Customer Ratings & Reviews

The new Google Nest Camera is seemingly well constructed with a heavy, solid-feeling main camera body and base mount. The magnet used for joining the 2 is contained in the base (which I made the mistake of setting face down on my toolbox) and is super strong. The camera body is very minimalist with just a (proprietary) charging port and a metal-threaded tether mount (I actually cobbled together a quick tether with a short piece of wire and 2 solderless connectors). Setup is super quick and easy. Being battery powered, the camera mounts just about anywhere with just 2 screws. And the setup process is similarly painless via the Google Home app and the included QR code. As for performance, picture quality has been very clear and smooth, even at night. Audio is surprisingly sensitive and clear. Live video and historical playback has been quick both on the house wifi or mobile. Battery life seems like it should be really good (I haven’t come close to draining my initial charge with the Home app reporting I have 3 months left after only a week of usage). And event notifications are quick, with little to no delay from the event being recognized to getting pinged on my device. With all that said, not everything is coming up roses. With only the People and Vehicle events enabled, my Google Nest Camera frequently only captures the last couple of seconds an event is within frame or misses them entirely. With the camera mounted above my garage door, facing down my driveway, it regularly misses vehicles pulling out of the garage in the morning or only records the last seconds after someone has walked the full length of the driveway. Also, without the $6/month Nest Aware Subscription, the camera only holds events (that it does actually capture) for 3 hours. So, if a deer dances a jig on your driveway at 1am and you don’t check your phone until you wake at 6am, you’re out of luck.

Today there are a large variety of security cameras available on the market and it is nice to finally see Google refreshing their cameras to be more on par with their competitors. I definitely feel this refresh puts this camera in line with competitors. Firstly, the aesthetics are a major part of any security camera as it is something visible to everyone. With the nest camera I feel that Google really gave the product more of a modern look. It is not all about the look though as the mounting was extremely easy and the magnetic base is so much nicer than having to mess with screws every time the camera needs charged. The actual function is the other major component where it is not all positive unfortunately. I personally do like how the camera utilizes the Google home app as I am someone entrenched in the Google ecosystem so having the separate nest app has always been a pain. Then when it comes to the actual video quality it is exactly what you would expect from a 1080p camera to which I would rather have the decreased resolution as opposed to having to charge the battery every month if it were 4K quality. The microphone was exceptional though as I was pleasantly surprised with how clear it picked up sounds. As mentioned, the live feed within the app worked perfect along with the video detection. However, the one item that does come across as a negative for me is only 3 hours of previously saved video as I understand Google is attempting you get you to upgrade to a higher subscription, but 3 hours is not even enough to make it through the night. Overall, this is a great product as the asthetics are top notch with the magnetic mount being an exceptional feature and the usability of the app along with the video and microphone quality being wonderful. However, it seems we will have to continue to wait for the perfect security camera as I just can’t give this product five stars with the high price of the initial product that essentially requires an additional monthly subscription to make it fully achieve its intended purpose. Even if the saved playback was just 12 hours for the free subscription I would not hesitate to recommend this product to everyone, but as it currently sits I would still recommend it to the vast majority of people with the caveat of possibly needing to purchase the nest subscription to which this is the case with basically every security camera today unfortunately.

