Both cameras work with the Google Home app for setup and streaming live and recorded video. According to Walmart spokesperson Leigh Stidham, out of the box, you get 3 hours of snapshots (still images), person and motion detection, and sound detection (including dog barks and people talking). For video storage and smart alerts, you need to subscribe to Google Home Premium (formerly Nest Aware), which starts at $10 a month for 30 days of event history and smart alerts for pets and packages, or $20 a month to add 60 days of event history and 24 / 7 recorded video.
Google Home’s Anish Kattukaran tells The Verge they will also work with the new Gemini for Home camera features. With a Google Home Premium Advanced subscription ($20 a month), you get access to features like AI-powered text descriptions and AI-powered camera search in the Google Home app.
The wired indoor camera features 1080p HDR video at 30 FPS. Night vision and two-way audio, digital zoom, and a 130-degree diagonal field of view are also offered.
The wired video doorbell has 1600 x 1200 HDR video, two-way audio, and IR night vision. It has a 165-degree diagonal FOV (135 horizontal and 105 vertical), a 4:3 aspect ratio, and will work with your existing chime.
“We’re going to work with a bunch of different partners. Walmart’s our first.”
These are great specs for this price point, and resemble those of Google Nest’s previous lineup (the company has just announced new 2K-capable models). At $23, the indoor camera is particularly noteworthy, and $50 for the doorbell undercuts our pick for best budget video doorbell from Amazon’s Blink. Plus, it offers more smart alerts thanks to the Google Home integration. However, you are limited to using the cameras on Google Home’s platform.
Google announced last year that it would open its Google Home APIs and partner with manufacturers to bring its Gemini-powered features to more hardware. “We don’t want to constrain Gemini to just one brand, one OEM, one form factor, one price point,” Kattukaran tells The Verge. “So we’re going to work with a bunch of different partners. Walmart’s our first. It was a very deep collaboration.”
Photography by Jennifer Pattison-Tuohy / The Verge
Update, Wednesday, October 1st: Added details on what is free and what requires a paid subscription. Clarified that it is not 3 hours of free recording but 3 hours of free still snapshots.
