Customer Ratings & Reviews

I have several cameras from different brands that vary on the price spectrum. This camera has several features that I really like but some that are just disappointing. First off, the camera is solidly built and feels like it is made with quality material. I actually dropped it during outdoor installation, and it still works perfectly fine. I had it inside for a few days before that and it worked exactly the same. It is quite heavy, and I assume it has to do with the metal that helps the magnet base attach securely. It is pretty small and inconspicuous while capturing a wide angle image at up to 20ft distances at night. The magnet to base portion is something I found quite ingenious and love it, but there is one big downside. It is limited to where it can be placed on the magnet and the placement of the power cord prevents any magnetism from the bottom. This severely limited the angle I could place it in. The nice thing about the magnetic design though, is that I was able to attach it to metal features outside my home and it stayed attached strongly without a screw. I love this because I am able to easily switch locations if I change my mind about what area I want to surveille without leaving holes around my house. Also, the power cord is about 10ft long and the design to attaching it allows it to get through small places if it is necessary during installation. It requires the Phillips Hue app to access the videos and alerts. With the app, its features can be set according to preference. The clip length can be set from 15-60 seconds. Night vision can be turned on or off. A blackout zone can be set to avoid recording areas where perhaps neighbors will be in view. The motion sensitivity can be changed, and motion detection can be snoozed from 10-90 seconds to avoid recording constant movement alerts. It also allows you to set which kind of alerts to receive according to the AI beta feature that determines if it is person, vehicle, animal, or other. From the app, the camera can be set to be armed or away, an alarm can be triggered, and you can talk through it. The alarm is nice, not obnoxious in sound or volume but enough to alert unwanted people or animals that they have been caught. There is no nightlight or spotlight with this security camera. The camera records at a decent quality, it provides a clear and crips image at 30fps. The video is fluid and clear to see and the sound picked up is adequate. The colors look washed out though. I does its job, but there are better security cameras at the same price point with so many more features and no need for a subscription plan. The largest drawback is that it requires a subscription plan once the free month trial ends. Without a subscription, it will alert of activity but will not record anything. There is no slot for an SD card. For anyone that does not have or plan to set up a network of Phillips products, this is just another unnecessary monthly expense. This is the main reason I would not recommend this camera. Taking everything into account, I feel that this security camera falls short for its price point. It lacks several features, has a major drawback in design, and requires monthly payments for as long as it is in use. Unless someone already has Phillips products, I just cannot recommend it.

Quick Overview ================================= There are a lot of security camera options out there, from wired (network or power) to wireless (network or battery) and there are ecosystems built around each one. Philips Hue, known for their lighting solutions, also has security cameras and this Secure Wired Camera gives you the best of both: Wired power so you never need batteries and wireless connectivity for flexible placement. Overall build ================================= The Philips Hue Secure Wired Camera looks nice in white and the plastic housing feels durable (and it is with an IP65 rating for outdoors). The rounded base of the camera is perfectly shaped to meld with the magnetic mount inside of the mounting base. The cord that comes with it is nearly 10 feet and has a special rubber-sealed plug around the end that inserts into the base of the camera for weatherproof power delivery. This Philips Hue Secure Wired Camera comes with a 1080p sensor and a wide field of view (141 degrees) to capture more area. Inside the box you'll get a mounting screw and drywall anchor along with a sticker and card with the QR code needed to set it up. Performance ================================== First of all, this is a fast and responsive camera with a clear picture day or night. But let's also talk about the setup. I ran into a hurdle here that I hope I can help you avoid. If you had a Hue account previously with a Bridge that you no longer own (we donated our setup when we moved), then your account may have trouble setting up the camera. I couldn't get past the setup even though support said I didn't need a Bridge. The problem was my account was tied to the old Bridge, so I had to create an all new Hue account. Once I created a new account, setup was as easy as you'd expect. Install the app, login, scan the QR code after it asks you what device you're setting up, and that's it! Now, wait for some updates and then you'll name your location and the camera. The camera supports 2.4 and 5 Ghz (and Zigbee) unlike some older models. Now I had a "Front Porch" camera set up and ready to test! Starting up the camera is very quick - maybe quicker than my other popular cloud-based camera system I have. The picture was super-clear during the day especially compared to my older 720p cameras. My other 1080p cameras looked similar, but I might give a slight edge to the Philips (perhaps a newer sensor and less compression). Importantly, your video is encrypted end-to-end to protect your data. You can talk and listen through the app and even set off a siren. I felt like the two-way audio was much more responsive than my current system which always had a bit of lag, making it harder to have a nice conversation when needed. With other Hue components, you can trigger useful automations similar to a motion sensor: When a person or movement is detected, turn on the lights. After they leave the field of view, turn off the lights. Note, this would mean you have other Hue-compatible lights and a Bridge. The camera is hefty (in a good way) and I was worried that the mount might not hold it properly, but it's fine in a sturdy piece of wood. I didn't need to use a drywall anchor. One thing I don't love is that it's easy to take this camera down or knock it off since it's on a magnetic base that can swivel. A long stick or possibly very strong storms/winds could change the angle or knock it off from the magnetic base and disconnect the power cord. Most other outdoor security cameras have sturdier mounts that seem more permanent. You'll definitely want to mount this one out of the reach of a possible intruder. Conclusion ================================= To get the most out of this system (or any of the competitors) means you need more products in the ecosystem. For Philips Hue, that means more lights, a Bridge, and a paid subscription to store recordings and unlock more features like AI-powered people or animal detection, and more. You can pay monthly or annually (for a discount) with a Basic or Plus plan being your options along with how many cameras you'll want to include. Having said that, this is a great camera but I'm in the wrong ecosystem currently. Since I don't want to switch everything over, I'd recommend this for users that are already in the Philips Hue ecosystem for lighting controls. This camera (and their other ones) integrates perfectly, letting you do some neat automations and routines. I definitely enjoyed the high-quality video feed, responsive two-way audio, and the overall appearance of the camera.

