Customer Ratings & Reviews

This camera is wired and is intended for indoor use (should be obvious, but...). I got this camera to replace a previous generation indoor camera that I will recycle to another part of our home. There are a few fundamental differences between the prior generation and the third-generation cameras. One is camera resolution - 2K video (for both day and night) for the third-generation product versus 1080p for the second-generation product. Another is the integration of Google Gemini AI, which is Google's AI chatbot. Yet one more is there are two additional color offerings for the third-generation indoor camers - berry and hazel. Both nice colors, but white worked best for our home. My experience with Google Gemini AI is limited at this time, but it does appear to offer some compelling benefits, such as searching for a specific item or event by way of a query. It is possible to define activity zones so that other areas can be excluded, and, conversely, the activity zone becomes the primary area of focus for alerts. We purchased the advanced subscription, and that get us 60 days of event-based video history, ten days of 24/7 continuous video history, descriptive notifications, the ability to search video history, event descriptions, and daily summaries. While the review is about the camera, many of the camera's benefits (for our use-case, at least) and intertwined with this subscription service. This is a tremendous camera for the money.

I love these little Google cameras. We had a previous model and it worked great until it took a fall it didn't survive but otherwise these hold up to life with kids and pets pretty well. This is probably the fastest and easiest device setup I've experienced with testing various brands and styles. The Google home app is pretty straightforward and it takes a couple mins to get things set up and updated. After that you've got a solid camera that doesn't look like an ugly home security device ready to go. The cord is nice and long and allows for mounting pretty much anywhere without worries. I like how clear the picture is even when zooming in. Might vision is clearer on this camera than any other option I've tried in the past. It's easy to manage multiple cameras with the app if you'd like as well. The red color was too hard to pass up, it adds a nice little touch. We ended up using this one as more of a security camera and have it facing our front door. This is used to double check doors are locked as needed and also alerts if someone were to enter the home unexpectedly. I like these so much I've purchased some to share with family.

The Google Nest Cam 3rd generation is quite an improvement from the previous Nest Cam that I have used. It captures video a 2K resolution - which is enough to get details and zoom in on areas when needed. Color stay clear even in low light settings, making it great to see what is happening at any time. The 2K resolution gives a large field of view, capturing areas that my previous camera could not. The Gemini features on this camera are pretty useful. They can tell you when people are detected. You can ask natural langue questions about items that were captured by the camera. It can also provide summaries for events that have happened, which helps make alerts more meaningful. You can set custom activity zones to keep alerts only for areas that you are interested in. I like that you can look back at previews with six hours of ten second previews. This has been enough for me to keep track of goings on, but you can also subscribe for more event history. It is a nicely designed camera, easy to set up with the Google Home app, and plenty of useful features.

Ive owned all types of security camera both wired and wireless and some are much easier to use than others and switching my entire home eco system infrastructure over to Google was the smartest decision I made for my smart home. Not only do these camera hold up to any type of climate and environment, they are easy to set up and sync with the Google Home app and also syncs with my other smart home products like doorbells, locks etc. This camera also has a very long cord to mount this magnetically anywhere in your home, which I did like, and you can mount on a wall or just have it sitting on a shelf or table. It gives a clear picture, recording time is adequate and it helps to keep your home secure. This also has night vision which helps to give a nice glimpse of what is happening day or night in your home. With the ease of use and ease of setup, it provides serious competition to several others in a very crowded security camera market with many that are similar but not the quality build Google provides.

The Nest Cam Indoor (wired, 3rd gen) is a clean, low-profile security cam that actually delivers. I got it for indoor monitoring, and it’s been sharp—literally. The 2K HDR video gives you crisp detail, even in low light. Wired setup means no battery drama, and it’s been rock solid on Wi-Fi. What really sets it apart is Gemini: it doesn’t just detect motion, it tells you what’s happening. You can ask it things like “What did the dog do today?” and it’ll pull clips. That’s next-level smart, but you’ll need the Google Home Premium plan to unlock those features. Setup’s easy through the Google Home app (not the old Nest app), and it can ID people, pets, and vehicles. Familiar face recognition is a nice touch too. Downsides? You’ll need decent internet for full 2K streaming, and some Gemini features are still rolling out. For $99.99, it’s a strong pick if you want smart indoor coverage with real context—not just motion blur and vague alerts. Great for keeping tabs on pets, family, or your space without going full surveillance mode.

I’m impressed with the hardware design of this camera. The camera mount is designed to work on either a flat surface or be twisted to support attaching flat against a wall while still allowing vertical and horizontal adjustment of the camera. It’s a fantastic design that requires no assembly. The 2K camera with HDR provides up to a 6x zoom capturing an excellent amount of detail for such a small device. 
On the software side, connecting to Google Home took a few seconds, and a new Cameras section appeared in the Google Home app with a thumbnail view of the live feed from the camera. Tapping it reveals a split screen navigation with the camera image on the top of the screen and a recent clips history below. The past clips default to a view telling you what you are looking for with a timestamp and a clip length followed by a looping fast video playback of the each clip. I love that the clips automatically fast play, giving me an almost instant understanding if the clip can be ignored or if it needs to be played back for a more detailed review. If you don’t like it, there’s a toggle switch to go to a traditional static timeline view without the auto clip playing. The software experience is easy to navigate and simple to use as long as you are currently using Google Home for your Smart Home. Where I start to get frustrated is that Nest continues to be a closed ecosystem where paid subscribers get great features, but the device is handicapped unless you subscribe. There’s no local storage on this device and no method to bring your own storage. I run Home Assistant and this device can not be brought into Home Assistant without first playing Google a fee to access the API’s and even then the cameras are not able to use my existing storage servers. Instead Google offers 6-hour video preview without a subscription, or moving up to Google Home Premium gets you 60 days of history. It’s only with Google Home Premium Plus subscriptions that you get access to continuous video recording, but archiving is only good for 60 days. Bottom line: if you are already a Google Nest User with a subscription, this is a great camera to upgrade to.

The video is very crisp! I already had a Nest Hub Max but the live video rarely plays correctly, so I was skeptical on this purchase. However, it's much more responsive and way better for viewing. Also it's super tiny! The cable is long and much appreciated. I have no complaints thus far!