How to Choose a Hub

With multiple different Smart Home Hubs to choose from, we get a common question – which hub do I need? Here’s a guide and breakdown. First, let’s start with some basics.

What’s a HomeSmart.sg Aqara hub and why do I need it?

Our range of Aqara Hubs can be thought of as a “Zigbee router”. Most of our Aqara smart home devices communicate with each other using a wireless protocol called Zigbee. However, the smart devices don’t talk to each other directly – instead, they communicate with one of our Aqara Hubs, much like how your smart phone connects to WiFi through your router. So you can imagine your Homesmart.sg Aqara Hub creating a Zigbee wireless network, and all the other smart home devices connecting to the network as clients, or “child devices”.

What are the HomeSmart.sg Aqara Hubs available?

With this many hubs to choose from, the simple answer is that you just have to pick the one that suits your needs. You’ll notice that most of these products have multiple functions – for example, the Camera Hubs are both a security camera and a Zigbee hub. Here’s the breakdown.

Product	RGB Light	Smart Aircon Control	Security Camera	Speakers (for alarms etc.)	Ethernet Port
Hub M3	No	Yes	No	Yes (95 dB, loud)	Yes (PoE)
Hub M200	No	Yes	No	Yes (90 dB)	Yes (PoE)
Hub M100	No	No	No	No	No
Hub M1S Gen 2	Yes (18-LED ring)	No	No	Yes	No
Camera Hub G2H Pro	Status LED only (not decorative)	No	Yes (1080p)	Yes	No
Camera Hub G350	No	No	Yes (4K dual-lens)	No	No
Camera Hub G5 Pro (PoE)	No	No	Yes (2.6K, IP65)	Yes (100 dB)	Yes (PoE)
Camera Hub G5 Pro (Wi-Fi)	No	No	Yes (2.6K, IP65)	Yes (100 dB)	No
Panel Hub S1 Plus	No	No	No	Yes	No
Doorbell Hub G410	No	No	Yes (2K, 175°)	Yes (95 dB chime)	No

To be clear, “RGB Light” above means there’s a light built into the product itself; not that it can control RGB lights.

With these differences spelt out, it makes the choice easier. For example, if you need a home monitoring camera, it makes sense to pick our Aqara G2H Pro or the Aqara G3 cameras. If you don’t, the M200 or M3 may be more suitable.

If you’re just looking for the most affordable option, our Aqara E1 is your best bet.

Will I need multiple Zigbee hubs?

As these hubs are creating a wireless network, naturally, there is a limitation of the wireless range. Depending on the size of your home, or on the spread of the HomeSmart.sg Aqara smart devices you’re installing, you may need multiple hubs.

Each hub has a range of up to 20 metres (with no walls in between). In real world applications and considering walls, you should probably have one hub per 500sqft (this is an estimate). For best results, you may even consider one hub per room – this ties in nicely with our Aqara M200 or M3 hubs as air-conditioner controls, as they can only control the air-conditioners in the room it’s in.

Note that ultimately, many factors such as your home’s layout, furniture, thickness of walls affect your Zigbee network, and there is no way to definitively know how many you will actually need in real life. The only way to know for sure is to actually set your home up, and check the Zigbee signal on your devices in the app.

Zigbee Repeaters

One thing to note is that Zigbee creates a Mesh network – meaning certain Zigbee devices actually work as repeaters. They connect to your main Zigbee hub, and become part of the mesh Zigbee network – essentially extending the range. This means that it may be possible to have only a single hub in your home if you have multiple repeaters.

What works as repeaters? Basically, any plugged-in and permanently powered Zigbee device (excluding anything that has a battery). This includes:

• Wired wall switches (neutral only – no-neutral switches do NOT work as Zigbee repeaters)
• Smart lights and bulbs
• Curtain and blind motors

If you have these products in your home, you may require less Zigbee hubs. Do note however that every hub also has a maximum number of Zigbee child devices they can be connected to [most hubs can support maximum 32 devices, some support more (M3) or less (M100)].

Can I use different hubs in one home?

Yes! That’s the point. You could, for example, use the G3 in the living room for home monitoring + smart aircon control, and the M200 in the bedroom for smart aircon only.

What we like about each hub

HomeSmart.sg Aqara M3 Hub

The M3 is our flagship hub and the one we recommend most. It’s the most capable standalone hub in the lineup — and for good reason. It handles up to 127 devices (64 directly, more via Zigbee router devices extending the mesh), has a 360° IR blaster for smart aircon control (including inside Apple Home), a 95dB speaker for alarms and automations, PoE support, and dual-band Wi-Fi. It runs automations locally — including multi-hub Edge automations — meaning your smart home keeps working even when the internet goes down. And with a second M3 in the home, even a failed hub’s automations get taken over automatically.

What sets it apart from the rest of the lineup isn’t any single feature, it’s the combination. Aircon control in Apple Home is genuinely rare. The speaker opens up automation possibilities most people don’t think about until they have it: door open alerts, security alarms, custom announcements. And at 127+127 devices, it has headroom for even the most extensively fitted-out home.

