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Google Nest Cam review: Easy to use, great benefit

Google Nest Cam featured image
Picture: TechnikNews
(Post picture: © 2021 TechnikNews)

Would you like to secure your home better? Then the Google Nest Cam could be exciting. You can read what this can do and whether it is recommendable in this review.

In principle, it is already pretty easy today to monitor and secure your own four walls. You place a camera that is connected to the Internet, mount a smart doorbell and door locks and the smartphone and tablet become a monitoring center that you take with you everywhere.

Today we dedicate ourselves to a camera from this category, the Google Nest Cam. With such a ProFor the product, it would be ideal if the housing was compact, easy to assemble, protected from the weather when used outdoors and it had a rechargeable battery so that a cable did not have to be laboriously laid. In addition, access to the recorded video material should be as easy as possible.

Whether the cam meets these points, I could find out for youprobeer In another review we will use the new Nest doorbell take another closer look.

Unboxing and initial setup

The Google Nest Cam comes in a plain white cardboard box with some pictures printed on it. You can access the scope of delivery by removing the plastic cover and lifting the lid. On top is the camera, below are a start guide and warnings, just like a charging cable with a proproprietary plug and a power adapter. For mounting on a house wall, you also get a plate for fastening, dowels and screws.

Google Nest Cam unboxing

The package contents are a little more extensive. (Image: TechnikNews)

Then continue with the setup in the Google Home app. To do this, first connect the camera to the power supply and initiate the setup of a new device in the app. A home must then be selected so that available devices can then be searched for. For some reason, however, the cam was never found on me, so I had to manually select it from the list of possible devices. When that is done, all that remains is to confirm that it is the "Nest Cam (with battery)". Now scan the QR code on the protective film of the lens and keep it safe. Afterwards I agree to the usage and data protection guidelines. In the next view, the positioning of the camera has to be selected before a connection to the WLAN has to be established in the next step. Last but not least, you have to assign a device name, set up the alignment of the camera and choose the type of installation - a few more words on this in a moment. You complete the setup by activating the video recording as well as the microphone and the audio recording.

Google also sent me the separately available Nest Stand for my test. This allows the camera to be set up quickly and easily on a level such as a shelf. The design of the box is similar to that of the Nest Cam itself. Inside is the tripod and a power cord. It is immediately noticeable positively that this is very long, which means that you are very flexible when laying. Now only the power cable has to be connected to the stand. As part of the setup in the home app, you also have the opportunity to adjust the viewing angle of the camera on the Nest Stand.

I did not test the installation on the house wall, since the Nest Cam was only made available to me temporarily and I therefore did not want to damage the wall. During setupproHowever, you can get a good video tutorial from zesses, an explanation from me would only have gone beyond the scope of this article.

Design and workmanship

The look of the new camera from Google is very subtle and hardly attracts any attention. From certain angles, it may even look like there is just the camera lens and the case. A loudspeaker, a magnetic power connection and a thread were also installed on the underside. The loudspeakers were surprisingly loud in my test, so that they could still be heard from a distance. When used on the house wall, the Nest Cam sticks magnetically to the bracket supplied. No complex screw cap or the like is necessary.

The Nest Stand follows the same design language. The stand is made of white plastic with an anti-slip surface on the underside. The power connection is on the back, the camera is attached at the top and is held in place magnetically.

For the most part, I have no criticisms of the workmanship. The plastic has no defects and the camera is even protected against rain showers and snowfall, which means that it does not necessarily have to be installed under one roof. The magnetic holder holds the Nest Cam bombproof, it didn't even fall off when you shook it vigorously. I didn't like the fact that the camera on the Nest booth always wobbled a bit and the whole thing didn't seem so stable.

Above the camera lens we have the microphone and a small status LED, which lights up green when a video is currently being recorded. The quality of the microphone is okay, everything is understood sufficiently well. However, if the distance between a sound source and the microphone increases only slightly, you may not be able to perceive it as well.