If you're already invested in Hue lights, you might want to consider adding the Philips Hue Secure Wired Security Camera to your setup. I was looking for a second brand to add to my Google Home centric security system and was eager to try a Hue camera out. Design: The camera looks premium and reminds you of another camera that starts with “N”. It's got an IP65 rating, so you can stick it outside without worrying about the rain or snow. The magnetic mount makes it easy to adjust the angle. There's a desktop stand, but it’s not included in this package. In the pack, you get a screw and anchor that can affix the magnetic mount to a wall or fixture that is not magnetic. There aren’t any instructions on how to do this, however, but if you’re handy you’ll see on inspection that you need to TURN the bottom part of the magnetic mount counterclockwise to unlock the inner portion which has a plate that can be drilled into. You only get one, so make sure you get it right. Video: The camera captures 1080p HD video, which is pretty standard for cameras. The focus is infinite and you can zoom in digitally. The wide field of view seems to be around 140 degrees, so you can keep an eye on a decent-sized area. It handles mixed lighting conditions and movement pretty well, and the night vision is clear and black and white. When it detects motion, you'll get a notification on your phone with a still frame from the video if you have a subscription. Integration with Hue: This camera really comes alive when you pair it with your Philips Hue lights. You can set up the camera to trigger lights when it detects motion, which is super useful. Plus, you can customize the armed behaviors for when you're home or away. It's a great way to create a cohesive security system that's easy to manage. It’s what we all hoped you could do with Nest Secure until Google killed it. Let’s hope that you can wrap this all up with Matter in the future. I couldn’t get the direct video to work with Google Home, and I guess there’s supposed to be a hook to Home in the future, but as of today, I couldn’t get it to work. Subscription and Cloud Storage: To get the most out of this camera, you'll need to pony up for a subscription. There are three plans: a basic one for one camera, one for two cameras, and a plus plan for “All your cameras.” With the basic plan you get 30 days recording, with the plus you get 60 days recording. Both plans give you cloud storage, activity zones, and AI-powered detection that can identify people, animals, packages, and vehicles. If you're already a Hue fan, the Philips Hue Secure Wired Security Camera is a solid choice with caveats. This is especially if you aren’t using multiple brands of cameras. If you’re using several brands of cameras and are trying to tie everything in using Google Home, Alexa, or HomeKit, it’s currently not working except for the most basic sensor reporting, but it integrates seamlessly with your Hue lights and offers some great features with the Hue App with or without a subscription.

I’m not the type of person who only has one type or brand of security cameras, so I was excited to get this particular camera. Most of my cameras are white so I’m use to the color, however black cameras look better under rain and dirt after time. I just make sure to wipe them clean every month is so. It will prolong its life. Since this camera is wired, make sure you are close to a plug in or you will need an extension cord which isn’t good. Mounting only took me five minutes, nothing special needed to accomplish this task. I made sure to mount it outside under the eve of my roof so that when it rains, an unnecessary amount of water won’t be poured onto the camera. Again this will prolong the life. Also make sure it’s not in direct sunlight because over time it will change the coloring of the camera videos. You want a clear picture at all times. The quality is good. I can see peoples faces and sometimes the license plate details of my car. At night, I also get a decent picture but of course day time is better. Don’t expect Hollywood videos at night, lol. Make sure you do a decent amount of research before investing. I have google home, so pairing it was easy and took less than five minutes as well. The only draw back is our sketchy interest but that not the cameras fault. I don’t believe it’s pulling a huge amount of data for recording. I also have other items that can integrate with Philips, like light bulbs in my home so that’s cool. And I don’t have any subscriptions as of yet.

