Google Nest Cam with Floodlight

Motion-triggered floodlights and camera

This Google Nest Cam can light up your outdoor space and show you what's going on day or night. The bright built-in floodlights give you double-edged convenience — lighting your way hands-free when you step out at night and discouraging bad guys from further approach. And you can see who's triggered the motion sensor right on your phone, tablet, or laptop.

Hardwired for power

This camera must be wired directly to your home's AC power. That means you may want to have an electrician install it you're not comfortable working with wiring. But the advantage is that you'll have constant coverage 24/7, with no need to recharge batteries. Download the free Google Home app, power up the camera and floodlight, and add it to your home network.

Get specific

Within the app, you can draw and select different areas within the camera's frame. That means you can exclude every car that drives by, for example, and include only the ones that pull into your driveway.

You can also set it up to send you other customized alerts. Maybe you just want to know what's happening every day at 3 p.m. Or maybe you want an alert whenever a person approaches your back door, but don't need one for every bird or squirrel — your camera can use its smarts to recognize whether the object in the frame is a person, animal, or vehicle.

Better backup options

Like with most wireless cameras, you can check out the live view anytime you want. But this Nest Cam will also capture and securely store up to three hours of footage for free. If you stop to think about how many roughly 30-second events that includes, you might think twice before you decide to extend your video history with a cloud-based Nest Aware subscription (sold separately). But Nest Aware does do more than expand your storage — it also adds cool features like sound detection and the ability to recognize familiar faces.