- Like so many gadgets of the past half decade,
security cameras have gotten smart.
Typically, a smart home appliance
means you get a mobile app to tinker with some settings
and maybe some light automation,
perhaps an Alexa integration, if you're lucky.
But do you really need a camera in your home
that knows it's your dog and not your kid
or that can tell the difference between you or your spouse?
It all depends on why you're interested
in a home security camera,
what you think you're gonna use it for,
and how many people in your household
you're trying to keep tabs on.
Given that criteria,
the best indoor home security camara for most people
isn't necessarily the smartest,
and it's definitely not the most expensive,
but it covers most bases at a reasonable price
and it allows you to add more features
through a cheap monthly cloud subscription.
That device is the Amazon Cloud Cam.
For $119, it's cheaper than than most competing cameras,
and what you get for the money
is almost as good as devices nearly three times the price.
The camera itself is easy to set up and pretty no frills.
It has night vision and it can record and store HD footage
up to 24 hours into the past
or father back if you have Amazon's monthly subscription.
It also has two-way talk and audio recording.
There are some down sides.
The image quality isn't the greatest
and you get a fair deal of graininess and noise,
especially when you use the Cloud Cam's zoom feature.
And, unlike Nest cameras,
the Cloud Cam doesn't continuously record.
It only saves clips when it detects people or motion.
One big plus, the app is way less clutter
than those from Nest, Netgear, and others.
It's just three screens,
an account management panel, a live video feed,
and then a list of settings.
There are some compromises you have to make
with the Cloud Cam beyond just picture quality.
The camera on its own will only do motion detection.
If you pay for Amazon's $6.99 monthly subscription,
you get people detection,
which means it can differentiate between humans and pets.
But unlike cameras from Nest,
the Cloud Cam cannot do facial recognition,
so that means you'll get constant notifications
if you have the Cloud Cam facing a busy part of your home
like the living room or the kitchen.
If you do pay for Amazon's monthly subscription,
you get a feature called Zones,
which lets you section off parts of what the camera sees
to tell it to ignore activity in that area.
So I don't think people are really losing out on too much,
and the AI shortcomings aren't enough
to tank our recommendation.
For $119 and all the additional features
if you go with Amazon's subscription plan,
the Cloud Cam is the most capable camera for its price.
If you're looking for something a little pricier,
but higher quality and much, much smarter,
Nest's top of the line Nest Cam IQ is a solid buy.
The Nest Cam IQ records in HD
and it comes with night vision
and a lot of the other standard bells and whistles.
But its picture quality is stellar,
with a 4K sensor with HDR to account for changes in light.
It also has a powerful microphone array and speaker.
So with Google Assistant built in,
the Nest Cam IQ doubles as a mini Google Home.
And unlike the Amazon Cloud Cam,
the Nest Cam IQ continuously records,
so you can see through a day's events
with a flick of a finger.
Where the Nest Cam IQ really stands out though
is in its AI features.
Unlike the standard Nest Cam,
this model knows when it sees a person and not just a pet.
No subscription required.
If you purchase the Nest Aware subscription,
which starts at $5.00 a month
and scales depending on your video storage needs,
you get what Nest calls Familiar Face Alerts
that lets the camera recognize people.
You can even go into the mobile app
and train it to recognize certain faces
and to create profiles for people
so it remembers them later.
That said, at $299, the Nest Cam IQ is really pricey
and you need to ask yourself
if those AI features are really worth it.
Someone likes me who lives in an apartment
and doesn't have kids or a lot of people
coming in and out all the time, it's a bit overkill.
Also, I found the Nest Cam IQ to be a bit too sensitive
on the AI front.
It kept asking if it recognized the faces of actors
it saw on my TV screen.
But if you have a larger house and a bigger family
and you want to know when your kids come home from school
or where the dog is or whether it's the babysitter
or a burglar entering your home,
the Nest Cam IQ can handle all of that.
Plus, it's a really nicely designed gadget.
There are a lot of really solid devices out there
that will do the majority of the tasks
most people are looking for and almost every brand
lets you link multiple cameras together.
But there are a few shortcomings
and compromises here and there that made it
so other devices didn't make the cut.
For instance, the Netgear Arlo Q
has a ton of customization settings
and a lot of features you'd find
in a more professional grade security camera,
like using geofencing to arm and disarm the camera
and scheduling recording times.
But it lacks any kind of smart AI features
to tell people from pets
or to do any kind of facial recognition.
It does have motion detection, but I found
that the system registered a lot of false positives,
pushing me to limit notifications.
The Logitech Circle 2 has an ultra-wide viewing angle
and a pretty fully featured mobile app.
But to get people detection, you're gonna need to purchase
the premium $10 a month subscription service.
The camera is weatherproof so you can use it outside,
and it also integrates well with Alexa, HomeKit,
and Google Assistant.
But it's more geared for people who want a camera
for outdoor surveillance purposes.
Truth be told, security cameras are pretty spartan gadgets.
Most people don't need fancy AI perks
like facial recognition or super featured mobile apps.
They buy security cameras for peace of mind
and, for that reason, the Amazon Cloud Cam
is the best camera for most people.
At $120, it leaves enough in the bank to buy more than one.
And, down the line, the camera's bound to get even smarter
as Amazon upgrades the software
and makes its Alexa digital assistant even more advanced.
(rhythmic music)