Over a handful of years, I've installed different types of Security Cameras. Wired systems from Lorex and Q See. Wireless systems from Arlo Pro, Wyze, Eufy, D-Link and now Google Nest. Unfortunately, the Google Nest Camera Battery runs in the middle of the pack. I'm a little disappointed there isn't a breakthrough 'gotta have' feature. Out of the box, the camera itself is just smaller than a softball. It's got some heft to it, so the battery should last a while. As I'm looking through the Google Home app, I can see that the camera has 98% charge after running it for 5 days. One nice feature in the Google Home app, it estimates the battery life, in my case it shows 12 months. This will vary greatly based on traffic. The base magnetically secures to the camera and can be magnetically mounted. Fortunately, my door and sidelites are steel, so it made mounting easy as can be. Also included in the box is a twist-lock mounting plate and screws in case your mounting situation needs it. The charging cable is proprietary. It's a magnetic contact charger. The included cable is 1 meter in length and connects to the AC adapter via USB, therefore it is not weatherproof. I looked around for the weatherproof version and the 5 meter and 10 meter versions are $35 and $40 respectively. Another nit-pick I have with this charging cable is that it attaches to the camera one way and it's toward the front of the camera and not towards the base of the camera. In my opinion, it highlights the cord instead of hiding the cord. Setup of the camera is done through the Google Home app and not through the Nest app. This is rather unfortunate and confusing as this is advertised as a Nest camera. I believe I made the mistake of plugging in the camera to charge and not immediately setting up the camera since I had to tend to more immediate matters. When I came back to set it up, I had difficulty with the setup and required resetting the camera. I found instructions on resetting the camera, but the instructions were slightly misleading. There is a subtle button on the back of the camera and it requires a surprising amount of pressure to activate. I waited for the confirmation tone to release the button, but instead I had to wait for the yellow light to turn off to release the button before the confirmation tone would occur. This is tricky since the light is on the front of the camera and the button is difficult to push on the back. Once I had it reset, it took another couple tries to get it into the Google Home app. What's nice about this camera is that it's WiFi based, so you can place it anywhere your WiFi reaches. This is opposed to Arlo Pro or Eufy where it's dependent on the location of the base station. So this Google Nest Camera Battery gives you a little more placement flexibility if you have a strong WiFi coverage for your home. The video is clear but is limited to 1080 or lower. Some competing systems can give you 4K. Recorded audio is clear and the 2-way audio is better than I expected. Most other systems event recording is set for a particular amount of time. The Google Nest Camera records for the duration of the event or up to 3 minutes. But the tradeoff is that the recording is only available for 3 hours unless you purchase the subscription package. There are two levels of subscriptions at $6 or $12 per month with a small discount for annual plans. These plans are set up for unlimited devices. For my situation, I'm better off with another brand of cameras. The Google Nest Camera Battery doesn't have any features that make it head and shoulders above any other camera system. The premium pricing of just one of these cameras coupled with the proprietary charging cable could get me into a 2 or more camera system from other brands.

Horrible. Had the geek squad install them 1 week later they stopped working. They did not give us the owners manual or warranty info. Adam came out last week and would not do a thing to help me. Worst service ever

Overall: While the Google Nest Wireless Camera offers excellent image quality and seamless integration with the Google Home app, its frequent charging requirements can be a significant drawback. Pros: * Superior Image Quality: The camera delivers crisp and clear video footage, even in low-light conditions. * Smart Features: Integration with Google Assistant allows for voice control and easy access to camera feeds. * Google Home App: The user-friendly app provides a centralized hub for managing multiple devices, including the camera. Cons: * Battery Life: The wireless camera's battery life can be short, requiring frequent charging (every 2-3 weeks). This can be inconvenient, especially for those who want continuous monitoring. * Charging Limitations: The need to frequently remove the camera for charging can disrupt its placement and potentially compromise security. Recommendation: While the Google Nest Wireless Camera offers many desirable features, its battery life limitations may not be ideal for everyone. If you're willing to deal with frequent charging, the camera's excellent image quality and smart features make it a solid choice. However, if you prioritize continuous monitoring without the hassle of regular charging, the wired version might be a better option.

The google nest camera pairs well with my nest door bell camera. I enjoy using one app to view my cameras. Now, I had to pay for a nest subscription to get smart alert features and activity zones with my doorbell, so I am glad google has these as free features with the this camera. The con is that you only get 3 hours of activity, so if something happens when you are sleeping you may not be able to access the footage. In addition this is not the most discrete camera so if you want something discreet you should look elsewhere. I am using the indoor stand for the camera and placed it on top of a cabinet in my garage. The audio quality is great and it picks up normal conversations, and the activity zones allows me to know if the motion is at my garage car door or the garage door leading into my home. Google is transitioning to the google home app vs the nest app and I think google should allow a video grid where I can see all of my cameras on one page like they had on the nest app. It’s ok to transition to a new app but you need to make sure the functionality is the same or better. I don't see any features on this camera that separates it from anything else on the market. Unless you are deep into the google ecosystem I would recommend other cameras that integrate with homekit, google, and alexa so that you aren't locked in to one ecosystem.

