How to Choose a Smart Security Camera 📹 📺 🔒 DIY in 5 Ep 91

Опубликовано 18 января 2019, 18:03

Smart security cameras are one of those pieces of tech that really make life tangibly better. If you’ve been considering a smart camera for home, you’ve probably seen that there are many options: Live feed or recorded video? Outdoor or Indoor? Wired or Wireless? Apps and AI? We break it down to tell you everything you need to know when shopping for smart security cameras.

Where would you like your video stored?
Probably the biggest consideration when picking the best smart security camera for you is determining how you’d like your video stored - in the cloud or locally. While local recording is certainly the most secure, how much storage is available and at what extra cost? And do you have the option to see the video when you are away from home? Cloud storage - video stored on a remote server - usually comes with an attached price as well, with plans from Nest charging $5/month, although there are cameras that offer free limited cloud storage like Arlo, Canary Flex, Flir FX, and others. Some cameras give you both local and cloud storage. Arlo offers limited free cloud storage and gives you the option to record locally as a backup using an SD Card or thumb drive. You can decide on whether you want a constant live feed, which will require storing a lot of data, or to record when motion is detected, which may require less.

Where should you place your camera?
You’ll also need to determine where you’d like to place your camera. If you are looking to place a camera outdoors, you’ll want something weatherproof that can securely mount to a surface so the camera itself can’t be easily stolen. If your camera placement is outdoors and not near an outlet, you may consider wireless cameras. While you won’t have to worry about being tethered to a power source, you will have to worry about replacing or charging batteries. The other thing to consider with wireless cameras is the network connection. Many home security cameras now connect over wifi, which is great until your wifi goes down or you need to place a camera just out of your wifi’s range. If you are going to go wired, I’d recommend you look for a PoE - or Power over Ethernet - camera setup. This technology allows both a network connection and power to flow through one cable, making setup and management a bit easier.

What features will work best for you?
Do you need to see in the dark? How wide a field of view would you like the camera to see? Would you like to hear audio as well or even be able to communicate back? What about getting a notification on your phone whenever motion is sensed? These features along with others such as night vision, wide angle, two way audio, and various compatible and proprietary apps will help you choose the best smart security camera for your home or office. There are even camera systems with face recognition so you can be told exactly who is in your home.

Nest
Google Nest offers outdoor and indoor cameras with 24/7 live video, two-way audio, night vision, 1080p up to 4k HD resolution and alerts on your phone. The video you’ll capture from a Nest is super clear and many tout it as the highest tier in home security, but it’s not cheap to purchase and the cloud storage options range from $5-$30 per month, depending how many days of video you’d like stored at a time.

Ring and Cloud Cam
Amazon has its own line of home security products - The Ring Doorbell, which captures video each time the doorbell is pressed - Blink XT, a budget-friendly outdoor and indoor home camera system - and Amazon Cloud Cam, a solid indoor camera that plays nicely with other Amazon products. The Ring and Cloud Cam each have monthly subscription plans as well as free options. For example, the Ring doorbell offers a live video feed every time someone rings the bell for free, but if you want to have your videos stored or have a Ring professional watch for any funny business, that’ll run you anywhere from $3-10 per month. The Blink XT has no monthly fee at all but only gives you two hours of motion-activated video stored on the cloud before it starts erasing your data.

Arlo
Then we have the Netgear Arlo line - fun fact: this is the camera line I have in my home! - and this specifically is the Arlo Q Plus. It’s got night vision, two-way audio, wide angle 1080p video and that PoE connectivity we discussed earlier. Arlo offers 7-day cloud recording for motion and sound triggered events for up to 5 cameras, and a monthly subscription if you want to add more than that. This model also has a microSD local backup option and I’m using the brand-new Kingston High Endurance microSD that was just announced a few weeks ago at CES! The perks of making a show for a hardware manufacturer...

As I mentioned earlier, I personally use Arlo mostly because I’m a fan of 7 days storage with no monthly fee. This video is not sponsored by Arlo, I just like them! Are you using a smart security camera right now that I didn’t bring up in this video? Let us know in the comments.