Google’s home security camera lineup was recently expanded, adding a Nest doorbell, an indoor camera and two Nest Cam models designed for outdoor use. And now we’re diving into $179 Nest Cam (indoor or outdoor, battery) and $279 Nest Cam with Floodlight. They start with the battery-powered Nest Cam that can be placed virtually anywhere, and the second combines it with a bright floodlight capable of illuminating your driveway whenever motion is detected.
And while the Nest Cam and Nest Cam with Floodlight look different, they’re a lot more alike than you might think.
A security camera can be placed anywhere
The battery-powered Nest Cam is incredibly versatile because it can be used almost anywhere and offers clear, crisp vision. You will only have to pay a premium of $179.
Smart upgrade to your standard headlights
With two bright LEDs and the same clear camera as the standard Nest Cam, the Nest Cam with floodlight is an easy way to monitor the outside of your home. Options from Ring are also worth considering, and undercut the Nest.
Who, what and how?
Who is this for: If you’ve invested in the Nest Cam ecosystem and want to expand your coverage with the same camera, the Nest Cam or the Nest Cam with Floodlight are both valid options. For those who are just starting out with home security cameras, it’s a good idea to include the Nest Cam options on your list of potential candidates due to their ease of setup and use, plus they include video playback. show free objects.
What you need to know: The Nest Cam and Nest Cam with Floodlight share a similar design, but only the standard Cam doesn’t use a wired connection or battery power. The floodlights will need to be hooked up to your home’s electrical recording system, which will most likely replace the existing exterior lighting. If you want more than just a few hours of video history, you’ll need to pay a monthly subscription fee.
How does this compare: NS Nest Cam with Floodlight located at the top of the headlight for $279. The Ring’s Floodlight Cam Wired Plus is $100 cheaper but lacks Ring’s 3D motion detection and tracking – which we couldn’t get enough of during our review. To achieve that ability, you will need $249 Ring Cam Wired Pro, still cheaper than Nest Cam with Floodlight. The Arlo Pro 3 is another camera with a floodlight, but it can be powered by batteries, eliminating the worry of camera connectivity. For the standard $179 Nest CamThere are many competitively priced outdoor camera options out there. These include $99 Ring Stick Up Cam Battery and $129 Arlo Essential Wireless Security Camera, both of which should make it relatively easy to track the outside of your home, although you’ll lose object detection.
It’s not entirely obvious at first glance, but the Nest Cam (battery) and Nest Cam with Floodlight have practically the same design with identical camera hardware.
Nest Cam’s house is light white and quite large. The flat end of the case is where the camera is found, with a single indicator light directly above it. There’s a power connector on the bottom of the camera if you choose to use it in a wired setup, while the battery is protected inside.
Included in the box is a 1-meter power cable rated for indoor use, a wall adapter, and a magnetic mounting plate. Inside the camera there are some very strong magnets that hold it in place. The idea is that you would attach the plate to the wall – inside out – and then allow the camera to attach itself to the plate with magnets.
If you want to place the camera on a stand or connect it to an external power source, you will need to purchase a stand or outdoor rated cable separately. The Nest Cam stand is $29.99, while the 5-meter weatherproof cable is $34.99 and the 10-meter cable is $39.99.
As for the headlights, the camera itself is the same as Nest Cam. In fact, it even attaches to the headlight’s main housing using the same magnetic approach. When attached to the headlight housing, there are two 2,400 lumen lights, one on each side of the camera. In comparison, Ring’s Floodlight Cam Wired Plus has two 2,000 lumens of light – and it’s very clear from looking at the two floodlights that the Nest Cam’s difference in brightness makes a huge impact. The rest of the housing contains all of the headlight’s internal components, including the two motion sensors.
The advantage here is that it’s very easy to adjust the camera as you’re setting it up. Other cameras have some kind of hinge system that requires loosening the screw until you position the camera in the position you want, and then tightening the screw while holding the camera in place. It’s totally doable, but after using the Nest Cam’s magnetic mount, we’ll never want to do it again.