Overall this is a decent camera for the purpose. Installation is a breeze, 2 screws and done, set up is like everything else Google, easy. Camera quality is very good considering it's FHD and not QHD. The zoom feature works really well and can maintain good clarity. Bear in mind due to the resolution you're not going to get that super fine details like plates on cars and such but I didn't have any issues at all. Battery seems to be fine with mine so far. It says I have a week left and has said that since install, it's been a couple if weeks now so all good. The mic on this is one of the best I've heard on a security camera. For me this is the most impressive aspect of the unit. The app is fine too, easy to use but is a separate app to your regular nest app. No biggie for me. Having no local storage is a letdown considering you only get 3 hours of saved video unless you pay extra for a subscription. No time or date overlay which I find odd for a security camera. Maybe Google can fix this with an OTA update. It has a Google logo overlay so time and date should be something simple. Pros: Easy set up Good clarity Great mic Good battery Easy to use Cons Only 3 hours if saved video which feels like an attempt by Google to make you pay for the sub service. Notifications can be flakey No time or date overlay

The lead is that this is a nice camera and a welcome addition to my Google Home/Nest ecosystem. I'm very reluctant to get things that don't work with Nest as it's really become the foundation of my smart home platform and I like the Nest and Google Home smartphone applications. The Camera is way smarter than my older Nest cams. I was reluctant to use one that doesn't allow for continuous recording. But the way that this camera stores events and uploads them as it can has allowed me to place it in a location far away from a wifi access point where its useful, and it uploads events and notifies as it can. It can do this well because its doing more on the camera itself than putting everything on the cloud and determining what is happening with cloud-based compute. I was frustrated with the setup... This is the first camera/doorbell that I couldn't setup with Nest and had to use Google Home for and it did not go well. The setup should take 5 - 10 minutes and be scan and go easy but it took several hours and fiddling with my entire home so that the setup process wouldn't fail when it tried to find an assisting device. Once you get past this frustration everything worked well. But config should always be a step easier, not more frustrating that past releases and can't be ignored when scoring the review.

The camera turned on the idle mode, made many attempts to fix it, but nothing helps. pointless thing and waste of money

I've owned Nest products long before Google acquired the company. I'd categorize myself as a power-user of Nest devices and believe they are superior to their competitors. I have a Nest doorbell, two thermostats, three smoke/CO2 detectors and two video cameras. I wanted to add this new video camera to my Nest network as will be used a second home. Since there was "Nest" branding all over the packaging, I thought this camera would be an easy addition to my Nest network via the Nest app. That changed when I realized that you can only add this next-gen device to the Google Home app. This is disappointing as the Nest app is superior to the Google Home app. I have extensive experience in website and app usability. The Nest app is far more intuitive than the Google Home app. The Google Home app is cluttered with additional icons which I don't use. The Nest app uses far-better iconography which is clear and intuitive. It also groups icons in various rooms close together along with a video display for easy access to adjust the temperature if needed while I check the app for notifications. The next-gen camera seems to be a great device. It can operate via battery or can be plugged into an electrical outlet. One huge disappointment is the temperature range specs of -4 to 104 degrees. That doesn't cut it when I own homes in the upper midwest where the temps can go down to 40 below and our other home is in Arizona where the temps can reach 120+ degrees. Google is limiting their potential customer base by not engineering the specs to reach into the extreme highs and lows of wether patterns across the country. I wanted to mount this outside to monitor our back patio while we are gone for several months each summer. I'll have to mount it inside. I hope Google makes changes on the specs and the usability (via the Google Home app). In short, this is a great camera but it is only as great as the software and usability that goes along with using it via the app. Google/Nest engineers need to solve this and enable usage through the Nest App.

The first couple days the battery died relatively quickly because i'm guessing there were updates or the camera needed to calibrate its battery. Otherwise everything works fine. These cameras actually work relatively well. The only downside to these cameras that I personally observed was that the cables for if you decide to permenantly mount them were not availble till much lattery. Now you can buy them directly from google with good amount of length. I'd definitely recommend these if you are going to hardwire them but battery power maybe a little iffy depending how much traffic there is the battery will last about a month or two. Keep in mind these cameras don't need a centralized hub and they do all the processing internally. Thus the battery life

