Nest Cam Outdoor Security Camera

Well with the Nest Camera, there are several things I really enjoyed about the camera and some not so much. For starters, the design. As I opened the Nest packaging, I observed a futuristic looking (white in color) Nest camera. The Nest build quality appeared to be exceptional with clear precise mounting directions. In the bitter cold, I was impressed that installation and mounting for the Nest Camera went quick, due to their design of the product. The Nest Camera used the Google Home app. The Nest flawlessly connected with the Google Home app and it was easy to use and navigate. The Goggle Home app also paired with the Nest thermostat. What I liked about the Google Home app is that you can control the Nest Camera. The Nest was amazingly bright and adjustable from ... MoreWell with the Nest Camera, there are several things I really enjoyed about the camera and some not so much. For starters, the design. As I opened the Nest packaging, I observed a futuristic looking (white in color) Nest camera. The Nest build quality appeared to be exceptional with clear precise mounting directions. In the bitter cold, I was impressed that installation and mounting for the Nest Camera went quick, due to their design of the product. The Nest Camera used the Google Home app. The Nest flawlessly connected with the Google Home app and it was easy to use and navigate. The Goggle Home app also paired with the Nest thermostat. What I liked about the Google Home app is that you can control the Nest Camera. The Nest was amazingly bright and adjustable from 1% to 99%. The Nest Camera is easy to use and operate. The Nest Camera video quality/ clarity was above average for security cameras. I experienced that the Nest Camera video quality was good in the dark with the internal infrared light within approximately 60 feet. The Nest Camera and Goggle Home app gives proper notifications on movement, properly records an event and allows easy viewing of an event. However without a monthly subscription to Nest Aware the Nest Cameras features are limited and the history is deleted after three hours. In short the Nest camera, works well but you need the Nest Aware to take full advantage of the product.

2 Separate Cameras, same problems

I bought my 1st camera July 2022. Once I received it, the camera was very quick and easy to install and setup. I tried the camera in 2 drastically different areas, but it would only record events that were very close to the camera and only near the bottom or center of the viewable area. I spoke to Google for 2 hours and went through all kinds of technical support options. In the end they offered me a refurbished unit. I declined and as I thought it was defective, so I sent it back for an exchange. A week later I get the new unit, install everything, and then I have the exact same issues. My wife can walk all the way to her car, get in, and drive away and it will not record the event. The car is ever so slightly off from dead center, and about 15 feet from the ... MoreI bought my 1st camera July 2022. Once I received it, the camera was very quick and easy to install and setup. I tried the camera in 2 drastically different areas, but it would only record events that were very close to the camera and only near the bottom or center of the viewable area. I spoke to Google for 2 hours and went through all kinds of technical support options. In the end they offered me a refurbished unit. I declined and as I thought it was defective, so I sent it back for an exchange. A week later I get the new unit, install everything, and then I have the exact same issues. My wife can walk all the way to her car, get in, and drive away and it will not record the event. The car is ever so slightly off from dead center, and about 15 feet from the camera. It is in good light and uncovered, and it still will not record this event at all. So basically anyone can come up from the sides, or from the main street and steal her car without anything being recorded. Like I said, this is from 2 separate new cameras, and dealing with hours with Google Support, and it still doesn't work as advertised. You're better off getting a deer camera at this point, as at least it will record events.

Camera is fine, software not so much

I have Nest cameras already and I read previous reviews that it i snot compatible with the old Nest software. I get that and I do have a subscription. What I did not understand is that the only way to review the video or watch live is on the Google Home app. So to watch on a big screen, well that is not possible on a PC. I did find a way to download an Android simulator for a PC to make it work however the software is severely limited. The name Google NEST implies that it is similar to other Nest cameras. It is not. They should have just called it Google Outdoor Camera. I am still wondering what Google was thinking by not making the video available on a web site so you can review it on a large screen. My 3 stars is generous compared to what I think.

Nest Camera is the Worst, Google ruined it !!

