Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2016
In an attempt to help prospective buyers decide whether the NEST is perfect for them or not, I am hoping to write as detailed a review as I can that addresses some of the biggest concerns about the purchase of this security camera.
Let me quickly say that I never thought of buying a security camera for my home. However, I was offered another brand (Amcrest) at a discount for review purposes. Installed it, and was immediately elated that I could check up on my elderly Mother during the day. However, that security camera was absolute garbage. It lasted a day before it stopped working. I was a bit heartbroken after realizing the benefits of having a camera in the home, and immediately sought for something better.
The Logitech Circle was one of the cameras I considered. However, there were many complaints about its performance, particularly the fact that its cloud recording doesn't particularly do a great job of reporting movement in the room. Many complained that it captured movement after it occurred instead of before, thus causing the viewer to miss the action completely.
Since I am putting the most important aspects of this camera first in my review, I want to address the biggest complaints about the NEST Security Camera: it's price and the cost of a subscription.
No doubt, something needs to be done about the costs related to this product. This is not a $200 camera. It costs NEST less than half that to manufacture. I wouldn't mind paying $200 if not for the fact that there is a $100 yearly subscription required for cloud storage on top of that. There has to be a compromise somewhere. I bought two of these Nest cameras and would have bought 2 more if not for the fact that the cost was prohibitive for me. The folks at NEST need to realize that many customers want to build a home security system with their product, but cannot, because of the combination of pricing.
Your first security camera will cost you $100 per year to monitor. Each additional camera is $50 per year. That adds up very quickly as you add on cameras.
Now mind you, I am all for cloud base subscriptions. I think they are essential. Yes, you could buy a camera with the ability to put a SD card in it and record/monitor activity. However, a smart burglar will steal that camera and the card inside of it, thus losing your ability to review the theft. A cloud service ensures that if your camera is stolen, the recorded activity is secure in the cloud. A thief cannot steal it.
NEST does provide an ample 10-day history of 24/7 recording for its basic $100 per year subscription. You can purchase 30 days of history for (I believe) $300 per year. However, I don't think most people need even 10 days worth of history at their disposal, so I have no complaints about level of storage being offered. Perhaps NEST could offer even a lower subscription price for 5 days of recorded history, which might attract more people to its brand.
Since I am still pointing out the negatives, I might as well also say that this is an indoor camera only. It cannot be placed outdoors. There are enclosure options made by companies like Dropcase (you can search them on Amazon) that allow you to place the camera outdoors. However, using this as an outdoor camera voids your warranty and there have been many reviews on Amazon that say these enclosures have damaged the camera as it tends to overheat.
I am hearing that NEST is working on an outdoor camera. This is very exciting to hear. However, ultimately, that means another $200 purchase and another $50 a year subscription to add that camera to the system. You see how easily costs add up when investing in this product?
And yes, NEST seems to answer every single one of these type of reviews citing that one does need a subscription to view live streaming. This is true. If you just want the camera to get a live view of the nursery, or check on your parents, you don't have to opt for the subscription. Just realize, if something happens in the frame while you are not viewing -- and you want to know more about it -- you are completely out of luck without the monitoring subscription. NEST offers all customers a free 30-day trial to test out the full aspects of the monitoring service so you can see if you really like it or not. Chances are, you will.
I'll talk more about the monitoring in a moment. I seem to have placed the negatives at the top of this review. Let me go into some positive aspects of this product to offer some fair balance....
This NEST camera is a solid product By that, I mean it is well built, has some nice weight to it (so no worries of tipping over), and many mounting options including a magnetized base (you can actually mount this on a refrigerator) and hardware to mount and screw it into drywall. So kudos to NEST for thinking of everything. You also get a 10' USB power cord. Wish it were black like the camera to make it less obvious, but since many walls are painted white, the cord might actually blend in.
There have been many conflicting reviews about the amount of time it takes to install this product. Certainly, your mileage will vary pending on your level of expertise and the network in your home. For me, it literally took less than 5 minutes from box to install. I took the camera out of the box, plugged it in, went to the NEST app on my iPhone and added it as a device. I simply scanned the QR code on the back of the camera and then entered my WiFi password. Within seconds, I was streaming live video to my phone.
I am also an owner of the NEST thermostat. So perhaps that helped expedite the install process as the NEST uses the same software app. As a NEST thermostat owner I appreciate the fact that I can see all the NEST products on the same app.
Video quality is exceptional. I opted to switch from the default 720p to 1080p recording. While many will not see a huge difference on their small device, it makes a bigger difference when streaming from your laptop or desktop. It also allows you to get more finite detail when reviewing recordings. Personally, I would recommend going with 1080p streaming. I was quite surprised that when I monitored my home activity over my iPhone using nothing more than a cellular connection, the video looked exceptional. I was worried that a cellular monitoring connection would be compromised. However, the video looked great on the NEST app via my iPhone via a 4G LTE connection with very little compression artifacts being introduced into the picture.
Live streaming works rather well, though be aware of the lag time. Since the video needs to be sent from camera to server to viewing device, there is at least a 2 second lag in live action vs. what you view. I suspect if you have a poor WiFi connection, this lag will increase. I tested the lag time over and over again. I would sit, view myself on the browser while raising my arm. It would take two full seconds before that action could be seen on my screen.