mmary: I’ve had this camera for a year. When it works, it’s nice, except it takes a lot of work and money to make it even moderately well. If I could do it all over, with the performance issues and this high cost of this camera I would definitely not purchase it. If you need it for security reasons, I would definitely get something else. Details: When in battery mode it will only record “events” and it is pretty bad at detecting events. My recordings usually began when the event was half over. One day I was reviewing a recorded event where someone was attempting to break into my car and the recording started about a second before they turned to walk away. I tired making all the recommended setting adjustments from creating zones and increasing the sensitivity but nothing worked. As a new solution, I decided to get the $30 cord to keep it plugged in at all times. I also had to purchase the monthly subscription (over $100/yearly) if I wanted to be able to record continuously and view it later. This worked fairly, so while the “events” still missed activity I was able to go back and review the whole thing with the paid subscription. Other issues are with the Google Home app, it’s garbage. I have to disconnect from my wifi and connect to my cellular data in order to even use it. I don’t have a problem using my wifi for anything else except the Google Home app, it loads so slowly and usually wouldn’t even show events. The delay is pretty long too, when I get a notification and when I click the app it takes so long the event is over. Overall, the camera is expensive and the base functionality isn’t great, that with the extra amount I’ve had to pay on top of the initial cost makes it really not worth it for me. If it were less expensive I would have given it 3 stars. If you’re looking for a camera for non security reasons and don’t need recordings, it works fine for that. However there are cameras available for less than $50 that would do the same thing.

Not happy with the product, I have other nest cameras that are connected to power that do the job better.

Only one charging cable give me a break, also charging is variable and can't trust what it says

So, most of the hate is the migration from the nest app to the Google home app. Now, i do understand if you dont have the app its kind of annoying to switch if you already have the nest app. But, you can control your nest system from inside the Google home app now, so that beats that portion. Now for the battery life of the cameras. IT IS DEPENDENT ON WEATHER AND USAGE HOW LONG THE BATTERY LASTS. I've gotten more that 3 months on a single charge as we speak at 42% on one camera I have nearly 7 weeks lefts. Now if you use the wire instead then of course its unlimited. Camera quality is great it catches everything and its night vision is spot.

It’s a good camera with some redundancy (power and 1 hour of events if there is a loss of WiFi) built in. Great picture quality and alerts. Gets the job done. I use the battery function above a window, with little traffic and did not have to recharge for six months. I charged it in December 2021, and did not have to recharge until June 2022 and battery lasted this long during brutal winter months. I use plugged function for send and third camera in high traffic area. Too bad it’s not 4K, would have been if Nest was a stand alone company. Google needs to keep Nest the way it was, by letting products maintain the high end features, the Nest customer base became used to. Overall good camera if used the way they state to use it for especially with battery as source of power.

Great cámara!!! Is way better than Ring o Blink. Also it is compatible with Alexa. Is great, you can see every little detail with this cámara.the Battery Is very durable, but it takes like 20-30 min to charge. The battery takes around 1 month without charging. I recommend using this cámaras 100%.

Unfortunately the new Nest products are following suit with Googles new product practices, where the new stuff has less features than the old stuff (e.g. the Google Music transition to Youtube Music). There are a few good things with the new devices, but I feel the bad outweighs the good. The Good: - Good image quality - Improved person detection (notifications come quicker) - Animal detection - Wireless/wired option The Bad: - Doesn't work with existing Nest app, must use the newer, less featured Google Home app. You will have to have 2 apps now for all your devices (Yes Google, I know all devices show up in the Home app, but it is so lacking in functionality and features from what the old Nest app has. - You can only download the event clips. If the event is only shows as 20 seconds, but you need to expand to a min before and after, you can't. You can't even make and download a clip where there are no events. Huge fail here. - No web browser app. You can't view video feed through a web browser, only the Google Home app. Everything has to be set up and controlled through the mobile app. Including zones, which is a pain. - If you were a software developer and are currently getting push/sub events for your current Nest devices, you will be disappointed to know that you can't get events from the new Nest products. It appears that this is the plan going forward with Google, which is a huge fail here for devs since you can't make 3rd party apps that integrate with new Nest products. Another big fail here. The next 2 are more nit picks, but still annoying. - Power Cable curves out toward the front of the camera, which is backwards from what you would want when plugging your camera in permanently. It makes for awkward mounting having the cable come out away from the camera instead of directed to the back of the camera towards the wall. Huge design fail here. - Wall mount doesn't feel as high as quality as the old versions. - Does not come with an outside power cord, must be purchased separately. Until google fixes some of these things, I would not recommend these yet. They aren't fully baked yet.