If you already use Phillips Hue products and want everything to be in the same system, then I might recommend this for you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t go out of my way to pick this camera over other systems. For one, the “wired” part of this is just the power. Which can be a good thing for most as it ensures it can catch motion without needing to be brought down to charge a battery, but it still needs Wi-Fi to function. However, the plug is just a bulky brick and the wire is not all that long. So, the position in which you set this needs to be within 9 feet of a power receptacle. Then, should anything happen to the cord, you have to get a new one from them because of the unique format. The worst thing about this is that you must have a security plan that you can pay monthly or annual for or else you just get a streaming motion detector. There is no recording unless you have a plan, not even to your phone, only motion is detected, so you can’t determine if it is a person, vehicle, animal or other and you can’t set activity zones. So, like in my setup, this meant a notification with the slightest breeze causing the shadows to trigger “other motion” constantly. With the plan you can at least disable the “other motion” activity detection, but then it might miss something because it didn’t realize it was a human, animal or vehicle yet. But, without the plan, you also don’t get any clip storage. Not even a free 7 days like some services provide. By the time you get the notification, load the app, and see the video, the item detected is already gone. On the subject of detection and clips, even with the plan active, you might miss stuff. Being that it is powered, it at least has a pre-record style function where it catches video before it notices the motion. Which has been decent as a vehicle zips by. However, at the same time you get a clip of a person and 10 seconds later the clip just ends and 20 seconds after that you get a new notification but you have no idea what the person did in between there. This is kind of an issue with many cloud based video systems where they want to minimize usage, but you miss out on what could be crucial information. One thing I found strange with this camera is that you have to treat it like a typical home security system. If you want it to notify you of motion and record clips, you have to arm it, either home or away. Otherwise it does nothing. As for setup, the device is pretty straight forward. However, you have this little card that it comes with that you must keep if anything changes, like your Wi-Fi, as that is the only way to activate it. The magnetic mounting system just requires you to put in 1 screw and holds the camera in practically any position. However, it is nothing to pull it off of there as well. It does have the typical ¼” mount screw if you want to get a separate mount for it. The last thing I want to mention is the video and audio quality. It is only 1080, which is decent enough to make out what is happening. But you aren’t going to be reading plates with it, even parked directly in front of the camera. It doesn’t have a night color-vision setting like some cameras have. As my front yard is pretty bright at night, I had to manually disable the night vision and there I could see color like my other system does. However, if my front house lights went out, now the camera doesn’t switch into night vision, leaving it dark. With every motion detection, the app notifies you and gives you the option to “Take Action” where you can trigger the alarm. It is noticeable, not all that loud, but enough to get your attention. What is really kind of useless though is the two-way audio. Unless you are right up on the camera, you are not going to have a conversation with someone. Overall, the camera itself is not the worst I have seen. I just don’t like the limitations without a plan and the other shortcomings mentioned above which would prevent me from personally recommending this to anyone.

I have had the opportunity to test different types of security cameras. Most systems have basic features and some have a little something extra. This Philips security system offers good picture quality and some interesting features, although there are some areas where it could be better. The camera comes in a compact box that includes the security camera, power cord, magnetic base with mount and a screw and an anchor, security documentation and stickers. The directions printed on the box are simple, just download the app and follow the instructions. To perform the installation and configuration it is necessary to download the Hue app. Within the app you must log in or create an account to be able to use all the available functions. First you need to configure the camera, connect it to the home network and then proceed with the installation. The security camera can be installed outdoors or indoors, it is only necessary to drill a hole to install the mount where the base that holds the camera magnetically goes. Once installed the device can be customized based on the needs of each one. Something important to mention is that in order to have recordings of the events captured by the security camera and receive alerts it is necessary to pay a subscription either monthly or yearly, $3.99 per month or $39.99 per year. Considering that it is a wired device I find it hard to believe that it does not have internal storage, then it will be necessary to consider this extra cost when purchasing this security camera. The image quality of the camera is acceptable, considering that it is 1080p. People, animals and objects are clearly visible, although there is room for improvement. The image quality in night mode fulfills its function very well, nothing out of the ordinary. The device has a microphone and speaker, both work well although the delay of the wireless connection can cause some interference, but it works as it should. Within the app is the function to arm the camera while at home and another function to arm when we are away, this activates notifications and alerts, you can also disable it if you do not need to receive notifications for a certain period of time. By activating the arming of the camera, notifications of events arrive in moments, it is also possible to activate the option to only get a picture of the event or a maximum clip of 60 seconds (subscription is required for these clips), when opening the notification the picture or clip is displayed, if no problem is detected you can indicate that everything is fine in the app, or in case of an emergency you can activate an alarm or alert an emergency contact that is registered for that purpose, one more layer of security. In conclusion, this Philips security camera provides different layers of security, with good image quality, color and night mode, and an app that allows you to customize the device to taste, plus if you have a Hue Bridge can be synchronized with other devices. If you do not mind paying a subscription I consider it an acceptable option, although with a small discount this would perhaps be balanced.

