Get started with Security Cameras
A security camera is many people’s first smart home device, and new models have increasingly sophisticated technology
There’s no doubt that we see more information about security cameras than any other type of smart home product. In fact, browsing the website of one high street electronics store recently revealed no less than 68 different cameras, with the majority falling into the £100 to £200 price range.
Having such a wide range of products can make it difficult to choose one. Whichever you pick there are a number of key features and technologies that it’s worth considering when you buy your first security camera.
Look sharp
Top of the list for any camera, of course, is image quality. We’ve all seen news reports on TV with video footage that’s so blurry you end up wondering why they bothered spending any money on a CCTV system in the first place. Most manufacturers provide affordable, entry-level security cameras with 720p resolution (1280x720 pixels) for around £80, and we’d certainly recommend that as the minimum requirement for a security camera.
Ideally, though, it’s worth stepping up to a camera that delivers full HD video (1080p, or 1920x1080 pixels). Netgear’s Arlo Q (£170, bit.ly/ 2kX20vE) is one of the most affordable cameras of this quality; most cameras designed for indoor use seem to settle at around £160, though we’ve seen this one for as low as £120. Full HD cameras will provide much better image quality if you ever need to use footage as evidence in the unfortunate event of a crime. A good camera in this price range should also provide a night-vision mode for low light conditions. The first generation of smart security cameras was pretty straightforward, relying on simple motion detection to keep an eye on things while you were away from home. If the camera detected any movement while you were out, it would automatically start to record video footage and send an alert to your iPhone. However, the latest models are starting to use sophisticated artificial intelligence techniques that provide more advanced features. Netatmo’s Welcome camera (£199, bit.ly/2kAikkQ) was one of the first to use face recognition technology to tell the difference between a burglar and your kids arriving home from school. Netatmo’s newer Presence camera (bit.ly/2l1l6A8) goes even further; it’s a bit pricey at £250 due to being weatherproof for outdoor use, and includes
a powerful floodlight, too. It’s designed to monitor activity outside your home or office, so Netatmo developed new software that it claims can differentiate between people, pets and passing cars. Netgear‘s Arlo Pro (£275, bit.ly/2ku1Yb2), another weatherproof outdoor camera, claims to recognise trees swaying in the breeze so that it doesn’t keep sending you false alarms on a windy day.
Logitech’s indoor Circle camera (£159, bit.ly/2kcZ613) won our group test in MF299 and is to gain a ‘people recognition’ feature, so that it only reacts to human intruders rather than pets wandering into view. And, at long last, we’re looking forward to seeing Withing’s Home Plus (£170, withings.com), and an unnamed camera from D-Link, which will be the first security cameras to support Apple’s HomeKit. That will enable you to control the cameras by giving verbal commands to Siri, and to use iOS 10’s Home app to link the cameras to other devices that also work with HomeKit, such as motion sensors, lighting and doorbells.
Sound and vision
Artificial intelligence is advancing in other areas, too. Most security cameras include a microphone so they can record both sound and video, but Swann’s SoundView camera (£150, bit.ly/2kAxfeP) can listen for specific types of sound, such as breaking glass, that might warn you of a possible crime. However, the most advanced sound technology we’ve seen so far comes from Cocoon (£159, cocoon.life). It uses Subsound technology that can pick up faint sounds and vibrations from all around your home, not just in the one room where the camera is located. It can detect sounds such as creaking floorboards, and claims to be smart enough to tell the difference between your kids charging up and down the stairs and a burglar tiptoeing around at night.
There are some other weird and wonderful variations on the security camera theme. Sengled’s Snap (£180, bit.ly/2kAo0vb) sneakily hides a 1080p camera inside a power-efficient LED smart light bulb, enabling you to monitor areas such as hallways or stairs without revealing the presence of a camera. We also like the Canary camera (£160, canary.is/uk), which combines a 1080p camera with a honkingly loud siren, and even a sensor to check humidity and air quality in your home.
While security cameras are often the first smart home device that most of us buy, many cameras are also designed to be used in conjunction with other security devices, such as motion sensors and contact sensors that can be attached to doors and windows around your home. HomeKit-compatible devices of those types are already available – for example, Elgato’s Eve Door & Window and Eve Motion sensors (elgato.com/en/eve). So, you can get started today with one of the cameras that we’ve mentioned here, and we’ll come back to explore some of the other security devices that can provide extra protection for your home in a future issue.