n home security devices, the core value of a smart camera has never been about stacking parameters, but about truly addressing the pain points of “peace of mind in monitoring, ease of use, and reassurance in privacy protection”. Xiaomi’s newly launched Smart Camera 4C 3.5K, priced at 199 yuan and equipped with flagship-level configurations such as 6-megapixel ultra-clear image quality, AI smart tracking, and dual-band Wi-Fi 6, has attracted much attention recently. We will conduct a detailed review of this product.
Appearance: Simple Design, Compact and Elegant
The Xiaomi Smart Camera 4C 3.5K features an all-white design with a rounded body and a rotatable pan-tilt, allowing it to naturally blend into various home styles such as living rooms, bedrooms, and children’s rooms without feeling obtrusive. Its compact size makes it flexible to place or wall-mount, which is friendly to small apartments.
The most notable feature is the “physical lens cover” function — via a lever on the side of the body, the lens can be retracted upward into the body. At this point, the camera completely stops recording, cutting off image capture at the physical level. Compared to simply turning off monitoring via software, this design gives users a more direct sense of control over their privacy, making it especially suitable for people living alone or scenarios where temporary monitoring shielding is needed (such as working from home).
Image Quality: 3.5K Ultra-Clear + Large Sensor, Clear View Day and Night
As Xiaomi’s first 6-megapixel indoor camera, the core advantage of the 4C 3.5K lies in its image quality. Its 3200×1800 resolution (3.5K) paired with a 1/2.45-inch large BSI (Backside Illuminated) image sensor, whose light-sensitive area is approximately 30% larger than that of products in the same price range, brings two intuitive experiences:
● Rich details during the day: Equipped with 6P f/1.6 high-transparency optical lenses and WDR (Wide Dynamic Range) technology, it can retain details in both bright and dark areas even in backlit scenes (such as shooting the living room from a backlit window). In tests, even when sunlight directly hit the desktop, small characters on picture books and textures of toys could still be clearly distinguished.
● Clearer night vision: It is equipped with 8 940nm infrared fill lights, achieving red-light-free night vision — no red light is emitted when turned on at night, avoiding interference with sleep (especially suitable for baby rooms). Combined with the large sensor, it can still capture full-color images in low-light environments (such as in the evening without turning on lights), and automatically switches to infrared mode in completely dark night scenes, allowing clear identification of the outline of people and movements of pets within 20 meters.
AI Monitoring: Powered by 1T Computing Power Chip, Accurate Human and Pet Tracking with Stable Image Quality
The intelligence of a smart camera hinges on the practicality of its AI algorithms. The 4C 3.5K is equipped with a 1T high-computing-power AI chip, which runs core algorithms locally, bringing two major improvements:
●More accurate human and pet detection: It supports local accurate recognition of human figures and pets (only cats and dogs). Compared to products relying on cloud recognition, its response speed is increased by approximately 50%, and the false alarm rate is significantly reduced. In tests, disturbances such as fluttering curtains and flickering lights did not trigger alarms, while when a person walked by or a cat jumped on the sofa, the mobile app would receive a push notification within 3 seconds, and tracking would automatically start.
●Anti-shake dynamic tracking: With a two-way pan-tilt (360° horizontal rotation + 90° vertical rotation), when a moving person or pet is detected, the lens will smoothly track them, ensuring the subject remains in the center of the frame. Even if family members walk back and forth in the living room or pets run and jump, their movement trajectories can be fully recorded, avoiding the problem of traditional fixed lenses “capturing only half and missing half”.
Connection and Experience: Enhanced by Wi-Fi 6, Stable Usage Without Worries
As a home security device, stronger and more stable WiFi is crucial. The 4C 3.5K supports dual-band (2.4GHz + 5GHz) Wi-Fi 6. Compared to traditional Wi-Fi 4, its physical transmission rate is increased by 60%, and it adopts OFDMA technology, ensuring stability even when multiple devices are connected simultaneously (such as with a Xiaomi router or smart door lock).
In actual tests, under the 5GHz band, the preview latency of 1080P was controlled within 0.5 seconds, and 3.5K high-definition playback was free of stuttering; even when switching to the 2.4GHz band with weaker signals, basic fluency was guaranteed. For renters or users in large apartments, this dual-band adaptability is particularly practical — it can use 5GHz to pursue better image quality in areas with strong signals, and 2.4GHz to ensure connectivity in scenarios requiring wall penetration.
Privacy and Linkage: Security Against Leaks from Chip to Scenario
Privacy protection is one of the most important aspects of a smart camera, and the 4C 3.5K provides three layers of protection in this regard:
●Hardware encryption: Built-in MIJIA security chip, each chip has a unique key to ensure the security of data sources;
●Transmission encryption: Adopts EAL 5+ level cloud encryption technology to prevent information leakage during transmission;
●Scenario-based privacy: Supports scheduled masking (such as setting the lens to automatically mask from 10 PM to 6 AM) and smart linkage masking (connecting to a Xiaomi door lock, the lens automatically masks after the door is opened), balancing monitoring and privacy.
In addition, relying on the Xiaomi smart ecosystem, the 4C 3.5K can link with other MIJIA devices: automatically adjusting air conditioning temperature after identifying the number of people, linking lights to turn on when detecting movement… For smart home users, this upgrade from “passive monitoring” to “active service” can greatly improve the convenience of life.
The positioning of the Xiaomi Smart Camera 4C 3.5K is very clear — to provide flagship-level core experiences at a lower price: 3.5K ultra-clear image quality solves the problem of unclear camera image quality; local AI algorithms, combined with today’s AI technology, make the camera smarter; Wi-Fi 6 and privacy protection address various concerns encountered in use.
