Google Nest Cam indoor and outdoor 2K review: Seamless, smart and secure

The new Nest Cam Indoor and Nest Cam Outdoor have the easiest interface setup experience ever. Simply plug it in (the Nest Cam Indoor comes with a 10-foot USB-C cable, while the Nest Cam Outdoor has an 18-foot weatherproof cable), scan the QR code sticker on the front of each camera with the Google Home app, connect to your Wi-Fi network, and you’ll be up and running in no time (Both support 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands). The Nest Cam Outdoor’s stylish magnetic mount requires a few screws, while the Nest Cam Indoor sits neatly on a shelf.

While Google has lagged behind competitors for years with its 1080p cameras, HDR support and high frame rates have helped keep last-gen Nest cameras relevant. However, jumping to a 2560 x 1400 resolution with a wider 152-degree diagonal field of view is a clear and immediate upgrade. This increase in resolution also enables 6X digital zoom, so Nest Cams can deliver notifications that zoom in on the subject of each moving alert. These notifications display a few frames of each event, making it much easier to determine if you need to click and watch the full video. You can also zoom in on the live feed and crop the view to stay focused on a specific area, such as a garden gate or path.

Google Home via Simon Hill

Google Home via Simon Hill

Both cameras detect more activity and alert more accurately and quickly than their predecessors. The range seems to be better too. For example, an interior camera faces a side door and can capture people across the street and zoom in on them as they walk by. I don’t necessarily want it to, but its reach is impressive. It’s more successful with the outdoor camera, as only the newer model picks me up when I enter the back door of a remote garage compared to the previous generation. The outdoor camera is also much faster at alerting and uploading accessible video than the old battery-powered model (this is generally true of wired cameras).

The cameras get six hours of cloud video history at no extra cost (compared to three hours for the previous generation), but that’s your lot without an expensive subscription. In this regard, Google has ditched Nest Aware in favor of the two-tier Google Home Premium: Standard is $10 per month or $100 per year, and Advanced is $20 per month or $200 per year.

Google Home Premium subscriptions include everything you got with Nest Aware (30 days of video history, familiar faces, garage door, and smoke and carbon monoxide alarm detection) and Nest Aware Plus (60 days of video history or 10 days of 24/7), but Standard also includes Gemini Live on Compatible smart speakers and displays, and the option to create automations by typing what you want in the Home app. This last feature works well if you have a bunch of smart home devices set up in Google Home, and you can ask them to do things like “turn on lights at sunset” or “have the side door camera turn on outside lights.” It’s much easier than using the old script editor.

Advanced artificial intelligence

The cream of AI goodies requires an advanced subscription. This adds descriptive notifications, so instead of “Person detected,” you receive messages like “Person walking up the stairs” or “Cat on table” instead of “Animal detected.” The searchable video history using the Ask Home search bar is really useful; You can ask questions like, “Who opened the back door last night?” or “Did FedEx deliver a package today?” And go directly to the event. You can also get daily summaries with Home Brief, giving you an often bizarre and comedic summary of the day’s highlights.

ScreenshotGoogle Home via Julian Choccato