Nest Cam Indoor features
I’ve always thought that placing a video surveillance camera at home is something of their own, or people who have great properties, or users who are tied up in their stomachs every time they leave their home for some reason that doesn’t come to the point. But with the ‘democratization’ of home automation and the advent of platforms like HomeKit, more and more manufacturers are offering remote surveillance via smartphone.
And one of the most famous manufacturers in terms of home automation are Nest devices, headed by the thermostat that caught everyone’s attention. We have had the opportunity to test the Nest Cam Indoor for a few days to see if the product meets your expectations.
Nest Cam Indoor: look and specifications
Measures
114 x 73 x 73 mm
Weight
213 grams
Connectivity
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n at 2.4 GHz and n/ac at 5 GHz
Compatibility
iOS, Android
OPERATING CONDITIONS
0 to 40oC, between 10% and 90% humidity in the environment, up to 3000 meters altitude of atmospheric pressure
CAMERA QUALITY
3 megapixel, 1080p and 30fps recording with H264 encoding. Infrared night vision
Extras
Microphone and speaker to broadcast our voice remotely in case of need
Connections
Micro-USB for power supply with a power adapter
Price
$180 USD
The Nest Indoor Cam is a video surveillance camera designed for indoors, as its name says. You can place it by focusing on the front door of the house, you can have it in the dining room or where you have valuables, or you can have it next to a baby’s crib to keep an eye on it. Camera sensors are able to send a notification if they detect any noise or the presence of moving objects.
The application, which offers an easy installation of the camera by assigning you a Wi-Fi through a Bluetooth link, shows us live and at all times our home. But the idea isn’t that you’re constantly looking at it: Nest summarizes its warnings when it detects noise or movement and highlights just the keyframes of that activity in a well-thought-out timeline.
-In some cases the Nest Cam Indoor works too well, detecting as motion reflections in sunlight on the walls-
In my tests that detection has worked well, although in some cases too well. I left the camera on while I traveled to Madrid for the Xataka Awards, and all I needed was for the sun to reflect on the walls of my apartment for me to skip a warning. The walls of the building in which I live are very thin, so some noise that was made from the landing of the staircase also woke up the sensors. And getting a tip on your iPhone telling you something’s going on in your home isn’t nice for the first few seconds.
Another tuned question of the Nest Cam Indoor is the use of GPS. We have the option to allow the camera app to access the location of our iPhone so that we turn off the camera when we are at home and turn it on when we leave without us having to do anything.
Most of the time that function works perfectly, although sometimes the camera has not been turned off when I have come home. And that means a motion and sound warning every time I moved around my own apartment. Opening the app causes Nest to finally detect where I am and turn off the camera immediately.
Nest’s Services Dilemma vs. HomeKit
Aside from those small slides that can be easily solved with software updates, the Nest Cam Indoor is a good accessory for anyone who wants that extra surveillance in their home. However, we must undoubtedly point out the dilemma we encounter with the Nest ecosystem.
The brand boasts of being of quality, surrounded by its own services and web applications controlled with a user account. For the Indoor Cam, you can subscribe to Nest Aware plans where you can store 10 or up to 30 days of recorded video from wherever you want. The idea and implementation are not bad at all, but we have to mention the total absence of HomeKit in that ecosystem.
-The competition of the Nest ecosystem makes it almost impossible for this camera to one day be integrated with HomeKit-
It is a pure struggle of ecosystems, which in the case of Apple users hurts us. The apple company already offers us a nerve point where to concentrate the connected accessories of our house, HomeKit, and for a matter of competition Nest will not offer us compatibility (even if a few months ago it was a possibility).
For Nest that can be a problem for Apple users more loyal to the brand, because there are cameras like the Omna 180 that we have already discussed that for a very similar price offer full integration with HomeKit. Instead of having a separate app and valuing your paid Nest Aware subscription, we have it all for free using the Home app. In the long run, it’s on account.
However, that can be an advantage for those who in addition to iOS devices also have Android terminals at home. Nest offers support for both platforms, while HomeKit is exclusive to Apple. Therefore, the Cam Indoor can be a purchase to consider if what we want is that compatibility. Too bad we can’t say the same for anyone who exclusively has Apple devices and accessories.