I've used security cameras from tons of brands in the smart home and traditional security camera space over the last few years. The Philips Hue Secure Wired Indoor Camera is my first camera from Hue and honestly I was pretty excited to use this camera as I love my Hue products. Unfortunately, the Hue Secure camera is plagued by some questionable design choices and ludicrous pricing both for the camera and the monitoring plan. I think Signify/Hue need to go back to the drawing board unless they want to severely limit the market they are targeting with this product. #TLDR: Who is this for?# This is a 1080p camera with basic "AI" detection for people, animals, vehicles, and packages which includes a Zigbee motion sensor for use as a trigger for Hue lights. I think it's a good fit for someone whose only "smart home" devices are Hue lights and thus have no desire to use any other smart home apps. For anyone else, this product and service are really expensive and just kind of weird as cameras go. #First impressions# The Hue Secure Indoor is a wired camera with a pretty cool magnetic mount that allows a significant amount of adjustability when mounted on a wall. Unfortunately, for some reason that I'm sure made a lot of sense to someone at Hue, the camera uses a proprietary power cable that happens to plug on the bottom of the camera square in the middle of the magnetic area that you'd need to attach the mount if you want it to be able to point slightly down or even perpendicular to the angle of the mount. If you are mounting to the ceiling, for example, you can easily tilt the camera down as the magnetic mount will be on the top of the camera. If you're mounting to a wall and want to point the camera nearly straight down, or you are mounting to a shelf and want to point it down just slightly to cover a particular space--- you are stuck with around 15 degrees less tilt. I'll try to illustrate in photos, but it's really frustrating. It wouldn't even be a big deal if you could rotate the FOV like you can in nearly any other security camera app, but that feature doesn't exist in the Hue app. Also, if you want to purchase a desktop mount so you can just sit it on a shelf you need to pay $50 for an accessory that should be included in the box. #Setup and usage# Initial setup was super easy in the Hue app. I already have a Hue Bridge, the app, and a bunch of lights so I was used to their process and honestly this was maybe even easier than setting up a Hue lightbulb. Once you add at least one camera you are granted an extra "Security" section in your Hue app above the lighting controls. After initial setup I had to add it as a motion sensor to the Hue Bridge, which was also fairly easy. The app adds it to the Bridge using Zigbee and does all the pairing automatically. I REALLY liked the attention to detail regarding encryption with the Hue Secure setup. You are prompted to save your encryption key string (a series of random words) and it even allows you to automatically export this as a file to a cloud storage account. Hue includes a little "ownership card" where you can write the words down and then lock it in your safe. Really cool especially with some vendors in this space having to admit they handled privacy badly in the last few years. I was a little confused after I set this up that I wasn't getting any kind of notifications or alerts despite it sitting next to my desk where it should have been blowing me up. That's when I discovered that it only sends notfications when it is "Armed". You have to put it in Armed - Home or Armed - Away mode to get any notifications or store any recording at all with this camera. There is no option to record to local storage (as it doesn't have local storage). The clip based recording is available with the subscription fee of $4/month or $40/year for only ONE camera and only records 60 second clips. A 60 second limitation might make sense with a wireless/battery camera, but for a wired camera, this is absurd. The camera should have some option to store video on an SD card or push to a NAS or computer on your network like nearly every other camera I've ever used or reviewed. The overall quality of the video is very good, however, so top marks for Hue in that regard. It also does a fairly good job in low light with the "night vision" (aka black and white + IR lighting) turned off, and "Night Vision" itself is very good quality with low noise even in a very dark space. However, the only options for Night Vision are Auto or Off. If you set it to Auto, the amount of light required for it to switch back to normal/color mode must be incredibly high. In my room with a bright overhead light plus 4 Hue lamps and a Hue Gradient strip at my desk, having every light cranked up to full white is not enough for the camera to come out of black and white "Night Vision" mode. I ended up just turning night vision off completely, which leads to a very dark but still usable frame at night with the overhead light off but the Hue lights operating in Tokyo or Tyrell scenes. You can use the Hue Secure camera to automatically trigger lighting scenes in your home based on motion events, which is pretty cool in that it means you get an extra motion sensor included in the cost. This is where I think Hue have an excellent opportunity to justify the cost of their subscription plan but they unfortunately fall short. I would consider the camera and service plan to be a great value if the AI detection was capable of differentiating people by face and activating certain lights based on this info. I've used a few NVRs which can differentiate based on face in this way, but aren't able to tie into my smart home to do anything cool. Unfortunately, the Hue Secure plan cannot help with this as the camera only does basic sorting into the "Person", "Animal", "Vehicle", or "Other" buckets using machine learning. #Final thoughts# Usually I do a "negatives" section here but this whole review is coming off pretty negative. The fact is, I was really interested in seeing how Hue could disrupt the security space as I love so many things about the Hue platform. I'm just terribly disappointed. However, I know several people who are not fully embedded in the "smart home" life yet have a Hue bridge and bulbs throughout their home, and if one of them wanted to add a single camera to watch a back door or a pet or something, I think this could be a better fit than having to get another smart home app and set up yet another account with a vendor that may or may not take their security seriously. For anyone but locked-in Hue families, this camera needs a few things to become a 4 or 5 star product - the camera cost needs to drop by at least 25%, the desk stand needs to be included, the security plan needs to be half the price with the current feature set or at least include multiple cameras at the current price, it should use USB-C for power, and the AI features need to be improved to differentiate between people.