So we purchased 4 of these cameras a year and 1 month ago. The volume part of the software failed and you can not hear out of any of them. Google, which now controls Nest first said that they could not find the serial numbers and then proceeded to explain to me that they don't work but they should work and they are not going to work because they shouldn't work. Then they said there was a glitch in the software. I explained that I don't care what the problem is, I need them to work. They said they would send me an update by email and nothing came. I called them again and got the same run around and they said that because they were over a year old, they were not able to replace them with a camera that works. So all of the cameras I purchased a year and one month ago ... MoreSo we purchased 4 of these cameras a year and 1 month ago. The volume part of the software failed and you can not hear out of any of them. Google, which now controls Nest first said that they could not find the serial numbers and then proceeded to explain to me that they don't work but they should work and they are not going to work because they shouldn't work. Then they said there was a glitch in the software. I explained that I don't care what the problem is, I need them to work. They said they would send me an update by email and nothing came. I called them again and got the same run around and they said that because they were over a year old, they were not able to replace them with a camera that works. So all of the cameras I purchased a year and one month ago went bad at the same time ? The odds of that are like winning the lotto 3 times. No lightning strikes nothing. Just 3 cameras whos volume does not work. Oh that makes sense. Not covered by warranty and they will do nothing when you know its the app update not allowing you to access the volume anymore. So they update it and leave it out so you have to buy the newer stuff. You cant adjust the volume if its not in the app anymore. Not my fault, not a faulty camera. It was done intentionally by them to make you buy the new cameras at $190 a piece. Oh by the was Best Buy Rocks and is the best. Its not their fault Google did this.

Pretty Decent Security camera

Ok so I was really trying to find the Nest IQ Outdoor Camera because of the better lense it has but its sold out everywhere and I just found out that Google is going to be making a new line of cameras so now I can see why the IQ camera is no longer being made.So I picked this camera up instead. I was happy to be able to pick up the Last One available at the store for local pick up.Installation was not that easy, I installed my camera on the edge of the roof ledge and ran the wire through the Attic vent because nest wants you to drill a large 1 inch hole on your wall to run the power wire through it and I was not about to do that. I am not sure why they had to make that locking mechanism so large also the 25ft was a bit too short for my own installation. I needed ... MoreOk so I was really trying to find the Nest IQ Outdoor Camera because of the better lense it has but its sold out everywhere and I just found out that Google is going to be making a new line of cameras so now I can see why the IQ camera is no longer being made.So I picked this camera up instead. I was happy to be able to pick up the Last One available at the store for local pick up.Installation was not that easy, I installed my camera on the edge of the roof ledge and ran the wire through the Attic vent because nest wants you to drill a large 1 inch hole on your wall to run the power wire through it and I was not about to do that. I am not sure why they had to make that locking mechanism so large also the 25ft was a bit too short for my own installation. I needed an extra 5 feet but I did manage to get it done so minus 1 star for the bulky locking mechanism and 25ft wire limit.When it comes to the video quality, it looks pretty good and vibrant from the normal view however as soon as you start to zoom in on a person or vehicle parked in front of your home the picture gets very Grainy and becomes out of focus so if you need to see a license plate number it won't be visible from this camera at all so thats another minus 1 star from me for the bad video quality when zooming in on something.Over all its a good camera to have just to take a glance at things around your property and to make people feel uncomfortable because they are being watched as they walk by.Would I recommend it? If this is all you can find from nest then yes, but if they have better quality options then no.I do have the nest aware subscription for my 2 nest hello doorbells so this was just a simple add on with put having to pay more for each device you add to your neat aware account.

Returned to the store

We thought the cameras and doorbell had an excellent picture. The problem was the only notification on our hub was the doorbell. All other motion notifications went to our phones. When we tried to change the notification sound to something unique, the cameras quit working. I deleted and started over from scratch, twice. Could not get it working properly even with default notification. I Researched for hours only to see that others had the same issue with the hub. It makes no sense that you can't get all notifications on the hub. I took it all back the store and went with Ring. The notification on the phone has a pre-set special sound and the hub notifies you of all camera activity. I was disappointed with Nest app because I really liked the cams.

