Two generations, one honest answer.
If you're speccing cameras for a home or small commercial site right now, the UniFi Protect question is G5 or G6. The answer we give clients: both — in the right places.
What actually changed with the G6.
The G6 generation is a real step, not a badge update. The three differences that matter on site:
4K resolution on a larger sensor. The G6 Turret and Bullet carry an 8-megapixel 1/1.8-inch sensor. In practice that's the difference between "someone was there" and "that is clearly this person, and that is clearly this plate."
On-device AI. The G6 runs its detections — people, vehicles, packages, and now face and licence-plate recognition — on the camera itself. Your phone stays quiet when a branch moves and speaks up when a person walks up the drive at 2am. No cloud round-trip, no subscription.
Stronger low light. Night performance is where cheap cameras die. The G6's sensor and IR handle the 2am scenarios the footage actually exists for.
The G5 remains a genuinely good 2K camera with smart detections and solid night vision. It didn't get worse the day the G6 launched — it got cheaper relative to what it does.
How we mix them.
Our standard residential design puts G6 at the positions where detail wins cases — the front entry and the driveway, anywhere you'd want to read a face or a plate — and G5 for general coverage: side access, rear yard, pool gate, shed.
On a recent four-bedroom Melbourne build, that split was two G6 Turrets and six G5 Turrets. The budget stayed honest and the two shots that would ever matter to police or insurance are 4K.
Installed on an existing UniFi network, budget roughly $585 per G5 and $950 per G6, including cabling, mounting and configuration into Protect. Both record to your own hardware — no subscriptions, ever.
The part no camera spec fixes.
Position beats pixels. A 4K camera mounted too high gives you a beautiful 4K view of the top of a hoodie. We mount lower than most installers by default, angle against light sources, and design positions from the plan — because footage that identifies people is the entire point.
For the full camera range including the G6 PTZ and Pro 360, see our UniFi camera guide. Ready for positions and a price? Send us your plan.
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