I’ve been a part of the Hue family by way of the lights for about 6 years. It’s been a long time coming but I finally got the camera. I’ve had wireless cameras and wired cameras. Each have their pros and cons. So far we absolutely love the Hue Camera because of setup and the install. There isn’t anything g more satisfying than unboxing a beautiful product that simply took a few steps. First I set up the app and made sure the camera was connected to my current Hue devices. Then, I found the spot on my patio that I could optimize features with. Finally, setup my zones and tailored my alerts. For me part of the fun is always unboxing the items to see how quick and beautiful the tech product is. Today was no different. There were essentially four components: screws, the camera, mount, and wire. The camera is this beautiful white matte color and the magnet that is found in both the mount and camera is superbly strong. To hear that beautiful snap and the rounded edge on the back of the camera made it easy to adjust the angle and view of the camera. The camera view was good, and although 1080p isn’t the best I appreciate all the other features the camera has that it wasn’t a big deal after giving it a few days to test. Oh and don’t forget to test the mic and speaker. I underestimate how useful it can be, especially when setting it up for my pups. The worst thing for a dog parent is not seeing my pups while at work. I love being able to observe them while they nap during the day. I tend to avoid speaking to them on camera in order to avoid confusing them that I might be home. I’m so glad I went ahead and added the camera to my Hue devices and bridge. I might need another in the future.

So I went back and forth between giving this two or three stars. End of the day, I gave it three because I guess it does what it's supposed to do, but it doesn't really stand out. I mean, it records in 1080p, it has what many camera's have from a feature set. Motion detection, AI animal/human/motion detection, two-way audio, night-vision etcetera... Again, pretty standard fair. So why did I go back and forth between two stars-and three-stars? Well, as I mentioned it does what it's suposed to as far as a security camera and it has typical features you would expect. But, this camera is priced ar $200. Pretty steep, especially considering it has no particularly outstanding features. Additionally, you would think for that price it might have some additional features. Something like battery backup, a small one, or a sieres of capacitors for small blackouts or power surges. Also important to note, the mounting screws are made of a soft metal. They can easily be stripped if you don't drill a pilot hole. I would have expected more from something in this price range. I think for most people, this will do a fine job, but it definatly missed the mark... Atleast missed the mark the price-point targeted.

I have always really enjoyed the Philips Hue products and was very excited to see they are branching off into security with this security camera. I have used multiple products of thiers and enjoyed their software. Right out of the box , it was very simple to install and setup. There is not much to it and there is a QR code to scan to complete the software portion. My only issue is that I wish it was battery powered, its annoying to run a cord along the side of the house and always having to have it plugged in. I wish the cord was longer like the one with Arlo's security camera. After installation onto the side of the house , I used the included QR code to complete the setup. The setup was a breeze and easliy connected to my 5 ghz band. I am so glad to see this security camera connects to the higher band as many other competors connect to the legacy 2.4ghz still. After setup you receive a 30 day trial of video recordings customized alerts and define activity zones. Honestly its not a bad deal , as of writting this you can subscribe with just one camera for 3.99 a month. The software features are great as there are a ton of customizations. My favorite part is that it captures 10 seconds earlier when video recording starts so you do not miss the moment upon activation of the camera. Overall this was a great experiencing with great video recordings and features! I would strongly recommend this product!

