Like
Free sensible alertsIndoor/Outside applicationGreat Dwelling app interfacing
Do not Like
Nonetheless priceyOnly 3 hours of clips includedHeavy and enormous
Contemplating the Nest Cam with Battery in 2023?
Google launched the $180 Nest Cam with Battery rather less than two years in the past. In the present day, it stays as one in every of Google’s greatest and most up-to-date residence safety cameras. As such, it is price contemplating, particularly if your own home is already outfitted with different Nest or Google Assistant gadgets.
However, should you’re not devoted to Google gadgets, you might discover different, cheaper but equally as succesful, residence safety cameras that higher fit your wants. Learn our up to date Nest Cam with Battery evaluate, initially printed on Aug. 24, 2021, under for particulars on what to anticipate from the digicam, in addition to the way it compares to comparable cameras from different producers, that will help you determine.
Nest Cam with Battery evaluate
Google jumped again within the sensible residence safety saddle with its $180 Nest Cam. It is battery-powered, rated for out of doors or indoor use and stands to rival Arlo and Wyze for sensible options and tech specs. However is it actually the perfect?
At $180, it is not essentially the most or least costly. The specs are additionally midrange and par for the sensible cam course. What you do get from Google for the primary time are free sensible alert options, exercise zones and on-device processing, due to a brand new machine studying chip. Finally, it is onerous to advocate over its aforementioned rivals — except you are dwelling in a Nest-only family.
Chris Monroe/ClassyBuzz
Design
Technically, the Nest Cam known as the “Nest Cam (out of doors or indoor, battery),” however that is a handful to sort, so we’ll seek advice from it merely because the Nest Cam on this evaluate.
The Nest Cam is designed for indoor or out of doors use. It is IP54 rated, which suggests whereas it is climate resistant, it is not waterproof. It is available in one colour (snow, learn: Google white) and you’ll mount it both magnetically or with the included wall plate, screws and anchors. It’s battery-operated, however you should purchase a $35 weatherproof energy cable to go with it should you’d fairly go for a wired out of doors set up.
The Nest Cam comes with a charging cable and wall plate for mounting.
Molly Value/ClassyBuzz
The digicam itself is magnetic and snaps onto the included base simply. Regardless that this factor is almost a pound at 14 ounces, the magnet feels robust sufficient to firmly preserve the digicam on the bottom. The Nest Cam is 3.27 inches extensive, about 1.25 inches bigger than the Wyze Cam V3.The design is smooth and easy, however these stats add as much as one chunky feeling machine.
When you’re choosing indoor use (I would not; extra on that later) you’ll be able to place it on a $30 sold-separately stand that comes with a charging cable to behave like a dock of kinds.
Specs and battery life
This Nest Cam has all of the digicam stats you’d count on to see, like 1080p HD video, evening imaginative and prescient, a 130-degree diagonal area of view, 6x digital zoom and two-way audio. These aren’t standout specs. No, you actually do not want higher tech than that to surveil your yard. 1080p decision will serve you nicely and the evening imaginative and prescient works simply fantastic.
I might’ve appreciated to see a wider area of view, particularly because the digicam on the magnetic stand is not very adjustable. I needed to discover simply the fitting top shelf as a way to view my front room and never the ceiling. The indoor stand improves this barely.
A charging stand for indoor use is bought individually.
Chris Monroe/ClassyBuzz
Battery life is the massive query with sensible residence gadgets like cameras, locks and doorbells. Remembering so as to add AAs to your August lock is annoying and so is having to recollect to cost your doorbell or safety digicam. Google instructed me the Nest Cam’s battery life depends upon components like exercise, temperature, and digicam settings.
Google estimates the battery to final someplace between 1.5 and 7 months relying on these components. I charged our digicam to 100% and 24 hours later, I used to be all the way down to 97% in default battery mode with the automated battery saver enabled. That is about 4 months of battery in these precise circumstances. There are alternatives within the Dwelling app to regulate frequency of occasion recordings, video high quality and size of clips. There are additionally three battery modes to select from should you do not need to cherry-pick energy settings.
The Google group offered these estimates for battery life:
Busy: About 1.5 months battery life (about 20-25 recorded occasions per day)Typical: About 3 months battery life (about 9-12 recorded occasions per day)Quiet: About 7 months battery life (about 2-4 recorded occasions per day)
Dwelling app screenshots utilizing the Nest Cam.
Screenshots by Molly Value/ClassyBuzz
Characteristic freebies
With out a Nest Conscious subscription, you will nonetheless get alerts for customizable exercise zones. You’ll be able to set these up within the app — in a menu buried deep within the digicam settings. Every zone can have its personal group of alerts. For instance, you’ll be able to set half the view to inform for animals and the opposite half to inform for autos.
