Google’s new Nest cameras and doorbell have lower prices and more intelligence

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Google has announced a new line of home security cameras and a video doorbell under the Nest brand. The new models, which include an indoor-only camera, indoor / outdoor camera, projector and video doorbell, replace the older Nest IQ cameras and Nest Hello doorbell. The main themes with the new devices are a unified design language and a more accessible price point that each model costs less than the camera it replaces, adding more features.

The design of the new cameras will be familiar to anyone who has seen other Nest products released in the past couple of years, such as the latest Nest thermostat, Nest WiFi, or the Nest Audio smart speaker. The company is moving towards softer edges and muted color palettes, and new cameras adhere to that with color options that are meant to blend in, not stand out.

The design echoes what Google has done with other recent Nest products

Google is also adding a bit more intelligence to cameras, thanks to advances in on-device machine learning. The new models can detect people, animals, packages and vehicles and provide specific alerts for each without the need for cloud processing (or associated subscription costs). (The Familiar Faces feature, which uses cloud-based facial recognition, still requires a paid plan.) The idea behind it all is to reduce the noise of constant motion notifications, a common problem with security cameras. maid and video doorbells.

Google says the Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) in the new cameras allows the algorithms to work on twice the number of pixels and twice the frame rate of previous Nest Cams, which provides more reliable event detection and alerts, so similar to how the upcoming features of Pixel 6 smartphones will improve a TPU. The cameras also include three hours of subscription-free event history and have internal memory for up to one hour of event clips (equivalent to about a week of events) in case the Wi-Fi goes down.

Finally, Google is offering versatility with this range, as both the doorbell and the new Nest Cam can be used in battery-powered or wired configurations. A range of accessories is also available for wall or table mounting or for installing a camera indoors or outdoors.

What you won’t see emphasized with the new models is the 4K resolution or spec hardware enhancements. Google says the trade-off required for higher 4K video bandwidth consumption and higher cloud storage costs outweighs the benefits. Additionally, Google believes that things like better HDR processing and smarter notifications are more useful than simply increasing the resolution.

Google Nest Cam The new Nest Cam can be used indoors or outdoors and has a weatherproof design.Photo: Google

The centerpiece of the range is the new $ 179.99 Nest Cam, which can be used indoors or out. (Sophie Le Guen, Google’s primary product manager for Home and Nest products, tells me that outdoors is where the company is seeing the most interest and growth in security cameras.) It has an internal battery that the company says lasts up to three months between charges with typical use. It can also be connected to permanent power; a weatherproof power cord or optional solar panel is available for outdoor installations.

The Nest Cam has a soft, rounded design partially made with recycled plastic, but retains IP54 weather resistance. Google says its magnetic mounting base has been tested to withstand gale force winds, and there will be an anti-theft mount that can be used to make sure the camera isn’t stolen.

Nest Cam’s magnetic base makes it easy to wall mount or place on a shelf.

The camera records 16: 9 1080p video at up to 30 fps across a 130-degree field of view. You can zoom in up to 6x digitally in the Google Home app when viewing the feed or a recorded clip. If you need more than three hours of event history (clips of events that happened in the last three hours) included for free, you can pay for a Nest Aware or Aware Plus subscription that offers up to 10 days of 24/7 recording and 60 days of event history.

The new Nest Cam is available in white and can be pre-ordered starting today, August 5th, with shipments scheduled to start on August 24th.

Google Nest Cam with Floodlight Google Nest Cam with Floodlight Photo: Google

The $ 279.99 Nest Cam with Floodlight is Google’s first connected Floodlight camera and fills a gap in the range that other companies have been addressing for some time. In fact, it’s a Nest Cam hooked up to a 2400 lumen projector. It requires permanent power without the battery option here and features an IP65 weather resistance rating.

Unlike regular spotlights, which are activated by any type of motion, the Nest Cam with Floodlight can use the same intelligence available in other cameras to fire only when it detects a person or vehicle. This separates it from other Floodlight cameras, such as Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro, which turns on and records a clip for any motion it detects.

Google says the Nest Cam with Floodlight will be available at a later date.

Google Nest Cam Indoor The Nest Cam Indoor is much smaller than the standard Nest Cam and comes in four colors to better match your indoor decor. Photo: Google

The simplest and least expensive new camera in the range is the $ 99.99 Nest Cam Indoor. A much smaller camera than the standard Nest Cam, the indoor model lacks the battery and watertightness of the more expensive model, but retains the same camera specs and intelligence features.

The Nest Cam Indoor will be available in four colors (white, pink, beige or green) to better match your home decor or other Nest products you may have in your home. There is also an optional wooden base available for this and the camera can be placed on a table or mounted on a wall.

The Nest Cam Indoor should be available at a later date.

Google Nest Doorbell The Nest Doorbell is Google’s first battery-powered video doorbell. Photo: Google

The $ 179.99 Google Nest doorbell is the company’s first video doorbell to operate on both battery and wired power. (The 2018 $ 229.99 Nest Hello doorbell was limited to wired-only setups.) It is compatible with more homes than Nest’s previous doorbell and comes in four colors (white, beige, green or gray) to better suit the furniture of the entrance. Google says typical battery life is around two and a half months between charges, although this is affected by how crowded your door is and the environment.

The Nest Doorbell has a tall 3: 4 aspect ratio, similar to the old Nest Hello, which according to Google allows you to see visitors from head to toe and packages that are eight inches away from the door. The vertical field of view reaches 145 degrees, although it is not clear how wide the horizontal field of view is. (A mounting wedge is included in the box to adjust the viewing angle for different inputs.) The Nest doorbell can record video of 960 x 1280 pixels at up to 30 frames per second and has both night vision and HDR capabilities.

Nest Doorbell is available in four different colors: white, beige, gray or green.Photo: Google

Like the new Nest Cam, the Nest Doorbell includes up to three hours of video event history, but you can subscribe to a paid plan for longer storage (however you can’t get 24/7 video history. 7 on the doorbell). One of the biggest benefits of the original Nest Hello was the speed at which it delivered notifications or a real-time feed to a Nest Hub smart display after the doorbell had been rung compared to other video doorbells, so you have to see if the Nest doorbell keeps up. those performance when battery charger is on.

The Nest Doorbell can be pre-ordered starting today, August 5th, while shipments are expected to begin on August 24th.

The new cameras fill some obvious gaps in Google’s smart home range and make it more competitive with Ring and others who have had projector cameras and battery-powered doorbells for years. The lower prices also make the cameras more affordable than before, even if they’re not as affordable as the cameras available from Wyze and other smaller brands.

But if you have a smart home centered around Google Assistant, budget cameras or the cheapest Ring products won’t work as well for you, and you definitely won’t have a consistent experience like what you’d get with Google devices. Well, let’s see how good this experience is when we get a chance to review the new cameras in the near future.

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