Want us to help you find the perfect Nest Camera for you? Then we have one question for you, how much do people annoy you? We’ve been using both Nest cameras in our home and we can definitely tell you which one to get. Or not to get.
Nest Cam IQ vs. Nest Cam Indoor – How much money should you spend?
When it comes to product updates, we’re usually underwhelmed on their supposed “new and improved features”. Take the iPhone 7 for example. At first glance it looks new and fresh right? Wrong. iPhone 7 is virtually the same as an iPhone 6s.
Thankfully, that’s not the story with the Nest Cam IQ. The upgrades are noticeable enough when compared to the Nest Cam Indoor. Especially the 4k Resolution and the Familiar Face recognition. But are these upgrades worth the extra $100 and the corresponding Nest Aware subscription?
(Press for the full comparison table)
For the Nest Cam Indoor, we will give it a score of 4.6 Eh’s out of 5. For the Nest Cam IQ, a score of 5 Eh’s out of 5. On a product by product basis, these Nest Cameras are better than the D-Link Omna. But it should be noted that this scoring system doesn’t take into account the long-term cost of the products.
Design – Not obnoxious at all
The Nest Cameras look better than an average looking security camera. They look clean and don’t stick out visually like a sore thumb. If size is a big deal for you, the Nest Cam Indoor has a much smaller footprint.
Both cameras can also be mounted. The Nest Cam Indoor has the option to be mounted magnetically. The Nest Cam IQ, on the other hand, has a 1/4 inch threaded hole that are compatible with tripod and security mounts. If you don’t have any magnetic surface to mount your Nest Cam Indoor, don’t worry. The Nest Cam Indoor includes a wall mount plate in the package.
The speaker on the Nest Cam IQ is much larger than the Nest Cam Indoor so communicating through the unit is going to be easier.
Both products use the video footage as a motion sensor and are quite accurate. During our testing phase, the Nest Cam Indoor automatically picked up on the door that the camera was pointed at which was neat. And somewhat creepy at the same time.
However, we wished the Nest cams allowed the ability to customize the areas of motion detection like the D-Link Omna does in their app without having to pay for subscription fees. This feature is only available through Nest Aware which is basically a web add-on for the Nest cameras. If you’re wondering what we think of the Nest Aware, check out this review.
Both cameras use InfraRed (IR) Led’s to provide 20 ft worth of night vision. You can extend this range by adding another IR light like the LIFX+.
When it comes to video quality, the 4K sensor of the Nest Cam IQ is amazing. The 4K sensor allows you to zoom into areas where motion is occurring. Nest Cam IQ also boasts having HDR footage which is evident when comparing video feeds from the two Nest Cameras. You can see part on the photo above that the porch is visible with the Nest Cam IQ while the Nest Cam Indoor has that area completely blown out.
Functionality – Watch your home in full HD and 4K!
When it comes to overall functionality, the Nest Cam IQ edges out the Nest Cam Indoor by a small margin. The Familiar Face feature gives Nest Cam IQ better edge than the Nest Cam Indoor.
When it comes to the accompanying app, Nest has a better app than the D-Link Omna. The Timeline feature is easy to use and shows you what’s going on in your home at a glance.
The Nest Cam IQ has better wireless connectivity than the Cam Indoor but this isn’t going to be noticeable for the average user.
If you’re on vacation and can’t use WiFi or a Cellular connection on your mobile device, Nest will allow you to watch your cameras through the web. If you’re an Apple watch user, Nest does provide an Apple Watch app.
For us, the standout feature of the Nest Cam IQ is the Familiar Face feature. However, we do find the feature a bit expensive. The cloud-based feature of Nest Cam IQ is understandable from a technological standpoint but it’s a bit too much for an average person to invest to.
The Familiar Face feature heavily relies on the 4K sensor. It documents the images of all the people it sees. Basically, the more you show up in front of the camera, the less you’ll be considered an object worth being notified about.
Covering up your face with a mask will trigger the Nest Cam IQ which is a good thing. If you are wondering why we know this fact. We tested this out by dressing up as Batman and approached the door where the Nest Cam IQ is.
The volume of the notifications of these two Nest Cams are also different. In the Nest Cam Indoor, any time you (or anybody else) walks in front of the camera, it’s going to trigger a notification. With the Nest Cam IQ, the Nest Cam IQ won’t trigger a notification unless it’s a face that it thinks is familiar or a complete stranger.
The first few days might be notification hell for you on the Nest Cameras. But Nest do boast that their cameras get smarter over time. This is especially apparent with the Nest Cam Indoor when compared with the D-Link Omna. The Nest Cam Indoor has less volume of notification than the D-Link Omna when placed in the same area.
The volume of notifications on the Nest Cam IQ, on the other hand, gets smaller once the Familiar Face feature starts working.
Compatibility
Nest Cam Indoor and Nest Cam IQ both works with IFTTT and Google Home. However, when we say the Nest Cams “works” with Google Home, we mean you can connect your Nest account to Google Home but you can’t access the Nest cameras through Google Home. This compatibility issue is so odd considering that Alphabet owns both Google and Nest yet they are not “fully” compatible with one another.
Now if you’re bummed out that Nest isn’t directly compatible with Apple Home, here’s a bit of a reprieve. It actually doesn’t matter unless you plan using the Nest cameras as part of an automation. And that problem can be worked around since you could use IFTTT or Stringify for the automations.
Which Nest camera should you get?
| Reasons to get Nest Cam Indoor | Reasons to get Nest Cam IQ |
| Only worried about the motion | Worried about the people |
| Planning to monitor a place with low human traffic | Planning to monitor a place with high human traffic |
| Want to know if people are in your house | Want to know who are in your house |
The main differentiating factor between the two products is the people. So pick carefully because both nest Cameras will generally accomplish the same goal of figuring out what’s going on in your home.
Why we would be hesitant to get a Nest camera
In order to get all the features of a Nest Camera, you need to sign up for Nest Aware. Nest Aware comes in two tiers which are 10-day continuous monitoring and 30-day monitoring at $100/year and $300 dollar/year respectively.
Let’s put it into perspective. Imagine owning a Nest Camera for three years. That’s $300 dollars for the 10-Day and $900 dollars for the 30-Day plans. Add in the initial cost of $300 dollars for a Nest Cam IQ, the total cost to USE this Nest Camera ranges between $600 and $1200 dollars. Compared that to a DLink Omna which only costs $200 up front and $50 bucks for a big micro-SD card.
Is being able to scroll through 30-days of continuous video footage worth $1000 dollars? We don’t think so. If the ultimate goal of getting a smart home camera is to keep track of what’s going on, the D-Link Omna is going to be fine. You’ll end up with more notifications but if there was a chance that anybody was in your home who wasn’t suppose to be there, there’s a good chance you’re going to be able to find that incident on the saved microSD card.
Now there are very specific instances where having 30-day continuous storage might be useful but those are far and few between that the average person isn’t going to encounter in their lifetime.
We hope our Nest Cam IQ vs. Nest Cam Indoor comparison has helped you out. If you liked this post and are considering getting some for yourself, check out our links to purchase your products. Let us know if you have any comments or questions in the comments below!