That degree of specificity is good should you’re monitoring a big space with a number of areas. I can think about making a zone that alerts me if the canine leaves the yard and escapes onto the driveway. There are additionally alerts for folks and basic movement. That is all due to a brand new machine studying chip onboard the Nest Cam.
Included with none subscription, you will additionally get a three-hour occasion historical past and you’ll obtain every clip. That seems like lots, and at first I used to be impressed. Then I believed concerning the Wyze Cam V3 I take advantage of at residence, which incorporates 14 days of occasion historical past without spending a dime. A number of instances throughout my testing, I encountered an occasion that I used to be notified for and made a psychological word to have a look at later, solely to understand that it was now not out there by the point I remembered to verify.
In a single occasion, I used to be solely capable of watch half a clip as a result of I simply occurred to be viewing it because it expired, at 2:59:30-ish. That may very well be a private drawback for positive, however I am in all probability not the one one who will get busy and forgets to obtain the clip.
Chris Monroe/ClassyBuzz
That is the place the Nest Conscious subscriptions kick in. Subscribe to Nest Conscious for $6 per 30 days and you will get acquainted face detection and sound alerts (smoke, glass breaking and carbon monoxide), the flexibility to name 911 from the Google Dwelling app and 30 days of occasion video historical past. Improve to Nest Conscious Plus for $12 a month, and you will get all of these choices plus 60 days of video historical past and 10 days of 24/7 video recording in case your Nest Cam is hard-wired.
The included free sensible alerts are probably a lot for most people. Acquainted Faces is a pleasant contact, however undoubtedly one thing I might categorize as a luxurious. Add Acquainted Faces and your digicam will notify you of individuals by title, as synced in your Google account. Sound alerts for alarms are maybe extra sensible, particularly should you journey typically and need to know when one thing’s not proper. I am glad these are included within the $6 possibility and are not behind the Nest Conscious Plus paywall.
What actually makes the Nest Conscious subscription virtually vital is the bounds of the free, three-hour clip storage. Going from three hours to 30 days will make a world of distinction for many customers. It eliminates the psychological load of getting to recollect to obtain a clip rapidly earlier than it is gone.
Privateness and safety
When you’re involved about safety, Google is able to pitch its newest promise. Video footage on the brand new Nest Cam is encrypted whereas in transit and whereas at relaxation on Nest servers. In accordance with the Google group, these are essentially the most susceptible factors within the information lifecycle.
Processing for these animal, particular person and car detections — in addition to Acquainted Faces recognition — all occur regionally on the machine. The Nest Cam’s machine studying chip handles all that. There is not any cloud processing. That is not the strongest encryption available on the market. Ring encrypts end-to-end, however solely on wired gadgets and provided that you decide in.
A inexperienced LED gentle lets you already know when the digicam is processing or streaming video to a viewer. Add the digicam to your Dwelling and Away routines, and you’ll select to solely report video if you’ve left residence. Dwelling and Away presence detection is powered by both your cellular machine or sensors in select Nest products.
One different safety associated factor caught my eye on the Google Retailer’s web page for the brand new Nest Cam. If somebody removes your digicam (straightforward to do with the magnetic camera-to-base utility) they will change it without spending a dime. What is the catch? You may have to file a police report and supply Google with a duplicate inside 30 days. You’ll be able to learn extra about digicam theft replacements on the Google support page.
Nest Cam mounts magnetically to its base.
Chris Monroe/ClassyBuzz
What else is on the market
You’ve gotten choices today with regards to out of doors cameras. Google’s Nest Cam is not the perfect with regards to specs or worth.
The same, but smaller, lighter and extra weatherproof Wyze Cam V3 is simply $37 and contains 14 days of clip storage. Even should you add on the Wyze Cam Plus subscription for folks and object detection, you are still nicely underneath that $180 mark at round $60 for the digicam and a 12 months’s subscription.
Then there’s Arlo’s $200 Professional 4 digicam with a 2K decision and wider area of view than the Nest Cam. We cherished the Arlo Professional 3 and but, the brand new Professional 4 is even higher than its predecessors. Not solely does it come with nice options and dependable service, however it’s really our favourite out of doors safety digicam of the 12 months. You’ll be able to learn our full evaluate of the Arlo Professional 4 digicam right here.
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Nest Cam with battery is sensible and unsurprising
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Must you purchase it?
When you have your coronary heart set on a Nest Cam, do not fret. The Nest Cam does every thing I might count on from it. It really works seamlessly with the Google Dwelling app, and Nest Conscious gives a number of good characteristic upgrades. Nonetheless, it is a onerous promote for me at $180 except you are actually invested in having Nest merchandise in your house.
