Review: Amazon Cloud Camera Sub Title: Peeping Giant

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When Amazon announced its own internet-connected security camera last month, those of us who closely follow the online giant felt a chilling of the blood.
Perhaps the reason I wasn’t eager to let Amazon control a camera in my home was because its last two camera-centered products, the Echo Show and Echo Look, seemed so bluntly intrusive. The Cloud Cam, which offers a private video stream of your front door, also felt sinister because of the announcement that came with it: Key. More of a protocol than a product, Amazon Key gives customers the choice to allow Amazon delivery persons access to open the smart lock on their front door, easing the hassle of package drop-offs. The Cloud Cam would just be a way to keep an eye on those friendly gig economy workers placing boxes into your entryway. Nothing creepy going on here at all.

recommends 2017

Amazon Cloud Camera

8/10

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Wired

Easy to use security camera for peeking inside your home from anywhere. Mobile alerts let you watch clips on your phone. Night vision gives a clear image in the dark. Wide, 120-degree field of view. Sensitivity is adjustable, so you can dial back the alerts if you want. Clips are encrypted and stored securely in the cloud.

Tired

Not weatherproof; indoor only. The most useful features are behind a paywall. Subscription costs climb quickly. Your clips are stored on Amazon whether you like it or not.

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Regardless of how you feel about Key, the Cloud Cam is easy to grok. You can use it in conjunction with the Key service (which at the moment is only available in select cities) or you can just use it on its own as security camera. The app works with Android and iOS, so you can stream video from the camera to your phone no matter where you are in the world. It can send you alerts when it detects moving objects or actual humans, and there are controls to adjust the sensitivity of the motion-detection system. It has infrared night vision that give you a clear picture even in dark rooms. And as you’d expect from a smart home product from Amazon, it works with Alexa. If you have a Fire TV, Fire tablet, or Echo Show, you can ask Alexa to call up the camera’s video feed and display it on the screen.
It’s all very neat, and even if you’re not fully invested in Alexa around your house, the $120 camera is so easy to set up and use, it makes sense as a purchase for anyone who wants to keep an additional (electronic) eye on their home.

Look at Me

This is an indoor camera. It comes with a 10-foot, standard USB power cable, so you could probably mount it anywhere near an outlet as long as it’s sheltered from the rain, but it’s not weatherproof and really seems best suited to indoor use. Mounting is easy if you know how to work a drill; getting the app set up is even easier. Download it, log in to Amazon, tap in your Wi-Fi credentials, and just like that, you’re looking at an HD video feed.
Point the thing anywhere. You can use it as a baby monitor, to keep watch over a pet, or to check on whether the deer are eating your string beans in the garden outside the kitchen window. The most common thing to do is to angle it at your front door or entryway so it can keep a video log of everyone who comes and goes. Set it up that way, and you’ll start getting app notifications whenever it detects people or movement. Those are two different things. The camera can recognize a human, and when it does, the resulting notification will specifically tell you it saw a person. Tap through, and you’ll see a video clip of your wife going out for a cappuccino. (Hi, honey!) It can also sense movement, which you’ll quickly come to find means you get alerts about damn near everything.