Camera

Let's take a closer look at the lens. The sensor is 2,8 inches tall and has a resolution of two megapixels, the field of view is 130 degrees. In order to be able to record even distant things well, there is a sixfold digital zoom. Videos are recorded with 1080p and the night vision mode intervenes in the dark, making everything up to a distance of six meters easier to see.

My conclusion is only image quality: It is okay and is definitely sufficient, but it is by no means outstanding. The image sharpness is okay, so you can see everything you need to see. The same applies to the night mode, although I was surprised at how many details were retained - even in complete darkness. And thanks to the large angle of 130 degrees, everything important is recorded.

This is how surveillance works

Now let's see what ways you can do with Nest Cam to observe areas.

First of all, you can watch the live stream in the home app or on a smart display, such as the Nest Hub, regard. This shows in real time what the camera is seeing and hearing at that moment. Even if there may be minimal stuttering depending on the Internet connection (which is also completely normal), there were never any dropouts in the transmission. In addition, you can communicate in this mode via the integrated loudspeaker and the built-in microphone.

Google Nest Cam Stand front

If the live stream is currently being viewed, the LED lights up green. (Image: TechnikNews)

If you don't want to keep an eye on the broadcast, the Google Nest Cam can also record individual events. The surveillance camera from Google understands an event to be the detection of a person, an animal or a vehicle. As a user, you can determine yourself which occurrences should be saved and which should not. If desired, you can also receive a smartphone notification if one of these three events occurs. In my test, the acquisition was always successful and reliable. Alarm areas can also be defined for more precise monitoring. These are opened in the app and determine in which areas an event should be triggered. That also worked very well review, even more accurately than expected. The event history can be seen in the home app.

Does that mean you always get a notification? Even if you know the person, the animal or the vehicle? No, it is also possible for the cam to remember these things. As soon as something has been recorded, you can specify in the app whether it should be stored in the memory for the future.

At this point it is also important to mention that the Nest Cam must always be connected to the power supply for permanent recording.

Google Home

Google Home is the app in which the surveillance camera is managed and all recordings end up. It is available free of charge in the App Store and the Play Store. All stored cameras appear in the same view as other devices that are compatible with the Google Home app.

The detailed view of a camera is equipped with three tabs. "History" shows the timeline with all recorded events. In “Live” you can observe what the camera is currently seeing and communicate via the integrated microphone. With "More" you can switch off the camera, and the battery level is also listed there.

Then there are settings for the battery, events, video recording and audio capture.

Then there are the so-called routines. These can, for example, temporarily deactivate video recording if it is recognized that you are at home anyway. However, I couldn't stand itprobeer because the feature is not activated in Austria.

Prices and availability

The Nest Cam is available from the Google Store. The double pack is available for 359,99 euros, while a single camera costs 199,99 euros. The Nest stand sells for 34,99 euros.

Google Nest Cam: Conclusion

The Nest Cam delivered on the most important points review. The setup is ticked off relatively quickly, the design is very subtle and the video feed is easily accessible. On top of that, events are reliably recognized and an announcement can be heard clearly via the built-in loudspeakers. The image quality is not top, but it is completely sufficient for the purpose.

It is a pity that routines are not yet activated in Austria and that the processing of the base can still be expanded. I would also have liked Google to include these as standard. In addition, the microphone could be a little better, so that voices can still be heard well from a somewhat greater distance.

So who is the Google Nest Cam for? Clearly: For everyone who monitors their home and wants a solution that is easy to use. You also have to be willing to pay the high price. The purchase also makes sense if you already have a small ecosystem of devices.

Thank you for providing the Google Nest Cam.

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David Haydl

David lives in Graz and has been there for around half a decade TechnikNews, also editor-in-chief for some time. He regularly provides the site with news, test reports and the like TechnikNews Weekly, which was his idea to launch. He likes to spend his free time outdoors, listening to a lot of music (and clearly too loud) and some podcasts on all kinds of topics, and also likes to go running. He enjoys the time that remains with his charming girlfriend or in front of the TV.

David has already written 1245 articles and left 116 comments.

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