Overall the camera picture quality is good, remote connection time is quick and the appearance is smart. Although I am the first to judge people for complaining about products not doing things they had never advertised, I should have done the same here. I assumed since Hue lighting was integrated with Apple HomeKit that the security lights would be too, so it was to my disappointment that I saw afterwards there was no such option. As this is my own fault, I am not holding it against the product and my rating isn't affected by this. I am however dinging the camera for three reasons. Not only do they hold what I would consider basic features, like video clips, behind a rather expensive paywall; until recently the arming/disarming had to be done manually and still lacks any geofencing activation option, and finally being part of the Hue family, I would have expected more options than 'Flashing White/Flashing Red' as alarm responses,

The product has an amazing design that truly stands out and feels premium. However, its software is inconsistent and can be frustrating to use, with occasional glitches and slow responses. Adding Apple HomeKit compatibility would greatly improve its functionality and integration, making it a top-tier smart home device choice.

Works great, easy to install. Good camera resolution.

This camera is able to keep the view on my back door. It’s able to show and low light also works well with my spotlight and the lights around the house.

Philips Hue has always been the master of smart lighting products. The products have always been of the best quality, work seamlessly, easy to set up and obnoxiously expensive. The Philips Hue Security Camera checks many of those boxes but does fall short – and that is coming from someone who has embraced their entire lighting ecosystem. The Good: The Philips Hue Secure camera comes with a magnetic mount and a 10-foot power cable. When you pick it up, it is heavy, feels durable and high quality. The fit and finish definitely puts the camera in the upper echelon of smart cams; making some others feel like towns. Philips states it has an IP65 rating so it can go outside. Set up was super easy. Since I already use the Hue app, I just had to scan the provided QR code, and it connects in a minute or so. It will go through some updates but nothing obnoxious. In my opinion, Philips Hue is at the top of easy setups, right there with the two big tech companies. Everyone else is second. The Philips Hue Security Camera includes two-way audio that is clear and passible loudness. There seems to be little or no lag in the video or sound. It also has siren that you can use in conjunction with the Hue lights. I really liked that this feature, I had all the lights flashing red when I triggered it. The big plus is the Philips Hue ecosystem. Everything works perfect and even integrates into Google Home and Smartthings. I liked having one app for all the their lighting and the cam. Detection and the night vision work well, and the camera has a large field of vision. The 1080P is adequate but does not look as good as some of the other high-end competitors. Clips are downloadable. The Bad: The camera comes with a strong magnetic mount, but it really should include the desktop base as part of the price. At the time of writing this review, you can buy the desktop stand with the camera for a 15% bump as a kit or 25% the cost of the camera by itself as a standalone purchase. Ridiculously overpriced. The video is decent, but I have seen better from some of the competitors in this price range. I did see a bit more of a fisheye effect than expected and it was far too annoying for my liking. There is no local store option nor is any cloud storage included without a subscription. Yes, yet another subscription plan. In conclusion, I cannot recommend the Philips Security Cam for most people. This is the first Philips product that I feel let me down a bit and I really did want to like it, but there are smart video cams that already do a better job at a much lower cost. And that is the real rub, there is already so much competition in the smart video cam market – where does Philip think they are going to fit in this late in the game? I know they are trying to build a security system into their ecosystem but there is nothing special here and Philip has to offer a more compelling product than just another 1080P video cam with a burdensome and expensive subscription plan.

