Google Nest Cam Indoor Security Camera Review
9.5/10 (Expert Score)
- 24/7 live stream video in full 1080p HD over Wi-Fi. Check in from anywhere at anytime. Send clips to family or friends in 1920x1080 resolution.
- Night vision featuring 8 high-power infrared LEDs provide light for clear video in the darkest conditions.
$169.99
Description
Design
The Google Nest Cam Indoor has a sleek design. The glossy black plastic camera can be removed from the dark grey metal stand in the event you want to hide it or make it less conspicuous. Why they chose to pair it with a white USB cable is a head-scratcher. Above the eye of the lens is a LED light that flashes blue when trying to connect and turns solid green when recording. Not ideal if you don’t want intruders to realize they’re being recorded but a small piece of electrical tape can cover it up if it’s a nuisance.
The white USB cord mentioned above is used to power the device and is super long (10 feet) and should be long enough to find an AC outlet without having to rearrange all the furniture. The base is cleverly designed and can be twisted into just about any position. The enclosed wall mounting plate has a strong magnet that allows the Nest Cam to be attached or removed from a wall or ceiling easily. You can even stick it on the fridge if you want.
Google Nest Cam Indoor Features
The Nest Cam has no pan and tilt features but the leg that attaches the cam to the base can be rotated 180 degrees and the stand can be rotated a complete 360 degrees. The lack of pan and tilt functions is not really an issue on a camera with a nice wide-angle lens and the Google Nests 130-degree lens is one of the widest available. The 3-megapixel lens also includes 8x digital zoom. The excellent picture quality is one of the reasons this camera is so popular despite the price tag. As you would expect the Nest Cam Indoor seamlessly integrates with Google Home devices. It also interacts with many smart home devices such as Phillips Hue smart light bulbs and the SkyBell video doorbell. It can also be triggered to start recording at the request of Mimo’s baby monitor, the August smart lock, and the Petnet smart pet feeder. 
A caveat is if you want to use the sound or motion alerts the only settings in the app are on or off. You can’t tweak the sensitivity unless you get a subscription to Google’s Nest Aware program. This can result in getting a lot of unwanted alerts because of things like shadows and sunlight. A basic subscription to Nest Aware is $6 per month or $60 annually and unlocks features like “advanced sensing” to reduce the sensitivity of motion alerts and allows access to 30 days of history. The $12/month plan offers 60 days of rolling cloud history and 10 days of 24/7 recording. The first 30 days of both plans are free. The issue I have with this is the Nest Cam doesn’t offer local storage so to gain the full benefit of the features of this camera you need to pay for a subscription. Nest is currently locked in a price war with Arlo so these prices may eventually drop.
Google Nest Cam Indoor Performance
The advantages of the Nest Cams 3 Megapixel 1040p lens over the Dropcam Pros 720p resolution are stunningly obvious. Video at 720p loads faster than 1040p video but the video quality of the new camera on a strong WiFi signal is hard to beat. The focus is sharp and the video quality is silky-smooth. There’s a slight 1-second delay with live viewing but other than that the Nest Cam Indoor offers a true HD experience. The 130-degree range of vision and 8x zoom provide all the flexibility needed to view a fairly large area. You can view videos from both a smartphone and a computer. The two-way sound quality is good but not great. Don’t expect Hi-Fi sound quality from this camera or any security camera for that matter. It’s meant to be a basic intercom system at best. The Nest Cam Indoor has a “talk and listen” feature that works like a walkie-talkie. When viewing a live stream from your phone you can press the “Talk” button in the app to connect yourself directly to the camera’s speaker. A blue flashing light will appear and a beep will sound on the camera as you speak to family members or holler at an intruder to leave or be posted on Facebook. 
Google Nest Cam Indoor Setup
Remarkably installation of the Nest Cam can literally take one minute. The app works on iOS and Android. Once it’s downloaded and you have created a new account or logged into one you already have simply follow the prompts to name your device, connect to the WiFi by scanning the QR code, and connect to any other Nest devices you may already own.
Google Nest Cam – Video
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Conclusion
The Nest Cam Indoor is an excellent device and the app is streamlined and easy to use. The price is kind of steep but you would expect to pay more for this kind of quality and integration with smart home devices. The major caveat is the required subscription needed to reap all the benefits of the camera.
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Google Nest Cam Indoor Security Camera Review Videos
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