Storing your video clips
Yo u need somewhere to uplo ad your footage – but where does it all go ?
One of the biggest draws of a smart security camera is the ability to watch live video from your phone, but arguably the more useful feature is it being able to record footage to watch at a later date and use appropriately if need be – say, if a crime needs addressing in court.
But, just where do all these sizeable high-quality 1080p video clips go exactly? As ever, no two cameras are alike, and seemingly every manufacturer has a preference for where video should be saved. Some, like Netatmo, prefer to put you in control of the footage, and cut down on costs at the same time, with local storage via an included microSD card. Or you can upload your footage straight to your Dropbox account, or back it up to an FTP server, if you have one. All these options require a little more work, but they are, mostly, free.
There are slightly easier, but more expensive, options. Both Nest and Withings offer cloud storage via their own secure servers, but charge a monthly fee for the privilege. Generally, you get up to 30 days of storage – after that your videos will be removed – but just in case, you can download clips to your phone, tablet or laptop before that happens. Nest’s cloud storage costs £8 a month, which isn’t chump change, but you do get some slightly more advanced features that aren’t available as standard, such as activity zones or person alerts – though some might argue that these should be available by default when you’re spending £160 on a security camera.
Other cameras, such as the relatively new Blink cam, give you free online storage with the caveat that you only get a maximum of 10 seconds per clip – a small price to pay, we think.
If you’re going all-out with your security setup, then it’s certainly worth considering a CCTV-style system. Though they may look like something that belongs in the centre of a busy town, home-specific setups are widely available, and they do have several advantages, the main one being that you can record as much footage as you like, within reason. This type of camera records to a DVR (digital video recorder), which can hold hours of footage. The SwannOne DVR8-4550 (£400, swann.com) comes with four 1080p cameras and a massive 2TB hard drive.