are true, and they are about different things: the no-fee promise covers that brand’s own local SD storage, not Apple’s recording service. If HomeKit recording is what you want, budget for iCloud and a hub, whatever the camera box says.
The AI you paid for may only exist in the maker’s app
Aqara notes twice that its detection features are only available in Aqara Home, and that two-way audio on one model is the same. Stack that up: run the camera through HomeKit and you lose three quarters of the resolution, the AI detection, and possibly the ability to talk through it. What HomeKit gives you back is Apple’s encryption and a single app. That is a real trade and it is worth making deliberately rather than discovering it on a Sunday.
940 nanometers is the nursery specification
Infrared comes in two flavors and only Aqara tells you which it uses. The common kind glows a visible dull red at night. The 940 nanometer kind is invisible, and Aqara publishes it on both cameras with two different reasons: on one it is covert so it does not alert an intruder, on the other it is designed not to disrupt your sleep. If the camera is going in a bedroom or a nursery, that is the spec, and nobody else on this page states theirs at all.
Aqara G100 (white)
The cheapest camera here and the only one rated IP65, so it works indoors or nailed to a wall outside. It shoots 2304 by 1296 through an f/1.8 lens across 140 degrees, which is the widest and brightest optics on this page and the only aperture anybody publishes. Records 24/7 to a microSD up to 512GB or to a NAS, streams to Home Assistant over RTSP, and has 940nm infrared plus a spotlight. Its listing also admits that neither night vision mode turns on automatically.
Pros:
- Cheapest camera here, and IP65 for indoors or out
- f/1.8 across 140 degrees; the only published aperture
- Admits the night vision modes must be switched on manually
- RTSP to Home Assistant; microSD to 512GB or NAS
Cons:
- Joining HomeKit drops it to 1080p in Aqara Home too
- Power adapter not included; needs 5V and 1A
- AI detection and two-way audio only in the Aqara app
Best for: anywhere, cheaply, from the listing that discloses most.
Aqara G100 (black)
The same camera in black at the same price: same 2304 by 1296, same f/1.8 across 140 degrees, same IP65, same 940nm infrared, same RTSP, same real paragraph about HomeKit pulling the resolution down in Aqara’s own app. One difference, and it is a subtraction. The white listing warns that both night vision modes must be manually enabled and do not turn on automatically. This one does not carry that note. Same hardware, one less disclosure.
Pros:
- Identical hardware to the white version, same price
- IP65 rated; f/1.8 lens across 140 degrees
- Explains exactly what HomeKit does to its resolution
- RTSP, NAS and microSD storage all supported
Cons:
- Omits the manual night-vision note its twin includes
- Power adapter not included
- AI detection and two-way audio only in the Aqara app
Best for: black, if you have read the white listing first.
eufy E30
The best-selling camera in this search by a wide margin, and the most camera for the money if you stay in eufy’s app: 4K recording around the clock, a 360 degree pan and tilt with tap-to-focus, on-device AI that separates humans from pets and picks out crying, automatic tracking, and color night vision with a spotlight that doubles as a deterrent. Local SD storage with no subscription. Then the bracket: HomeKit supports up to 1080p, so on Apple the 4K is gone.
Pros:
- The best seller here, by a wide margin
- 4K around the clock; the highest sensor on this page
- On-device AI including crying detection; auto tracking
- Color night vision with a spotlight; local SD, no fees
Cons:
- HomeKit takes 4K down to 1080p
- No aperture, field of view or infrared wavelength published
- Sold under several near-identical listings
Best for: 4K in eufy’s own app, which is where the 4K lives.
Aqara E1
The camera that thought about being watched. Its privacy mode physically pivots the lens away and deactivates the camera, and the microphone can be disabled separately, by hand or on a schedule, which is the difference between trusting a setting and seeing the lens pointing at a wall. The 940nm infrared is specifically chosen not to disrupt your sleep. Add 2304 by 1296 through f/2.0, Wi-Fi 6 with WPA3, an on-device processor for local detection, and 24/7 recording to microSD with SMB3 NAS backup.