The camera offers a fish-eye view of the room. One of the biggest disappointments I have with the NEST over the Amcrest camera is that there is no ability to pan up and down or move the lens from side to side. This would have been an awesome feature to include. However, the amount of information included in its fish-eye view is pretty amazing. You also get a huge amount of depth. In other words, the camera has the ability to reach far back in the room. A zoom feature allows you to bring that depth up close. An enhance feature lets you zoom in and enhance any "fuzzy" far-off object. The enhance feature works quite well.
Night vision is simply amazing -- even better than the Amcrest camera I previously owned. NEST really did an outstanding job of putting a first-rate night vision camera into this device. In total darkness, you can monitor movement very well. I was able to capture video of my dog sneaking into the living room and grabbing tissue paper that was left on the floor and tearing it up in her mouth, leaving a mess for the morning. How did it happen? You can simply review it with your cloud monitoring software.
The talk feature is pretty neat, though there is a half second lag involved that makes 2-way communication (like a phone) a bit cumbersome. It also doesn't work on Safari browser, as others have reported. I have to use Chrome or another browser for the flash plug-in that enables this kind of communication to work properly. Still, the feature is kind of cool to use, particularly if you want to yell at your dog to get off the furniture.
Let me talk about the monitoring software and subscription service for a few moments, then I'll return to talking about the pros and cons of the camera...
As I noted at the top of this review, the subscription service is a must. It's so unfortunate that the price is exorbitant. I could have put an entire fleet of these cameras in my home if not for the price of the cameras combined with the subscriptions. Even at 50% off for each additional camera, the costs add up quickly.
However, again, the subscription service is a "must purchase" item and you'll quickly and out why once you start using it.
The monitoring software is really neat. First, every time the camera senses movement in the room, it sends you an email alert. Email alerts are kept to a minimum of one every 30 minutes so your mailbox is not bombarded with alerts. From your email alert, you click a VIEW NOW button and you are immediately taken to the point in history where the movement takes place. Mind you, this can be done on any device. What I really love is the fact that you are taken to a point in the recording *seconds before* the movement actually happens. This is essential, as you never miss the actual event. Reviewers that own the Logitech Circle have complained that they are taken to a point in the recording AFTER the event itself so they completely miss it.
Now, the sensitivity of the camera to detect movement is a little high. It detects every little bit of movement in the room. When you become a paid subscriber, you have the ability to set up ACTIVITY ZONES. This allows you to draw a pinpoint area in your room where you want the camera to concentrate on. Want to only detect movement in and out of a sitting chair? Want to detect movement only in a certain portion of your driveway? The software promises the ability to define hot spots within an entire captured area. However, I found this doesn't work very well. Despite setting up these activity zones, the camera still picked up and reported activity outside of these zones. This is an area that NEST really needs to improve.
A huge omission in the software that is provided is the ability to monitor several cameras on one screen. The Amcrest camera allowed a single piece of software with multiple windows that showed several camera activities in the home at once. With NEST you have to open several browsers to monitor all your cameras, or the mobile app, switch from one camera to another which takes several steps to do.
Since I know the folks from NEST are reading this review, I urge them to upgrade their software to enable multiple cameras to be monitored in a single window. According to Amazon reviews, this idea has been suggested to them several times and it seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
Now nearing the end of this review, I want to close by saying the NEST CAM is a quality product both in build and performance. By far, I think this is the security camera that you should consider.
However, that being said, the cost of the hardware combined with the monitoring service --- and considering these costs for years to come --- might drive someone to pay much more up front for a complete home security system with monitoring DVR from a professional surveillance company. Really, I have sat here time and time again justifying the costs of this product, long term, against the costs of buying a professional home surveillance package. Monitoring services with the NEST, alone, is costing me $150 per year and that is only for two cameras. In a couple years that money could have paid off a more elaborate surveillance system with DVR.
I also touched upon the fact that the NEST cannot be used as an outdoor camera, though many are using it with an outdoor enclosure. I am leaning towards trying it, though with the fear I might fry the hardware. Right now, I have the camera pointing inside out of my front bay window. It allows me to monitor the driveway and mailbox. However, it cannot be used at night. The window reflects the night vision LED sensors. To be able to truly use the NEST as an outdoor camera, it needs to be placed in an enclosure outside. That comes with risks.
Absolutely, I will purchase an outdoor camera from NEST when they finally manufacture it. However, as noted previously in the review, that's another $50 per year to monitor the feed.
So, I end this review by simply saying that the NEST CAM has become a love/hate relationship. It's a beautiful camera. It provides exceptional day and night video. It's monitoring capabilities are exceptional, particularly the ability to scrub through days of recorded history. It's email alerts when the camera detects motion and the ability to actually see that movement seconds before it happens is second to none.
However, paying $200 per camera is inane. Combine that with the price of cloud service makes this a product that too many people will either pass over, or like me, think twice about expanding in the home.
What NEST needs to do is become competitive. They either lower the price of these cameras or offer a lower-tier monitoring subscription that allows its customers to want to purchase more cameras to expand their home surveillance network.
UPDATE (August 2016): Nest app and web page now supports multiple camera viewing windows at once. Amcrest still does it slightly better, but this is a great addition for Nest.