Maybe I am a late bloomer, or maybe I don’t want smart things in my home listening to every word spoken. Nor do I feel the need to have every appliance controlled by my phone. It is bad enough to have to rely on my phone so much for my employment, calendar, and newspaper articles. Up until now, the only smart device living in my home was my wife. We live with cameras all around us, and I must admit that for a while now I have thought about getting one for my home. The problem was that with everything else on my to do list, I really did not want to drill, snake, and run wires. So, when I heard about this battery powered camera, it got my attention. Like many products and services, it isn’t only the functionality that makes points with the consumer, it is also the presentation. This is true with restaurants and coffee shops, retail stores, automobiles, and neat consumer products that provide us with pleasure – like those headphones that sound great, but are also packaged and designed quite nicely. The Google Nest Cam is attractively packaged in a sturdy box partially within another box. The top and sides slide snugly and solidly off to reveal the package contents – not many pieces but each of them attractive. Even the screws and optional wall anchors are displayed perfectly with the Nest Cam head, magnetic plate, wall plate (that will be completely covered by the magnetic plate), charge cable, and power adapter. The Nest Cam and Magnetic Plate which will be on constant display are sleek, clean in design, functional, and very attractive – again, much like my wife. I hope the snow-white color of the camera housing stays bright white over time and does not yellow like one of those old desktop computer cases. I had a feeling I was going to like this camera. Instructions were presented in three minimalist steps each with a corresponding icon and a couple of words. However, after those simple steps was the sentence, “A Nest Pro installer can help”. Suddenly I thought it might be a tough first date. The camera can be installed on a tripod base using a “quarter/20” screw in support, on an optional base (typically for indoor applications), or as I did - using the supplied wall plate that the magnetic plate screws/turns onto for outdoor wall applications. While the camera is weather resistant, it is not weather proof, so it is best to shelter it somewhat if possible. In my case I mounted it on the wall under my front porch adjacent to my front door. I really appreciated the solid feel of the camera and powerful magnet that holds the camera to the magnetic plate. This makes it almost infinitely adjustable and easy to remove for periodic charging. Of course, it also makes it easy to remove by almost anyone – especially since it is recommended to be mounted about 6 feet off the ground. But I guess you at least may have a photographic record of the thief – at least for about 3 hours (more on that later). Don’t forget to readjust the aim each time you reconnect after charging. Once installed on the wall, the set up using Google Home was not that straight forward. Prior to this experience, I did not even know what Google Home was – and that it was already on my phone. Here the simplicity of the instructions really made the difference. While I survived 3 semesters of calculus in college, somehow, I was struggling with the Google Home interface. Finally, I uninstalled the Google Home app and reinstalled it. That helped but I suspect there are features and/or controls unknown to me due to the cumbersome interface that prevent me from knowing the full functionality of this device – or at least delay my discovery of such functionality. I was in a hurry and not in the mood for “Discovery Learning”. A clearer path via printed instructions from a link, pamphlet, or video would have been nice. I positioned the camera in such a way that I am able to see someone at my door, the sidewalk leading up to the door, as well as the driveway about 45 feet away from the front door. While the camera does not necessarily snap on from a car pulling up the driveway, it does capture a person as they approach the front door using the sidewalk. The camera will report whether movement is caused by a person, animal, or vehicle. And from what I have seen it does so quite well. The camera will store the last 3 hours of any video taken – more if you are willing to pay a Nest subscription price. Worth it if the camera is recording any illegal overnight activity and you are asleep and not responding to your phone’s notification. Having only three hours of stored video is a tease of what is possible, and I don’t appreciate being held hostage to a monthly subscription fee to get more storage. Come on Google, you can afford to give the consumer at least 24 hours of stored video clips for free. Speaker and microphone function work well when you address people at your door. While video resolution could be improved over the 1080p HD quality, it most likely is a tradeoff for the extended battery life. And it really is pretty good quality overall. Bottom line – I am happy with my choice, although I did have to work for that happiness.

A great product, security camera, no wires, great color pictures with free history play back for three hours. Easy to install and pair-up with your internet. Plan to replace other security cameras with this Google-Next indoor/outdoor wire free camera.