On the surface, the camera itself delivers a fairly nice image. That said though, I feel the feature set is a bit of a letdown, especially at the price, and I really don’t like the reliance on a subscription plan that has some unique pricing. Physical install of this camera is about what you would expect for a wired system. At this point, I really prefer wireless, for quite a few reasons, but wired also have a few advantages (constant power, no batteries, perhaps more secure). Again, it was largely typical, but i would have preferred a smaller as well as universal plug solution, a longer cord, and placement of the wires in the mount. It made things “slightly” more difficult. As for setup and digital install? It was a really simple process for me. The Hue App is designed fairly well, and it gives you a nice amount of control over the camera. Clip length, Night Vision, Blackout Zones, Motion Sensitivity, Motion Detection, Alerts, etc… can all be viewed and or controlled within the app. The camera itself seems well built, feels solid and durable, as well as “good in the hand.” It has IP 65 weather resistance and comes with a special rubber-sealed plug. Time will tell, but I think this should easily last over time and should not be a concern. As I stated earlier, the camera does deliver a nice image. It is only 1080p, so it may be a tick below many other cameras offering 2K, 4K, and the like. As it is, it does give a rather clear image. Day (color) night (no color, more on that later). Beyond that, you can view and listen to a live feed through the app (it is quick and fluid), talk through the camera (clear, without much delay), play a siren (fairly loud, and effective), track activity, get notifications, view zones…really, a lot of what a lot of other cameras and systems offer. That said, the camera does not have a spotlight feature, has an imperfect Night Vision system, offers basic person/animal/vehicle/other detection, has no local storage, and, as a result, is somewhat reliant on the subscription plan, which, in itself is not that uncommon, but it goes deeper than that. For starters, I just do not understand the decision to not include a spotlight. It is a rather basic add, and very important, at least to me. Further, without the light, the Night Vision system (I am guessing) does not offer color images. The picture it does provide is “good,” but I found I ran into a few problems as it can only be set to “Auto” or “Off.” The Auto option would often not trigger back to color even when it appeared there was easily ample light for it do so. Lastly, and perhaps my biggest concern with this camera (and system) is both the reliance and the subscription plan itself. Again, on some level, this is not that unique in this space, but I just do not like offering no recording options locally. Beyond that, a fair number of features also require the plan (Video Recording, Activity Zones, AI detection differentiation, Video History). The plan pricing is also another issue for me. While the annual 1 camera plan is $39.99, and fairly in-line, it is “Pay per camera,” and only gives you 30 days of video history. To get all cameras included (and 60 days of video history) it jumps to $99.99. Ultimately, while I think the camera itself is “good,” I just think there are better options out there. If you are already in the Hue Ecosystem, like all in, with many other devices, I think this could work for you, and “maybe” the value would be there for you. As is, for me though, I just do not think this is a good value for what you get. The camera is “good,” the features are about average to perhaps below average, and the plan is a bit of a letdown for me. Maybe if there were a local storage option, it was a bit more feature-rich, and the plan more approachable, I could get there, but currently I can’t.

I got my Philips Hue Security Camera few days ago and I have had moments of being frustrated and being quite pleased with the product. I have to rant about a couple minor points first. Why print directions in a tiny font and leave the back of the page blank? Just a couple of points higher on the font size would make it so much easier to read for those of us with less than perfect vision. Also much of this camera seems to be of a high build quality, so why include such a soft cheap mounting screw? Ok, I feel better. First thing I did was install the Hue app to my phone. Set up went wrong on my first try. Not sure what happened, I was stuck and couldn’t find any help online. But I just uninstalled and reinstalled the app and started over and everything was smooth sailing after that. Pairing to the camera was quick and easy. Mounting the camera was easy too (once I replaced the screw) as the base to the magnetic holder just needs a single screw to secure it. The magnetic base twist locks into that and the camera attaches by magnet. I really like how well this design works as it is a secure connection and easily adjustable. The power cord though is placed in kind of a bad spot that could cause issues not being able to set it in the magnetic holder just how you want it. Also, I do wonder if it might wobble a little in high wind. The camera does plug in so make sure you are close to a power source, the cord though is fairly long at over 9ft. Once it was all set up everything worked well. You can save video locally or on the cloud but remote storage does require a subscription. The camera offers 1080p resolution and the picture looks great! Night vision also looks crisp and clear. The AI recognition isn’t perfect but it works well enough. At first I was a little confused as I wasn’t getting alerts to my phone but I quickly realized you need to set the camera to “armed”. There is also a speaker so you can converse with someone thru the camera if you so desire. This is my first Hue “smart” item and I am considering looking into some of the lighting issues. The ability to connect the motion sensor to a light or a light sequence is pretty cool. All in all this is a solid security camera that has the ability to be part of a whole home Hue smart system. As a single camera it might be a bit on the pricey side if you aren’t looking for it to be part of a larger integrated network. But at the end of the day it works quite well with great quality video. If I knew someone looking for a camera and it fit in their budget, I would absolutely recommend it to a friend.