Terrible!!! Would NOT recommend…

I’ve regretted the choice to install these wireless cameras outside of my home since I’ve had them for the past 4 months. They fall offline far too often for my liking; which I have no control to bring them back online (can’t see live footage). Taking them down to recharge them every is an absolute pain. The app takes so long to pull up the live footage (via high speed 5G Wi-Fi connection, regular cellphone data connection works better) you might as well not even have the cameras. By the time the app pulls up the footage the event is far gone. Such a bad choice on my part!!!! Sadly, they’re not worth the money I spent. Would NOT recommended these devices to anyone.

They killed Nest and gave us garbage.

The hardware itself seems fine, but don't expect to make much use of the camera's video history, as it is incredibly painful to navigate; if you want to check video history from a week ago, for example, and the camera didn't bother logging that exact timestamp as an Event, you have to sit there for quite awhile manually swiping your thumb along the timeline hour by hour until you finally get far enough back to find what you're looking for. On top of that, if you want to save a clip of that video, you can't. You can only catch videos that Google decides are important. So if you're excited to share video of a herd of deer slowly move through the fog in the trees behind your house against the backdrop of a gorgeous sunrise, for example, and your camera didn't log ... MoreThe hardware itself seems fine, but don't expect to make much use of the camera's video history, as it is incredibly painful to navigate; if you want to check video history from a week ago, for example, and the camera didn't bother logging that exact timestamp as an Event, you have to sit there for quite awhile manually swiping your thumb along the timeline hour by hour until you finally get far enough back to find what you're looking for. On top of that, if you want to save a clip of that video, you can't. You can only catch videos that Google decides are important. So if you're excited to share video of a herd of deer slowly move through the fog in the trees behind your house against the backdrop of a gorgeous sunrise, for example, and your camera didn't log it, you're just not allowed to have that video. Sorry! Google should not be telling us which parts of our recorded video, taken on our property, captured with products that we purchased, we can and cannot have, but they do it anyway because they can afford to lose customers.The data they harvest from your devices is the actually valuable part of the transaction for them, and they will provide you the absolute minimum software experience they can get away with in order to maximize profit.

Time to move away from Nest

Like others mention, Nest use to be great. Sadly, like many products Google buys up, Nest continues to get worse and worse. I had a couple of cameras for 5 years and they worked great. I also liked the Nest App for what it was and how simple and user-friendly it was. It wasn't cluttered to death like the Google Home app is.So like others, I purchased this new camera to add an additional angle and get my backyard area. To my surprise, this one does not work with the Nest App, only the Google Home app. When you have been a Nest App user for this long, you can tell right away how bad the Home app is compared to how the Nest app was.Aside from that, the features seem to be different. This new camera does have some cool "Familiar Faces" features, but they are missing ... MoreLike others mention, Nest use to be great. Sadly, like many products Google buys up, Nest continues to get worse and worse. I had a couple of cameras for 5 years and they worked great. I also liked the Nest App for what it was and how simple and user-friendly it was. It wasn't cluttered to death like the Google Home app is.So like others, I purchased this new camera to add an additional angle and get my backyard area. To my surprise, this one does not work with the Nest App, only the Google Home app. When you have been a Nest App user for this long, you can tell right away how bad the Home app is compared to how the Nest app was.Aside from that, the features seem to be different. This new camera does have some cool "Familiar Faces" features, but they are missing a feature to tell and teach the camera that some scenes do not include people at all. So for months, I get 100+ notifications a day telling me "Person Seen" when in fact the scenes barely have any movement at all and definitely no people and no way to teach it and fix this. As much as I want to turn off this notification, that defeats the entire reason why I "liked" this system in the first place. I don't really care about familiar faces from a security standpoint. I care about when it sees an Unrecognizable Person the most and want to get that notification. Which is now impossible.All in all, like a lot of products google buys and later kills. I have zero trust in the long-term investment of nest and will look elsewhere for a security system. Something to keep in mind if you are purchasing this product or other Nest products.

Worked well for 2 1/2 years

Purchase the nest cam battery about 2 1/2 years ago. It was great until we had a little below zero temps. It seems to quit working about 5 degrees as it is to cold for it. Now the cam will not detect any movement. I still get an excellent pic from the Live function but that is it. No motion detection. Tried all of the support ideas with no result. I was a big nest cam fan, now I have to find something else. I do not recommend incase you did not get that idea.