Review: Google Nest Cam Indoor and Outdoor 2K

Security cameras can be spammy, blowing up your phone with useless notifications. Manufacturers have been battling this issue with AI detection, but Google’s Gemini assistant takes things to a whole new level in its latest Nest Cams.

The Nest Cam Indoor (Wired, 3rd Gen) and Outdoor (Wired, 2nd Gen) may not look new (apart from the Berry red indoor model), but they finally make the jump to 2K resolution, empowering a new level of AI insight, more accurate detection, and better animated notifications.

I’ve been testing both side by side with the previous generation Nest cameras for the last two weeks, and they clearly represent a leap in quality. But the Google Home app overhaul and hardware improvements were long overdue, and the infusion of Gemini AI is only partially successful, with top-tier features requiring a hefty subscription.

Overdue Upgrade

The new Nest Cam Indoor and Nest Cam Outdoor boast the easiest setup experience I’ve encountered. Simply plug them in (the Nest Cam Indoor comes with a 10-foot USB-C cable, the Nest Cam Outdoor has an 18-foot weatherproof cable), scan the QR code sticker on the front of each camera with the Google Home app, connect to Wi-Fi, and you’re up and running in no time (both support 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz bands). The elegant magnetic mount for the Nest Cam Outdoor needs a couple of screws, while my Nest Cam Indoor is perched neatly on a shelf.

While Google has lagged behind competitors for years with its 1080p cameras, support for HDR and a high frame rate helped keep the last-gen Nest cams relevant. That said, the jump to a 2560 x 1400 resolution with a wider 152-degree diagonal field of view is a clear and immediate upgrade. This resolution bump also enables 6X digital zoom, so the Nest Cams can serve up notifications that zoom in on the subject of each animated alert. These notifications show a few frames of each event, making it far easier to decide whether you need to tap through and watch the full video. You can also zoom in on the live feed and crop the view to stay focused on a specific area, like a garden gate or path.

Google Home via Simon Hill

Google Home via Simon Hill

Both cameras detect more activity and alert more accurately and swiftly than their predecessors. The range seems to be better, too. For example, my indoor camera faces a side door, and it can pick up people across the street and zoom in on them as they walk by. I don’t necessarily want it to do that, but the reach is impressive. It’s more successful with the outdoor camera, as only the newer model picks up on me entering the back door of the distant garage compared to the prior generation. The outdoor camera is also far faster to alert and upload accessible video than the old battery-powered model (this is generally true for wired cameras).

The cameras get six hours of cloud video history at no extra cost (up from three for the previous generation), but that’s your allotment without an expensive subscription. On that note, Google has killed off Nest Aware in favor of the two-tier Google Home Premium: Standard is $10 per month or $100 per year, and Advanced is $20 per month or $200 per year.

Google’s Home Premium subscriptions include everything you got with Nest Aware (30 days of video history, Familiar Faces, and garage door, package, smoke and CO alarm detection) and Nest Aware Plus (60 days of video history or 10 days of 24/7), but Standard also includes Gemini Live on compatible smart speakers and displays, and the option to create automations by typing what you want in the Home app. This last feature works well if you have a bunch of smart home devices set up in Google Home, and you can tell it to do things like “turn on the lights at sunset” or “have the side door camera trigger the outside lights.” It’s far easier than using the old script editor.

Advanced AI

The cream of the AI goodies requires the Advanced subscription. This adds descriptive notifications, so instead of “person detected,” you get messages like “person walks up stairs” or “cat is on the table” instead of “animal detected.” The searchable video history using the Ask Home search bar is genuinely handy; you can ask questions like “who opened the back door last night?” or “Did FedEx deliver a package today?” and jump straight to the event. You also get daily summaries with Home Brief, giving you an often weirdly comical digest of highlights from the day.

ScreenshotGoogle Home via Julian Chokkattu

​Some folks feel AI is overhyped, but it has made tangible improvements to home security cameras in the last few years. When I started testing them, it was common to get alerts from branches blowing in the breeze, passing birds or moths, and sometimes seemingly nothing at all. AI is pretty good at detecting people now, and animal, vehicle, and package detection are standard in most security cameras.

Google’s cloud-only approach enabled it to take things further faster than most with facial recognition, though it's no longer unique, with competitors like Amazon, Eufy, Lorex, and Wyze all offering similar features. Google has stepped things up again with Gemini, and the hardware bump to a 2K resolution provides the AI more data, enabling more descriptive and accurate alerts. This is a growing trend across the industry; Amazon also just unveiled a new line of 2K and 4K Ring cameras with facial recognition and a new Search Party feature to help you find your lost dog.

As smart as Google’s Nest cameras are, the AI is far from totally accurate. It regularly confuses my kids, much to their annoyance, and, while both have long hair, it’s not a mistake a person would make. I also get pretty regular alerts that I am at the front door when I’m sitting at my desk, because it struggles to tell me apart from any other bald, bearded bloke. Gemini is also convinced my colleague’s dog is a cat. Making these mistakes is understandable, but it’s frustrating that, even after he corrected Gemini, telling it he has a dog and not a cat, it continues to make the same error.

​Ultimately, there’s a beta feel to these new AI features—and they are in early access. You are helping to train it (you can give thumbs-up or down feedback). I’m sure it will improve, but I wouldn’t rush to drop $20 per month for these features alone. Home Premium Advanced is a much easier sell if you’re already paying for Nest Aware Plus.

Courtesy of Google

The Home Premium Standard plan will be enough for most folks, but it’s tough to justify unless you have at least a couple of Nest cameras and a doorbell. At least Standard is bundled in with some Google One subscriptions. The extra monthly fee for Advanced seems like a step too far, and it’s only bundled with Google’s most expensive AI Ultra plan ($250 per month).

Stepping back to the camera hardware, there’s no doubt that both offer tangible improvements over the previous generation. The Google Nest Cam Indoor (Wired, 3rd Gen) is the smartest indoor security camera, but the upgrades felt more useful to me in the Google Nest Cam Outdoor (Wired, 2nd Gen). The caveat for anyone upgrading from the battery-powered version is that you must run the cable to a power outlet, though I suspect Google will release a 2K outdoor battery camera before long (maybe even a version with a floodlight).

Ultimately, these slick and elegant security cameras are easy to recommend. But they are up against many cheaper, comparable video quality indoor security cameras and similarly priced wireless, solar-powered, pan/tilt outdoor cameras that can record locally. If you’re cool with plugging in, using Google Home, and the price and subscription, they may still be the better choice for you.