Google Nest Cam (Wired)

I’m a camera installer by trade. A customer really wanted to try the Nest cameras, so we picked up ten cameras of a few models and gave it a shot. The take always are not good. I cannot recommend these cameras to anyone. - it’s at best just one quarter the resolution you can find in similarly priced 4K cameras. - the clarity does not live up to the expectation or the hype -the cameras have comparably limited features. The frame can only be rotated 180 degrees, there is no option for 90 degrees, every professional camera system I work with has those options, and many more. - the 134 degree lens would be useful if it had higher resolution, but that’s just too wide a field of view for a decent picture at 1080p. - the camera housing articulation does not give you the ... MoreI’m a camera installer by trade. A customer really wanted to try the Nest cameras, so we picked up ten cameras of a few models and gave it a shot. The take always are not good. I cannot recommend these cameras to anyone. - it’s at best just one quarter the resolution you can find in similarly priced 4K cameras. - the clarity does not live up to the expectation or the hype -the cameras have comparably limited features. The frame can only be rotated 180 degrees, there is no option for 90 degrees, every professional camera system I work with has those options, and many more. - the 134 degree lens would be useful if it had higher resolution, but that’s just too wide a field of view for a decent picture at 1080p. - the camera housing articulation does not give you the same flexibility that a proper 4K camera would give you. Inevitably you will have a few wonky pictures if doing 5 or more cams. - loading the cameras into the google home app is exceptionally time consuming, with literally dozens of unnecessary prompts. If your phone and the camera are not connected to the same access point at the same time, the cameras will not connect. So you must be physically next to the camera to pull them into google home. - google did not improve their 2nd generation product, meaning that the 2nd gen cameras have lower performance specs than their predecessors. -huge bandwidth problems. 10 cameras can chew up to 50Mbps of upload, which nobody without fiber service can achieve. -the Internet service providers get twitchy when you’re pulling that kind of upload bandwidth 24/7. If they have the ability to throttle you, they eventually will. All in all this appears to be the folly of a search engine trying to be a surveillance manufacturer, when there are existing surveillance manufacturers in the market who are simply better at what they do.

I picked one of these up about a year ago. I'm a big Google fanboy and I'm very much engrained in the Google ecosystem. My house has several Nest/Google Home Speakers, a hub, a few smart clocks, Chromecasts, Google TV devices, etc. I'm very tech savvy and have no problem setting up, using, and troubleshooting devices in general. Short version is: These are almost unusable. Despite having a Nest Wifi mesh network across my house, and trying this camera in multiple locations (including about 15 ft from the primary router with a direct line of sight), it's almost not even worth having. I can connect to the camera and view the stream, but it only takes about 30 seconds before the stream freezes and then shows a spinner. Sometimes it'll recover, only to pause again ... MoreI picked one of these up about a year ago. I'm a big Google fanboy and I'm very much engrained in the Google ecosystem. My house has several Nest/Google Home Speakers, a hub, a few smart clocks, Chromecasts, Google TV devices, etc. I'm very tech savvy and have no problem setting up, using, and troubleshooting devices in general. Short version is: These are almost unusable. Despite having a Nest Wifi mesh network across my house, and trying this camera in multiple locations (including about 15 ft from the primary router with a direct line of sight), it's almost not even worth having. I can connect to the camera and view the stream, but it only takes about 30 seconds before the stream freezes and then shows a spinner. Sometimes it'll recover, only to pause again shortly after, but most of the time it disconnects completely and says it's unable to display the video feed. If you try again, most of the time it will just continue to say it can't display the video feed until you wait and try again later. And forget trying to talk through it. This is on a home network with gigabit fiber internet (tested at about 800mbps down & up), with practically no other device activity (no one is even home), and confirmed to not suffer from bufferbloat or anything. It doesn't matter what quality setting you use, what device you view from, or how good your internet connection is on the client. I can close the Google Home app, and check my $50 Eufy camera, and get a quick, reliable video stream. It's farther from the router, and honestly the quality is better too. The only reason I didn't give this 1 star for quality is because the actual physical hardware presentation is nice. It feels like a high-end product. It just doesn't perform like one.