The Phillips Hue wired security camera is powered by a hard-wired connection, the camera comes with a proprietary plug on the camera and the cord. The cord is Nine feet six inches long which give you about 9 feet of usable length, so about eight and a half feet from the outlet, plan accordingly. The camera is connected to the app on your phone. The camera can differentiate between animal/human/automobile/other and only notifies you to a detection when it is in either of the armed categories. The application only saves the video in 1-minute segments, this is unusual for a wired connection, all my other security cameras retain video in 3-minute segments at the least. This recording is done in the cloud, this camera does not have any internal or external memory to store video. The camera does work with other Hue lights and can illuminate them when motion is detected. The camera is solely equipped for indoor use. It is not weatherproof. The night vision mode can be turned on or off, unfortunately if the area of installation is not bright enough the camera will stay in the night vision mode. If this happens the resulting video is degraded and almost unusable. The video is 1080p and in good lighting conditions quite good.

The Philips Hue wired security camera came well boxed and seemed very simple to install. It comes with a camera, a power cord, a simple mounting plate and a QR Code card. The camera itself is well built and has great resolution when live viewing. The power cord that comes with it is not well designed in my opinion - you push it into the receptacle on the camera that has two leads, but I found a couple of times it either was not pushed in far enough, or pulled out too easily when I was mounting it. The Hue software for setting up the camera seemed simple enough, but I ran into a few issues. The first being setting up the account. It took about 3 times to set up a new account, and it would switch from the app to a browser. Once I had that set up, it asked me during the actual setup if I was connecting a bridge. I did not know what a bridge was, the camera did not come with a bridge, and nowhere in the app did it explain what it was or the benefits of having one. I said no to installing a bridge and continued to install a security device (the camera). It kept telling me that it could not find a camera. After many attempts, I called customer service and was told I needed a "bridge" to run the camera. Again, the camera did not come with a bridge. After more contact with customer service, I was then told that a bridge was not required, but that there were features that would not work without one. Another frustrating part of the setup and installation process was a card that has a QR code. This card is needed for setup or to change Wi-Fi settings. It seemed like a very unnecessary step and I can only imagine how many people will misplace this card and run into issues in the future. After finally getting the camera to connect, I found the ONLY thing I could do on the app is view the camera live. I could not access video history, activity zones or event alerts, even though I have a free trial to the subscription. I then learned that recording and alerts only work if you have it set to Armed. I had to search the internet for that piece of knowledge. Once armed it brings up a Security Alert which tells you a person (or something else) was detected. You then have an option of telling it "all is safe" OR "take action" which calls an emergency contact. It does put the recordings into a timeline to view later (only if armed). Overall, the camera is good and the software has potential, but the setup is not clear enough, does not explain the bridge and does not explain the features and when they are available (armed).

Unboxing the Philips Hue Wired Security Camera was a nice experience. The box itself looks sleek, giving off a premium vibe right away. Inside, everything is well-organized: the camera, mounting hardware, power adapter, and a quick start guide. It’s clear they’ve thought about making the setup as hassle-free as possible. Getting the Philips Hue Security Camera up and running is pretty straightforward. First, you need to download the Philips Hue app, which you can find on both the App Store and Google Play. Once you have the app, creating an account or logging in is a breeze. Connecting the camera to the app took just a few minutes—just plug in the camera and follow the prompts. Mounting the camera on the wall is also easy. The box includes all the necessary hardware, and the quick start guide walks you through the process. It’s basically a matter of drilling a couple of holes, screwing in the mount, and clicking the camera into place. No need to be a DIY expert for this one! Once everything is set up, the camera connects seamlessly to your Wi-Fi network. The app allows you to check the connection status and signal strength, so you can be sure it’s all working perfectly. The camera integrates smoothly with the Philips Hue ecosystem, which is great if you already have other Philips Hue products. The video quality of the Philips Hue Security Camera is impressive. Day or night, the footage is clear and detailed. The night vision works particularly well, ensuring you can see what’s happening even in low-light conditions. The live stream is smooth, and you can easily zoom in to get a closer look if needed. One of the best features is the customizable alerts. You can set up notifications for motion detection and even adjust the sensitivity so you’re not getting pinged every time a leaf blows by. The app lets you set specific zones for monitoring, which is handy if you only want alerts for certain areas of your property. Plus, you can review past events and see a timeline of activity, which adds an extra layer of convenience. However, it’s important to note that to access all these features, you need a subscription. Without it, you won’t be able to fully utilize the camera’s capabilities, such as cloud storage for video recordings and advanced alert settings. So, keep in mind that there’s an ongoing cost to consider. Overall, the Philips Hue Wired Security Camera is a fantastic addition to any smart home setup. The unboxing experience is smooth, setup with the app is a breeze, and installation on the wall is straightforward. The camera’s connectivity is reliable, the video quality is top-notch, and the customizable alerts are incredibly useful. Just be aware that to get the most out of this camera, you’ll need to sign up for a subscription. If you’re okay with that, this camera is definitely worth considering.