Jordan O'BrienThe Nest Cam so far has been limited to monitoring the inside of a user’s home. However, Nest has now released a camera that is suitable for outdoor use – although it doesn’t come with many new features.
Aptly dubbed the Nest Cam Outdoor, this outdoor variant is essentially the original product repackaged into a weatherproof casing. That means all the innards and features are identical to those currently found on the indoor camera.
With the new body however, there are new options for installing the camera in outdoor areas. This includes new magnetic and screw-on mounts to attach the camera to the outside of a building. The use of magnets will enable not only easy installation, but will also allow the camera to point in nearly any direction – promising maximum coverage.
While the Nest Cam has been criticised for being a DIY IP camera, the Nest Cam outdoor is a little trickier to install. That’s due to the need to be plugged into an outlet – something not every homeowner will be able to do without a little work.
Plugging into the outlet does have its advantages however, with the camera always recording and uploading footage to the cloud – while battery-powered cameras only record when they detect motion. There are some disadvantages to the plugging in method also. For example, if the power goes out then essentially the Nest Cam becomes a dummy cam – with no ability whatsoever to upload footage to the cloud or even record to a local DVR.
The indoor and outdoor Nest Cams both shoot in 1080p with a 130° field of view. They’re both also capable of seeing in the dark, thanks to night vision powered by eight infrared LEDs.
CE Pro Europe has reached out to Invision UK and RGB to see if the two companies will be stocking the Nest Cam Outdoor and will update the story when we hear back.
Alongside the new camera, Nest has refreshed its Apps available for iOS and Android. With the new update users will be able to password-protect video streams and share them with family and friends. Nest is also adding a new ‘spaces’ feature, that allows users to group Nest products by the room they’re in.
The Nest Cam Outdoor has been a long time coming, but feuds between staff members at the company has prevented the company from releasing any new products in a while. Nest’s famously picky CEO Tony Fadell left the company last month, with the new CEO forced to deny that the company is for sale.
Update: RGB has confirmed that it will be stocking the Nest Cam Outdoor in the UK. In a statement the company said: “Nest are taking pre-orders in America where it is expected to be released in September. Shipment into Europe will be later in the year but a date is yet to be confirmed. Pricing hasn’t been set either but it’s likely to sit above the current Nest Cam price point.”
Update 2: Invision UK has also confirmed that it will be stocking the Nest Cam Outdoor when it hits the market.