Xiaomi has opened crowdfunding in China for the Smart Camera 4 Max AI Zoom Edition, a home security camera that leans harder on AI software than on a dramatic redesign. It costs 799 yuan, or about $116, during the campaign, with a suggested retail price of 999 yuan, around $145.
Xiaomi’s Smart Camera 4 Max AI Zoom Edition is built around AI tracking, 4K monitoring, and a telephoto-plus-wide camera setup. It costs 799 yuan during crowdfunding, while the retail price is set at 999 yuan.
On paper, the appeal is obvious: more zoom, more motion range, and more software trying to turn a camera into something closer to a household assistant. That is the direction smart home hardware keeps drifting in, because the basic security-camera playbook is getting crowded and cheap. Xiaomi is betting that better recognition and more useful search tools are what make people upgrade, not another black dome with the same old app.
Xiaomi Smart Camera 4 Max AI Zoom Edition specs
The camera pairs a 12MP telephoto lens with an 8MP wide-angle lens, both with an f/1.6 aperture. It supports 4K monitoring, 12x hybrid zoom, and 3x lossless zoom, plus full-color night vision and a new photography mode aimed at everyday moments rather than pure surveillance.
It also offers a 360-degree horizontal and 180-degree vertical pan-tilt range, with motor speeds said to be 30 percent faster than the Xiaomi C700. Tracking for people and pets is included, which is table stakes now, but Xiaomi says the point here is tighter accuracy rather than just another box ticked on a spec sheet.
The AI care model is the real upgrade
Under the hood, Xiaomi says the camera uses a 3T quad-core chip that is 300 percent more powerful than the C700. Fine, but the more interesting change is the company’s first ”AI care model,” which is built around children, older adults, and pets.
That software can identify behaviors, such as whether a child is studying, and generate daily reports. It also lets users search recorded footage with text or video cues, which is the sort of feature that sounds minor until you actually need to find a moment in a pile of endless clips.
Early buyers get a one-month trial of the AI service, after which it will likely move to a subscription model. That’s the familiar hardware playbook: keep the sticker price reasonable, then nudge users toward recurring revenue once they’re hooked on the clever bits.
Xiaomi Smart Camera 4 Max AI Zoom Edition price
- Crowdfunding price: 799 yuan, or about $116
- Suggested retail price: 999 yuan, or about $145
- Lens setup: 12MP telephoto plus 8MP wide-angle
- Zoom: 12x hybrid and 3x lossless
- Motion range: 360 degrees horizontal and 180 degrees vertical
The design is also familiar, aside from a silver-gray finish and a fabric base, which is a small but smart move. Home cameras tend to live in plain sight, and anything that makes them look less like a cheap security gadget and more like a domestic accessory has a better shot at surviving the living-room test.
The bigger question is whether Xiaomi can make this feel like a genuinely useful AI product instead of just a camera with a fancier label. If the search and behavior recognition are fast and accurate, this could be one of the more practical upgrades in the category. If not, it becomes another connected device with a subscription looming in the background.