Google’s New Nest Cameras and Doorbell For Smart Homes

Google has announced its new lineup of security cameras and a video doorbell under its Nest brand. The new models revealed earlier, include an indoor-only camera, an indoor/outdoor camera, a floodlight, and the video doorbell, replacing the older Nest IQ cameras and Nest Hello doorbell. The themes associated with the new devices are a unified design language and more accessible pricing as it services a smart home. Unbelievably each model costs lesser than the camera it’s replacing while adding a lot more capabilities.

Undoubtedly, the designs of the new cameras will be familiar to those who have seen other Nest products released in the past. Depending on how you count, Google’s announced up to four devices today. The list includes the Google Nest Cam battery, Google Nest Doorbell, the Google Nest Cam with floodlight, and the Google Nest Cam. The company has been moving toward softer edges and muted color palettes, and the new cameras strictly adhered to that with color options that are meant to blend in, not stand out.

The Nest Cams particularly features a design that looks a bit like they stepped out of some Pixar movie. With a soft, rounded design partially made with recycled plastic, it maintains IP54 weather sealing. Google says its magnetic mounting base has been tested to withstand storm-force winds and there will be an anti-theft mount that can be used to make sure the camera isn’t stolen. The camera records 16:9 1080p video at up to 30fps through a 130-degree field of view. You can zoom up to 6x digitally in the Google Home app when viewing the feed or a recorded clip. The basic Nest Cam is a second-gen wired security device, designed for indoor use only, while the Nest Cams with floodlight adds battery power and waterproofing advantage, making it suitable for either indoor or outdoor use. Google says it should get around three months of battery life on a charge, assuming your home has an average of nine to 12 recorded “events” a day. The numbers obviously fluctuate a fair bit, depending on how much action your house sees on a typical day. The AI/ML is trained to record specific activities, triggered by things like people, animals, or package deliveries, depending on the setting.

Google a blog post says “Building a camera that uses ML to recognize objects requires showing the ML model millions of images first,” Google added “Our new Nest Cameras and Doorbells have been trained on 40 million images to accommodate lots of different environments and lighting conditions. Thanks to a cutting-edge TPU chip, our new cameras run an ML model up to 7.5 times per second, so reliability and accuracy are even better.  Works in any home: Nest Cam and Doorbell’s wire-free design.”

Reactions to the new devices continued to settle in. Being battery powered means these devices can be installed without having to futz with wiring. Without direct access to a hardwired chime, you can configure it to ring through connected Google devices like Nest speakers and smart displays. Unlike the wired Nest Hello (which Google is keeping on the market), the new doorbell doesn’t offer continuous recording, owing to battery constraints. However, it should give an average of three months of usage. The new Google Nest devices are up for preorder starting today in about 18 countries and will go on sale starting August 24.