Craig Lloyd
If you want a Wi-Fi cam to watch over your house while you’re away at work or on vacation, there are a ton of options. But if you want one that works well with your Google Home, there are some specific models to aim for.
Nest Cam ($199)
In all honesty, there’s only one Wi-Fi cam that integrates flawlessly with the Google Home, and it’s the Nest Cam, which comes in indoor and outdoor versions. It works great mostly because Google owns Nests, so the integration is about as seamless as it gets.
The extra kicker is that the Nest Cam works with the Google Home Hub, as well as with a regular Google Home with a Chromecast device connected to a television. This integration allows you to pull up the video feed on your Home Hub or Chromecast using your voice.
So if you have a Google Home Hub, you can say something like, “Hey Google, show the family room camera.” Or if you go through a Chromecast you have to be a bit more specific with something like, “Hey Google, show the family room camera on the bedroom TV.”
Aside from the seamless Google Home integration, the Nest Cam is really easy to set up, and the app is really easy to use. So even if you don’t have a Google Home, the Nest Cam is just a really nice all-around Wi-Fi cam in general.
The one downside is that it’s kind of useless without the $5/month Nest Aware subscription (without the subscription you lose out on video recording and reviewing footage). But that’s not a bad price to pay at all, especially for how good the user interface is.
Budget Option: TP-Link Kasa Cam ($79)
If you’re looking for something a bit cheaper than the Nest Cam, but still somewhat compatible with your Google Home, TP-Link’s Kasa Cam is a good choice.
The Kasa Cam is also a decent camera in and of itself, but it works with Google Assistant so that you can bring up the video feed on your Chromecast. Unfortunately, though, you can’t bring up the video feed on a Google Home Hub.
The best part, though, is that the camera can store video recordings as old as two days for free, which is really nice. You can also create different motion zones for free. Both of these are features you would need to pay for with the Nest Cam.
The Kasa Cam also comes with night vision capabilities, as well as two-way talk thanks to its built-in speaker and microphone.
