SECURITYCAMERAS
104 AUGUST 2019AUGUST |COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE 378
SOFARWE’VEseen how expensive it can
be to get asmart security system up and
running; even if you opt forthe relatively
affordable BT Smart Home Cam, there’s the
added monthly cost of asubscription to
actually let you review video clips instead of
just still images.
The underlying idea is that you can’t put a
price on security,but the Neos SmartCam
shows that this price doesn’t have to be
very high. It’s only £20 but shoots at 1080p,
has anight vision mode and free cloud
storage forvideo footage.
Free cloud storage isn’t aparticularly rare
bonus, of course.It’s often offered with
greater limitations than paid subscriptions,
and there’s always the risk that this perk
can be removed at alater date, which is
exactly what happened with Y-Cam, which
described free storage as unsustainable.
This mayormay not happen to Neos, but
forthe time being, afreebie is afreebie.
How,though, does the SmartCam manage
to pack in so much forsolittle money?
ALL IN ONE
It’s partly because the SmartCam doesn’t
require its own hub.The package is
remarkably small, with just the cuboid camera,
aplug and awire in the box. Second, this is a
camera that is strictly forindoor use.It’s not
weatherproofed, and is completely wired with
no battery-powered option.
Otherwise,everything is present and
correct. Besides the night vision mode to
capture motion after dark, there’s also a
microphone and speaker so you can chat to
any intruders that cross the SmartCam’s path.
It responds automatically to motion and
sounds, and automatically uploads footage to
the cloud without any need forsubscriptions.
This last quality comes with some strings
attached: the camera only captures clips of 12
seconds in length, and then will not take
further video foranother five minutes. This is
clearly asignificant limitation, although you
can record live from the app if you need some
more substantial footage.Ittheoretically
means you could capture 12 seconds of a
burglar pilfering through your stuff, but then
see the footage cut off before theyturn and
face the camera, and theymay be gone before
the five minutecooldown time ends.
Cloud footage is stored for14days, which
(unlike the clip length) feels generous enough.
If you haven’t downloaded the keyclips after
14 days, you probably don’t care that much
NEOS
SmartCam
★★★★★
£20•From shop.neos.co.uk
VERDICT
TheSmartCamisn’tthemosttechnicallyadvanced
camera,butatthispriceit’sincrediblywellequipped
about the video.Still,
it’s ashame that
Neos doesn’t offer
more customisation here,even if it
were to cost alittle extra
each month to do so.
YOU’RE NICKED
There is another
option, although
fornow it lacks
flexibility.There’s amicroSD card slot in
the camera’s underside,and when acard
is inserted, the SmartCam will enable
continuous recording to the storage in
one-minutebursts. When the card is full, it
records over the earliest footage.
There are acouple of reasons why this
isn’t an ideal solution. First, at the time of
writing, footage captured on the card can’t be
viewed within the app.Instead, you have to
physically remove the microSD card and
insert it intoalaptop or PC to see what’s on
it. That, in turn, means that if aburglar steals
the camera, then theyalso steal the evidence
with it. That said, it’s not abinary choice
between cloud and microSD,sosome
footage should still be backed up.
As forthe 1080p video,the quality is
pretty reasonable during daylight hours.
Footage is captured at 15fps, which makes
the footage alot choppier than you’d get on
a30fps device such as
the TP-Link Kasa Cam
KC120 or even the
24fps D-Link DCS-2802KT, but it’s
clear enough to make out
faces. This is also true in
night-vision mode,
except it drops even
further to 10fps.
One of the
SmartCam’s smarter
features is the green box that appears in
playback, highlighting the part of the scene
that triggered the motion sensor.Given we’ve
seen completely empty scenes picked up on
other cameras before,it’s anice confirmation
that there’s definitely nothing in shot.
That’s not the last of the SmartCam’s
qualities, either.The camera itself is very
well designed forsuch acheap device; not
only is it compact and nondescript, but it
also sits on apull-out hinge/stand, which
allows agreat deal of flexibility in terms of
where it’s aiming. The legs are magnetic,
meaning it can stick to nearbysurfaces, and
Neos even includes ametal stand and
perfectly cut stickytape so you can make
your own compatible surface.
ONTHE FENCE
We’re not so fond of how the mobile app’s
setup process demands an awful lot of
intrusive-sounding information, such as your
phone number and address, but there is a
reason forthis: the SmartCam supports
geofencing, so it can automatically arm itself
when you leave the house and disarm when
you come back, based on your phone’s GPS.
Youdon’t have to use it, and it’s off by
default, but it’s yet another surprisingly
sophisticated feature foracamera so cheap.
The so-so recording quality and limitations
on cloud storage are issues that must be lived
with, but theydon’t stop the Neos SmartCam
from being astone-cold bargain at this price.
If you want some peace of mind without
paying the earth or sacrificing features, it’s
near enough impossible to beat.
The cameraiswell designed forsuch acheap device; not
only is it compact, but it also sits on astand, which allows a
greatdeal of flexibilityinterms of whereit’s aiming
