Gabe: Hey folks. This is Gabe at Security Baron and if you're in the market for an affordable
indoor security camera, we may have just the one for you. Today we're reviewing the Kasa
Spot.
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Gabe: In today's review of the Kasa Spot, we're going to put it to the Security Baron
necessary features test before diving into this mobile application to make sure you have
all the information you need to make the right decision.
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Gabe: If you'd like to see a list of our favorite home security cameras, google Security Baron
best home security cameras. If you have a question about today's review, leave us a
comment and I'll get back to you.
Here at Security Baron we think that every camera should come equipped with stellar video,
two-way audio, night vision, local and cloud storage, smart platform integration, artificial
intelligent, convenience and value.
Stellar video is a Security Baron necessary feature and the Kasa Spot Indoor Security
Camera does not disappoint. It comes with 1080p, high-definition video and 130-degree
field of view. You put it in a corner of a room, it's going to capture just about everything
taking place in that nice, crisp, clear vision. When it comes to stellar video on the Kasa
Spot, we're going to give it full marks.
Two-way audio is a Security Baron necessary feature. We think that you should be able
to hear what's going on in any particular room, just in case you want to talk to someone
or see exactly what's going on with your kid. Additionally, you want them to be able to
hear you.
Now when it comes to this teeny tiny Kasa Spot, we actually found it to not be perfect
but definitely adequate for our needs, so when it comes to the two-way audio on the
Kasa Spot, we're going to give it full marks.
Night vision is a Security Baron necessary feature and the Kasa Spot actually comes through.
They purport that their infrared LED gives you the DC up to 20 feet, and we found that
that was the case. For that we're going to give the Kasa Spot full marks for night vision.
Local and cloud storage are Security Baron necessary features. Local storage refers to
the idea of having a memory card or something that can actually hold on and record data
directly on the camera itself or its hub, while cloud storage essentially puts things
into the cloud and lets you access it from any device, anywhere in the world.
Unfortunately, the Kasa Spot does not come with any local storage. If you'd like cloud
storage, you can get 14 days for $4 a month or $40 a year, or 30 days for $7 a month or
$70 a year. Ultimately, we do not get that local storage element, so when it comes to
local and cloud storage on the Kasa Spot, we're going to give it half marks.
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Gabe: Hold on. I hope you're enjoying today's review of the Kasa Spot Indoor Security Camera.
If you want to be kept up to date on all the news regarding home-security cameras, smart-home
security, cyber security and more, subscribe to our channel, Security Baron. We're dropping
new hot content weekly.
All right, let's go back to the video.
A Security Baron necessary feature is smart platform integration because we've gotten
to the point where we don't want to use our hands for anything. Fortunately, with the
Kasa Spot you do have integration with both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, the two
major players in the smart platform game. For that we give the Kasa Spot full marks
for smart platform integration.
Artificial intelligence is a Security Baron necessary feature. When it comes to artificial
intelligence, what we like to see are things like package detection, person detection,
even facial recognition.
Unfortunately, with the Kasa Spot you're not going to get any of that. It's not going to
be able to distinguish the motion between a car, a cat or a human being, so when it
comes to artificial intelligence and the Kasa Spot, we have to give it zero marks.
Convenience is a Security Baron necessary feature and it typically refers to the installation
and maintenance of a device. When it comes to the Kasa Spot, we're really impressed with
how easy it was to setup. We had it done in a matter of minutes. Of course, we already
had the Kasa smart app because of our familiarity with this other devices and products.
We just went to add new device, went to add camera, specifically this camera from the
list that they had available, and we were ready to go in probably three minutes. So
when it comes to convenience and the Security Baron necessary features test, we are going
to give it full marks.
Value is a Security Baron necessary feature because everyone wants to feel as if they're
getting what they're paying for. You want to feel that satisfaction that comes with
having a useful, worthwhile device. I can say with the Kasa Spot it's pretty solid value.
Not only is it a great indoor security camera, it also has the ability to integrate so well
with the other elements of the Kasa system. The mobile app is intuitive and just a real
pleasure to use. Overall, when it comes to value, we're going to give the Kasa Spot full
marks.
The mobile application for Kasa is where you're going to be interfacing, setting up your customizable
motion zones, setting up various home automation and live streaming your footage, so you want
it to be an intuitive, enjoyable experience. Fortunately, that is absolutely the case.
It has a 4.8 in the Apple App Store out of 5 stars and a 4.7 out of 5 stars in the Google
Play Store, so it seems to be beloved almost across the board.
Let's go ahead and check it out on my iPhone 7Plus.
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Gabe: Here I am checking out the Kasa smart mobile application. As we go to the very first
page, you'll note that you have Kasa devices, we've had the bulb, the plug and the Kasa
Spot, probably going to add some more cameras to that list, and I can just tap directly
on the spot, and boom, I'm inside.
Now you'll note here, there's already a live view happening on that screen. I'm looking
at myself, I can point at myself all that happening. Below that, you note there's the
microphone if you want to engage the two-way audio, and the record button if you just want
to hit record and see what's happening.
Below that, you'll see all the recordings that have been taking place in the recent
time. It has been recording a lot today.
Now, below that you'll see a schedule, I tap on the schedule. You'll see that I have it
recording every day, every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday at 2:45, and not recording every
Monday, Tuesday and Friday at 10:59. I can go and set up the schedule however I like.
Let's say I want to record every Saturday morning at 7:00 AM, I can do so.
Now I hit it, I tap Save, and boom, that's a new schedule that I've created right here
in the app, easy peas. If I go into settings, I can actually turn the power of the camera
on and off right at the top. I can change the name. I've named this the Baron Kasa Spot.
