Letting you keep an eye on your home from anywhere, while also using AI smarts to keep you informed without you needing to be watching constantly, Google’s latest Nest cameras and subscription are surprisingly pleasant as far as home security products go.
I’ve always urged caution on connected security gadgets. They can contribute to unhealthy attitudes and behaviours, and companies cultivate or prey on a sense of insecurity and suspicion to sell them. But while sticking cameras on the outside of my house did feel gross, and I don’t like how quickly I transitioned to checking the feed on my phone instead of just looking outside, there’s definitely real utility and some charm here as well.
The weatherproof Nest Cam works day or night, indoors or outdoors, wired or on battery power.
The $329 Nest Cam is very white and round and Google-looking, but it’s clearly a security camera so it does have a slight authoritarian vibe, and it’s really well-designed. It’s waterproof and magnets to the included baseplate at any angle, with the plate also having a strong magnet, so you can mount it on any metal surface without needing to screw anything in (though all the hardware is included if you need it). I put it on a drain pipe overlooking my courtyard.
Its rechargeable battery should last a few months, or you can run it from mains. If you’re plugging it inside you can get an adjustable base, and if outside you can get a waterproof power cable with clips, screws and wall anchors, either of which runs you $60. Once set up the Cam appears in your Google Home app, where you can view the live feed and history, or hit the microphone button to project your voice through the camera’s speaker and give your dog (or any intruders) a real scare.
Meanwhile I also but a Nest Doorbell at my front door, which has a wide enough view to see both the roof and floor of my porch. Like the Cam it can also run on a rechargeable battery for a few months at a time, although you do have to screw the baseplate in. If you want it wired it needs cables from a transformer like a standard doorbell, and it will even interface with your old-school chime if you want it to.
The Nest Doorbell has a system of lights and animations that’s meant to let people know when it’s recording and when it’s monitoring, but at first glance it probably just freaks them out.
I had no existing doorbell so it’s working purely on Wi-Fi and, when pressed, sends a notification to my phone as well as a chime and spoken announcement (“someone’s at the front door”) to every Google speaker and display in the house. From the Google Home app (or the notification), you can see who’s at the door, and once again you can project your voice like an intercom. I chose a stately Westminster chime for the bell, but my family almost immediately discovered you can have limited-time seasonal chimes, so now every courier is greeted by shrieking cats or cackling ghouls for Halloween.
What separates the Nest products from other Wi-Fi camera ecosystems is the smarts. Instead of recording all the time, Nest looks for “events”, which you define, to record. So for the doorbell you might say a car arriving is an event, or that a person walking up your driveway is an event while the next door neighbour leaving their house is not. It can also detect packages as an event, which is very handy.
For the Nest Cam you might want an event for both people or animals, if you’re worried about trespassers on two legs or four. You could go very broad and say any movement is an event, or as narrow as saying only animals in your vegie patch counts.