If you’re building a smart home from scratch and want one hub that handles everything without compromise, this is it.

HomeSmart.sg Aqara M200 Hub

The M200 sits in a sweet spot that the M2 used to occupy but couldn’t match on specs. It’s a Matter Controller and Thread Border Router with Wi-Fi 6, powered by USB-C or PoE, handles aircon control via its IR blaster, and supports up to 40 Zigbee and 40 Thread devices – more than enough for a typical Singapore home. Most importantly, its air-conditioner control is supported on Apple Home — and it even detects when the original aircon remote is used, keeping the aircon’s status in sync. A 90dB speaker with custom audio messages rounds out alarms and alerts.

For households who want a capable, future-ready hub without paying flagship prices, it’s our go-to mid-range recommendation. Upgrading from an older Aqara M2? Read our Hub M200 vs M2 comparison.

HomeSmart.sg Aqara M1S Gen 2 Hub

A very nice product with a great idea of an RGB light that can create a localized mood in a corner of your room. Its built-in speakers can also get pretty loud, making it a good option for a doorbell, security alarm, or to get notifications. You’re able to create automations that combine both lights AND sounds, so it could be a great way to have notifications that alert you both audibly and visually.

Placement of the hub a bit harder due to its inbuilt, 2-pin plug design.

HomeSmart.sg Aqara Hub M100

Small in size, big in features. This unassuming, very affordable hub is great for creating a Zigbee network in areas your main hubs can’t get to. In fact, it can be used as a main Zigbee Hub if you don’t need all the other features such as cameras or air-con control.

It’s also a Thread Border Router and a Matter Controller for forward compatibility.

HomeSmart.sg Aqara G2H Pro Camera Hub

Our favourite camera, the G2H Pro is compactly sized and easy to mount – features we consider important for a camera. It might not have all the bells and whistles of its bigger brother, the G3, but is perfectly capable in its own right.

Some customers prefer a camera that can pan and tilt (you’ll need the G3 for that), but we’re not convinced pan-tilt is an important consideration for a home monitoring camera.

HomeSmart.sg G350 Camera Hub

The G350 is the G3’s successor and currently the most capable indoor camera hub we stock. The dual-lens system — a 4K wide-angle and 2.5K telephoto with 9x hybrid zoom — is a meaningful step up from the G3’s single 2K lens, and the AI tracking is noticeably smoother.

As a hub, it’s also a Thread Border Router and Matter Controller, making it more future-ready than the G3. The one thing it gives up is the IR blaster, so it can’t do aircon control. If your aircon is handled by an M-series hub, that’s not a problem. If you need camera and aircon from one device, the G3 remains the only option.

HomeSmart.sg Aqara G3 Camera Hub

The Aqara G3 is the only product that gives you both home monitoring camera functions (complete with pan-tilt controls), and smart aircon control. It’s a bit bulky and hard to mount, but that’s not a problem when you’re seating it on a shelf, counter, or console.

HomeSmart.sg Aqara Camera Hub G5 Pro

Waterproof and weatherproof, the G5 is generally used outside the home as a security camera, and so may serve perfectly as a hub for any products you’re using outdoors.

HomeSmart.sg Aqara Video Doorbell G410

A doorbell and a hub. At this point, we’re worried that the hub offerings may confuse clients. However, as our digital locks are very popular, even standalone that’s not part of a larger smart home system, the Aqara G410 works perfectly as a product that works in tandem with an Aqara door lock – serving as its Zigbee hub or Thread Border Router, while fulfilling its duties as a doorbell.

HomeSmart.sg Aqara MagicPad S1 Plus / Panel Hub S1 Plus

A touchscreen switch that works as a Zigbee hub. Considering the higher price point, most clients incorporate this touchscreen panel into their smart home for its customizable screen, its function as a security camera / doorbell monitor, and its easy touch controls – not for its Zigbee hub function. Still, it’s a useful feature.

Comparing Hubs

Aqara M3 vs M200

The Aqara M3 Hub and the Aqara M200 Hub are both Matter Controllers with IR-based aircon control – and both exposes the aircon on multiple platforms, including Apple Home and Google. On paper, they cover the same ground. The meaningful differences come down to scale, connectivity, and future-proofing ceiling.

The M3 supports up to 127 devices — 64 connected directly, with the rest joining through router devices (plugged-in Zigbee devices like neutral-wired wall switches) that extend the mesh — against the M200’s 40 Zigbee + 40 Thread. For a larger home with many devices spread across rooms, that headroom matters. One thing that isn’t a difference, despite what some comparisons claim: both hubs support PoE (48V⎓0.27A on the M3, 48V⎓0.25A on the M200) and both have loud built-in speakers (95dB on the M3, 90dB on the M200). Power, ports and alarm volume shouldn’t drive this decision.

What genuinely separates them is what happens when your smart home grows beyond one hub — or when something goes wrong. The M3 is an Edge hub: automations that span multiple hubs run locally on the M3 itself instead of through Aqara’s cloud, making them faster and more resilient. With several Aqara hubs in one home, the M3 forms a Hub Cluster and leads up to 10 of them; with two or more M3s, a hub that goes offline has its automations automatically taken over by the others. The M3 also carries 8GB of encrypted onboard storage for automation configurations and device logs, and it can absorb an older hub (M2, M1S, E1) during an upgrade with its configuration retained. The M200 can join a cluster as a member, but it can’t lead one, and it has none of this failover machinery.

