5 Questions to Ask Before Buying a Smart Security Camera
Installing security cameras in your home used to be an expensive and time-consuming undertaking. In the past, you had to go to a security specialist, who would arrive with ladders and install wired cameras that required holes drilled for their cables, mounting brackets, and additional hardware to broadcast their feed to your TV or a dedicated monitor. Today, with all the new features these cameras are bringing to the market, you not only need a professional to help you install it, but also a source to help you understand how all these things work. new security camera features, like AI motion detection and activity zone customization. .
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To help make the process much easier, we have compiled this article for our readers. While commercial-grade security systems like those installed by professional companies like ADT and Vivint, there are plenty of simple ones. cheaper and more user-friendly alternatives.
Companies like Google Nest, Netgear’s Arlo – as well as cheaper options like Wyze and Aqara – all offer cameras with varying capacities and prices. Some have advanced motion detection and facial recognition, while others leverage broader smart home systems like Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple HomeKit, and IFTTT (If This, Then That).
But before you start, here are some important questions you need to ask yourself:
Indoor or outdoor?
Do you want your camera to work indoors, outdoors or both? Something you need to decide before buying one.
GearBrain
This should be your starting point when it comes to smart home cameras – do you want to install them indoors, outdoors or both? Indoor cameras tend to plug into a wall outlet, while some outdoor cameras come with rechargeable batteries so you don’t have to run power cables through exterior walls.
Outdoor cameras offer some degree of weather protection and water resistance, while indoor cameras do not.
Indoor cameras are generally a bit easier to set up and are simple to move around the house. But they can make it look like you’re spying on your family or roommates, because no matter how friendly the camera looks, seeing one staring at you is always somewhat unnerving.
When placing a camera outdoors, you should be aware of the risk of theft or tampering – it is best to mount a camera high up out of reach, but remember that you may need to access it to recharge the battery every few months.
Nest Cam 2nd generation available on Amazon
Cloud or local storage?
The Wyze Cam is just $20 and had local storage
wyze
Many smart home security cameras save their footage to the cloud, where you can view it through a web browser or smartphone app. It’s convenient, but it’s often part of the monthly fee (see question four) and some users may not want their images uploaded to the servers of a company they don’t trust.
Arlo cameras save footage to the cloud (where they’re kept for free for five days), but their base station also lets you connect USB storage or slot in a microSD card, giving you the option of storage as well. local. Cameras from Wyze Cam and also offer the choice of cloud and local storage, as do Kasa camera options from D-Link, Honeywell, Netatmo, Ezviz, Aqara and TP-Link.
More expensive cameras like Nest, Ring, and Vivint tend not to offer local storage. This means you’ll need to accept the footage being uploaded to a server (but not seen by anyone but you, that’s fine) and you’ll need to place the camera within range of your Wi-Fi router.
Buy Wyze on Amazon for less than $25
What can the camera see? Does this pose a privacy issue? Can you personalize it?
Security cameras allow you to define areas for the camera to monitor and start recording when motion is detected in those areas.
GearBrain
There are several things to consider when choosing a location for your security camera. Naturally, you’ll want it to have a good view – from your front door, for example, or a door leading out to the garden. You’ll also want to place the camera out of reach of anyone looking to steal or tamper with it, but somewhere easy to reach when you need to recharge the battery (if you opt for a wireless camera). Additionally, some security cameras allow you to define motion zones. If so, you can set the camera to monitor only those areas, which you can exclude from your neighbors.
But, apart from all this, you should think about the privacy of your neighbors. Is the camera looking at their pitch, or maybe even through their doors or windows? For those living in apartment complexes with shared spaces, this can be a tricky situation to sort out and keep everyone happy.
If in doubt, talk to your neighbor – maybe even show them an example of what your camera can see, then ask if they’re ok with recording that view.
Are monthly subscriptions worth it?
Some cameras offer all of their features for free, while others are only fully unlocked if you pay monthly.
Netatmo
Many smart home security cameras can be purchased with a subscription plan that adds additional features and stores more recorded footage in the cloud.
For example, without paying subscription fees, Nest’s indoor and outdoor cameras only record video taken when motion is detected and store it in the cloud for just three hours. So unless you log in and retrieve that image quickly, evidence of an incident like a burglary would be lost.
Instead, you have to pay for Nest Aware, which starts at $6 per month. This records video continuously, 24 hours a day, and stores the footage in the cloud for five days. This subscription also unlocks additional features such as ‘smart alerts’ and ‘activity zones’, which help refine what will cause the camera to alert you and start recording.
Buy Netatmo Indoor Security Camera on Amazon – $189
Alternatively, Arlo’s Basic plan is free and stores your camera recordings in the cloud for up to seven days; or you can connect your own storage to the base station to save recordings locally.
That’s a pretty good deal – seven days of recordings stored in the cloud for free – when you compare it to Nest’s lack of free features.
Another hidden cost to consider is how many companies charge more per month if you have multiple cameras or want longer access to stored video. Also, some cameras require a monthly plan to use their advanced security features like AI tracking, facial recognition. custom motion zones, smart alerts, and integrations with smart displays with built-in Alexa and Google Assistant. Be sure to check out what’s free and what comes with a monthly plan.
What other smart home devices is the camera compatible with?
Products to be installed by Vivint in our home.
GearBrain
Finally, it helps to understand which smart home systems and apps the camera you want to buy will connect to. Many feature an Amazon Alexa skill, which means you can say something like “Alexa, show me the front door” and a live feed from the camera there will appear on your Echo smart display. Show.
Nest cameras perform a similar trick, but instead use the Google Assistant and the Nest Hub Max. Say, “Hey Google, show me the front door” and your Nest camera’s live feed will appear on your Home Hub or on the TV with a connected Google Chromecast, if you want.
Many smart cameras also connect to IFTTT (If This, Then That), the smart home automation platform. This allows the camera to communicate with other devices in your home; for example, you can configure IFTTT to turn on an outdoor smart light when a camera overlooking the area detects motion at night.
For more information on smart home devices that work with Amazon Alexa and the Google Assistant, check out The GearBrain.
Top 5 Questions to Ask Before Buying Security Cameras – GearBrain
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