What could be going on in your home when you’re not there? Is your pet misbehaving and damaging your furniture? Is your nanny disciplining your kids in a way you don’t agree with?
There’s only one way to know for sure, and that’s to invest in a nanny camera, more commonly known as an indoor security camera. It’s a great way to check in on kids and pets when you’re not at home.
Products reviewed in this article (in the appearance of Our rating):
We’ve been checking out some of the best nanny cameras on the market, and after much deliberation, we were able to handpick a shortlist of our top 5 favorites to review for you here today.
But we get that choosing one can be tricky, which is why we’ve also put together a handy buying guide that will walk you through the key things to think about before you buy.
And without further ado, let’s get started.
Table of Contents
Reolink Wireless Indoor Security Camera – Our Pick
When we found out what this camera is capable of, it became abundantly clear that it deserved a spot on our shortlist.
It offers a Super High Definition resolution, coming in at 3 Megapixels, which is 2304 x 1296 pixels. This is even clearer than most HD TVs.
What’s more, the camera can drop 50 degrees vertically, and rotate up to a whopping 355 degrees horizontally, so if you place it on a central table, you will be able to see almost the whole room with negligible blind spots.
When we tested out, we were incredibly impressed with the picture quality, under all conditions.
It also features enhanced night vision, and the 8 infrared LEDs will enable you to see up to 40 feet in the dark.
In addition to the visual data that you can have live-streamed to your phone, there’s two-way audio also, thanks to the built-in microphone and speakers.
That way you can tell off your pets when they misbehave, or pass on instructions to your nanny.
There are also motion sensors in place, and you can set the system up to record motion triggered data which you can either have uploaded to the cloud, or you can save it to a micro SD card.
Alternatively, you can have it record continuously 24/7, or at scheduled intervals.
And that’s not all. In addition to controlling the camera to the accompanying Reolink app, you can also control it via voice assistants such as Alexa or Google Assistant.
The Reolink app is compatible with not only iOS and Android devices, but also Windows devices too.
We were also impressed with the manufacturer’s warranty, which lasts a lengthy 2 years. It’s a prominent bestseller with the leading online retailers and has been met with excellent customer ratings and reviews
Amazon occasionally has deals on this particular security camera – simply click on check price to see if there happens to be a deal on now. now
YI 2pc Security Home Camera – Runner-up
The great thing about this particular nanny camera is that in addition to displaying your view in a crisp 1080 pixel High Definition resolution, it also features YI edge computing technology, which increases the accuracy of object detection by up to 5 times that of a regular camera.
So any unnecessary disturbances are made clear.
What’s more, all the data received by the camera is fully encrypted as it is recorded, thus keeping your data safe and secure with the highest level of protection possible.
You can store your data securely in YI Cloud, thus avoiding the risk of losing footage should your micro SD card go missing.
But the star feature of this camera has to be it’s baby crying detection, just what you need if you’re an anxious first-time parent with a little one to care for.
The clarity of the picture is excellent – we know because we tried it ourselves, at 1080 pixels.
Moreover, the night vision is also very good, providing a clear view up to 15 meters, but is non-invasive with no visible glare. And the two-way audio is quite good too.
And not only is the accompanying app compatible with both iOS and Android devices, but it also works with voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
If you so wish, you can also add on optional 24/7 emergency response service to connect with police and fire services in the event of an emergency.
It’s a prominent bestseller with the leading online retailers and has been met with excellent customer ratings and reviews
Amazon occasionally has deals on this particular security camera – simply click on check price to see if there happens to be a deal on now. now
Wyze Cam v3 Indoor/Outdoor Video Camera
This prominent bestseller has been flying off the shelves, and with good reason, beyond it’s affordable and very reasonable price. And it’s a heavily upgraded version of Wyze’s previous models.
Where this camera stands out against the other nanny cameras that made our shortlist is that it can also be used outdoors.
This means that if your kids and pets like to play in the backyard, or if you want to keep tabs on deliveries to the house, you can set your camera up for this also.
If this is of interest to you, you could take advantage of the wall mounting or window mounting capability if you don’t have anywhere flat to rest the camera outdoors.
And that’s not all, it also offers superior night vision, that can record nighttime activity in full vivid color. This is thanks to its starlight sensor, which can see in full color even when it’s 25 times darker than regular daylight.
It delivers your images in crisp and clear 1080 pixel high definition. And it features two-way audio, so you can hear what’s going on too, and respond accordingly.
The Wyze Cam v3 is compatible not only with Android and iOS devices, but also with voice assistant Alexa as well.
It also features a siren that can be left off to deter a would-be burglar that hasn’t already noticed the camera.
You can set it up for continuous 24/7 recording that you record on a micro SD card, or you can upgrade to cloud recording as well. Or you can set it up to record only when motion and/or sound is detected.
And of course, you can also live stream.
We tried this out ourselves, and were very pleased with the image quality. However, we found that the audio was a little crackly.
Blurams Indoor Security Camera w/ Facial Recognition
Now, the star feature of this camera, if you haven’t already guessed it, is that it features built-in facial recognition.
And this allows you to complete a database of people who visit regularly, so you can get push notifications to inform you when a known or unknown face appears.
