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Agara’s Indoor Security Camera E1 is the little brother of the excellent Camera Hub G3, designed for those who don’t need all the bells and whistles or the higher price tag. But don’t let that fool you! The pan and tilt E1 is a solid indoor security camera with an excellent feature set and solid video performance in both day and night scenarios. I only have one small complaint. We’ll touch on that in a moment.
Agara Camera E1: Price and Availability
The Agara Indoor Security Camera E1 is currently available exclusively through Amazon.com for $59.99. Although price drops on this unit don’t happen often, in December 2023 it was $44.99. At the time of writing, Amazon is offering a 10% off coupon in the US.
Agara Camera E1: Specifications and features
Agara’s Camera Hub G3 is one of the best indoor cameras out there, but if you’re invested in the Apple ecosystem, the Agara hub might not be what you’re looking for. This is where the Indoor Security Camera E1 comes into play. For under $50, you get most of what the G3 has to offer and some upgraded features in a smaller 4-inch package.
The E1 supports Wi-Fi 6, while the Camera Hub G3 is Wi-Fi 5. The E1 enhances the robust privacy features of the G3 by adding masking zones. You can add a black block to your video feed, so those areas are literally blacked out. In addition to the automated privacy mode, this allows you to set times when the camera will point at a wall or other privacy-oriented area. The privacy options are a great feature, as you’ll see everything clearly with this 2K, f/2.0 camera, which looks great in good lighting and low-light conditions.
Connected to Apple HomeKit, the E1 has Secure Video support for storing event videos in the cloud. However, you can also record locally as it has a microSD slot for up to 512GB of local video storage. This is especially useful if you turn on the camera’s 24-hour recording with timelapse mode. Accessing that slot is simple; just slide the tilting camera lens up to reveal the microSD slot underneath.
One of the features I love to play with is the 2-way communication system. The E1 has a built-in speaker and microphone that you can use as a walkie-talkie to talk to whoever is on the other side of the image. Talk to your kids, loved ones, pets, everyone!
Agara Camera E1: Setup and view
The Camera E1 is well built, despite being mostly plastic. It’s small, 4 inches tall and 2.68 inches wide, so it should easily fit on a bookcase shelf or other space. It can even be mounted on the ceiling and then you can go into the Agara Home app and change the direction of the video.
The camera stays out of the way with an infrared backlight, so if it’s in the bedroom, you won’t notice it when the lights go out. The engine is whisper quiet, so you’ll likely never hear it screeching.
Agara Camera E1: Ease of use
Setting up the Camera E1 is simple, as the Agara and Apple Home apps do it with a QR code. If you have everything you need, you’ll be ready in minutes. In this case, having everything you need means you have a power adapter, as the E1 doesn’t come with a brick in the box, just a USB-C cable.
Setting up the privacy features in the Agara Home app is a breeze, and the manual scrolling and tilting features work well, though there is some lag. You should be aware that once you connect the camera to HomeKit, or opt out of Agara Home and use HK only, you lose access to many privacy features, as well as manual pan and tilt controls. It will still track people and detect movement, but you won’t be able to set these privacy positions, and you’ll lose the ability to set up three occlusion zones. For privacy features, you’ll first need to set them up as scenes on Agara Home, which are then exposed to Apple Home. Then, you can turn them on using automation in Apple Home without the need for the Agara Home app.
One of the important aspects of privacy features is that they are developed natively. The E1 has a built-in neural processing unit that enables human and voice detection in the device.
As I mentioned at the beginning of the piece, my only gripe with Agara’s Indoor Security Camera E1 is that the human tracking auto pan and tilt is finicky. I’ve found that placement affects its tracking, just like the Camera Hub G3. With the camera positioned at hip height (I’m 6′ tall), I found it a bit slow to pan around moving objects, ie me. Position the camera higher where its AI can pick up faces and your human tracking improves.
Agara Camera E1: Competition
There are fewer pan and tilt options that support HomeKit Secure Video, but there are two more cameras worth checking out. We reviewed Eufy’s Pan 2K and liked it 2K Built-in camera E220 and right now it can’t be beat for just $35.99 on Eufy’s website and Amazon.
VOCOlinc Opto HomeKit indoor camera is also an option available for a lower price, $49.99 on their website. It also has pan and tilt, but only works with 1080P video, which is fine due to HKSV limitations when connecting 2K cameras like the E1. HomeKit downscales 2K video to 1080P for video recorded on Apple Home and in the cloud.
Agara Camera E1: Should You Buy It?
You should buy this if…
- You want to flip and tilt at a great price
- Privacy features are important to your use case
- You don’t need all of the Camera Hub G3 features
You should not buy this if…
- It should be installed on a vertical surface such as a wall
Agara Camera E1: Verdict
With the Agara Indoor Security Camera E1, you get quite a lot of cameras for a great price. Occupant and voice detection and robust privacy features make it an excellent choice for use cases where camera occupants are a concern at certain times. Wi-Fi 6 means you have access to a more reliable live video feed in homes with dozens of other Wi-Fi gadgets, and 360-degree rotation means you can see almost anything.
With this feature set, there isn’t much pan and tilt at this price point, so if you’re after PT functionality, the Camera E1 should be on your short list. Even if you don’t need a pod, but PT is important, take a look at the Camera Hub G3, which has more reliable tracking, built-in face recognition, and an alarm in HomeKit.
Agara 2K Indoor Security Camera E1
It’s a tough act to follow, but it’s following you!
You don’t have dozens of pan and tilt cameras that support HomeKit Secure Video, but of those that do, the Camera E1 is one of the best.
