Google has unveiled a brand new set of security cameras in the biggest refresh to its home awareness products in years. The lineup features a battery-powered indoor/outdoor camera, a floodlight, a video doorbell, plus a rebooted wired indoor camera, which collectively supplant the Nest IQ Cam and Nest Hello Doorbell.
The announcement follows yesterday's accidental leak, which saw Google unwittingly reveal the new product range on the Google Store webpage before quickly removing it. Now, the full line-up of doorbells and smart cams is in view, and you won't have to wait too long to get your hands on the new tech, as two of the models will be going on sale later this month.
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New Nest Cam and Nest Cam with floodlight
Priced at $179.99, the new Nest Cam is Google's first battery-powered camera meant for either indoor or outdoor areas. Arriving August 24, it features on-device processing to store content locally, as well as an option to be hard-wired.
Stealing the limelight (or floodlight), though, is the Nest Cam with floodlight, representing the company's first connected floodlight camera, listed at $279.99. Both security cameras feature night vision, 6x zoom and HDR. Users can plug it into the mains with either a standard or weatherproof cable, letting the camera withstand even the most rain-drenched days – an IP54 waterproof rating sees to this.
Nest Doorbell
Priced at $179.99, the new battery-powered Nest Doorbell comes jam-packed with all the smarts – and a halo-type ring of light to illuminate visitors. The Nest Doorbell uses Google’s in-built HDR camera, boasting a widened field of view, and helping users to catch the entire profile of a visitor from head to toe, as well as any objects on the floor or close by.
According to Google's official page, the Nest Doorbell is able to capture multiple activities at once, while being able to distinguish between, say, a person, vehicle, or an object in motion or sitting stationary. Because of the doorbell's enhanced field of view, it should help solve an everyday issue where it's sometimes difficult to discern a visitor by their features through one of the best video doorbell's cameras.
Second-generation Nest Cam Indoor
Fortunately, a budget-geared option does exist amongst Google's slew of new cam products; it arrives in the second-gen Nest Cam, which is the successor to the original Nest Cam, costing a reasonable $99.99.
For the money saved, the second-gen Nest Cam Indoor isn't able to record events to its local storage if Wi-Fi goes down because it's not battery-powered. In the event your Wi-Fi shuts down, the recorded footage is uploaded to the cloud as and when internet connectivity resumes, allowing homeowners to then view it remotely. Design-wise, the Nest Cam Indoor is much smaller than the standard Nest Cam and ships in four colors.
Overall, it's a much-needed refresh of a tired-looking product line, and it'll be interesting to see which new Google device gets the best reviews. Our money is on the improved doorbell pinching one of the top spots amongst our best smart security devices.