And of course for this to work, it has to have excellent resolution, which it does at 2K which is 2048 x 1080 pixels, very crisp and clear. We tried it out and were pleased with it.
Not only is it compatible with Android and iOS devices, but it also works with Alexa and Google Assistant.
There’s also two-way audio, so you can hear everything that’s being said, and respond accordingly as though you are right there in the room. You can reprimand the kids or pets, or help the nanny to find items around the house.
When it runs dark, the camera will automatically switch to night vision mode. And you can set up motion and sound detectors. It has an adjustable detection, and you can block out some areas completely where you need privacy.
You can store recordings on an SD card or in the cloud. It’s a prominent bestseller with the leading online retailers and has been met with excellent customer ratings and reviews
Amazon occasionally has deals on this particular security camera – simply click on check price to see if there happens to be a deal on now. now
Blink Mini Indoor Smart Security Camera
Talk about flying off the shelves – more than 150,000 people have bought this nanny cam on Amazon, and that’s just going by the number of customers who bothered to leave a rating.
Better yet, it still managed to achieve a 4 and a half star average customer rating. And there are plenty of good reasons for its popularity. It ticks all the boxes, and is available at a very reasonable price.
Let’s look at these features one by one.
Firstly, the camera is 1080 pixels, so you will be able to view what’s going on in crisp High Definition, and you will receive a 110 degree diagonal view, so depending on where you place it you will be able to view a whole room.
It also features that all-important infrared night vision, and also motion sensors, so it can alert you, via a push notification, when motion is detected, and you will be able to view what’s going on even when it’s pitch black.
There’s also two-way audio, so you can hear everything that’s being said, and respond accordingly as though you are right there in the room. You can reprimand the kids or pets, or help the nanny to find items around the house.
But its star feature is how it works with Amazon Alexa, so you can arm or disarm the system with just your voice, and not have to go routing through the app to find the on/off button.
It’s a plug in version, so you never have to worry about the camera recharging it or about it running out of battery.
Another strength of this device is that in addition to being compatible with Android and iOS devices, it’s also compatible with Amazon’s Fire devices too.
For a fee, you can have the visual and audio data saved to the cloud for future reference, and this comes with a 30-day free trial.
When we tried it out, we found that the picture quality was very good, even with the night vision. We were also reassured to learn that it comes backed by a 1-year warranty.
Buying Guide
As promised, here’s your buying guide! Let’s walk you through some of the key things to consider when shopping for a nanny camera.
Compatibility With Your Devices
This is perhaps the most important thing to look out for in your new nanny camera.
Smartphone Compatibility
Luckily, these days most nanny cameras and their accompanying smartphone apps are compatible with the two main smartphone operating systems, namely iOS for Apple Devices and Android for most other smartphones and tablets.
If you have a Windows smartphone, you might struggle to find a compatible nanny camera.
Voice Assistant Compatibility
But, there are also nanny cameras that go one step beyond that and are also compatible with voice assistants, such as Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant.
Clear Picture
This is one of the more obvious features to look out for, and is quite important. The clarity of the picture you receive will come down to the number of megapixels the camera has. The greater the number, the better the picture.
These days, most nanny cameras can display at least a 1080 pixel image, which has the same clarity of detail as a High Definition flat screen TV. Anything beyond that is a bonus.
Two-Way Audio
We can’t recommend two-way audio highly enough. It enables you to interact and communicate with your kids, pets and nanny as if you were right there in the room with them.
You can express your feelings about what’s going on, or impart important information that they need to know.
Night Vision
If your kid gets up in the night needing the bathroom or hoping for a drink, it’s nice to be able to keep an eye on them to ensure that they don’t stumble and hurt themselves on the furniture.
Motion Detection
When it comes to security, what you really want to be alerted to is unexpected motion. If your kid sleeps like a log but all of a sudden there’s motion detected, you want to be fully aware as to why.
Usually it’s for innocent reasons, but in the event there’s something more untoward going on like a burglary, you’ll need to be able to act fast.
Push Notifications
If you’re very busy elsewhere, you may forget to check up on your nanny cam, in which case you need to be alerted straight away when something unexpected is occurring, and this is where push notifications come in.
You can set the system up to receive notifications when motion is detected in certain time frames for example.
Facial Recognition
Not all nanny cams have this feature, but it’s certainly a good one to have. If a nanny cam has this technology it can send more specific alerts about where your kids are and if they are moving, or let you know when an unregistered face is detected.
Cloud Storage
Many nanny camera manufacturers offer a subscription service whereby the visual and audio data obtained from the nanny cam is stored in the cloud.
This can come in handy if you ever need to address and confront your child about any negative behavior at some point once you are back home. This service is usually provided for a modest fee.
This can come in particularly handy, because micro SD cards that you may have otherwise used for storage can be very easily lost.
Value For Money
A single good quality nanny camera can cost anywhere from $20 to $90. We don’t include prices in our reviews because they are subject to change, but you can click on “Check price” as you go along to see the current prices.
Value for money becomes particularly important if you intend to buy more than one camera, for example, one for each room.
I have over 15 years of knowledge in the technology field. Studied IT systems administration and now installing security cameras and smart home devices into user’s homes and offices.