Ugreen's HomeAgent puts local AI, NAS storage and smart home control in one hub

A hub that doubles as a NAS

Ugreen, best known for chargers, power banks and NAS enclosures, used this week's IFA trade show to launch HomeAgent, a smart home platform that folds security camera storage, on-device AI and home automation into a single system. According to The Verge, everything is managed through a voice assistant called Uliya, and the central pitch is that data — camera footage included — never has to leave the house.

The core hub stores all data locally and processes video on the device itself. Alongside footage, it can hold personal files such as music, movies and photos, working much like a conventional NAS. That positioning takes aim at cloud-centric ecosystems like Ring, Alexa, Nest and Gemini for Home, which commonly charge recurring fees for video storage. The trade-off, as The Verge notes, is likely a higher upfront cost instead of monthly subscriptions.

The AI on the hub powers cross-camera tracking, smart alerts for people, vehicles, pets and packages, AI-assisted video search with text descriptions of events, and natural-language voice control of devices and automations. In a hands-on demo at Ugreen's IFA booth, The Verge's Jennifer Pattison Tuohy controlled Nanoleaf lights and smart blinds by speaking to Uliya through the hub.

Three tiers of compute

Ugreen is offering three hub configurations with increasing levels of processing power:

• HomeAgent HA100: handles simple, rule-based automation and responds to specific voice commands.
• HomeAgent HA100 Pro: adds semantic, context-aware understanding.
• MasterAgent MA100: the top tier, built on an Nvidia Jetson Thor T5000 platform with up to 2,070 TFLOPS of AI performance. The Verge expects it to carry a steep price.

Each hub includes an SD card slot, an interactive screen, volume buttons and built-in Uliya voice control. Ugreen has not announced full retail pricing; the system launches on Kickstarter in October with discounted early-bird pricing.

Companion hardware

Alongside the hubs, Ugreen is launching a smart speaker that runs Uliya and a SynCare camera line: the Indoor Cam ID500 Pro, the PoE Cam OD600 Pro and the battery-powered Cam OD800 Pro. All three record locally to the hub. A distinctive extra is an E Ink Spectra digital photo frame that can display photos stored on the hub, again without any cloud involvement.

The hub acts as a Matter controller and supports Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Thread, Bluetooth, NFC, ONVIF/RTSP and PoE, giving third-party devices several ways to connect. In practice, the compatibility list is currently small — The Verge reports it includes products from Aqara, ThirdReality, SwitchBot and Eve — and the first phase covers only lights, switches, sensors and curtains. Any Matter device should in theory work, but Ugreen advises sticking with products it has approved.

The local-first caveats

"Local-first" comes with asterisks. According to The Verge, push notifications and remote viewing of camera footage require internet access, and there is an optional cloud mode for the Uliya voice assistant.

Ugreen is not alone in this space. The Verge notes that SwitchBot, Reolink and Aqara have been making similar moves, and Anker launched a comparable product at IFA called the Eufy MindBase. Both the Anker and Ugreen systems use the Matter standard to pull in devices from other brands.

Why it matters

HomeAgent is one of the clearest attempts yet to merge two converging trends: NAS-based personal storage and local AI for the smart home. For users wary of cloud cameras and their subscription fees, a single box that keeps footage and personal files in-house while still offering AI features such as video search and natural-language control addresses privacy and recurring costs at the same time.

Execution will decide the outcome. Compatibility is the first test — a platform that supports only a handful of approved devices across a few categories will struggle against mature ecosystems regardless of its privacy advantages. Ease of setup is the second. The Verge's own assessment is that HomeAgent's success will come down to how well it integrates with what people already own and how easy it is to use. The October Kickstarter should provide an early read on whether local-first smart home hubs can break out of the enthusiast niche.