Nest’s easy to use yet powerful home monitoring cameras have arrived in Australia, the big question on everyone’s lips; are they worth the wait?
A home security camera (wired), the Nest Cam retails for $319.95, however the operation of the camera isn’t as straighforward as you might have been led to believe. Yes, it is wired up for consistent delivery power via a miniscule microUSB connector – however, it connects to your WiFi to deliver that all important, 1080p constant live-stream. The camera covers the same monitoring area as Netgear’s Arlo Pro, with a wide-angle view (130-degrees if you’re taking notes) but with its simple streaming the Nest Cam does more than just that.
Notifications can be set up through the Nest app or site for significant amounts of movement, the threshold is however quite low. It can also be set to notify you when the detector become aware of a loud noise. And the Nest Cam allows you to talk through the camera using the app or site.
Nest Cam can record in any type of light, you get 1080p video, which is of a decent quality. You can choose from 1080p, 720p or 360p live video streaming. You can expect the camera to use around 1Mbps upload whilst it is doing its thing.
Its recording quality is up there with the best of the home-grade security cams available, audio is very clear, although on the quiet side, and the video is good enough to see things up to five meters away. Add this to any decent internet connection and the cam delivers what you are looking for from a home camera – clear footage you can review surprisingly quickly.
There is good integration between Nest and its family of devices making it easy to buy the ecosystem, if you should choose to do so. The Nest Protect; which detects smoke or carbon monoxide triggers recordings on the Nest Cam, keeping an eye on things and giving you piece of mind.
To get the most from a Nest Cam however you will probably want to pay out for the Nest Aware subscription, a cost of $14 per month, this does however give you access to a full 10 days of footage rather than the 3 hours you get free.
So, whilst the Nest is not exactly the most powerful camera on the market it is user friendly, reasonably priced and set up correctly should give you good images, and with its ability to hook up to the Nest Protect what’s not to love? Should you buy it, well that’s up to you.
