Google Nest Cam Review

It is encouraging to see Tata Play's subscription plans and the launch by Google of its new Nest Cam in India. This tells me that the country's smart home market is growing slowly, but surely. It's no secret that I have been closely following the DIY smart-home market for some time now. When I tried to find wireless security cameras for my home, there were not many options. My search eventually led me to Amazon's BlinkXT2 cameras. I bought three of them while on vacation abroad. Although this was three years ago, the truth is that they are still not officially available in India and are quite basic compared to the Nest Cam. Although a lot has happened since then, the official launch in India of the Google Nest Cam is a pleasant surprise. What is this camera good at? And why am I so excited about it all? Do you want to join me in my excitement and care?

There are many options for security cameras that can be used indoors. There are few reliable options if you need one to be installed outdoors. This is exactly what the Google Nest Cam fills, not to mention the intelligent features that it offers. Before I get into the review, there are some things you need to know.

• Google Nest Cam (Battery) is the latest model from Mountain View. Tata Play, formerly Tata Sky, is selling it in India. They also offer a variety of subscription plans that allow for longer storage times for videos stored on cloud and other features.
• This Wi-Fi-enabled security cam alerts you to motion (specifically motion by animals and people). It also records video clips which are stored on the cloud. These videos can then be viewed via the Google Home app on your smartphone. The app also provides an on-demand live view.
• The Nest Cam allows you to go back in time 3 hours to view recorded clips. However, if you purchase the Nest Aware subscription as part of Tata Play Secure package you can go back 30 day (which works with cloud storage) and you also have access to the Familiar face detection feature. Secure+ increases storage time to 60.
• The built-in battery allows the camera to be used wirelessly or in powered mode outdoors and indoors. Tata Play will offer a secure loop, which is a chain that attaches the camera to the wall plate. This reduces the chance of theft if it's installed outdoors.

Camera is an oval-shaped, large device that has a flat front. This is where the sensor and lens are located. The device can be ordered in any colour as long as it is white. An LED is located on the front of the device that lights up while the camera is recording. The camera's base has a hole that can be used as a screw mount. There is also a space where the magnetic charging cable can be attached. The box contains a magnetic plate, wall plate, and two screws. Anchors are also included. The 1m-long charging cum power cable can be used in conjunction with the included 7.5W adapter to provide power to the device. The magnet plate can withstand the 400g camera weight without any problems. The camera's rounded shape means that it can be placed at any angle on this plate.

Nest Cam has a 2-megapixel sensor that can record in 1080p at 30 frames per second. The Nest Cam supports HDR and night-vision. Other notable features include a built-in microphone and speaker, dual-band Wi Fi support, and an IP54 rating for weatherproofing. To set it up, you will need to use the Google Home app (Android or iOS). You can also link it with your Google Play and Tata Play accounts.

The Home app will provide an instant live view of the camera's images, no matter where you are. You can have a 2-way conversation while in live view. This is useful when you need instructions for a delivery person at your door. You can create notifications to be notified when the camera detects animals, people, or any other motion. Also, you can also set up zones within your camera view that will be monitored for these movements. This information is processed by the camera using on-device intelligence. You can view clips of recorded events by navigating the timeline. Or, you can choose to see the complete history which displays all recorded events in reverse chronological order.

The app has many settings that allow you to adjust the quality of video, audio, wake-up sensitivity, night vision, and video recording duration. You can adjust the default duration to 30 seconds. However, you can also set it to 10 seconds or even 3 minutes. If you are using the camera on battery power, you can view the battery status and select one of three battery modes. The default setting is balanced. If you have a Google Nest Hub smart TV, you can access your Nest Camera's video stream by speaking. Unfortunately streaming the Nest Camera feed to a Chromecast-enabled smart television is not possible. This is quite disappointing. You can use the Google Home app to set Home and Away routines. These will enable and disable your Nest Camera based on whether you are at home. It is important to have high-speed internet at home and that the camera is within range of the place you want it to be installed. The camera can save up to an hour of history locally, just in case your Wi Fi network goes down.

Here's my Nest Cam experience so far. I am one floor above the ground and decided to have it mounted above my main door, facing the stairs. The camera had been charged and configured before installation began. I drilled two holes into the wall and hammered the anchors in. Finally, the wall plate was screwed in. The magnetic plate was secured over the wall and the camera was then attached to it. No wiring was required since the camera is in battery mode. Tata Play gave me a trial subscription to Nest Aware. This allows me to view video footage from recorded events over the past 30 days and also gives me the option to use the Famiiar face detection feature.

As I discovered, notification alerts are instantaneous and appear on my phone immediately after a person is detected by my camera. My review camera faces the stairs so I chose to only enable notifications for people and left disabled alerts for vehicles and animals. You can set up Familiar face detection and the Nest Aware subscription plan under Google Home Settings. You can see all unrecognised faces here. If you know the people you want to mark as familiar, add their names, so that the next time the camera detects them the notification alert will also include their names.

This feature can also be used to recognize family members or other frequent visitors such as housekeepers. This worked well in my experience. Even at night, the recorded footage from Google Nest Camera was clear. The night vision footage recorded by the Google Nest Camera is infrared and is therefore in black and white. However, it is still very clear and usable.

With busy usage (25-25 recorded events per days), the battery can last up to 1.5 months. At the time of writing this review, the Home app shows me that I still have two weeks of battery life. With my current usage, which is quite high, I would expect to charge the device about every three to four week... which isn’t bad. Depending on where you have it installed and whether it is easy to take it out for charging, opinions may differ.

The free tier would have allowed you to go further back in time. However, the 3-hour window doesn't allow you to view recorded events after you get up from sleep. It seems that Chromecast-enabled TVs are unable to view the camera stream. I hope Google will soon be able bring this feature to them. It would also be great to be able to view the camera feed from a web browser. The Nest Cam (Battery), priced at Rs 11,999, is not cheap. A Nest Aware subscription from Tata Play, which supports up to four Nest cameras, will set you back Rs 3,000 per year. Five to eight cameras cost Rs 6,000 and nine to twelve units cost Rs 9,000 each. A Nest Aware Plus subscription is available that allows you to view a continuous 24/7 video feed from your Nest Cam. The former requires that it be used in wired mode. The Nest Cam (Battery), with its video quality and intelligence features, as well as the speed at which it can alert you, how easy it is to use indoors or out, and the ability to use it wire-free or in powered mode, makes it a great addition to any home.

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