Let's go ahead and check out what you can do in notifications.
When you don't have artificial intelligence and a camera, you want to be able to control
your notifications. If you want to say, send me notifications at custom times instead of
always, because you just don't want to be bogged down with messages throughout the day,
you can change the schedule.
You probably always want to have automatically limited notifications on, so that you're not
getting a lot of notifications in a short-time span. Let's go back out and check out some
of the other options like looking at what your Kasa care plan is, that's going to be
your storage plan, and you can even look at the activity zones.
We set up an activity zone, like you see here. I've set up two, it's only going to take into
account these activity zones. I can add more, so that's a pretty excellent thing, that comes
with the Kasa application, is the ability to set up activity zones where it only pays
attention to what's happening in those particular places.
If I go look at privacy and sensitivity, you can essentially decide what you want to be
recording. If you want to get people more privacy and not listen to what they're saying.
You know every state has various laws regarding what you can record, and they're very different
actually for video and audio.
That's something to keep in mind so maybe you just decide to record video only whenever
you're doing a motion detection recording. That's a really important element and something
that we love to see in terms of your Kasa smart app.
When you're looking at motion sensitivity, you can turn it all the way down, all the
way up. Maybe you just don't want that tree outside of your house to be constantly setting
off your motion detector. Finally, you do have the ability to change the video rotation
which is basically related to how you decide to mount your device. You have night vision
options.
They even give you some advanced options like how to mount your Kasa smart on the wall,
look at the feature tutorial, and just look at the various elements of the device. That's
our look at the Kasa smart mobile application.
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Gabe: So here I am checking out the 1080p high-definition video on the Kasa Spot Indoor
Security Camera, you'll also note that it has 130-degree field of view. It's capturing
a lot of this room, even though I'm only about six to seven feet away from the camera. Now
with that, I had to clean up a little bit on the sides because my mom watches these
videos sometimes.
I don't want to run into any trouble there. Ultimately, it's a pretty solid vision with
this 1080p. I can go here, give it all globe test. Let's see what we have, and just look
at this digital zoom. There you have South Africa, Madagascar. A lot going on, you can
see pretty clearly. I'm a pretty big fan of this digital zoom, and just this 130-degree
field of view.
You can imagine if you had your Kasa Spot in the corner of the room and not like I have
it in the center right now, you'd really be able to capture just about everything. So
that's how I look at the day vision on the Kasa Spot Indoor Security Camera.
Here's a look at the night vision on the Kasa Spot Indoor Security Camera. Now, you note
that it doesn't have the best night vision. I'm a little bit indistinguishable from this
distance, I think in terms of my facial features. Of course if you go and do a little bit of
digital zoom, I come out much clearer.
That is further illustrated in the globe test. On the globe test you'll see, who? Cristobal
Colon sailed the ocean blue in 1492. There's basically nothing here but ocean. Now, I can
make out about five infrared LEDs. That's a pretty high number of LEDs. Yet I still
wouldn't say that this is the best night vision I've seen, even among comparable affordable
cameras, but it's definitely adequate.
That's our look at the Kasa Spot Indoor Security Camera night vision. Here we are checking
out the two-way audio on the Kasa Spot Indoor, so how do I sound on the other side?
[small beep]
Man: You're coming in loud and clear. There is a little bit of lag between the video and
the audio but what I'm hearing they're sounding great. How is it sounding on your end?
Gabe: Oh, excellent. Actually on this end, it also sounds pretty strong. I feel as if
I can really determine exactly what you're saying. It's loud and clear and, ultimately,
definitely functioning well. So that's our look at the two-way audio on the Kasa Spot
Indoor.
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Gabe: Let's do a quick recap of how the Kasa Spot fared on our Security Baron necessary
features test. Stellar video, full marks. The Kasa Spot comes through with 1080p high-definition
video and a 130-degree field of view so you're not missing anything.
Two-way audio, full marks. While the Kasa Spot doesn't have perfect sound we definitely
think it fits what we need in terms of two-way audio on a small indoor security camera. Night
vision, full marks. With these infrared LED sensors you're really able to capture what's
going on in any particular room, no matter how dark it is.
Local cloud storage, half marks. While there's no local storage option on the Kasa Spot,
it does have pretty affordable cloud storage options. Smart platform integration, full
marks. The Kasa Spot integrates with both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant so you're
pretty much covered no matter which ecosystem you decide to go with.
Artificial intelligence, zero marks. The Kasa Spot does not come with facial recognition
or person detection. Convenience, full marks. The Kasa Spot was super simple to set up and
very easy to maintain. Value, full marks. The Kasa Spot cost less than $50 but yet still
comes with a rather impressive feature set.
All right, we've gone over the Kasa Spot Indoor Security Camera, and you're saying, "Gabe,
you know, I was thinking of putting this in my living room. I was going to put it in my
closet to make sure no one's rummaging around in there. Is this really the indoor security
camera for me?"
Look, this is a small, affordable indoor security camera with beautiful 1080p high-definition
video and pretty fun smart platform integration, is probably going to work for you if you're
in the Amazon or Google ecosystem.
However, if you're someone who doesn't want to deal with the cloud, you'd rather have
some local storage or you really want some artificial intelligence features like facial
recognition, or something fun like that, you're going to want to look at somewhere else. Overall,
I think it's a pretty great option for just having a little bit of peace of mind on your
living room mantel.
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Gabe: That concludes our review of the Kasa Spot Indoor Security Camera. If you appreciated
today's video, give us a like and hit that subscribe button. As always, this is Gabe
at Security Baron, be secure.
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