Pros:
- Privacy mode physically pivots the lens away and shuts it off
- 940nm infrared chosen not to disturb sleep
- Wi-Fi 6 with WPA3; on-device detection
- 24/7 microSD recording with SMB3 NAS backup
Cons:
- AI detection only works in the Aqara app
- Power supply not included; needs 5V and 2A
- 2.4GHz Wi-Fi only; 5GHz not supported
Best for: a bedroom, where invisible infrared and a pivoting lens matter.
eufy E220 2-Cam Kit
Two cameras in one box, which is the plain way to cover a house, and the listing is refreshingly plain about the resolution: up to 2K clarity, 1080p while using HomeKit, said in one breath rather than hidden in a footnote. On-device AI decides whether a human or pet is present and only records when something happens, which cuts the notification noise that makes people turn cameras off. Pan and tilt for 360 degree coverage with motion tracking, two-way audio, and Homebase 3 compatibility.
Pros:
- Two cameras in the box; covers two rooms at once
- States the HomeKit resolution limit in the same sentence as its own
- Records only when AI sees a human or pet; less noise
- Homebase 3 compatible for central storage
Cons:
- 2K rather than the 4K of its stablemate
- No aperture, field of view or infrared wavelength published
- Plug-in; no battery option
Best for: two rooms, from the eufy listing that hides the least.
eufy E30 2-Pack
Two of the best-selling camera for less per camera than buying one, which makes the single listing hard to justify if you have two rooms. Everything carries over: 4K around the clock, 360 degree pan and tilt with tap-to-focus, on-device AI separating humans, pets and crying, automatic tracking, color night vision with a spotlight, and local SD storage with no subscription. The same bracket applies twice over: HomeKit supports up to 1080p, so buy this for eufy’s app.
Pros:
- Two 4K cameras for less each than a single
- On-device AI including crying detection, on both
- Color night vision with spotlight; auto tracking
- Local SD storage; no subscription required
Cons:
- HomeKit still takes both down to 1080p
- The most expensive listing on this page
- SD cards not included, for either camera
Best for: two rooms in 4K, at the best price per camera here.
The verdict
HomeKit caps every camera here at 1080p, so a 4K sensor and a 2K sensor are the same camera on Apple Home. One of them drops to 1080p in its own app too, just for being connected. Nothing here supports Matter. Decide which app you will actually open, then buy for that.
Best overall: Aqara E1. It is the only camera here that takes being watched seriously: the privacy mode physically pivots the lens to face a wall and switches the camera off, and the microphone can be killed separately. Its 940nm infrared is chosen specifically not to disturb sleep, which is the spec for a bedroom. Wi-Fi 6 with WPA3, on-device detection, 24/7 recording to SD with NAS backup, and it states the iCloud and hub requirements plainly.
Best value: Aqara G100 in white. The cheapest camera in this search, IP65 so it works outdoors as well, and the best optics on the page at f/1.8 across 140 degrees, which is the only aperture anyone publishes. It records to SD or a NAS and streams to Home Assistant over RTSP. Buy the white one specifically: its listing warns that the night vision modes need switching on manually, and its identical black twin leaves that out.
Best premium: eufy E30 2-Pack. Two of the best-selling camera in this search for less each than a single one, with the highest sensor here at 4K, on-device AI that separates humans, pets and crying, automatic tracking and color night vision with a spotlight. All of it stays local with no subscription. Buy it knowing the 4K only exists inside eufy’s own app.
FAQ
Do these actually support Matter?
No. Not one of the ten listings in this search mentions Matter. They connect through HomeKit, Alexa, Google, IFTTT and, on Aqara, Home Assistant over RTSP. If a single Matter setup is the goal, cameras are not there yet.
Will I get 4K in Apple Home?
No. Every listing here states that HomeKit caps them at 1080p, in brackets. That makes the 4K camera and the 2K camera identical on Apple Home, so spend the difference on the lens or the privacy features instead.
Does connecting HomeKit affect the maker’s own app?
On one camera, yes, and it says so: link the G100 to both Apple and Aqara Home and it drops to 1080p in Aqara Home too, recovering full resolution only when HomeKit is disconnected. That is worth knowing before you pair anything.
Is HomeKit Secure Video free?
No. Two listings here state it needs an active iCloud subscription and an Apple Home hub. The no monthly fee promises elsewhere on this page refer to that brand’s own local SD storage, which is a different thing entirely.
Which infrared should a bedroom camera have?
940 nanometer, which is invisible. Only Aqara publishes its wavelength, on both cameras, describing it as covert on one and as designed not to disrupt sleep on the other. The common alternative glows a visible red all night.
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