Shortly after we installed the Nest home security cameras, my spouse arrived home from work scowling. He opened the Nest app and started scrolling through the day’s footage.
“What’s going on?” I asked, certain that a package had been stolen or some other grave injustice had been done.
“Did those [unprintables] forget to pick up the garbage?” he asked. We watched on his phone as the outdoor Nest cam caught the garbage truck rolling nonchalantly past the full bins we left out on the curb. He stormed into his home office, and I overheard him leave an indignant phone message.
If you don’t have a Klimt hanging over your fireplace, home security cameras may seem like paranoiac overkill. But as we discovered over several weeks with the Nest indoor and outdoor cameras, we found plenty of reasons to appreciate their utility.
Like all of Nest’s products, both cameras were easy to install. Just plug them in and add the cameras in the Nest app or online.
The Nest Cam Outdoor came with a 25-foot long cable with a rugged, weatherproof plug should you choose to plug it in an outside outlet. Our porch has an overhang with inset light fixtures that are powered through an outlet in the attic, so we chose to drill through the roof and plug the cam inside.
This also thwarts potential burglars who might simply sneak around and unplug the camera, and also saved us from needing a longer cable. But in some cases, a 25-foot long cable might be too short.
Studies show that the mere sight of an outdoor camera is enough to deter burglars. But, of course, we actually wanted to use it. The minute the camera came online, our phones started getting bombarded with push notifications, warning us about every passing car.
The outdoor Nest camera comes with a free 1-month trial of Nest Aware, a subscription upgrade that nets you access to better alerts and more advanced identification algorithms. With Nest Aware, I was able to select activity zones by highlighting areas in the camera’s field of vision. Designating activity zones, like the front yard and the gates, significantly reduced the amount of notifications that I got. If you choose, you can still see all the footage from the past ten days in the app’s timeline.
Without Nest Aware, the camera saves only about three hours’ worth of footage, which isn’t even a full work day. After three hours, it will still alert you but only still frames will be saved.
Both cameras have spectacular 1080p HD resolution on a 130-degree wide angle lens that covered the whole front yard and footage is a pleasure to view. You can also zoom in digitally. The night vision was excellent. On the outdoor camera, we’re able to clearly distinguish our neighbors across the street coming and going from approximately 100 feet away. The motion sensors are sensitive enough to be triggered by a tarp flapping gently in the breeze.
One of the most significant differences between the Nest Cam and the Nest Cam IQ is facial recognition. Both cameras were excellent at letting me know when they’d spotted people, but the Nest IQ goes one step further—it can also identify familiar faces. The facial software was pretty accurate, alerting me that my spouse or nanny was moving around the house.
Moving your hands near your face can trip it up, however, as can being an infant. Every few hours, the indoor cam alerts me that there was a new person in the living room when it was just my six-month-old. Which, to be honest, he very well could be.