Just like the Nest Doorbell and Nest Cam (indoors), every software aspect of the outdoor Nest Cam models is handled in the Google Home app. Google is slowly transitioning away from the Nest app (like it did with the Google Wifi app for its mesh Wi-Fi system).
That means you’ll need to install the Google Home app on your phone, sign in to your Google account, and complete the initial setup in the Home app. You’ll also use the app to view streams on your camera, receive alerts, manage alert settings, and hold two-way conversations.
Setting Nest Cam (indoor or outdoor, battery) it’s easy once you decide where you’re going to put it. Next, you’ll follow the prompts inside the Home app to connect it to your home’s Wi-Fi network, give it a name, update the software, and set up motion alerts.
The Nest Cam with Floodlight uses a hardwired connection for power, which can be frustrating for some – and we can’t blame you. Headlights must be connected to your home’s electrical system, so you’ll need to be comfortable removing your old headlights and connecting your new headlights to your existing wiring.
If you’re not comfortable with wiring, you can spend an extra $99 to have Google hire a local installer on your behalf. You only need to select the setting at checkout if you are buying directly from the Google Store, or you can add it to the setting if you purchased the Cam from another retailer by going to This site by Google.
We had problems setting the headlight review unit beyond our skill set. We booked an installer through Google’s system and the experience was amazing. The installer arrived on time, fixed our problem, and completed the installation in about an hour.
Both of these Nest Cams have the same camera section. A 1080p HD camera with HDR and night vision and a 130-degree field of view are all housed in a weather-resistant case.
Video clips captured on both cameras were clear, sharp, and looked as good as what we experienced on the Nest Doorbell or the Nest Cam indoors. Meaning, you can identify anyone – or anything – in the frame, with lots of detail and color.
Top lights Nest Cam with Floodlight so bright that we don’t really enjoy looking at them; it hurts our eyes. The motion sensors on the headlights are also very responsive, in a good way. We usually activate the lights from 60 feet away with very little movement. If it’s too sensitive for your setup, you can adjust it (we’ve currently set our value to high).
Outside of the new look, Google has improved the smart features here. All Nest Cams can now recognize people, packages, cars and animals for free. Previously, you needed to pay for Nest Aware, the company’s subscription service that provides cloud storage and other features (which adds this feature in a minute) for $6 a month.
During testing, we adjusted our settings so that the camera would search and start recording whenever it detects any movement, no matter what the subject is. We’ve turned off motion, vehicle, and package alerts, but still have notifications for animals and people turned on.
By sorting out the type of alerts we receive, we can only receive the information that interests us, while the camera is still recording clips that we may want to see in the future. This detailed approach to being able to record all activity but only alert for specific activity is something we wish all smart cameras could offer.
You can also set active areas where you want the camera to actively identify motion or an object while ignoring areas outside that active area.
We’ve covered Nest Aware in the past, the optional subscription service for the Nest Cam. For $6 a month, you can add as many cameras as you want to your account. You’ll get 30 days of event video history and alerts for familiar faces. For $12 a month, you get all the same features, plus 10 days’ worth of 24/7 video history.
Without a Nest Aware subscription, you’ll waive alerts for familiar faces, and event video history will be limited to the last three hours – a stretch of time. We recommend subscribing to the $6 per month plan, if for no other reason you can go back to the previous 30 days of event history if you need a clip.
NS Nest Cam (indoor or outdoor, battery) and Nest Cam with Floodlight are viable options for anyone looking to keep an eye on the outside of their home. The headlights are very bright and the cameras on both models are clear enough for casual use.
For those who need a camera that can be mounted anywhere outside (or inside) your house, the standard Nest Cam makes the most sense. Batteries make it easy to keep an eye on your home without rewiring anything. Also, if you have an old headlight that doesn’t do much but turn on the light, it’s time to upgrade to a smarter headlight.
However, if you don’t want to place Google cameras in or around your home, or you’ve invested in another smart security camera ecosystem, check out Ring’s product line, which includes Battery Ring Stick Up Cam or Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Plus, with several different cameras and competitively priced monthly subscriptions.
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