Nest (now owned by Google) has been releasing cameras since their acquisition of Dropcam circa 2014. Since then, they’ve launched a Home App, Smart Assistants in the forms of speakers with integrated monitors, and further developed their cameras to include more security features, with the ability to monitor them at the tap of an app or by asking your Google Home Hub. The unboxing experience feels more premium, compared to nest cams in the past, and nicely packaged for easy removal. In the box you’ll find the camera, a power adapter, mounting hardware (screws and anchors), an attached long USB cable with plastic cable clips (no ties here), and a user manual. It’s important to note there is a QR code located on the sticker which protects the lens and is required for ... MoreNest (now owned by Google) has been releasing cameras since their acquisition of Dropcam circa 2014. Since then, they’ve launched a Home App, Smart Assistants in the forms of speakers with integrated monitors, and further developed their cameras to include more security features, with the ability to monitor them at the tap of an app or by asking your Google Home Hub. The unboxing experience feels more premium, compared to nest cams in the past, and nicely packaged for easy removal. In the box you’ll find the camera, a power adapter, mounting hardware (screws and anchors), an attached long USB cable with plastic cable clips (no ties here), and a user manual. It’s important to note there is a QR code located on the sticker which protects the lens and is required for setup (don’t lose it). Plugging the camera in, and you’ll hear an audible tone and a slow pulsing blue light indicating it’s ready for setup. You can’t use the older Nest App for installation and will need to use the Google Home app with your Google login to start the setup. I was pleasantly surprised to find the setup effortless, only requiring the use of the QR code on the camera to identify and connect to the camera, followed by confirmation of connection to your WiFi network, and a quick update to the camera. Once you’ve added the camera to the Home App, you’ll be asked if it’s going to be wall mounted, in which case you’ll simply twist the attached mount plate with a simple push and twist. The mount plate has two screw holes, and once mounted, the camera can be reinstalled to the plate with minimal effort. Total installation time was less than 10 minutes, and the camera was ready to view immediately. You will be asked if you want to sign up for a 30-day trial of their recording service, “Nest Aware,” otherwise you’ll be able to view the most recent 3 hours of recordings. If you already signed up for their service, you’ll simply add this to your account, and it should be ready after setup. With Nest Aware, you also get advanced familiar face detection, 10 days of 24/7 recording, and 60 days of event recordings in smaller clips. The camera itself is a nice soft white in color, with a metal hinge that allows for 180 degrees turn, and a slight tilt for positioning. This allowed for various positioning when installing the camera, and the base did a great job of holding the camera in the desired position with no identifiable shifting after installation. The camera light stays on and can be dimmed slightly if you’re placing this along a window to avoid a bright reflection. It blinks green when someone is watching, making this camera ideal for those worried about privacy while it’s on and a way to identify someone viewing. You have the option of using your smartphone’s location to automate home/away modes, in a same way it works with Nest thermostats, enabling recording only when you’re not home, plus you can also turn off the microphone to stop any audio recordings. You can also program activity zones, which will help mitigate false events; such as, near a busy roadway or walk space. The speaker was loud enough to speak to any pets or people viewed in range of the camera, with no noticeable delay during real-time use. The video quality was probably the biggest upgrade from my previous generation Nest cams, with a wide-angle view to capture more the cameras surroundings. Pointing the camera out my front home office window, and I could easily see my entire front yard, and the approach up my driveway. The night vision is on by default to automatically turn on during lower light environments but can be toggled off to remove any glare if you’re placing this looking out a window. Compared to some other cameras, the color clarity in the dark isn’t as vivid, and with the night vision it does provide clear images. It’s important to note that the Nest cam is only compatible with Google’s assistant hubs if you want to view the live feed outside of your smartphone app. Using a Google Nest Hub, you can simply ask to pull up your live feed or use the hub to view previous event recordings. If you already use Googles Nest doorbell or other cameras, you’ll use this in a similar way, by just asking for the camera by name. Overall, I’m really impressed with the ease of setup, and the wide-angle view shows even more detail around the camera.