The M200 pushes back with two advantages of its own. It’s the newer platform — Wi-Fi 6, USB-C, launched late 2025 — and its IR blaster detects when the original aircon remote is used, keeping the aircon’s real state in sync in the app and in Apple Home. The M3 doesn’t advertise remote detection; it sounds minor, but it’s what stops automations from acting on stale “aircon is off” data after someone in the family uses the physical remote.

Verdict: For most HDB and condo setups with under 40 devices, one or two aircons, and no multi-hub ambitions, the M200 is genuinely sufficient and saves you money. Go for the M3 if you’re building a whole-home system with many devices or several hubs — or if you never want automations to die because the internet or a single hub did. The two also pair well together: an M3 as the main (leading) hub, with M200s as satellite hubs handling the aircon in other rooms.

Aqara M3 vs M100

Surprisingly close on protocol support — both the M100 and M3 are Zigbee hubs, Thread Border Routers, and Matter Controllers. The $200 price gap is explained by everything the M3 adds on top: IR aircon control, a 95dB speaker, PoE, the Edge and Hub Cluster resilience features, and a device cap of up to 127 devices vs the M100’s 20+20.

For a secondary hub in a spare room, or a small flat with no aircon control needs, the M100 is exceptional value. As a primary hub for a full home setup, the M3’s features earn their premium.

Verdict: M100 for secondary coverage or minimalist setups. M3 when aircon, speaker automations, or a large device count are part of the plan.

Aqara M200 vs M100

Both are Matter Controllers and Thread Border Routers — the real question is whether you need aircon control. The M200 adds an IR blaster for smart aircon and doubles device capacity (40+40 vs 20+20) for $60 more. The M100 is the more compact, affordable option for rooms where aircon control isn’t needed.

Verdict: M200 if aircon control is on the list. M100 if you’re adding a hub purely for Zigbee/Thread coverage.

Aqara G3 vs G350

Both are indoor PTZ camera hubs with Zigbee, but the G350 is the G3’s direct successor and a significant step up. The G3 offers 2K resolution, an IR blaster for aircon control, and connects up to 128 Zigbee devices — still a very capable hub for $239. The G350 moves to 4K dual-lens with 9x hybrid zoom, adds Thread Border Router and Matter Controller support, Wi-Fi 6, and supports up to 512GB local storage.

The one thing the G350 removes that the G3 has: the IR blaster. If you’re relying on a camera hub for aircon control, the G3 (or an M-series hub) is the only option.

Verdict: G3 if you need aircon control from a camera hub, or if 2K resolution is sufficient. G350 if you want the best indoor camera we stock, Matter compatibility, and Thread — and your aircon is already handled by an M-series hub or a smart AC unit.

Aqara G410 vs M-series

The G410 often comes up alongside M-series hubs for customers pairing with an Aqara smart door lock. As a Thread Border Router and Matter Controller, the G410 can serve as the primary hub for a Thread-based lock — meaning you may not need a separate standalone hub at the entrance.

That said, the G410 is a doorbell first. If your use case extends beyond the door — aircon control, sensors throughout the home, multiple rooms — an M-series hub should be your primary hub, with the G410 complementing it. For a minimal setup centred around a lock and doorbell only, the G410 alone can be sufficient.

Verdict: G410 as a standalone hub works well for lock-and-doorbell-only setups. For a fuller smart home, pair it with an M100, M200, or M3 as the primary hub.

For Advanced Users

If you’ve done some further reading, you’ll probably hear other things like “Matter” and “Thread”. Here’s the lowdown.

• Thread is an alternative to Zigbee – essentially a competing standard. However, it’s not yet as commonplace as Zigbee.
• Matter is a new smart home standard that was introduced a few years ago, but hasn’t fully reached maturity and mass adoption.

We’ve concentrated mostly on Zigbee hubs because it’s established, well-developed, and most of our products are based on the Zigbee standard. While Matter and Thread may be the future, it isn’t yet the present. For homeowners who want a dependable, established system here and now, we recommend taking Matter and Thread out of the equation because it blurs lines and confuses many of the clients we’ve spoken to.

If you’re a forward looking, tech-savvy homeowner, then this might be important to you in the future – especially if you plan to continue tinkering and adding devices as you go along.

Here’s a quick table to understand more about how our hubs have Thread or Matter integration.

Product	Zigbee Hub	Thread Border Router	Matter Controller	Matter Bridge
Hub M3	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Hub M200	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Hub M100	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Hub M1S Gen 2	Yes	No	No	No
Camera Hub G2H Pro	Yes	No	No	No
Camera Hub G350	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Camera Hub G5 Pro (PoE)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Camera Hub G5 Pro (Wi-Fi)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Panel Hub S1 Plus	Yes	No	No	Yes
Doorbell Hub G410	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes