We spent more than two months testing 15 indoor Wi-Fi home security cameras, evaluating motion and sound sensitivity, alert types and frequency, speaker and microphone sound quality, smartphone apps, storage options, placement flexibility, and image quality, and the is the best choice for most people. The Logitech Logi Circle camera was the easiest to set up, the most flexible to place, and the most intuitive to use of all the cameras we tested. Last updated: December 12, 2017 A full update of this guide is coming soon, but after testing 14 more cameras, we think the, the update to, is the best option for most people.

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The is our new runner-up, and the is an also-great pick. For our initial thoughts on some of the new cameras we’ve tested, see the section. The is also a worthy camera, but with caveats. It offers some of the best audio and video performance, works with more smart-home devices than any other camera we reviewed, and includes an easy-to-use app and decent geofencing. However, after the first 10 days, there is no free video storage. It’s basically useful only for live viewing, unless you pay for a monthly or annual subscription. Also, some of the camera’s most useful features—like motion-detection algorithms and the ability to create clips and time lapses—can only be used if you’re a paying subscriber.

These features come standard on our other picks. As a freelance writer, for more than three decades and have attended more than 40 Consumer Electronics Shows (there used to be two CES a year). I’ve written reviews, trend and marketing essays, and history pieces for more consumer, trade, and hobbyist publications, both physical and virtual, than I’d care to think about. To name a few: Playboy, Rolling Stone, Huffington Post, re/code, NBC-Universal, CNET, Popular Science, eBay, Mashable, Stuff, Ubergizmo, Tom’s Guide, Digital Trends, Laptop, Techlicious, and many others both extant and, well, un-extant. I am also an elector for the Consumer Technology Association Hall of Fame and write the inductee bios and the industry’s official history.

Who should buy a Wi-Fi security camera. None of the indoor cameras reviewed in this guide will actually make your home more secure. A home security system, such as the ones The Wirecutter recommends, or just some smart lighting, will do a better job of that. In day-to-day use, your Wi-Fi camera will be more for home monitoring than home security. The Transformation Of The Inner Man Pdflatex. A DIY Wi-Fi camera can help provide some peace of mind, let you track household activity while you’re away, and, in the event of an actual break-in, it can alert you of the situation and possibly help end it sooner and catch the criminal. Pull Quote Buying a Wi-Fi camera should be a household decision, with placement, usage, and viewing agreed on by everyone concerned. If you’re looking for a closed-circuit security camera system, this is not it.

There are systems that allow you to record locally onto microSD or other options (we will be reviewing those in a separate guide soon), but this review focuses on models that automatically record and backup footage to the cloud. This way, your footage is protected even if the camera itself gets stolen. But this is where we run into some moral dilemmas. Wi-Fi cameras—perhaps more than any tech product other than camera-equipped drones—, amplified since you’ll be spying on your own family, perhaps without them knowing that you’re watching them.

And unlike local-storage cameras, that footage is uploaded to the cloud storage of some corporation and subject to their privacy policies and other legalese. For some folks, this presents a highly scuzzy creepiness factor for both spy-ee and spy-er. Buying a Wi-Fi camera should be a household decision, with placement, usage, and viewing agreed on by everyone concerned.

This means deciding which camera is best for you may depend on how obvious you want it to be, and at what functions it excels, and what and when it records. For instance, checking in on kids or pets doesn’t require a camera that continuously records, but you may want a model that lets you manually record—if the person at the other end doesn’t mind being recorded. How we picked.

Photo: Michael Hession First, we researched more than 40 models, and after noting trends in feature sets and pricing we settled on the 15 we wanted to test ourselves. This was not an easy choice; at various points during our testing we considered three other models. The problem is that Wi-Fi cameras are not exactly TVs—you just can’t look at the picture quality and say “that’s the best” and be done with it. There is no camera model that includes all of the best or most desirable features. Aside from having A/V capabilities, each Wi-Fi camera model offers a plethora of nuance in everything it does, and each attribute must be taken into account since there are so many variable usage situations.

These cameras have gotten a lot more capable and affordable in the years since we first reviewed and recommended the original Dropcam Pro. It’s now to the point where you can expect a decent feature set out of any competitor worth considering. We found that you should expect to pay about $150 to $220 for a camera that has all the features you’d want: • 1080p video quality. (We did make a few exceptions for 720p models if other special capabilities and/or pricing were included, such as with the exceptionally high-value Blink.) • Wide-angle lens (larger than 120 degrees) so you cover more space with fewer cameras. • Night mode and digital zoom to help in less-than-ideal scenarios. • Two-way communication capabilities, so you can tell your dog to get off the couch while you’re at work (with the exception of the Blink). • Motion and/or sound detection alerts that automatically start recording, so you don’t miss anything important.

• Some way to filter out false positives is crucial to avoid being driven batty by notifications that rain is falling on your roof or that a moth is flying by the camera’s lens. Most cameras will allow you to select motion-trigger areas—such as a door or window—so that it notifies you only if something moves in a place that it shouldn’t be moving. The more advanced models will have some kind of automatic algorithm (like the Logi Circle) or facial recognition (like the Netatmo Welcome). • Geofencing, which automatically sets the camera to away mode and starts detecting for motion when you leave a predetermined area, is another great bonus feature that’s available on some, but not all, models right now. This way, you don’t have to remember to turn on the camera’s monitoring functions each time you leave the house. We also preferred models that let you manually defeat the automatic Away setting.

There are also a few features you may think you want, but really aren’t so crucial: • Local storage on a microSD card is nice to have. That way your camera is still good for something if you ever need to cancel your cloud subscription or if the company itself goes out of business and can’t find a buyer to keep the servers running. But nowadays, most cameras will include at least some amount of free cloud storage without charging you extra money.

So this is less of an issue. Locally stored footage can also be stolen if someone notices the camera. • Smart-home integration is good to have, but far from necessary, which explains why only a few cameras have it.

Smart-home compatibility allows you to expand the product’s capabilities (either now or in the future) by linking camera functions with other smart devices, such as having smart bulbs flash or starting the radio when certain events are detected. If that doesn’t sound super useful, it’s because it’s not. As we boiled down qualifying models, we also considered cloud recording optimal vs.

Local recording on a microSD card—as noted, if someone decides to steal your camera, then they’ve also stolen any incriminating footage. We also favored models that included at least some free storage so you don’t have to shell out money every month just to have a record of what happened at home that day. And, of course, easy setup was a must. In usage, ease of navigating the app interface and its settings, as well as performance consistency, helped determine our final picks. Here are the models we tested: Fully featured: Budget contenders: How we tested.

Pull Quote Choosing a Wi-Fi camera isn’t a matter of simply identifying the “best” one, but of finding the best one for your situation. To judge video and still image quality, we placed printed signs with the name of the camera in small and large fonts as well as a printed color bar across from the cameras, then captured short videos and still photos in both wide and digital-zoomed views, zooming in as much as the camera allowed. To test how well each camera could hear, we placed a speaker across from the cameras and played music, then listened in to each remotely. To test how well someone in the room could hear someone talking to them through the camera, we placed a recorder across them, then, using the push-to-talk capabilities of each camera’s app (where available), we recited a set speech that included letters, numbers and text, from another room. I also conducted “conversations” with my wife—even though none of these cameras are really built for true full duplex back-and-forth chatting—to test each a bit more subjectively. Choosing a Wi-Fi camera isn’t a matter of simply identifying the “best” one, but of finding the best one for your situation.

Like the other cameras we looked at, our pick, the Logitech Logi Circle, is a compromise: It may not have the best picture quality or the most advanced image recognition, but it works in a wider range of usage situations, has fewer flaws, and just has more useful features to recommend it and fewer fatal flaws than the other cameras we tested. Logitech’s sets up more easily and includes more useful features and functions, and fewer annoyances, than any of the cameras we tested. It operates on a battery as well as AC, so you can place it in more locations. It also offers free 24-hour cloud storage for videos, creates a unique 30-second review of the last 24 hours of footage it has captured, remains more selective in the number of alerts it sends out, and performs better than the competition in dim light.

First, setup is ridiculously simple. Most cameras require you to first pair the camera to your smartphone before pairing the camera to your network. That first pairing usually involves connecting to the camera’s own Wi-Fi network or using a supplied QR code. But the Logitech Circle requires none of this initial camera-to-phone pairing. When you turn the Circle on and you open the Circle app on your smartphone, the two just find each other.

It’s then just a matter of picking out which Wi-Fi network you want to connect to and entering its password. Next, you create an account for cloud storage by entering an email address and creating a password. No fuss, no muss. Then there’s the Circle’s placement flexibility.

Instead of a fixed base, the Circle comes in two pieces: a camera sphere and a magnetic charging ring. There’s a third mounting ring, which lets you temporarily or permanently with screws mount the Circle on a wall. Because the camera can be swiveled and tilted on its charging ring, the Circle can be pointed in more directions than most cameras that have to be mounted more carefully in just the right position. When you pop the Logitech Circle off its magnetic base it will continue to run on batteries for several hours. Photo: Michael Hession The camera sphere also can be used away from the charging ring on its 1,600-mAh rechargeable battery; it’ll run for two hours continually (recording only when alerted) in night vision; or 3 hours, 15 minutes continually in day mode (recording only when alerted); or for 12 hours in power-saving mode, which means the camera will be off, then switched on and recording only when it detects motion. This battery option means you can place the Circle temporarily where you think you might need it, such as a baby’s room or where a contractor may be doing some work in your home.

You can also move both the camera sphere and the charging ring to another room without breaking the camera’s Wi-Fi connection. Aside from the 720p Blink, the Circle is the only Wi-Fi camera we’ve run across with this dual AC/battery flexibility. The Circle’s app is also incredibly simple, and made simpler by a recent update. When you open the app, you get a full horizontal view of what the camera sees.

Tap the menu stripes on the top left-hand corner or swipe right to get a simple icon-based menu with the Circle’s varying—and user friendly—options. On the bottom right is a camera icon to capture a still photo and, under that, a push-to-talk icon. And that’s about it; it’s the simplest Wi-Fi camera app we’ve run across. No multiple menus in different places to drill through with sub menus and sub sub menus, so new users won’t have trouble figuring it out.

Arrayed vertically along the right border are: a scrollable menu of circled, time-stamped event clip recordings; a live view button; and a yellow circle labeled Day Brief. Day Brief presents a 30-second (or so) capsule review of the important recorded events of the past 24 hours, a cool and quick way to see what happened during the day, a feature unique to the Circle.

The Circle’s slightly more expansive than average 135-degree view is a bit warped by barrel distortion, but not distractingly so. In a bright room, the Circle’s image clarity and color doesn’t compare with the Nest Cam, the Samsung SmartCam HD Pro, or the surprisingly good Foscam C2. But as the light gets dimmer, the Circle’s image stays brighter, clearer, and more colorful than those of the other models. The sides of the image exhibit a little distortion due to the Logitech’s fish-eye lens, but clarity holds up very well in darkness, which makes up for the distortion.

Photo: Michael Hession You will also lose a little detail when you digitally zoom in 8x when compared with the excellent image quality of the Samsung, Nest Cam, Foscam C2, and Netgear Arlo—the 72-point printed “Logitech Logi Circle” sign we had made was fuzzy, but still readable compared with sharper, more readable images from other models—but this isn’t a dealbreaker considering how infrequently you’ll need to zoom in so deeply. Without the zoom—just a straight 135-degree view—and in standard room light, there was little qualitative difference between the Circle and the other models.

That 72-point sign was clearly readable from across the room, offering enough detail to make faces clearly identifiable in most lighting conditions. The Circle performed among the best aurally; sound came through loud and clear thanks to the Circle’s mic, and its perimeter speaker delivered messages loudly and clearly. Anyone in the room will be able to hear you’ve said something even with a TV on, and they’ll understand you as long as it’s relatively quiet. Whether the dog obeys a disembodied voice to get off the sofa depends on how smart your dog is. Where the Circle really excels is with motion and alert selectivity: You’ll receive push alerts to your smartphone when the device detects motion or sound every minute, 15 minutes, or 30 minutes, depending on your preference. We found that setting it to send alerts every 15 minutes seemed like a good middle ground.

The Circle’s scene-intuition algorithm analyzes and filters motion well enough that it alerts you only if it actually detects something it deems important. It effectively ignores everything else—such as moving shadows from a tree branch outside a window or a bug flying by the camera. The Circle will still pick up moving people and animals (most of the alerts you’ll get will be from family members and pets), so you’ll still get alerts triggered by unwanted intruders.

You can also enable a recently added person-detection feature, which allows it to send alerts only when it detects a person, and skips things like dogs and cats. Best of all, it will continue to record everything, regardless of whether it issues an alert.

This is an ideal approach because you’ll definitely avoid a lot of annoying false-positive notifications, and you’re also guaranteed not to miss any potentially important recordings. We got far fewer alerts with the Circle than we did with any other model. Most other cameras that use less discriminatory motion sensing can wind up sending multiple alerts per minute when they detect an event—even if it’s a false positive. The only other model we tested with comparable scene analysis was the Netatmo Welcome, which uses facial recognition before deciding whether to send you an alert. Another new feature is the ability to create custom motion zones: From the Web portal (not the app), you can define areas of the camera’s view you want to receive alerts about. The camera will still record events in your timeline from outside the defined area, but it will send you smartphone alerts based on motion only within the custom zones. The Circle stores recorded events and generated Day Briefs for 24 hours, but you can save each day’s brief to your phone’s camera roll using the app, or your PC if you check the Circle through your Web browser. Alternatively, you can email them to yourself.

This functionality is included in the cost of the camera. In December, the company debuted a 14-day cloud storage plan for $4 per month to its Circle Safe subscription service. You can also pay $10 a month (or $100 for the year) for a 30-day storage plan, starting with a 31-day free trial; Logitech will store 31 days of footage to review older events, retroactively create Day Briefs, or download clips. With Smart Location enabled, the Circle will send push notifications when it detects motion or a low battery. The Circle also includes Smart Location geofencing, which you can turn on or off in the menu. You can’t adjust the size or boundaries, but Circle’s alert selectivity makes up for that lack of geofencing customization—you’ll be alerted only when you really need to be alerted. Following a recent update, you can now set the Circle to recognize when you’re home, to stop alerts.

If you live in a large home, however, you may want to keep the alerts coming so that you’ll know if something is happening in a distant room. Integration with Apple’s HomeKit is coming, as is compatibility with the Logitech Harmony home control system, though the company hasn’t said when those features will be enabled. Flaws but not dealbreakers. Aside from its middling A/V performance—not bad, just not the best—the Circle is lacking some features and options that we like in other models. For instance, it doesn’t let you know when it switches from Home to Away mode (and vice versa) the way the Netgear Arlo does when you leave a geofenced area.

Other reviewers, from and, also lament this lack of customizability. But the company says its Scene Intuition technology makes such adjustments unnecessary, and we agree after testing it.

We think most people would rather have this function handled for them as opposed to tweaking settings themselves. Logitech’s most recent firmware updates have filled those gaps. That said, Logitech told us that the ability to tweak the settings should be coming in a future update—the company plans to update the Circle’s app and capabilities every six weeks, and we believe this claim based on Logitech’s track record. For instance, in mid-July it added smart geofencing, and in September it added extended cloud storage options. The company says the Circle is capable of many other tricks that merely need to be turned on and to have their interfaces and controls added.

There’s no facial recognition, as is found in the Netatmo Welcome, so it can’t tell the difference between a relative and an intruder. Also, we wish the camera’s 135-degree view wasn’t quite as fish-eyed as it is, although it’s not as ridiculously severe as it is on the iControl Piper. Perhaps our biggest complaint about the Circle is its lack of manual video recording capabilities. If you see something cute or nefarious happening at home while you’re away that you want to capture for posterity or evidence, you’ll have to rely on the automatic Away mode to capture the action for you, though you can take still photos from within the app.

Considering video and audio quality, alert types, customization flexibility, and, perhaps most important, ongoing costs, the was our close second choice. The Logi’s ease of use, placement versatility, and lower up-front costs make it a better pick for most people, but if video quality, detection customization, and longer clip storage—including continuous recording—are more important, the Arlo is a great pick. The Arlo is not as simple to set up as the Logitech Logi Circle, though it’s not difficult.

Pairing the Arlo Q with your Wi-Fi network requires placing a QR code from the app in front of the camera to read, then a chime indicates the two are paired. Unlike other cameras, it’s easy to shift from one network to another without resetting the camera and potentially losing your clips. The Arlo’s video and audio quality is among the best of the cameras we tested, presenting bright, sharp, and colorful 130-degree video and still images in both bright and dim light, even when 8x digital zoomed in. Night mode produced exceptionally crisp images, but they didn’t look as bright as the Logi’s. Images have only minimal warping around the edges. The Arlo’s speaker loudness ranks toward the middle of the pack, but the camera’s microphone picks up sound clearly in recordings. Along the bottom of the screen are control icons for manual video and still photo capture, scene brightness (a feature we haven’t seen on other models), push-to-talk speaker, and speaker on/mute.

In geofencing mode, the Arlo helpfully lets you know when it’s in Home or Away mode, but sometimes its reckoning is wildly inaccurate. I left my apartment and, a block away, got a notification that it had switched to Away mode. But half a block farther away, I was informed it was back in Home mode, before getting another notification that Arlo was back in away mode a few seconds later. This problem, which we attribute mostly to the usual GPS vagaries and hiccups, could result in you not receiving alerts when an intruder is present when you’re out but still in the neighborhood. Within the Arlo app, you can define activity zones (such as a door or window) for the motion detection to focus on.

The Arlo also offers the most detection and sensitivity customization among the cameras we tested. You can adjust the size of its geofenced area and see that size on a map, then decide if the Arlo will detect either motion and/or sound, and you can customize its motion/sound sensitivity levels.

The Arlo also lets you define multiple activity zones within its view by letting you crop a portion of the scene it has to pay any attention to, while ignoring anything outside of the defined zone. Unfortunately, these settings are buried in multiple Byzantine menus under Mode. Perusing the is recommended.

And even with sensitivity levels set low, we still got way too many motion alerts. The Arlo can be activated in several ways, including by schedule and geofencing. A calendar allows you to easily find your recordings.

Finding your clips is much easier. Under Library you get a scrollable calendar timeline; a date on which there are clips available are shown in bold face.

Tap the date, and you get a list of video clips. Another unique feature is Arlo’s security.

You can set the app to operate only after you let it read your fingerprint on both iOS and Android phones, which is helpful if you’re afraid your phone could fall into the wrong hands. Arlo recently announced integration with the system, so if you link the camera to a SmartThings hub, when the camera detects motion, it can trigger other actions through the hub, such as setting off a siren. The Arlo cameras can also be linked via the cloud to other things through. For instance, you can create a recipe to automatically turn on a Philips Hue light if the Arlo detects motion. IFTTT integrations aren’t always reliable, but they can extend the usefulness of connected products. One downside to the Arlo is its price—it is the most expensive of the cameras we tested.

But, for the slightly higher price, you get free seven-day rolling event video capture and cloud storage, more than anyone else offers for free, so there’s no need for an added subscription. Netgear, including for continuous video recording (CVR), if you need one—$9.99/month or $99/year per camera for 14 days of CVR storage, $19.99/month or $199/year per camera for 30 days of CVR storage. Additional event-only plans are also available. A budget pick. Among the Wi-Fi cameras we tested, the is clearly the most unique and flexible.

Like the Logitech Logi Circle, the Blink cameras can operate via AC or battery. But unlike the Circle, Blinks are designed to operate primarily on a battery—up to two years of “normal” operation (recording 4,000 five-second video clips per year) or up to five years with limited recording on a pair of replaceable lithium ion AA batteries. You’ll get a notification when the battery needs to be recharged or replaced. This battery operation allows you to place Blink cameras, each a light and compact 2.75 by 2.75 by 0.75 inches, almost anywhere, even stuck unobtrusively to a wall using double-sided tape. You’ll notice we refer to Blinks in the plural. That’s because the Blink system is designed (and priced) so you can purchase multiple cameras for inexpensive multiroom coverage. Instead of connecting each camera to Wi-Fi, Blink cameras instead are easily paired to a single Blink sync module, which means each additional camera can be cheaper.

One Blink camera with a sync module is $99, but each additional Blink camera is just $70. Or, you can buy a bundle of two cameras with a sync module for $160, a three-camera set for $220—the same price as a single Netgear Arlo—or five for $340, less than the cost of two other cameras on our test list. And it’s not like you’re getting a cheap camera. True, the Blinks shoot video only at 720p, but we found it tough to differentiate between Blink clip quality and the 1080p footage from more expensive models. Still photos, including those digitally zoomed to 4x, also are among the sharpest, brightest, and most colorful of all the models we tested. Blink cameras don’t include a speaker, so if you want to speak through your camera, look at one of our other choices. You also get motion sensitivity adjustments (although the Blink doesn’t provide sound detection) for each camera.

It lets you set the alert retrigger time up to 60 seconds, so you’re not inundated with alerts, and it lets you limit video clip length up to 10 seconds, so you can see just what you need to see. The app and the single-camera Blink settings are easy to navigate. And there’s a single-motion Arm/Disarm detection toggle for each camera right on the app’s home screen.

What Blinks don’t have is a speaker, so no talking to people or pets in the room, and they lack night vision, which makes it significantly less useful for capturing anyone sneaking around in the dark. But what Blinks offer instead of night vision is an “illuminator”—Blinks can shine an LED light either manually or automatically when motion is detected on a dark scene at one of three brightness intensity levels. And this light, even at the lowest level, is surprisingly bright.

Illuminator will ruin any surreptitious recording and alert nighttime intruders that they’re being watched or recorded, but not before the Blink captures and stores on the cloud a brightly lit and colorful clip of the perp. Perhaps best of all, the Blink doesn’t offer ANY cloud storage subscription plans. The Blink provides free—that’s free—event clipping cloud storage, with no limit on the number of clips or storage time frame. It may not be as fancy as the Circle or Arlo, and it lacks a speaker, but the Blink was a legitimate option for our top pick for its value alone. What about Nest Cam? Is at or near the top in video quality, zoom quality, lowlight performance, and aural performance. Its setup, its app, its alert capabilities, its consistency—all above average, among the best of all the models we tested.

This is why its name is synonymous with all products of this type, and it’s also why it was our top pick for several years. But while it’s still very good, its high running costs make it difficult to recommend for anyone who isn’t already locked into the Nest smart-home ecosystem. The Nest Cam enjoys—at the moment—the most compatibility with other smart-home devices through the program, which includes Philips Hue bulbs, Skybell doorbell cameras, MyQ garage door controller, and IFTTT. This may change once more Apple HomeKit devices become available, especially since Nest Cam will likely be HomeKit compatible because it’s part of the Alphabet/Google family. Pull Quote You have to pay $10 a month for Nest Aware simply to use many of the Nest Cam’s features.

When you buy the Nest Cam, you get 10 days of 24/7 continuous video recording. After this trial period, you’re required to pay—$10/month or $100/year for Nest Aware service to store and view any recordings stored in the cloud for 10 days, $30/month or $300/year for 30 days of storage. Most other cameras offer some sort of free recording tier that continues beyond the trial period, even if limited.

If you don’t subscribe to Nest Aware, you’ll only be able to look at footage from the three hours preceding an alert. Granted, most security camera subscription costs are in about the same price range. But what’s really annoying in this case is that you have to pay $10 a month for simply to use many of the Nest Cam’s features that come standard on our pick and other cameras. If you want access to Nest’s “advanced algorithms” that “send you more intelligent motion and audio alerts,” or to get finer image recognition, such as person alerts (which can distinguish a moving human from an animal) or activity zones (alerts based on what happens in customized areas within the camera’s field of view), or even the basic ability to look at time lapses or create and download video clips, you’ll have to subscribe. Our top picks and most other cameras we looked at, including the Logi Circle and the Netgear Arlo, give you all of their image recognition and optimization features up front. The competition.

Wi-Fi cameras aren’t the secret nanny cams of yesterday—they clearly stand out on a bookshelf, and most include LEDs that show they’re operating. Photo: Michael Hession At one time or another during our testing process, we considered several models for our top choice, including the and the; on the budget side, top contenders with Blink were the and the. While both of these models had something to make them worth our recommendation, both suffered near-fatal flaws. Like the Logitech Logi Circle, the is judicious with detection alerts and offers above-average video and still-photo quality.

The Canary also includes three features we like: If you are notified of and then see an intruder, you can activate a 90-decibel siren (the Piper is the only other model we tested with such a siren); a unique emergency call option on the Watch Live screen lets you call your local police, fire, or medical services right from the app; and, night mode, which works like an away mode to record clips when movement is detected, except it does this even when you’re home and perhaps snug in your bed asleep, oblivious to what’s going on elsewhere in your abode. If you have a Wink smart-home hub, you can connect a Canary to it and integrate its built-in siren and sensors to your system.

But the Canary is one of the largest cameras we tested, which makes it a bit more obvious and may limit where you can stash it. It also switches to night vision in light that other models continue to show in full color and doesn’t offer two-way communication.

Like with the Logi Circle, you get 24 hours of free continuous video storage on a cloud server before you have to. We loved the ‘s ability to recognize faces over a period of time and exclude them from any potential alert notifications, its Welcome Home notification (although I wish it also had an “away mode activated” alert as well), its ability to add on motion detection door and window detecting for additional security, and its odd yet simple setup (you turn it upside down to pair it with your home Wi-Fi network) and operation.

But the constant need to confirm otherwise already identified faces got a bit grating, and the camera kept defaulting to a low resolution video setting to compensate for what we figure is a shaky Wi-Fi connection (which wasn’t an issue with any other camera, and we tried it on multiple networks), with no way we could find to manually set it to 1080p. There also was no digital zoom we could locate, nor was there any push-to-talk capability. I loved the motorized pan-and-scan capability of the inexpensive, one of the few P&T consumer models in the market, which lets you scan around a room rather than be limited to only what the camera is pointed.

SimpleHome P&TV also can zoom up to 18x with decent clarity, and its video and audio quality were above average. But setup required multiple frustrating pairing attempts and, even set to its lowest sensitivity level, we were peppered with numerous unnecessary alerts a minute. The also offered above-average video and audio results for its lowest Wi-Fi camera price. But its app interface presents a four-camera video even though you might only have one camera, which we found a constant annoyance, and after the first month you have to subscribe to a CloudPlay cloud clip access and storage subscription plan ($5.99 month/$59.99 year 7-day storage; $10.99 month/$109.99 year 30-day storage)—costs the Blink doesn’t have.

Like the Canary, the includes a ridiculously loud siren (105 decibels!). It also lets you know the temperature and humidity. But its circular 180-degree view of a room is so extremely warped and fish-eyed that it’s virtually useless, although, thankfully, you can pinch and zoom for less warped views. Plus, you can only get alerts emailed to you—no push or text messages, it lacks geofencing, and it’s among the largest cameras on the market, limiting its placement. The Piper can also act as a Z-Wave hub, but it’s fairly limited in that respect compared with dedicated hubs like SmartThings and Wink.

Provided decent video and excellent aural qualities, but setting up it was painful – it simply wouldn’t find our 2.4GHz network, it’s videos and photos were of lower quality with a brownish-yellowish tint, there is no digital zoom of any kind, and after a 30-day free trial of the company’s iSecurity+ service, you have to start paying for motion-detection notification, to automatically record video and save photos. We liked the speed of initial connection and the video quality of the, but its app is confusing, it required multiple passwords in a specific format, its speaker was barely audible, and we found it impossible to upgrade the camera’s firmware.

The Samsung is one of the few cameras compatible with the SmartThings hub. The surprising also delivered top-notch video and audio quality and includes a microSD card slot, but it took us several attempts to successfully connect it to our network, it requires multiple passwords to access the camera and the footage, and even though we turned the motion and sound detection off, we continued to get alerts. We had multiple to test, and we could connect none of them, even after spending a half hour on the phone with their customer service people and moving the camera all around the apartment to get closer and farther away from the router and using a wired Ethernet connection.

Most amazingly, the support web URL printed on the camera’s packaging doesn’t lead anywhere. What to look forward to. Amazon has announced its own Wi-Fi home security cam alongside several by manufacturers Yale and Kwikset.

As reported by, the captures 1080p resolution video day or night with a wide viewing angle, and support for two-way audio. Like most existing Wi-Fi security cameras, you can see what’s happening in the field of view of your Cloud Cam using an app. After detecting motion the Cloud Cam notifies you through the Amazon Cloud Cam app and will record what happens in its field of view.

Without a subscription, you can only see the clips from the last 24 hours for up to three cameras. The Cloud Cam is an integral component of,, which will allow package carriers, dog walkers, and house cleaners access to your home while you’re away. Amazon Key is only available to Prime users with both a Cloud Cam and a compatible. We’re not yet sure who will benefit from Amazon Key and don’t think we’ll recommend the service for most people. But we plan to test the Cloud Cam once it’s available.

TP-Link recently released the, its first foray into home indoor security cameras. The Kasa Cam features a 130-degree wide-angle lens that captures video in 1080p, along with night-vision capability. It also comes with Amazon Echo Show integration, which allows homeowners to call up a camera feed just by using their voice.

We’ll know more once we’ve had the chance to try it out ourselves, but for now, you can pick up a Kasa Cam for $130, plus additional costs for optional cloud storage services. We’re beginning to see announcements regarding security cameras with. In June, Logitech unveiled its follow-up to our top pick—the —which boasts, versatility of, weatherproof enhancements, a 1080p 180-degree field of view, cloud storage, and a. The wired version is also the second home security camera to gain HomeKit support, which can be integrated through a. Optional accessories, person detection, and activity zoning will be paid add-ons, and features like video streaming and notifications via the Circle app are included.

You can now control some features by using Siri or the Home iOS app. It’s available now, and the, which includes a wall mount, costs $180. The starts at $200 and includes a rechargeable battery that can power the camera for up to. We’ll put these specs and others to the test and update our findings here, as well as in our. And as smart-home ecosystems continue to expand, we expect more compatibility to come for all cameras save, perhaps, the Nest Cam, which exists in its own universe. We are told by most makers that more features and functions are pending—hopefully, there’ll be a certain amount of, let’s say, borrowing, so there is a bit more consistency of at least the types of features each camera offers (night mode and facial recognition at the top of my wish list for all cameras), so we can better judge them based on how they perform these matched functions.

We’re also looking forward to testing models we weren’t able to get our hands for this roundup, such as the, which also offers free-forever 24-hour recording, albeit 720p; the; and the, the only camera with a privacy shutter and also offers 24/7 professional monitoring for $10 per month, the same price some camera makers charge just to store your event clips. Just as this guide was going live, Canary announced the new Flex, an indoor/outdoor camera that drops the additional sensors of the original Canary but adds a rechargeable battery and a 4G LTE option. In October 2016, Netgear the, which improves on the original Arlo by adding a rechargeable battery, a digital infrared motion sensor, and a microphone and speaker. We called in the Arlo Pro and put its battery life, motion recording, two-way audio and more to the test, ultimately making it an “Also great” pick in our guide. In October 2017, Netgear its successor, the. The updated wireless camera now shoots in 1080p HD video, has Amazon Alexa/Echo support, and a 24/7 continuous video recording option. Like the Arlo Pro, the Pro 2 is weather-resistant and offers night vision, a smart security siren, two-way audio capability, and a rechargeable battery.

Although it can be used outside, when placed indoors it records video faster once motion is detected. New features also include 3-second Look Back, which enables the camera to capture a bit more footage that shows what happened before a motion-triggered event and the option to receive mobile alerts for other specifically highlighted areas that pick up motion.

The add-on camera is available now for. If you don’t already own a base station, a new full system with two cameras is priced. At CES 2017, Polaroid its $200 Hoop security camera. The Hoop shoots video at 1080p with a 140-degree view of a room. It’s able to distinguish between people and animals, and can work with an app and push notifications to alert you if movement is detected within a designated area.

We’ll check it out when it’s available later this spring. In February 2017, D-Link the. Priced at $200, the Omna has a 180-degree wide-angle lens and Full HD 1080p resolution.

It also uses a microSD card slot for storing photos and videos instead of an automatic cloud backup. You can control the camera with Apple HomeKit and the Omna smartphone app. Nest the Nest Cam IQ in May 2017.

The Cam IQ is $100 more than its predecessor, the Nest Cam, and it adds 4K image sensors (although it shoots in only 1080p), facial detection, and an auto-zoom feature. Like the Nest Cam, if you want to record video, the Cam IQ requires a monthly subscription to Nest Aware. It’s now, and we’ll check it out when it’s released at the end of June.

Wyze Labs, a new company founded by ex-Amazon employees, has released its first device: an indoor smart-home camera called the. According to a review of the camera, the WyzeCam offers many of the same features as other cameras we’ve tested, but at the extremely low price of $20. Even if you order the camera from Amazon, where it costs $30, the price is only a fraction of the cost of our.

Of course, the discount brings significant sacrifices in performance. For example, the WyzeCam stores only a 12-second clip when its motion detector is triggered, which severely limits its use as a home-security device. The New York Times (parent company of Wirecutter) looked at the camera as an example of a new crop of. We included it in our latest round of testing as a possible budget pick, but we’re pretty sure the WyzeCam is not the best wireless indoor security camera for most people. Wrapping it up.

As noted, which camera you end up choosing is a matter of matching each one’s unique capabilities and pricing to your usage needs. There is no one-size-fits-all “best” option. Logitech’s Logi Circle is missing some key functions but is the easiest to set up and operate and the most all-around flexible option.

Netgear’s Arlo Q offers not only high-quality imaging along with longer free cloud storage, but also the deepest customization options. The Blinks provide the least expensive, but still nearly fully featured, solution for multiroom situations. • If you have geofencing and you intend to use the camera mostly as a security device, then every member or your household needs to have the camera’s app installed on their smartphones as well so the camera knows if anyone or no one is home. If you have small kids and a nanny, you’ll need to be able to manually put the camera into Home mode even if you’re away so you aren’t constantly pestered by alerts. But some models don’t make it easy to manually switch to Home, some not at all—it’s their way or get ready to be peppered by unwanted motion notifications. Dropcam hardware and service are both too pricey.

Folks with low broadband caps could run into trouble with Dropcam’s implementation. Unfortunately, the lower priced cameras (like Foscam and Dlink) aren’t as comfortable for novices to operate. This space is not mature yet, but my money is on D-Link. By the by, the article has an error – Logitech’s cameras do support Mac OS X these days.

However, that was one of the units Logitech was looking to sell or shutdown, so the recommendation to avoid is probably reasonable anyway. I own or have possessed the original Dropcam, a newer D-Link model, two Logitech models, and two Foscam models. It’s true I’m not most people. And, for those who require archiving and are OK with Dropcams fees and bandwidth requirements, it probably is the simplest and most effective solution (without going thru an ADT, AT&T, etc).

However, it is worth pointing out that Logitech is Mac-compatible and D-Link doesn’t require Java. For me personally, as someone technical and who does not require archiving, I’d rather have two cameras with email image alert capabilities and live monitoring (Foscam, Dlink) for the price of a single Dropcam.

The Foscams are big and ugly, but I do find utility in the ability to remotely pan and tilt them. The Logitech cameras do work with Mac OS X, and also work with an iOS app. Since the Logitech cameras support RTSP:// you can get to the live feeds and use them with any number of security camera software as an alternative to using their $ service. Should Logitech discontinue their service, you can still utilize their standards based cameras.

My personal favorite is Sighthound (formerly Vitamin D) – supports both Mac and Windows. Blue Iris is another, but is Windows only. Both Synology and Netgear offer DVR services for their NAS boxes. Both of these will work with most IP cameras, especially if they support ONVIF of RTSP. Logitech cameras were far superior to dropcam and you didn’t have to pay to watch your own recordings through some cloud. Logitech used dropbox if you wanted remote viewing of video or you can pay the subscription for around $75 a year if you wanted in-app viewing instead of dropbox and wanted remote PTZ ability. Logitech supported XMPP protocol, and could be remotely controlled this way with event notification and motion zones.

Its a shame that Logitech shut this down and dropcam is taking off, as dropcam is a far inferior camera. I’m wild about Dropcams. My brother’s regular and latest model, enable me to watch and interact with him in his computer shop 2,000 miles away daily and he can keep an eye on me via my Dropcam.

BUT, we also both have old Axis webcams because, the Dropcams lose time over the day – several minutes. They are not real time. (My brother’s customers will wave at me via Dropcam and by the time I hear them say hi and I wave back, they have lost interest, said goodbye and are in their cars on the way home.) The IP webcams (Axis in this case) are, indeed, way fiddly to get set up but do provide up to the second transmission.

What if I want to record to local storage and also have online archives? I’m looking into a 2–3 camera setup for my business. I’m kind of tempted to go with a closed circuit DVR setup to save on the service fees for cloud-based archiving, but then I could lose all my data in the event of fire or a real motivated burglar. Seems like it’d be nice to go redundant by storing as much as I could fit on a local hard drive while also keeping a few days in the cloud. Assuming I’m willing to deal with some fiddly configuration, are there cameras that make this possible?

Or is it just not even worth the effort? The first Amazon review (which has many comments agreeing) scared me off from this model. I ended up with the HooToo HT-IP210F. It was 1/3 the cost of the DropCam and emails me when it detects motion (I have it pointed out the front window of my vacation home). It’s also fabulous for gazing at when I have “Calgon, take me away” moments in my day. 🙂 The picture is super clear and a I also use a $5 app to view it. I set up the port forwarding using a tutorial that I found with a quick Google search.

While I agree that DropCam may be the best choice for most, it’s sad that they need to pay such a premium for the convenience. You guys always do a great job with your reviews, and this review is not different, except that you missed discussing a significant capability. It’s the ability to store and control your own data. With this device you must send the footage out to the company’s storage service. When their service is hacked the video footage of your home is the property of the Internet. Also who wants to be obligated to pay a monthly after buying this device?

The monthly fees will dwarf the purchase price in a short amount of time. In general you did a great job of reviewing the product and I agree with your technical assessment but I think it was an omission to not give fuller consideration to these two other points. I am going to go research a product that will work for me. If you do another round of comparisons please consider the Astak Mole.

I used it for internal home security for a while and it did everything reasonably well, using Yoics for a free service. It was easy enough to set up, though not 100% pain free. Getting motion detection refined has a learning curve and is still subject to false triggers from, say, car headlights. One note for people who know as little as I did before, lol: You cannot use built-in IR lights through a typical screen window at night.

The reflected light completely washes out the image. I have 7 drop cams and just ordered 2 of the pros’ I haven only tried one other camera and that is the net gear vue.

The drop cam is just awesome. Just love it. Wish they would get the picture quality better on these things though but that’s across all cameras. Setup is sooooo easy and works like a charm. The cloud recording is great as well. There is pretty much no buffering or lag-just a nice constant video stream which is refreshing.

The net gear was always buffering. Glad to see this is one of the top camera’s-I can see why. I feel like this article is spot on.

When comparing everything and overall the drop cam really is the best choice. Now if you have more technical experience and want to store on your own drive then there are probably better alternatives but overall drop cam is the best for the reasons stated above. I have 7 of the suckers and just love them. The setup is just so simple and the app is great. I love the cloud recording as well.

Night vision works like a charm. The 2 way sound is awesome.

The sound quality is superb on the pro. I wish the pic quality was better on cameras in general but it’s not bad by any means.

It’s just a limitation of the bandwidth more than the camera. A cheap wireless informatics camera may be purchased direct from the manufacturer of the devices. Most corporations have websites wherever they sell a number of their things. They’re going to have things that are refurbished offered on these sites for a far lower cost than things that square measure fresh. That’s as a result of the refurbished item has already been purchased and came as defective. They take the defective item and repair it so provide to sell it at a reduced value.

On-line could be a great way to search out a budget wireless informatics camera. FIrst: I don’t own any IP cams, so I have no skin in this game. But I wanted to address what I consider to be a spurious argument against Foscam in this article. You mention this giant security flaw that “users may not be aware of!” and then say the flaw is that the default username is “admin?” So? Are you also scaring people away from nearly every router on the market? Why is it a big deal that a device has a default administrator username, particularly one that’s on your own network?

Please let me know if I’m not understanding you here, because I’m rather shocked. Actually, I consider it offensive that you’re scaring people off of a product for this reason, especially employing techno-panic like “could allow unauthorized individuals to have a peek at what your camera is seeing.” Yeah, if those “unauthorized individuals” are people who you gave your WiFi password to or are plugged directly into your network.

Presumably you know those people. And if you’re worried about this, the answer is simple: password protect that admin account! You wrote that the FI8910W has low resolution and a narrow viewing angle. That’s fair, and it’s a valid reason to recommend an alternative.

BUTyou go on to say that this limited viewing angle means that you would need two Foscam cameras to get the coverage a Dropcam can get. You do understand that the FI8910W is a pan and tilt camera, right? Anything you would use to view it would allow you to move the camera around. This leads me to believe that either you did extremely little research on Dropcam competitors, or you purposefully obfuscated the facts to make it sound like a Dropcam competitor would be such a ridiculous alternative.

Speaking of competitors, why did you even single in on the FI8910W? The FI9821W is the 720p H.264 upgrade of the FI8910W. Granted, that’s still not as high a resolution as the Dropcam Pro, and it still has a limited viewing angle of 70 degrees, but the FI9821W also costs $90 less and gives you pan/tilt.

Even if you didn’t consider this to be better than the Dropcam for your readers, I find it suspicious that you purposefully targeted an older model for your comparison. Just to make it perfectly clear, I’m not some sort of Foscam fanboy. I don’t have one and I’m looking at getting far nicer cameras than those (and the Dropcam), but this review really bothered me and I had to say something about it. Thanks for your time.

Looks to me like it’s not ‘blocked’ but then again what do I know. I felt slightly dissed here as I’ve done some IP/CCTV work in my day and it seemed ‘drop’cam was just that drop it. Yes it’s easy and made for the end user experience, per se’ the iPhone or any (i)Product for that matter.

But to be honest ACTi, Axis, D-Link, and Trend Net are catching up, if not surpassed the DC (DropCam). What is missing here is the monthly price to use the offsite recording capability, and RT*M Read The ******** Manual bit. Hint: Who doesn’t know a moonlighting IT junkie?

For the price it takes for that subscription, figuring the life of the camera a fairly proficient home DVR can be built (or paid to be built). In fact a relatively decent home made DVR w/plenty of redundant storage OS and all + any third party DVR software of your choice could pay for itself in under 3 years. Adding more cameras becomes more lucrative. Oh, I suppose the ‘golf cart one’ comments are a little interesting but that’s why I leave things ‘open(ish)’.

Also I failed to note that this was a rather dated post (Feb this year). The clashing of opinion here is my take on DIY vs??? I guess problem solving ‘let someone else do it for my hard earned cash’ mentality. Hi, thanks for writing. Your concerns are just as valid as ours are so I’d like to address them. I think your first point is a good one and I’ll bring that up with the author. But as for your second, that’s not really a proper refutation of the point presented.

Yes, you can pan with the Foscam. But, if you’re looking at using this thing with a DVR system (to the cloud or otherwise), unless you’re setting it up to pan constantly, there’s going to be more blind spots with the Foscam than the Dropcam. If you’re just checking in on your pet every once in a while and can pan around to find them, no big deal. But if you want to have a record of everything going on in the room, you’d need 2 cameras to get the full picture.

Also, the image quality just isn’t comparable. Not only will you see “more” with the Dropcam vs the Foscam, it will be easier to see. Ok, I’ll concede there. The viewing angle is much better on the Dropcam, although the pan feature isn’t ever mentioned in the article, so the reader doesn’t even get a chance to decide for themselves which feature is more important to them.

And I have one more issue to raise: what bitrate does Dropcam record? From what I can tell, there’s no real way of telling, and the fact that Dropcam can only record to the cloud means that you’re limited by your upstream bandwidth AND what Dropcam will support. My guess is that it’s something pretty low. I thought we were past the point where we merely looked at the magical 720/1080p number and instead also considered the bitrate in our quality calculations.

Another important feature left out of the Foscam “review” was that the FI9821W is capable of recording to onboard storage in addition to the network. BTW, since writing this I purchased both a Foscam FI9821W and a Hikvision bullet camera. The Foscam does have a limited viewing angle, but that’s not a problem for my use case as a baby monitor. The Hikvision camera I purchased blows Foscam and Dropcam out of the water in terms of sheer image quality. Neither company comes close to matching the 3MP sensor on the Hikvision. The downside is that it’s definitely not a product for the average consumer and isn’t as flexible with installation.

Anyway, I still take major issues with this Dropcam review. What I should have stressed was that I wouldn’t have had any problems with the review if the biggest competitor to Dropcam hadn’t been so thoroughly misrepresented. I’m the author of this particular story and I just wanted to address the security portion of your comment. It appears as though you misunderstood the issue at hand.

The issue with the Foscam is one that could be easily glossed over by many consumers. At the time of publishing the original article, the security flaw in question had not yet been resolved. Hence the warning. According to a forum post from this past April () penned by someone at Foscam, the flaw seems to still be an issue: “Our team did detailed research on this issue and found the reasons are: a. Some of our customers are still using the default username and password. Username and password is too simple and easy to crack. Some of the cameras are still using the old firmware and have not upgrade into the latest version.” The main issue when compared to competitors like the Dropcam or even the Closeli from Arcsoft that we’re currently testing is that each of them requires you to set up an account when setting the camera up, rather than using default login credentials.

This forces you into a certain level of security that the Foscam currently doesn’t offer out of the box. And to clarify, “hackers” don’t need to be on the same network as any Foscam camera to be “hacked”. The Shodan search engine, for example, exposes connected devices and anyone is able to find listed Foscam cameras. On top of that our picks don’t require users to seek out firmware updates the way Foscam requires its users to do. Most of that is done through the accompanying mobile apps. The next round for this particular category will include more advanced versions. This one was focused for the non-technical, amateur crowd.

The Pro can only do 720p, even though it has the potential for 1080p for the future (or so they say). See screenshot from After a bit of research and viewing sample video footage on youtube, my conclusion is that there are several other cameras that offer at least as good image quality for not more money, such as the Foscam FI9831W (with a higher, 960p resolution) The strong point of the Dropcam is that it is much simpler to set-up, which is of course a major point for most people. However if you have some basic tech knowledge, more “conventional” cameras are not that difficult to setup, especially when it comes to viewing within your home network (viewing over the internet can indeed be more complicated under certain circumstances). The wide field of view is also a good thing but other cameras offer Pan and Tilt and sometimes real optical zoom (e.g.

Foscam FI9826W) Beyond these two points, the fact that the Dropcam operates just by using the services of a single company is a major con because: (1) You have to keep paying to get anything more than the most basic service, (2) You can only use the software of that one company, other options use open standards and allow you to use them with a variety of 3rd party software (3) If the company goes down your camera will effectively stop working. And because Dropcam wants to force you to use their services, what your camera records must first be uploaded to their servers and then be downloaded to your device even if you and the camera are on the same home network!! The article mentions about the possibility of hitting your data limit, but this is not the only issue. This “upload then download” introduces unnecessary lag in the video (e.g. Your baby cries now, you see it crying 3 seconds later) and your internet connection can affect the quality of the video, more so if your internet connection is not fast enough at all times. We found the communication with our dropcam pro to be less than ideal.

We only use it to monitor our animals while away, but we have noticed severe lag in the video and audio at times. For instance you might say “hey buddy” to your dog when he is close. A minute or two later while watching the video stream you hear yourself say “hey buddy” in the video feed. Its not real time or live by any means.

So the commercial where the person is watching a burglar and warning him about a spider on his shoulder is very inaccurate if not entirely misleading in my opinion. The dropcam could be great, because its easy to set up and has good quality video but we found the cloud recording service be less than completely reliable and stable. Its their effort to force you into a cloud based paid recording service that hampers this product from being great. I would easily pay a couple hundred more for the same product that enabled me to capture my own video on my own recording device, whether that was a network drive, pc, or flash drive. The bandwidth use of most of these cameras means many people won’t be able to use them. I also don’t understand the need to be able to remotely view what’s happening at your house: security system are supposed to alarm you of an intrusion, they are not nanny cams. At home we have a camera with no cloud storage, it saves any movies it records (based on an integrated infrared movement sensor, not dumb image analysis that freaks out every time there is a cloud) to a 75$ NAS I already had and that is synced in real time to a cloud storage service which I already had (and has free plans which would be sufficient anyway).

A few frames are also sent by email. Cost per month: 0.

False alarms due to the weather: 0. Influence on my bandwidth and D/L cap: 0 It’s a bit DIY, but for our small apartment, it’s a perfect security system. At my parents I setup a Ninjabox with infrared sensors, switches and cameras, as it was some time before off-the-shelf solutions started to appear (Canary, Piper). Speaking of Piper and Canary, could you make an article about these and compare them to the Dropcam HD + sensors? I am currently using an older Logitech c270 720p webcam as a motion detection camera. It is connected to an always running laptop which sends the captured.wmv video to my Google drive account. This is good enough for me.

I can keep tabs on it throughout the day to see if anyone is coming in my house while I’m gone. I wish I had a way to get alerts when a new file is added to the Drive folder or some other type of alerts. I have found a couple of third-party programs that offer alerts and I’m going to try it out tonight. This is a decent solution for me, and obviously, a wider camera angle and live viewing would be nice, but not really necessary in my case.

However, when in motion detection mode, the camera will only record in 800×600 resolution using the Logitech software. I’m really hoping these third party options can use the full 720p. I like the Dropcam pro recommendation, but at $200, unless you are just really paranoid, it’s a little bit overkill both on price and features. It would be great for a home office or something though. I would really love to find a compact, outdoor camera solution under $100 with a similar feature-set to my logitech cam. Live viewing with this one would be ideal. See this- “Samsung’s $189 SmartCam HD Pro matches DropCam Pro nearly feature for feature in many areas (1080p video, easy set-up, useful app features) and surpasses it in one area: local storage thanks to an SD card slot.

But the SmartCam is also heavier, bulkier, and CNET says the video is just not as crisp. And while the SmartCam HD Pro’s 128-degree viewing angle might seem close enough to Dropcam Pro’s 130-degree viewing angle, CNET reports that there’s “a pretty noticeable difference between the two when you’re watching live footage on the app.” For $10 more, we say just go with Dropcam Pro.” & this What if I want more? There are many ways of doing that, but they require a lot more setup and fussing on the part of the user to get it up and running.

We may look into options that enable localized storage, etc in a future guide if we get enough requests, but the bottom line is that for the time being, you will not find a simpler setup with anywhere near as good image quality as Dropcam without investing a lot more money and time to make it happen. There is a SERIOUS problem with dropcam — their iPhone software is garbage. I’m really sad to say this — for the last year I’ve used dropcam and it started off great. But over the year, the problems with their iPhone app have grown from negligible to unacceptable. The issue is particularly important if you rely on geofencing to automatically active and deactivate the camera.

A long term problem has been that every time their app is updated (which is once a week or so) it forgets that geofencing has been set. But at least that ws a one-time thing.

The current state of affairs, as of their latest software and iOS 8.1 is that geofencing flat-out doesn’t work. Under any conditions. Note that this is purely dropcam’s issue. I have plenty of other apps that utilize geofencing and they all work fine under iOS 8.1. (There are many other problems that are less serious but give one a feeling that the company is either deliberately trying to sabotage iOS or does not know what it is doing. For example the app fails in a spectacularly unhelpful way if you change your password using the web site. It doesn’t tell you that a new password needs to be entered, and alternates between indicating that you have no cameras attached and displaying blank screens.

This level of general software incompetence starts to make you wonder about their security competence) So, honestly, if geofencing and iOS matter to you, look elsewhere. It’s a shame — they were a great service for a while.

But things change, and in this case they have changed dramatically for the worse. Dropcam have (after an altercation between them and me that, unfortunately, had to become very nasty at times) FINALLY admitted that there is a problem with geofencing. You can see that I am not making this up by going to their iPhone app page where you will see review after review complaining about the same thing. I’ve no idea why ‘Share my location’ should be relevant. I have plenty of other apps on my phone that utilize geofencing and they work just fine. As far as I can tell, Dropcam is flat out not making the correct OS calls.

Following the instructions of their tech support I deleted the app from my phone (and from iTunes) then re-installed it. At NO point in the process (not when I asked it to find my current location, not when I asked it to use geofencing) did I ever see the “Dropcam wishes to use your location” dialog that iOS will display whenever an app asks for location info. I don’t know what is going on here.

They used to have geofencing working, so they obviously know the calls to make. This stuff is not hard — plenty of companies with vastly smaller resources manage to ship functional location based iOS apps.

They appear to have decided NOT to make the calls that were formerly working, and to ship a number of updates, over a longing period of time, in this state. I have no idea, but it makes you wonder what their priorities are. Dropcam have also told me that the next rev of the app (3.4.4) will fix the problem, and that this is due any day now. It would be nice to trust them, but I’ll believe it when I see it. Alerts can be configured to send an email in the event of a motion or sound or if the camera goes offline (which could be an indication of physical tampering, or someone disabling your network). Email alerts also include a photo of the event trigger and a timestamp, and in our testing came in less than a minute. Here’s a shot of my dog Sadie jumping into the bathtub.

And no, I haven’t the faintest clue as to why she decided it was a good idea to jump into the bathtub. I don’t see the specific review on Best Buy that you’re referring to on motion detection, but Peter did in fact test motion detection (an image of his dog jumping into a bathtub is above) so I’m not sure what you’re talking about. The Samsung Smartcam Hd Pro has not been discussed much, so I submit my 2 cents for consideration. Personally, this is the best surveillance/monitoring camera for my needs. The best features in my opinion are local storage via an sd card (i.e.

I don’t have to pay $10/month to record video on a cloud), minimal lag in two audio communication (1-2 seconds, and supposedly much better than the dropcam), and the ability to use pre-recorded sound bites. I plan to use this device as a way to keep track of my dog while I am away and distract him if he’s causing trouble. So far, it has worked brilliantly. It was easy to set up (literally done in 5 min). Motion and audio detection work well.

Video quality is solid, including night vision. Audio communication seems to work well, although I felt the need to connect it to some speakers.

Connecting to the camera can take a few seconds, which can be annoying, but so far it’s been bearable. All in all, I am happy so far. The best part, in my opinion, is no monthly subscription fees, which can add up quickly over the life of the camera. There are negatives to be sure, some of which may make it a non-starter for certain individuals. One, there’s no cloud recording feature – this means a burglar could come in, just smash the cam and take the sd card. I am not as concerned about this, giving my use case. The device can also be set to send snapshots via email when an alert is triggered — not an elegant solution, but it meets the dropcam a quarter of the way.

Two, the app and website are not the prettiest, and some may call it clunky. I call it good enough. My concern here is that the app and website will fall further behind and stop receiving updates. Three, some have complained about the cheap build of the device and its aesthetics. It’s basically true; the device is plasticky although I rather like the overall look. In the end, however, I was willing to compromise on that front to get the features I want.

Last and perhaps the most legitimate for my use case is the speaker. It’s not the best, but I am not sure if any competing cameras are any better. Hook it up to speakers. If anyone has questions, I will be happy to help answer. I got lost in this long article, sorry, but I still appreciate the info. I am looking to put up a camera in my parents living room because they are very old and fall a lot and I want to check in on them a couple of times a day to see if they are OK. I want to be able to access either the camera or a computer that has the video feed available for streaming and I want to attach to either the PC in their home or the remote camera if it supports that feature.

I wish to view the video feed “on demand” for about 5 minutes 3 or so times a day. To view the video I would like to use either a PC app, an Android app or a webpage portal that receives video directly, that is, it doesn’t receive the video after it has been fed through some corporate entity. I don’t want the camera uploading their life activity to some “cloud” when it might be hacked and I don’t want a monthly or a monitoring fee added – if that is even possible. What’s the best answer for me? (I have no issues with opening ports on routers, setting static DHCP tables or using a DynamicDNS entry to access their equipment, as I already do that for giving them remote assistance with their computer.) I also don’t mind wires in the walls as it is a single story dwelling and I run wires for everything else. I run LAN wire to every Internet appliance.

(Have enough problems with my setups without adding wireless to the equation.) I can use wireless if no wired capability exists. Basically I am looking for clear streaming video, on demand basis, no recording with non cloud transfer and no monthly fees. Thanks for any info you can provide. I’ve been looking for an IP camera to monitor my dogs. I work long hours and time to time they are left alone for a long period of time. It would be nice to keep my eye on them as well as check up on my dog sitter to make sure things are being done properly. It would be nice to have the option to save the recording.

Any recommendations? I was orginally going to buy the Dropcam pro as it was recommended by my friend, but based on this review, there are many other options with lesser value. Plus, I t seems like pro takes up quite a bit of bandwidth Your feedback would be really appreciated! I have a windowless office in my basement. I would like to get an outdoor IP cam to streaming pictures of my bird feeds onto a monitor in my office (to create a virtual window). Can you recommend a cam for this?

I only need a 60o field of view and would like good resolution. I have plenty of WAN bandwidth and no problem getting power to the camera. TIlt and pan would be good, as would voice but voice is definitely not a requirement. (I don’t want to talk to the birds but the camera would be near my front door.) I’d like to spend no more than $250. Your section about bitrates seem to be a bit off if I’m not mistaken. A stream at 200-300 Kbps works out to be between 0.2-0.3 Mbps.

You guys say that comes out to 1.4-2.2 Mbps. And if the camera were running for an hour at 200-300 Kbps wouldn’t that be between 720-1080 MB for each hour (0.2MBx60sec=12MB)(12MBx60min=720MB) etc Also I don’t own the camera so I’m just researching specs. The spec sheet that I have in the link below says the camera is 720p for the pro. You have the important specs at the top listing the resolution at 720p but mention 1080 several times throughout the page including in your opening summary.

Am I missing something there? I love your reviews guys. Always in depth and excellent 🙂 •.

You wrote, “We may look into options that enable localized storage, etc in a future guide if we get enough requests, but the bottom line is that for the time being, you will not find a simpler setup with anywhere near as good image quality as Dropcam without investing a lot more money and time to make it happen.” Please oh please do this. I would be so happy if I could find a way tot get this video to YouTube Live, for that I understand it needs to go local so that my only option for sharing is not an embed code.

I would love to provide a 24/7 stream from my barn where 20 goats are due to have kids this spring. Thanks for any clever workarounds you may have! Me, too, looking for an Io camera to hook up to NAS, with email (text?) notifications (motion detection, I understand, is software anyway, provided by Synology’s Surveillance Station), IR/night vision, 2-way audio, PoE would be nice, as would optical zoom and WDR, Plug’n’Play or at least user friendliness. Having spent 2 hours researching options, I found none I like. I’m not willing to pay for DropCam sub as I need a rudimentary security cam, all these Chinese IP cams seem to miss one feature or another or they’re anything but user-friendly and then there are what appear to be decent cameras but with a $3.000 price tag.

Just set up my first Dropcam Pro and love the ease of use and planned on getting more. I have connected the camera via AirPlay but as soon as you close your iPad/Computer or Phone the connection is lost. This limits the usability to just streaming on mobile device or computer only (which it works perfectly on). If your using these in an office or store setting and want to see if someone is about to walk in the door or walking around the store you will have to leave your device on and open all the time which is not feasible. If the app was on an Apple TV you can connect to a TV and leave it on all the time during business hours.

Until this is available I am retuning the cameras I have to Best Buy. Bummer because I love love love the devices. I guess nothing is perfect but for 200.00 per camera (50.00 more than most others) there needs to be a dongle or connection of some kinds in the box to stream to a TV’s HDMI or USB Port, if the app isn’t going to be there The future of video surveillance is here and its doesn’t include the TV?? I use a Motarola Focus 66 security WiFi camera, less then half the price of dropcam, incredibly easy to use & set up and has all the features, it has motion detection, sound detection, 2way talk, temperature monitoring & alerts (you can set a range for temp, if it falls outside it will send you a an alert), clips/events are stored in a time line. I’m still on a free trial at the moment but plans start from $2.99 a month. All runs through a Hubble app to my samsung S4.

They also do a Focus 85 model with pan tilt and zoom and an outdoor camera. Highly recommend! I found two major flaws with the Dropcam.

The first flaw is that it doesn’t support audio in the background. That means that if you use this as a baby monitor you will have to have the video on all night which will light up your room and use a ton of bandwidth.

This is a simple feature that every baby monitor has. You hear the baby crying, you reach over to enable the video footage. Not so on the Dropcam. You always have to have video and audio running at the same time.

The second flaw is that you can’t use local wifi only. This means that the camera would use the speed of your router, not your internet speed. In almost every case your local wifi will be faster and more reliable than your internet. The camera has the ability to stream 1080p but only 720p is available because all the footage has to go through their server first and then back to your device. This is why it uses so much bandwidth and won’t work for a lot of people with restricted internet providers. Having it set up on a local network would allow us to stream at 1080p without the 2-5 second lag.

Another pro would be that if your internet is down you can still use your camera. Also, when your traveling you would be able to bring it with you. These features have been requested for the last two years on their website with no response. Fix those two problems and you would have a superior camera in every way. Looking for a security camera to monitor the street outside. The options mentioned in this article require either the cloud or online access through manufacturer’s website. Don’t feel comfortable with any surveillance pictures or info being on the cloud or a third party.

If I need access to the camera when I’m away, I’d rather implement a DIY setup using VPN instead. Can anyone recommend any other options that do not require the cloud or third party online access? And has great vision for the outdoors and during night time hours? Actually, the camera itself I want to keep as simple as possible. It’s the extraneous cloud or 3rd party features that I can do without. For instance, if I need Internet access to my camera (e.g.

Live streaming), I can implement this myself using other tools. I don’t want my camera to have built-in or forced cloud features. So a cheap IP camera that has great night vision and has only local storage to a SD card for recording sounds great.

Count me in as someone who would be interested in a non-cloud camera choice if you opt to write one in the future. Which cheap IP cam did you end up going with by the way? I bought a Winbook IP cam for $29. I was able to set it up in literally 1 minute. Downloaded iPhone app at store before purchasing, got home, plugged into router, scanned QR code, entered password, unplugged from router, done. The IR works surprisingly well for pitch black rooms at night. Swiping on screen to move the camera up/down/left/right is nice.

Motion detection works great. The video isn’t blu-ray quality of course and it’s a little smaller than a 12oz soda can – but for $29 it’s just super. The microphone is also nice so I can talk to my pup when I’m not at home. You can also record straight to an SD card, schedule it to record at certain times, change the refresh rate, etc etc etc. I plan to pick up a few more while they’re on sale.

While I’d prefer to have Dropcams due to their awesomeness, size & reliability, I just don’t want to drop that much money on something I’m treating as more or less a hobby than a direct security tool. If that makes sense? We mention it in our ‘What to look forward to’ section. We have not reviewed/evaluated it yet. We found the VueZone from Netgear a little behind the times when we tested it earlier this year, but Netgear is planning to replace it with a new system called Arlo that’s far more promising. Like its predecessor, Arlo uses two small indoor/outdoor wireless cameras–these are said to run for 4 to 6 months on a single charge–but they are higher quality this time around: better video resolution (720p), night vision, and a wider viewing angle (120 degrees). This version will do 24/7 live streaming with push notifications to your phone when motion is detected and store up to 2 to 3 weeks of video at a time on Netgear’s servers for no additional monthly fee.

The Arlo also comes with a base station that the cameras need to be within 150 feet of in order to stream video. The base station connects to your existing local network and compresses the video so it streams at a rate that most home networks can handle and that won’t kill the cameras’ batteries too quickly. The kit is $350. I’m not a reviewer here. I’m a community/production guy. The cam I bought can’t be found nationwide and to be 100% honest I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone that wasn’t looking specifically for something to customize & tinker with – or someone looking to avoid the Dropcam all together. Most people are looking for the best for their dollar, something that works out of the box, with little to no tinkering product.

My cam is now selling for $100, you can only get them from Microcenter or Fry’s, and it was a PITA to set up. Not to mention it’s 3 times the size of the Dropcam & white, making it not exactly the best option to tuck away.

Got a Dropcam a few months ago. I have been having issues with my location settings either not turning on/off. More importantly, alerts don’t consistently get sent to me when ‘schedule by location’ is used. However all alerts are recorded in the app.

The alerts seem to only send when I schedule by time or manually turn the Dropcam on. I know, it’s not the end of world to operate it a different way, but this location awareness was a big selling point for me on the camera. Anyhow, I contacted Nest/Dropcam, and after a few back and forth emails, got this: “This has been a bit of an issue for iOS users since iOS 8 came out. It really just doesn’t report to the app consistently the phones location as well as earlier versions did.

We have update the app with an ability to swipe to confirm a change, but that only fixed part of the issue. Unfortunately the location aware features currently just work better on Android devices.

The new Nest app doesn’t even have an option for location scheduling. It seems that with your current equipment and situation the time schedule is going to be the best option for you.” Basically, don’t use this, and we knew about it. That’s pretty lousy for a ‘premium’ camera that seemingly included this as part of it’s feature list.

We found dropcam to be lame in our mountain home, where we depend on cellular and satellite for internet connectivity. The dropcam in this environment is completely useless because the network bandwidth is not good enough to copy in real time to a CVR, and then the lack of support for any local VR capability means the dropcam is non-functional. We adopted FOSCAM FI9826W and FI9900P that has performed nearly flawlessly in our mountain home environment. Of course you can directly record real time video to local VR systems, so that out of the box makes it superior to dropcam.

In addition, while the author of this article indicates FOSCAM has low resolution, the author was perhaps purposefully giving numbers for an old camera; the FI19826 records at 30fps at a resolution of 1280×960, so while still not as good as the HD dropcam, it is respectable, and then the other features such as pan-tilt-zoom make it potentially more useful, and of course the cost is maybe a third of the dropcam HD, so that while true the field of vision is half of what you get with dropcam, you can afford to by two and have the same coverage. Combine this with the fact that the cameras are compatible with very nice third part camera management software and, well, FOSCAM is an all around better value for those willing to work just a little bit harder to set up. Finally, the comment from the author of this article that somehow there is a security issue in the FOSCAM cameras that make others wary of recommending is completely laughable. Seriously, take the 5 seconds it would take to change the default login and the problem is solved. On the other hand, because our federal government now mandates secret back doors into products of the type Nest manufactures so that they can be accessed by government officials and anyone else the government deems necessary, and given the companies are forced to lie about building in these back doors (Snowden did wonderful job of showing us all the game that is being played this way), any system purchased from U.S.

Manufacturers is out of the gate subject to critical security flaws, whereas those devices manufactured from China do not provide the U.S. Government such back doors (while China may certainly demand back doors for Chinese governments, I would rather have the Chinese government spying on me than our own government!). Hey glad you’re revisiting this.

I’d also be interested in how the Fujikam performs. I noticed it’s currently the #1 item in its category on Amazon. Also, it’d be awesome if you could either do a test of baby monitors, or include a paragraph in the revision of this article to let us know your pick of video monitors for this scenario. The special needs of hearing the baby breathing, and motion detecting (day and night) to make sure it moves (is still alive) are really important and it’d be interesting to know if it’s better to go old school with an RF device, or new school with something like a Nest Cam. As far as we’ve been able to find, there are no known issues. IR LEDs are widely used in baby monitors, and IR light is fundamentally very safe for humans due to it being basically heat (and is also produced naturally by the Sun, which is one of the reasons our planet supports life.) There has been a fair amount of research into the safety of infrared exposure in humans, but it’s almost all aimed at adults in industrial/commercial settings..pdf Obviously babies are different (babies: they’re not just tiny grownups) due the fact that their vision is still developing, and lack a degree of the built in safety and protection that adults have. However, with that said, most of the existing research seems to be concerned with infared light sources that are orders of magnitude more powerful than what you’re looking at in a standard security camera.

But, if you’re worried, you could use a non-IR camera and a small nightlight in the room. We actually took a look at cams from Belkin, Foscam, Logitech, Netcam. Dropcam’s were just the best. And even though a knockoff Dropcam with an SD card might sound like a good idea, we really don’t want to point people in the wrong direction. I personally use a no-name with a certain setup, but I’m a bit of a nerd. I even had trouble trying to format an SD card – because the format had to be occur via the cams software in order for it to work – not via computer then inserted.

Tricky stuff! If my mom wants an IP cam for her home, I’m telling her to get a Dropcam for ease of use & peace of mind.

With that said, we’ve set this guide to wait while we look at even more models – however, I believe the newest iteration of Dropcam (Nest version) is leading in most categories. Hope this helps! But you missed a ton of others. 3m cams that has onboard sd and can also store the media to an NVR or a computer. The setup is easy.

Granted it isnt something your grandmother would setup. But who would recommend a camera that will cost as much as one does to a woman who is on a fixed income? What you did was review name brand camera’s and went with the one that everyone thinks is the best because of the ad dollars spent. The new itteration of the dropcam isnt even close to being the best. Not in capture ability nor software. Hikvision and dahua are by far better camera’s with better software and better PQ and if you dont mind the grey market cheaper then the dropcam with no need for an internet connection.

If you subtract the subjective issue (based on sales of Nest Cam and other cloud-backed cameras, lots of people are willing to pay the cloud-hosting fees), that’s exactly it! The cost for locally stored (or local plus other options for storage) is much less, but there are so many cameras in that category, and so many are so new to the market, we didn’t feel we could evaluate that as a separate category yet, and they would fare poorly except on cost. (Some cheaper cameras do have specific better features, it’s true, however.) That’s why we published an update to a previous guide now that’s focused on cloud-backed cameras, as we describe in the opening, in our picking description, and throughout. I hear what you’re saying, and it’s exactly why we’re going to research and test cameras that fit your specific query. Hikvision really pushes their ‘unauthorized retailer’ weight around.

Hikvision does not warrant to provide the after-sale services or support for any of the Hikvision products purchased through any channels other than Hikvision’s official website or the local authorized retailers. So if you buy from Amazon, you might not even have a warranty.

Not saying this is 100% the case, but its a hassle we don’t want anyone to have to deal with. Or you can go through a local dealer, for a markup to make sure you have a warranty. As for the NVR/Computer setup, this requires an always-on system.

Might be OK for those that already leave a computer running, but for others, not so much. An anecdote for you – it took me, a mediocre tech savvy person, about a week to figure out why my SD card wouldn’t record on my IP cam. Turns out you have to format the card while it’s in the cam.

None of the documentation even noted this. No pre-formatting & inserting like I assumed. Just one more thing that can cause problems when it comes to these types of setups. Thing is you can get hikvision made camera’s from many suppliers that are not a huge some of money. Even so warentee on these camera’s are worthless anyway. They are very short. And to replace a camera you have to pay shipping both ways and often times they will claim the person did something wrong.

And yes it does have to do with ad dollars. If you do not give good reviews you dont get the samples to test and the adverts for your page. This is the problem with almost every tech blog and site out there. Sorry but it isnt a secret as to why most reviews done by sites like cnet rarely gives a bad review. You should also look at the DLink wireless cameras.

I have 7 of them and they are so simple to set up and come in a variety of flavors (SD/HD, P/T/Z or stationary). I check on my cats, my sump pumps and attic (for leaks during rain storms), and garage. IPhone App is simple and it’s easy to control the PTZ cams and take snap shots.

I get audio alerts and motion alerts within 10 seconds of detection. And the cameras are inexpensive. They have an NVR if you need more cams or want local storage, too. Check it out •. While I do think the dropcam is the best hardware out there, the picture is really great. The IOS app is just awful. The actual dropcam app, which is no longer being supported has been buggy for a while, mine logs me out constantly and the location based feature hasn’t worked since Nest bought them.

The new Nest app lacks so many features that is is unusable. Nest has no timeline for adding features to the Nest app that are missing, such as turning your alerts on and off, that I don’t see how you could have used the app and still recommended it. Terrible system. Doesn’t record when it’s most needed.

It spends more time loading than doing what it’s supposed to do. The system doesn’t allow you to look at portions without hiding half of the screen.

I TRULY don’t understand why dropcam continues to come in first. Are the others that bad? There’s got to be something else better out there and, if not, it can’t be that hard to surpass dropcam. If the cameras are NOT near the router the cameras are useless hence you can’t place the where you really want them. Will continue to look for something else. Tired of wasting my money so I can record a tiny amount of time.

I am sorry, but anyone doing a serious IP camera review that indicates that the Dropcam/Nest is the best overall camera is missing the bigger point – this camera is USELESS unless you also subscribe to their RIDICULOUS subscription service. The only way a Dopcam/Nest IP camera is good (without the subscription service) is if you are actually sitting in your house. And this defeats the purpose of having an IP camera! You CANNOT access your live camera, view old videos, or receive important motion-alerts (intruders?) WITHOUT a subscription! This is simply not true. While I’m not a huge fan of their business model, you do not need a subscription to access your camera/view your camera.

You only need the pay subscription if you want to have the cloud video service that lets you record & view later. Dropcam Cloud Recording Pricing Every Dropcam includes live streaming video anytime, anywhere, (including mobile devices) for free! You also have the option of subscribing to a cloud recording plan for access to recorded video. We’ll be touching on this more in the update. But as of now there aren’t many solid options out there with free DVR/recording service, and if you want local recording stored you need a dedicated setup & software to record 24/7 locally. There are options with SD cards built in (I use this) but its not for everyone.

It’s super technical and was a PITA to set up – not to mention the cards eventually fill up and need to be wiped out. The original Dropcam was 720p. The Dropcam Pro was touted by numerous website reviewers as 1080p, It is not. Dropcam Pro is only streaming at 720p.

I’ve called Nest customer service several times recently complaining that the Dropcam Pro image quality is not as sharp as some other ip cameras I’ve seen. That’s when I was told that the Dropcam Pro and Nestcam do not have the software to stream in 1080p. I was further told that “their engineers are working” on an algorithm software fix so that Dropcam Pro and the Nestcam can stream in 1080p. The Dropcam Pro box states that it’s “up to 1080p HD”. But not just right now. Or for the last year for that matter. Think the Nestcam streams in 1080p?

Call Nest customer service before putting your money down. And if you already bought one and don’t like that it doesn’t do what you thought it does you can wait for the “fix” or you do what the customer service manager rep told me. “Sell it on Ebay”. With that said, it’s a decent product if you don’t want 1080p streaming and don’t mind paying over $100 a year for a continuous 7 day cloud recording. I will add my voice to the people asking for a camera with local storage. There is no way on earth that I would buy a camera which requires me to pay a subscription fee for the privilege of recording video, when I have 2tb of hard drive and SD cards are so cheap.

I’m surprised that the only Foscam you mention is the cheapo $60 model, and you note that the features are junk (of course). The F19826P seems comparable both price and feature wise, would have been nice to see a review of that. The foscam security issue is not something that would bother me if the camera was worthwhile. We opted to not compare apples and oranges here, because the feature sets are so different.

The separate guide we’ll produce won’t exclude cameras with a cloud-storage option—only those that require a subscription fee to use it. As noted in the review, there’s also the concern that a camera that uses a company’s servers and cloud storage for access could become obsolete if the company discontinues it and that service or goes out of business.

While major makers, like Nest and Netgear, are unlikely to pull the plug instantly, it could be a problem for smaller firms. So it’s definitely also a consideration. We’ll be looking at some additional Foscam models in the future – In a future update, we expect to look at new entrants to the market, including the FlirFX and the Foscam C1, C2W, and R2W.

I am also a user/fan of the local storage option. However, someone being able to just take the SD card is worrisome. And having a set up to record to a computer would require it to always be on. This might be ok for some people but it’s not ideal. We’re aiming at the best wireless IP cam for most people – and while I’m not in love with it, the Nest is the easiest, nicest & most convenient setup on the market hands down. Depending on how and where the camera is mounted, and SD card is accessed, simply taking the SD card out is not necessarily trivial. If you’re using a camera with a built-in SD card for storage, you don’t usually need an always-on computer for recording, unless you’re going for extra protection.

Of course, there are 3rd party cloud recording options, as well (some are even free, albeit with significant limitations). I’d agree the Nest cam is very good hardware, and easy to use.

It’s the reliability reports (read the iTunes App Store reviews) that give concern particularly coupled with my own issues with the Nest thermostat that have come up since the Google purchase. Yea it seems affordable at first glance to get these cameras but being tethered to a subscription plan is not appealing. One better option is a Mobotix camera that is a 360º hemispheric camera if ceiling mounted you get every angle in the room (no blind spots) and one camera can replace several fixed directional mounted camera. And because its ceiling mounted it blends in and looks like a smoke detector so your video footage on the SD card is safe from common theft – and because its decentralized storage you can also store the data on to a NAS or other storage device / server. – it may require some wiring but you only need to run Cat6 cable since the device uses POE.

Set up a POE switch in a closet somewhere. I’d rather be tethered to ethernet for surveillance video and keep the WiFi for free from streaming video traffic. We often split large categories into different guides with specific criteria. In updating this guide, we found there’s a distinct split between wireless IP cameras that record only locally (but typically allow remote access) and those that push video to the cloud (and always allow remote access). We decided to create a separate guide for local-only storage, as there are a lot of cameras like that and they vary enormously in features, cost, and capabilities.

As we note upfront, some people (and based on feedback, quite a lot of people) want remote storage that they can access after the fact in case of a break-in, fire, accident, or other incident. With local storage, if a device is stolen, damaged, or destroyed, that’s unavailable. We found that to be a key differentiator, and we describe in this guide the costs that go along with recurring cloud-based subscriptions. In a future guide, we’ll look at what options are best, and we’ll consider the Mobotix.

A 360° camera and power over Ethernet are both interesting and limiting factors, and we look at a lot of characteristics, such as installation, camera/recording quality, and software ease of use. Thank you for the feedback! Thanks for the feedback about the review and your experience, too. Our reviewer put in substantial time testing the Nest alongside the several other cameras listed. He owned a Dropcam previously, and we note some of the software changes and issues.

We look at a lot of sources, including Amazon reviews, but we weight those against our real-world testing, too. We calibrate in part by reading reviews by other testers to see if problems that crop up for Amazon reviewers are ones that other reviews see as well. The cloud-storage fees charged by Nest aren’t out of line in proportion to what they offer relative to other services connected to cameras that we found work.

We note the Simplicam, which is about 25% cheaper per camera and per year, but also stores less video. The Arlo is much less expensive, but has other limitations we note, but can work for some people. Our reviewer (and none of our staff with Nest cams) is seeing instability with the apps of the scale that you’re apparently having and some Amazon review writers are. But we’ll keep watching for feedback and listen to all reports closely. I agree Amazon reviews are important, but since many (if not most) people want to view their video from a smartphone or tablet, you should read the reviews of the actual mobile app, at the app stores, as well. You won’t get as much direct feedback if you use Amazon as your sole source of reviews. Nest charges $10/mo ($120/yr) for cloud recording.

Much of the competitors seem to change around $50-60/year. Double seems high to me. Especially given the reliability issues cited in so many user reviews (as opposed to those on professional review sites). Sorry, my fingers got ahead of me. The iOS App Store, not Amazon.

We look at wherever products are reviewed, although Amazon has mechanisms that make for more reliable reviews by individual users than the App Store. “Much of the competitors seem to change around $50-60/year.” Some do, but we’re looking at the combination of a camera and apps you can trust with the cost of cloud storage. The two alternate picks both have lower and substantially lower cloud-storage pricing, although they don’t strictly store precisely the same things.

I own both a dropcam pro and a nest, so I’ve been with them for a while. Since being acquired by nest the app has gone way, way downhill. Design aside, the biggest issue is repeated outages, sometimes lasting hours. Nest repeatedly tweets to its angry customers about how it’s looking into it and it won’t happen again, etc. In the span of a month I had at least 5 occasions where the service wasn’t reachable (and it wasn’t just me. Their Twitter is full of angry customers when it happens).

That may not seem like a big deal for most, but to those of us using the cameras as baby monitors it’s unacceptable. There should at least be a way to stream on a local network. I happily recommended dropcam to many people, but I can’t recommend nest until they get their server side act together. For a future update, it might be helpful to also evaluate the reliability of the cameras in terms of both how often they miss events and how often they crash and need to be rebooted. I have a couple of Dropcams and they are easy to set up and do have great image quality, but they frequently miss events, even when simply just pointing at a door. This can be a deal breaker for some applications. There are other cameras (like the WiThings) that occasionally crash and need to be power cycled to bring them back online.

This can also be a deal breaker for some applications, especially if you are depending on the camera to monitor a remote location like a vacation home. The Samsung camera’s do offer the ability to record to local storage on top of the microSD card using RTSP H.264.

Samsung just doesn’t document it very well since it’s not as user friendly. Look into Samsung’s NET-i ware NVR software and you can save the streams to a NAS (ex. Synology) or even straight to your own PC. Blue Iris software also supports the camera’s.

Even if a thief steals the microsd card you still have the local storage which can be backed up to the cloud. For even more security you could hook the storage/camera’s to a battery backup and then set an old phone hooked to the pc/nas to auto tether to LTE when it loses wifi to still backup the video feeds until either the thief disables the camera’s or finds the place you put your local storage box. The worst camera on earth will tell me if someone is in a room vs the cat wandering around. What I wonder is if these or any other cameras make the next step, a positive ID of the person, worst case ID of a known person where looks like them is enough, best case evidence sufficient for police to use. Another thing is how well do these cameras respond to a bright light, as in someone comes in, and shines a bright flashlight around the room and never on themselves will the camera still capture a decent image?

I’m looking forward to the budget review since I have been snooping ebay and less than $50 options. “We found that the Nest Cam is the best wireless IP camera for most people.” Maybe you meant “most rich people”?

The camera price is expensive but that at least makes sense. The locked in cloud subscription fee’s are outrageous, especially considering their competitors all give this for free. With no ability to connect to any normal IP software (like every other IP camera in existence), this camera is useless to me. If you want the plug and play cloud stuff but without having to pay hundreds per camera per year, the Arlo Q cameras should be coming soon. I’d like to echo the sentiments of others here disappointed with the choice of the Nest Cam. Even in broad daylight, the motion blur and compression are so bad that I couldn’t even identify a friend 5 feet from it; their face is just a featureless blur. Forget about license plates.

Useless for security, really. It also doesn’t support ONVIF, an open IP surveillance standard, so can’t be added to crime camera networks. In New Orleans, notably, ProjectNola (a non profit that distributes crime camersas), uses a Duhua 3MP. Maybe the next version of this guide should include a “nerd” pick that recommends actual security cameras and third party cloud hosting services •.

Yes, I too have been disappointed with NEST Cam. Not because of the quality, I have no complaints on that score. I am absolutely turned off by the subscription which is an all or nothing thing and is pricey at $30 per month – they have conveniently made it impossible to intercept the video stream on my own LAN for storage onto my NAS. I am actively looking at other cameras which allow memory card recording or to a NAS. NEST are shooting themselves in the foot. Metaphorically speaking of course. True, this isn’t for everyone.

However, I have to agree 100% with our guides recommendations – not because I work here, but because they are spot on. For person that just wants an IP cam with no frustration & complications, the Nest is ideal.

Setting up a NAS with an IP cam is more or less for the advanced person, not for say my non-tech savvy brother looking to add an extra layer of security to his home. However, I personally did go the SD Card, standard IP cam route.

It’s tricky, and the SD card does fill up. The motor is loud, the angles aren’t great, it’s bulky and super ugly, but it was cheaper and gets the job done. BUT, if I’m starting over next week for whatever reason, I’m going with the Nest – and recommending it to anyone on the market for an IP cam. Now that i’ve got a set of nestcams and other dvr cams Id’ really like a good cloud based monitoring service where I could tie in the livestream and send notification on custom triggers like motion at certain times and in certain regions of the footage. I seem to only see full recording 1 day or up to 30 day and cost is based on full time storage. I just want a nice interface and app to get the clips and fixed screenshots that show me someone is on property.

I’d love if the monitoring platform could take the live nestcam feed and avoid my paying for storage if as I’d just wants clips and still images. Even better if I could tie this into smartthings. Ok back to reality. I’d like to see more consideration given to local (non-cloud) storage capabilities – such as cameras also being able to capture to a local (LAN) NAS. The Dropcam is easy to set up – but the longevity of the sensors is in quesiton (mine has the color quality dropping a big and the auto-switch to night mode and back to day has failed on one of my two). The dropcamp outdoor looks interesting but still needs a power cord of curse, but this doesn’t go in via the mount puck – so its not clear the outdoor mounting is very secure – stealing the cam seems simple enough to do. If you want to go really cheap, as in free, and happen to have an old phone or tablet lying around the house and not getting much use, then free app Alfred (Android, IOS) can turn it into a useful security cam.

Things I liked about it 1: use front or rear facing camera 2: email alerts when it detects motion 3: adjustable sensitivity 4: recording is free 5: web page to monitor using PC or Mac 6: did I mention, its FREE? When I leave the house I just plug in a few of my ancient tablets I don’t use anymore, arrange them around the house, and off I go with a little peace of mind that my Fantastic Four/Galactus plastic drinking glass I got at 7 Eleven back in 1977 will be safe and waiting for my return. This article is definitely confused about the history of Arlo. It makes it sound like the Arlo Q is the original, and there’s this new wireless/battery-powered Arlo Pro coming soon. This misses the original Arlo, which was battery powered and wireless and has been around for a while. I completely disagree that the Logitech’s battery makes it easier to place than other cameras.

The battery gives it a very short-term, temporary placement capability. For the majority of the time the camera has to live on its dock, effectively meaning it has exactly the same limitations the other cameras do. It’s just a nice feature to be able to occasionally put it somewhere else.

This bothers me specifically because of the Arlo omission. The Arlo is a truly wireless camera with a battery that will last months under the right circumstances. The fact that it was omitted from this roundup is fairly odd. I don’t even have one so it’s not like I’m biased due to ownership. The Logitech would seem to win in price, but the Arlo bests it in features.

It is been observed that installing a smart security camera is the need of today. As the protection is the need of today. So, GizmoSmart is one of the innovation in wifi home security camera. It is one of the easy to use and beautifully designed home compatible device.

When you have GizmoSmart you can have full fledged security of the people you love. It helps you to stay connected with your home 24*7 with real time HD video. Also, sends you an e-mail alerts when suspicious motion and audio is being detected. This wireless camera would always protect your loved ones when you are away from home.

For more information, visit •. I wish you guys would do a comparison matrix (or publish the one that you likely created) for these cameras. Among other things I’m trying to figure out which ones allow for continuous recording recording to the cloud (which I have with my Dropcam and find VERY useful. Only recording when there’s a motion alert isn’t the same thing and I’d like to know which camera offers this.) There’s tons of other feature comparisons that I’d love to see too. I know that’s not really the wirecutter way – you pick a ‘best’ and a couple of runners-up. But obviously different people will have different needs and since you’ve spent so much time amassing expertise in a particular area it seems like sharing all the data you create during the writing of the review would be really worthwhile. I’m just gona ask i’m getting flustered trying to pick a kit.i had a retailer tell me the netgear arlo.till i heard the cost too much for me.

And reading what ya’ll have to say and well it really don’t sound like its all that. So that leaves w/ logitech correct? But the cost? I do have pets, it;s not that important for me to talk to them, would be nice if i were away maybe but not a daily thing. So i guess i’m looking for cameras that’s watching my gate, door, shed and a motion censor cam that i can trust to come on when i leave or easly turned on by app if i forget.

Thats not telling me my dog just went out to pee and has come back in to sleep.i want something reliable, inexpencive, has live view: if i choose,a sd card & cloud oh and the big thing: that’s not gona eat my little 10gs/mo i get 4 wifi becuz of where i choose to live[mid nowhere] also that’s fairly easy to set up and monitor from my devices. Please help.i need suggestions????? As for facial recognitionyea ah NO. After me getting broke into a couple months ago by so called. FRIENDS.WOW yea i think i’d much rather get notified then some jerk being.

I’ll watch my mouth.so no on the facial. Am i going to have 2 piece this kit together with different apps and cameras or can i find a reasonable kit already put together? I’v been on ebay i see the nite vision wifi hd. Just WHAT ami looking for and need that i;m NOT wasting what little money id o have???

PLEASE HELP???? Since the YI Cameras are cheap and well reviewed, I bought the YI Dome 1080p & YI 1080p Home Camera test out. Overall, I am very impressed. My basis of comparison are my mix of cameras from Foscam, D-Link & Samsung. SETUP: I have nearly every type of Foscam made & I am tired of the spotty connections/disconnections when trying to view the cameras remotely. The Foscam setup is not difficult if you know how to setup port forwarding, etc but it’s just a hassle.

The YI camera was extremely simple to setup. You just hold your phone in front of the camera. That’s it, no port forwarding or anything. IMAGE QUALITY: Very good. Similar to my 1080p Samsung. SOUND: Far superior to Foscams.

In situations where I can’t understand the audio from my Foscam, I can hear the audio from YI without a problem. Yi also has a “Hand-free” setting where you can talk & listen at the same time. – Also, Foscam Cloud doesn’t record audio, but YI Cloud does. ADD’L: – I got the “YI 1080p Home” & not the “YI 1080p Home 2” because, the non-2 version’s camera pops out and fits into the Nest/Dropcam cases I bought. (I needed a piece of tape to hold the YI in one of the cases.) – The YI app & desktop application are very simple. I haven’t seen any ability to view the camera via web browser.

– I haven’t tried to connect the YI cameras to Blue Iris yet. – I haven’t seen an option to imprint the timestamp in the videos. – I would like to see an outdoor YI & YI with optical zoom. – D-links are just terrible cameras & all 4 of my D-links are offline more than online. – I have 1 Samsung, which is a good all-around camera, but they are expensive & I don’t yet see an important functional difference between the Samsung & YI cams. We just bought one.

It was under $40 as you note (we went with the 720, not the 1080). We chose the lower resolution based on price ($30 less) but more importantly, storage.

The 720 uses half the storage. I bought a 64gb SD card. With 32 they report 8 days of video storage. I assume 64gb will give us 16 days.

(More than we need). Very smart camera. Motion detection and reporting is included. Doesn’t have geofencing which would be cool, but for $40 I can’t complain. SD resolution is great for our house and night vision works well. Also like the intercom function (so we can talk to our kids or anyone else). Very happy overall.

Yeah, these Yi cameras should ABSOLUTELY be reviewed when this guide is updated. For less than $40 you get a very good camera that feels like it’s basically the same hardware as the Nest (I’ve got both, the form-factor is identical) but it also includes a micro-SD slot. So you just stick a big memory card in there (cheap these days) and you not only have a local recording of everything, you can also use the app (even if you don’t subscribe to their cloud backup) to see whatever history is on the card. Which is, depending on card size and quality settings, many days-worth of video. (And the video is stored in very standard.mp4 format).

Subscribing to their monthly service (which I haven’t tried yet) also gets you some machine-vision stuff too. I haven’t had time to really test long-term reliability so it would be great if others could weigh in. I have a YI Home Camera 2 (1080p) and it’s working 24/7 since more than 6 months. Very stable and reliable, it streams live to an old tablet virtually 24/7 with no interruptions. A cool feature is that it can stream simultaneously to multiple devices (tested with 3) so I can have my tablet showing the live stream while I check some older SD card footage from my mobile or PC. It looks very warm to the touch, but it has been working flawlessly this summer with room temperatures up to 32°C.

Under the plastic cover it does have a sturdy metal body. Maybe because of the high temperature it is working at, the first SD card I used stopped working in less than 2 months. I then switched it with a 32 Gb Samsung EVO Plus which has been working fine for almost 5 months. I found on Amazon that The Logi Circle operating temperature range goes from 0° to 40° Celsius or 32° to 104° Fahrenheit, even though it is technically possible to use the Logi Circle camera outdoors we advise you not to do it, this camera is not water or dust resistant and the warranty does not cover this type of damage. This is a concern because I’d like to use it in my barn to monitor pregnant goats and sheep.

It gets as cold as 20 degrees Fahrenheit in there and can get a bit dusty on occasion (but I could remove it at such times). Any suggestions about a camera with more operating temperature cold range? A few options: – The Nest outdoor camera can operate at -4 to 104°F (-20 to 40°C) but is not battery powered. -The battery powered Arlo Pro camera that can operate at -4 to 113 degrees Fahrenheit (-20 to 45 degrees Celsius). -The Canary Flex camera that can operate at -4 to 113 degrees Fahrenheit (-20 to 40 degrees Celsius) If you need a battery powered solution, keep in mind that low extreme temperatures may affect the batteries adversely.

Also if you want to do a lot of live streaming, I wouldn’t suggest the battery powered ones; they’re designed mainly to do motion capturing more than live viewing. In the February 2017 issue of Consumer Reports the Vizio P65-C1 is rated at the bottom of the list of the 60″ and above TV’s. They don’t even recommend that consumers purchase this TV. So what’s the scoop here? I’m sure that CR and The Wirecutter Test TV’s with some pretty expensive test equipment.

But eventually it comes down to the subjective interpretation. How can one review organization rate the Vizio at the top and the other rate it on the bottom. What’ wrong with this picture? In the past Vizio reliability has not been very good. As noted by the review below it is basically a through away TV if it fails. The Circle should not be recommended until Logitech fixes a glaring security flaw on their back end: they have a unified account for all their devices, so a Harmony remote and Circle are required use the same login and password.

I discovered this flaw when I tried to install a new pre-pro. My old Harmony password stopped working, so I reset it.

Then my Circle app login stopped working. So I reset it. Then I tried to tweak the Harmony control, and my password stopped working. So I reset it Logitech needs to, ahem, build a wall between accounts for their entertainment products and accounts for their security products for the latter to be useful options. I’d love to see Oco 2 and the Ivideon companion app covered in a future review. I have used the Ivideon app with webcams and old cell phones as IP cams (works great until the batteries start swelling!), but I just recently purchased a few Oco 2 units.

While I’ve been happy with them, I have a hard time finding information on the company and the safety and security of my data. You have to dig for a long while to unearth the fact that Ivideon is a Russian company, but I can’t decide if they are keeping that quiet to avoid stigma, or if they are keeping that quiet for a more nefarious reason. Dear Lauren, my name is Andrey, I’m co-founder of Oco.

Thank you for choosing our product. Oco is a US based company, our HQ is in Irvine, CA. We use Ivideon software to power our products, and we use Amazon and several other companies to store customer’s data in the US.

We have 4 data centers in the US and a few in Europe. I understand your concerns regarding Ivideon’s origin, but please be sure it is a very reliable company. Among their clients are Philips, Samsung and many other global brands.

Ivideon has successfully passed their security checks. At the same time all the data is encrypted using AES-256 standard (same standard is used by NSA for US Gov.

Top secret files). If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact us at hi[at]getoco[dot]com •. Just in case anyone is considering the Netatmo Welcome despite the Wirecutter’s recommendation, I highly recommend you reconsider.

While I do not own the Welcome, I do have the Presence, their outdoor model. It disconnected after working well for a week but I have not been able to get it working again. But customer service is terrible, they are delayed in responding, run a checklist of actions past you, none of which resolved the issue, then abandon you (it has been a week since I last heard from them). Caveat emptor.

– I have their entire suite of weather products, which have worked great, but because of this experience I am going to replace them when they die with other companies products. I can’t believe this review is still “current”.

I am looking at replacing my Nest Cam because I can’t handle the $100/year for what should be basic functionality, and luckily read through the Amazon reviews of the Logi Circle on Amazon. Wow, there are a large number of reviewers with major reliability issues which should be an immediate disqualification for a security camera. I can’t believe this thing is still the top review.

Arlo Q seems to have much better aggregate reviews for reliability and features (and is also the #1 on Tom’s Hardware). I will definitely be going that route.

I have 3 Arlo Q Plus cameras, and have had nothing but problems. Connections drop randomly, recordings stop in the middle of movement, the video pixelates badly at around 12 seconds, live view doesn’t work consistently, motion sensitivity is very poor.

Netgear support has been useless in resolving these issues. There have been two incidents that were caught on video. Both times critical details were missed by the camera not working properly or not recording ongoing activity. If you need a security system, DO NOT buy these cameras. They are for novelty purposes only. I’ve been using 4 Foscam 9821Ws for several years. While setup and firmware updates are not for the faint-of-heart, once set up, they’re reliable.

I use DComplex software to monitor the cameras and then upload any movement via FTP to my website. The biggest issue I’ve encountered is Foscam’s interface limitations. On a Mac, they support only Safari.

While there is supposed to be a plug-in for Chrome, I’ve never been able to get it to work, and according to their customer support forum, thousand of others have had the same problem. The other issue is that my ISP, Uverse, doesn’t support haripinning, so getting back to the cameras from inside the house is a bit of a challenge. I get around this by using a VPN service (which I use anyway for computer security) and can then access the cameras via their external address. I’d be interested in replacing all of my cameras, but the cost of even the lowest priced cameras and their associated cost seems pretty steep to me. I actually have Nest thermostats and a Simplisafe security system, but adding those branded cameras to them is a very expensive proposition, and I’m not sure I see the advantage over what I have now. If you have some technical ability, you can buy a much less expensive camera(s) and use 3rd party software to manage them.

As I said earlier, I save my video to my own domain via FTP, and having your own website is far less expensive than a subscription service from any of the camera manufacturers.

• • • • • Website Nintendo Co., Ltd. Is a multinational consumer electronics and video game company headquartered in. Nintendo is one of the world's largest by market capitalization, creating some of the best-known and top-selling video game franchises, such as,, and. Founded on 23 September 1889 by, it originally produced handmade. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as cab services and. Abandoning previous ventures in favor of toys in the 1960s, Nintendo then developed into a company in the 1970s, ultimately becoming one of the most influential in the and Japan's third most-valuable company with a market value of over $85 billion. From 1992 until 2016, Nintendo was also the majority shareholder of 's.

Fusajiro Yamauchi, founder of Nintendo Nintendo was founded as a card company by on September 23, 1889. Based in, the business produced and marketed a game called ' '. The handmade cards soon became popular, and Yamauchi hired assistants to mass-produce cards to satisfy demand. In 1949, the company adopted the name Nintendo Karuta Co., Ltd., doing business as The Nintendo Playing Card Co. Outside Japan. Nintendo continues to manufacture playing cards in Japan and organizes its own tournament called the 'Nintendo Cup'. The word Nintendo can be translated as 'leave luck to heaven', or alternatively as 'the temple of free hanafuda'.

1956–1974: New ventures In 1956,, grandson of Fusajiro Yamauchi, visited the U.S. To talk with the, the dominant playing card manufacturer there. He found that the biggest playing card company in the world was using only a small office. Yamauchi's realization that the playing card business had limited potential was a turning point. He then acquired the license to use Disney characters on playing cards to drive sales. In 1963, Yamauchi renamed Nintendo Playing Card Co.

To Nintendo Co., Ltd. The company then began to experiment in other areas of business using newly injected capital during the period of time between 1963 and 1968. Nintendo set up a company called Daiya.

This business was initially successful. However, Nintendo was forced to sell it because problems with the labour unions were making it too expensive to run the service. It also set up a chain, a TV network, a food company (selling ) and several other ventures.

All of these ventures eventually failed, and after the 1964, playing card sales dropped, and Nintendo's stock price plummeted to its lowest recorded level of 60. In 1966, Nintendo moved into the Japanese toy industry with the, an extendable arm developed by its maintenance engineer in his free time. Yokoi was moved from maintenance to the new 'Nintendo Games' department as a product developer. Nintendo continued to produce popular toys, including the, and the Kousenjuu series of games.

[ ] Despite some successful products, Nintendo struggled to meet the fast development and manufacturing turnaround required in the toy market, and fell behind the well-established companies such as and. In 1973, its focus shifted to family entertainment venues with the, using the same light gun technology used in Nintendo's Kousenjuu series of toys, and set up in abandoned bowling alleys. Following some success, Nintendo developed several more light gun machines (such as the game ) for the emerging arcade scene. While the Laser Clay Shooting System ranges had to be shut down following excessive costs, Nintendo had found a new market. 1974–1978: Early electronic era Nintendo's first venture into the video gaming industry was securing rights to distribute the in Japan in 1974. Nintendo began to produce its own hardware in 1977, with the home video game consoles.

Four versions of these consoles were produced, each including variations of a single game (for example, Color TV Game 6 featured six versions of Light Tennis). A student product developer named was hired by Nintendo at this time. He worked for Yokoi, and one of his first tasks was to design the casing for several of the Color TV-Game consoles. Miyamoto went on to create, direct and produce some of Nintendo's most famous video games and become one of the most recognizable figures in the video game industry. In 1975, Nintendo moved into the video industry with, designed by their first game designer,, and several more titles followed. Nintendo had some small success with this venture, but the release of in 1981, designed by Miyamoto, changed Nintendo's fortunes dramatically.

The success of the game and many licensing opportunities (such as ports on the, and ) gave Nintendo a huge boost in profit and in addition, the game also introduced an early iteration of, then known in Japan as Jumpman, the eventual company. 1979–2003: Success with video games.

The series was Nintendo's first worldwide success in In 1979, Gunpei Yokoi conceived the idea of a, while observing a fellow bullet train commuter who passed the time by interacting idly with a portable LCD calculator, which gave birth to. In 1980, Nintendo launched Game & Watch—a handheld video game series developed by Yokoi. These systems do not contain interchangeable cartridges and thus the hardware was tied to the game. The first Game & Watch game released, titled Ball, was distributed worldwide.

The modern 'cross' design was developed in 1982, by Yokoi for a version. Proven to be popular, the design was patented by Nintendo. It later earned a. In 1983, Nintendo launched the (colloquialized as 'Famicom') home in Japan, alongside ports of its most popular arcade titles. In 1985, a cosmetically reworked version of the system known outside Japan as the Nintendo Entertainment System or NES, launched in North America.

The practice of bundling the system along with select games helped to make one of the. In 1988, Gunpei Yokoi and his team at conceived the new handheld system, with the purpose of merging the two very successful ideas of the Game & Watch's portability along with the NES's cartridge interchangeability. Nintendo released the Game Boy in Japan on 21 April 1989, and in North America on 31 July 1989.

President managed a deal to bundle the popular third party game along with the Game Boy, and the pair launched as an instant success. In 1989, Nintendo announced plans to release the successor to the Famicom, the. Based on a, Nintendo boasted significantly superior hardware specifications of graphics, sound, and game speed over the original 8-bit Famicom.

The system was also said to have backwards compatibility with Famicom games, though this feature was ultimately cut upon release. The Super Famicom was finally released relatively late to the market in Japan on 21 November 1990, and released as the (officially abbreviated the Super NES or SNES and commonly shortened to Super Nintendo) in North America on 23 August 1991 and in Europe in 1992. Its main rival was the 16-bit, known in North America as Genesis, which had been advertised aggressively against the nascent 8-bit NES. A between Sega and Nintendo ensued during the early 1990s.

From 1990 to 1992, Nintendo opened World of Nintendo shops in the United States where consumers could test and buy Nintendo products. In August 1993, Nintendo announced the SNES's successor, code-named Project Reality.

Featuring, the new system was developed as a joint venture between Nintendo and North-American-based technology company. The system was announced to be released by the end of 1995, but was subsequently delayed. Meanwhile, Nintendo continued the Nintendo Entertainment System family with the release of the, a smaller redesign of the original NES. Nintendo also announced a drive peripheral called the, which was co-developed first by with the name 'Play Station' and then.

Bearing prototypes and joint announcements at the, it was on track for a 1994 release, but was controversially cancelled. During 1995, Nintendo announced that it had sold one billion game cartridges worldwide, ten percent of those being from the. [ ] Nintendo deemed 1994 the 'Year of the Cartridge'. To further their support for cartridges, Nintendo announced that Project Reality, which had now been renamed the Ultra 64, would not use a CD format as expected, but would rather use cartridges as its primary media format. General manager was impressed by video game development company 's progress with real-time 3D graphics technology, using state of the art workstations. As a result, Nintendo bought a 25% stake in the company, eventually expanding to 49%, and offered their catalogue of characters to create a CGI game around, making Rare Nintendo's first western-based. Their first game as partners with Nintendo was.

The game was a critical success and sold over eight million copies worldwide, making it the second. In September 1994, Nintendo, along with six other video game giants including Sega,, Atari,, Philips, and approached the and demanded a ratings system for video games to be enforced, which prompted the decision to create the.

Aiming to produce an affordable console, Nintendo released the in 1995, designed by Gunpei Yokoi. The console consists of a head-mounted semi-portable system with one red-colored screen for each of the user's eyes, featuring. Games are viewed through a binocular eyepiece and controlled using an affixed gamepad. Critics were generally disappointed with the quality of the games and the red-colored graphics, and complained of gameplay-induced headaches. The system sold poorly and was quietly discontinued. Amid the system's failure, Yokoi retired from Nintendo. During the same year, Nintendo launched the in Japan, a peripheral for the Super Famicom.

The accessory allowed users to play video games via broadcast for a set period of time. Various games were made exclusively for the platform, as well as various. In 1996, Nintendo released the Ultra 64 as the in Japan and North America.

The console was later released in Europe and Australia in 1997. The Nintendo 64 continued what had become a Nintendo tradition of hardware design which is focused less on high performance specifications than on design innovations intended to inspire game development. With its market shares slipping to the and partner-turned-rival, Nintendo revitalized its brand by launching a $185 million marketing campaign centered around the 'Play it Loud' slogan.

During the same year, Nintendo also released the in Japan, a smaller version of the Game Boy that generated more sales for the platform. On 4 October 1997, famed Nintendo developer Gunpei Yokoi died in a car crash. In 1997, Nintendo released the (called Super Famicom Jr. In Japan), a smaller redesigned version of the. In 1998, the successor to the Game Boy, the Game Boy Color, was released. The system had improved technical specifications allowing it to run games made specifically for the system as well as games released for the Game Boy, albeit with added color.

The and were also released as accessories. In October 1998, Retro Studios was founded as an alliance between Nintendo and former founder. Nintendo saw an opportunity for the new studio to create games for the upcoming targeting an older demographic, in the same vein as Iguana Entertainment's successful series for the Nintendo 64. In 2001, just three years later, Nintendo introduced the redesigned Game Boy Advance.

The same year, Nintendo also released the to lukewarm sales, and it ultimately failed to regain the market share lost by the Nintendo 64. When Yamauchi, the company's president since 1949, retired on 24 May 2002, succeeded as Nintendo's fourth president, becoming the first Nintendo president who was unrelated to the Yamauchi family through blood or marriage since its founding in 1889. In 2003, Nintendo released the, a redesign of the Game Boy Advance that featured a clamshell design that would later be used in Nintendo's DS and 3DS handheld video game systems.

2004–2011: Nintendo DS and Wii. Main articles: and In 2004, Nintendo released the, its fourth major handheld system.

The DS is a dual screened handheld featuring capabilities, which respond to either a stylus or the touch of a finger. Former Nintendo president and now chairman was translated by GameScience as explaining, 'If we can increase the scope of the industry, we can re-energise the global market and lift Japan out of depression – that is Nintendo's mission.' Regarding lukewarm GameCube sales which had yielded the company's first reported operating loss in over 100 years, Yamauchi continued: 'The DS represents a critical moment for Nintendo's success over the next two years. If it succeeds, we rise to the heavens, if it fails, we sink into hell.' Thanks to titles such as and, the DS became a success.

In 2005, Nintendo released the in North America, a redesign of the Game Boy Advance. The last system in the, it was also the smallest Game Boy, and the least successful. In the middle of 2005, Nintendo opened the in, which would sell Nintendo games, present a museum of Nintendo history, and host public parties such as for product launches. The store was renovated and renamed as Nintendo New York in 2016.

The, along with the, was said to be revolutionary because of its motion detection capabilities In the first half of 2006, Nintendo released the, a version of the original Nintendo DS with lighter weight, brighter screen, and better battery life. In addition to this streamlined design, its prolific subset of appealed to the masses, such as the series. Meanwhile, provided a substantial addition to the when it was launched to the top of sales charts. The successful direction of the Nintendo DS had a big influence on Nintendo's next home console (including the common ), which had been codenamed 'Revolution' and was now renamed to '. [ ] In August 2006, Nintendo published ES, a now-dormant, research project designed around but for no specific purpose.

In the latter half of 2006, Nintendo released the as the backward-compatible successor to the GameCube. Based upon intricate motion controls and a, the Wii inspired several new game franchises, some targeted at entirely new market segments of casual and fitness gaming. At more than 100 million units, the Wii is the best selling console of the seventh generation, regaining the market share lost during the tenures of the Nintendo 64 and the GameCube. On 1 May 2007, Nintendo acquired an 80% stake on video game development company, previously owned. Monolith Soft is best known for developing such as the and. During the holiday season of 2008, Nintendo followed up the success of the DS with the release of the in Japan.

The system features a more powerful CPU and more RAM, two cameras, one facing towards the player and one facing outwards, and had an store called. The DSi was later released worldwide during 2009.

In the latter half of 2009, Nintendo released the in Japan, a larger version of the DSi. This updated system was later released worldwide in 2010.

2011–2015: Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. The, Nintendo's first major success in the home console market The Nintendo Entertainment System (abbreviated as NES) is an video game console, which released in North America in 1985, and in Europe throughout 1986 and 1987.

The console was initially released in as the Family Computer (abbreviated as Famicom) in 1983. The of its time, the NES helped revitalize the US video game industry following the. With the NES, Nintendo introduced a now-standard of licensing, authorizing them to produce and distribute titles for Nintendo's platform. The NES was bundled with, one of the, and received ports of Nintendo's most popular arcade titles. Nintendo also produced a limited run of the in 2016.

The NES Classic System was a modeled after an NES with 30 built-in classic first- and third-party games from the NES library. By the end of its production in April 2017, Nintendo shipped 2.3 million units. Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The, the successor to the The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (abbreviated as the Super NES or SNES) is a video game console, which was released in North America in 1991, and in Europe in 1992. The console was initially released in in 1990 as the Super Famicom, officially adopting the colloquially abbreviated name of its predecessor. The console introduced advanced graphics and sound capabilities compared with other consoles at the time. Soon, the development of which were integrated onto each new game cartridge's circuit boards, progressed the SNES's competitive edge.

While even crude graphics had previously rarely been seen on home consoles, the Super NES's suddenly enabled a new caliber of games containing increasingly sophisticated faux 3D effects as seen in 1991's and 1992's. Developed the Super FX chip in order to replicate 3D graphics from their earlier and series on the Super NES (more specifically, ), starting with in 1993. The SNES is the best-selling console of the although having experienced a relatively late start and fierce competition from 's console. Nintendo also plans to release a limited run of the in September 2017 through the end of the year. Like the NES Classic Edition, the Super NES Classic Edition is a dedicated console with 21 built-in games from its library, including the never-before-released. The, named for its 64-bit graphics, was Nintendo's first home console to feature 3D computer graphics The Nintendo 64 was released in 1996, featuring capabilities and built-in for up to four players.

The system's controller introduced the and later introduced the, an accessory for the controller that produces with compatible games. Both are the first such features to have come to market for home console gaming and eventually became the. Announced in 1995, prior to the console's 1996 launch, the ('DD' standing for 'Disk Drive') was designed to enable the development of new genre of video games by way of 64 MB writable magnetic disks, video editing, and Internet connectivity. Eventually released only in Japan in 1999, the 64DD peripheral's commercial failure there resulted in only nine games being released and precluded further worldwide release. The was Nintendo's first home console to use as a primary storage medium The GameCube (officially called Nintendo GameCube, abbreviated NGC in Japan and GCN in North America) was released in 2001, in Japan and North America, and in 2002 worldwide. The is the successor to the and competed with Sony's, Microsoft's, and Sega's.

The GameCube is the first Nintendo console to use as its primary storage medium. The discs are similar to the format, but the system was not designed to play standard. Nintendo introduced a variety of connectivity options for the GameCube. The GameCube's game library has sparse support for, a feature that requires the use of the aftermarket. The GameCube supports connectivity to the, allowing players to access exclusive in-game features using the handheld as a and controller. The, Nintendo's best selling home video game console and first to use The Wii was released during the holiday season of 2006 worldwide. The system features the, which can be used as a handheld and which in.

Another notable feature of the console is, which enables it to receive messages and updates over the Internet while in. It also features a game download service, called ', which features emulated games from past systems. Since its release, the Wii has spawned many peripheral devices, including the and, and has had several. The Wii Family Edition variant is identical to the original model, but is designed to sit horizontally and removes the GameCube compatibility. The Wii Mini is a smaller, redesigned Wii which lacks GameCube compatibility, online connectivity, the slot and support, and has only one port unlike the previous models' two.

As of 31 March 2017, Nintendo reports sales of 101.63 million Wii hardware units and 914.28 million Wii software units worldwide, making it Nintendo's best-selling home video game console. The, the successor to the The Wii U, the successor to the Wii, was released during the holiday season of 2012 worldwide. The Wii U is the first Nintendo console to support. The Wii U's primary is the, which features an embedded. Each software title may be designed to utilize this touchscreen as being supplemental to the main TV, or as the only screen for. The system supports most Wii controllers and accessories, and the more classically shaped. The system is with Wii software and accessories; this mode also utilizes Wii-based controllers, and it optionally offers the GamePad as its primary Wii display and motion sensor bar.

The console has various online services powered by, including: the for online distribution of software and content; and, a which can be variously integrated with games and applications. As of 31 March 2017, worldwide Wii U sales had totaled 12.80 million hardware units and 84.04 million software units. Nintendo Switch.

Nintendo's new hybrid console, the. On 17 March 2015, Nintendo announced a new 'dedicated games platform with a brand new concept' with the codename 'NX' that would be further revealed in 2016., president of Nintendo of America, referred to NX as 'our next home console' in a June 2015 interview with. In a later article on 16 October 2015, The Wall Street Journal relayed speculation from unnamed inside sources that, although the NX hardware specifications were unknown, it may be intended to feature 'industry leading' hardware specifications and include both a console and a mobile unit that could either be used with the console or taken on the road for separate use. It was also reported that Nintendo had begun distributing (SDKs) for NX to third-party developers, with the unnamed source further speculating that these moves '[suggest that] the company is on track to introduce [NX] as early as [2016].' At an investor's meeting on 27 April 2016, Nintendo announced that the NX would be released worldwide in March 2017.

In an interview with in May 2016, Kimishima referred to the NX as 'neither the successor to the Wii U nor to the 3DS', as well as it being a 'new way of playing games,' but it would 'slow Wii U sales' upon reveal and dissemination. In June 2016, Miyamoto stated that the reason Nintendo had not released any information on the 'NX' up until that point was because they were afraid of imitators, saying he and Nintendo thought other companies could copy 'an idea that [they're] working on.' The same day, Kimishima revealed during a Q&A session with investors that they were also researching. On 19 October 2016, Nintendo announced they would release a trailer for the console the following day.

The next day, Nintendo unveiled the trailer that revealed the final name of the platform called Nintendo Switch. As of 12 December 2017, worldwide Nintendo Switch sales had totaled 10 million hardware units.

Handheld consoles Game & Watch. The original Game Boy After the success of the Game & Watch series, Yokoi developed the handheld console, which was released in 1989. Eventually becoming the best-selling handheld of all time, the Game Boy remained dominant for more than a decade, seeing critically and commercially popular games such as released as late as 1998 in Japan, 1999 in North America, and 2000 in Europe. Incremental updates of the Game Boy, including, and, did little to change the original formula, though the latter introduced color graphics to the Game Boy line. The first major update to its handheld line since 1989, features improved technical specifications similar to those of the SNES. The was the first revision to the GBA line and introduced screen lighting and a clam shell design, while later iteration, the, brought a smaller form factor.

Nintendo 3DS XL Further expanding the Nintendo DS line, the uses the process of to produce a three-dimensional effect without. Released to major markets during 2011, the 3DS got off to a slow start, initially missing many key features that were promised before the system launched. Partially as a result of slow sales, Nintendo stock declined in value. Subsequent price cuts and game releases helped to boost 3DS and 3DS software sales and to renew investor confidence in the company. As of August 2013, the 3DS was the best selling console in the United States for four consecutive months.

The was introduced in August 2012 and includes a 90% larger screen, a 4 GB SD card and extended battery life. In August 2013, Nintendo announced the cost-reduced, a version of the 3DS without the 3D display. It has a slate-like design as opposed to the hinged, of its predecessors.

A hardware revision,, was unveiled in August 2014. It is produced in a standard-sized model and a larger XL model; both models feature upgraded processors and additional RAM, an eye-tracking sensor to improve the stability of the autostereoscopic 3D image, colored face buttons, and support for native use of products. The standard-sized model also features slightly larger screens, and support for faceplate accessories. Company structure Marketing. Main article: has engaged in several high-profile marketing campaigns to define and position its brand. One of its earliest and most enduring slogans was 'Now you're playing with power!'

, used first to promote its Nintendo Entertainment System. [ ] It modified the slogan to include 'SUPER power' for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and 'PORTABLE power' for the Game Boy. [ ] Its 1994 'Play It Loud!' Campaign played upon teenage rebellion and fostered an edgy reputation. [ ] During the Nintendo 64 era, the slogan was 'Get N or get out.' [ ] During the GameCube era, the 'Who Are You?'

Suggested a link between the games and the players' identities. [ ] The company promoted its Nintendo DS handheld with the tagline 'Touching is Good.'

[ ] For the Wii, they used the 'Wii would like to play' slogan to promote the console with the people who tried the games including and. The Nintendo 3DS used the slogan 'Take a look inside'. [ ] The used the slogan 'How U will play next.' [ ] The uses the slogan 'Switch and Play' in North America, and 'Play anywhere, anytime, with anyone' in Europe. Nintendo's former EAD division developed games for Nintendo's most well known franchises, such as and. Nintendo's internal research and development operations are divided into three main divisions: (or EPD), the main software development division of Nintendo, which focuses on and development; (or PTD), which focuses on and hardware development; and Nintendo Business Development (or NBD), which focuses on refining business strategy and is responsible for overseeing the arm of the business.

Entertainment Planning & Development (EPD) The division is the primary software development division at Nintendo, formed as a merger between their former and divisions in 2015. Led by Shinya Takahashi, the division holds the largest concentration of staff at the company, housing more than 800 engineers and designers. The division is primarily located in the central Kyoto R&D building, where they are overseen by, and also has a studio in Tokyo overseen. Platform Technology Development (PTD) The division is a combination of Nintendo's former (or IRD) and (or SDD) divisions. Led by Ko Shiota, the division is responsible for designing hardware and developing Nintendo's, developer environment and internal network as well as maintenance of the. Business Development (NBD) The Nintendo Business Development division was formed following Nintendo's foray into software development for such as and. They are responsible for refining Nintendo's business model for the dedicated video game system business, and for furthering Nintendo's venture into development for smart devices.

International divisions •. Main article: A Chinese between its founder,, and Nintendo, manufactures and distributes official Nintendo consoles and games for the mainland Chinese market, under the iQue brand. The product lineup for the Chinese market is considerably different from that for other markets.

For example, Nintendo's only console in China is the, a modified version of the Nintendo 64. The company has not released its more modern GameCube or Wii to the market, although a version of the was released in 2012. As of 2013, it is a 100% Nintendo-owned subsidiary. Nintendo of Korea Nintendo's South Korean subsidiary was established on 7 July 2006. In March 2016, the subsidiary was heavily downsized due to a corporate restructuring decision after analyzing shifts in the current market, laying off 80% of its employees, leaving only ten people at its helm, including Hiroyuki Fukuda. However, this did not affect any game titles being scheduled for release in South Korea at the time, and Nintendo continued operations there as usual. Subsidiaries Although most of the Research & Development is being done in, there are some R&D facilities in the and that are focused on developing software and hardware technologies used in Nintendo products.

Although they all are subsidiaries of Nintendo (and therefore first party), they are often referred to as external resources when being involved in joint development processes with Nintendo's internal developers by the Japanese personal involved. This can be seen in a variety of 'Iwata asks.' (NST) and (NTD) are located in,, while ( NERD) is located in,, and (NSD) is located in,. Most external software development is done in, since the only overseas subsidiary is in the United States. Although these studios are all subsidiaries of Nintendo, they are often referred to as external resources when being involved in joint development processes with Nintendo's internal developers by the (EPD) division. And are located in,, while has one studio located in Tokyo and another in. Is located in,.

2016–present Policy Content guidelines For many years, Nintendo had a policy of strict content guidelines for video games published on its consoles. Although Nintendo allowed in its video games released in Japan, were strictly prohibited. Former Nintendo president believed that if the company allowed the licensing of games, the company's image would be forever tarnished. Nintendo of America went further in that games released for Nintendo consoles could not feature nudity, sexuality, (including, or ), blood, graphic or,, political messages or (with the exception of widely unpracticed religions, such as the ). The Japanese parent company was concerned that it may be viewed as a 'Japanese Invasion' by forcing Japanese on North American and European children.

Despite the strict guidelines, some exceptions have occurred: (though were eliminated in the US version), and contained human violence, the latter also containing implied and; and contained nudity, and the latter also contained religious images, as did and. A known side effect of this policy was the version of selling over double the number of the Super NES version, mainly because Nintendo had forced publisher to recolor the red blood to look like white sweat and replace some of the more gory graphics in its release of the game, making it less violent. By contrast, allowed blood and gore to remain in the Genesis version (though a code was required to unlock the gore).

Nintendo allowed the Super NES version of to ship uncensored the following year with a content warning on the packaging. In 1994 and 2003, when the and (respectively) video game ratings systems were introduced, Nintendo chose to abolish most of these policies in favor of consumers making their own choices about the content of the games they played. Today, changes to the content of games are done primarily by the game's developer or, occasionally, at the request of Nintendo. The only clear-set rule is that ESRB AO-rated games will not be licensed on Nintendo consoles in North America, a practice which is also enforced by and, its two greatest competitors in the present market. Nintendo has since allowed several mature-content games to be published on its consoles, including:,, and,, the series,, the series,,,,,, and.

Certain games have continued to be modified, however. For example, was forced to remove all references to cigarettes in the 2000 game (although the previous NES version of and the subsequent GameCube game both included such references, as did Wii title ), and maiming and blood were removed from the Nintendo 64 of. Another example is in the Game Boy Advance game, in which one of the bosses, called Hellbat Schilt in the Japanese and European releases, was renamed Devilbat Schilt in the North American. In North America releases of the games, enemies and bosses killed with a saber attack would not gush blood as they did in the Japanese versions. However, the release of the Wii was accompanied by a number of even more controversial titles, such as,,, and, the latter three of which were published exclusively for the console.

License guidelines Nintendo of America also had guidelines before 1993 that had to be followed by its licensees to make games for the, in addition to the above content guidelines. Guidelines were enforced through the lockout chip.

• Licensees were not permitted to release the same game for a competing console until two years had passed. • Nintendo would decide how many cartridges would be supplied to the licensee. • Nintendo would decide how much space would be dedicated for articles, advertising, etc. In the magazine. • There was a minimum number of cartridges that had to be ordered by the licensee from Nintendo.

• There was a yearly limit of five games that a licensee may produce for a Nintendo console. This rule was created to prevent market over-saturation, which had contributed to the. The last rule was circumvented in a number of ways; for example, Konami, wanting to produce more games for Nintendo's consoles, formed and later to produce more games as a technically different publisher. This disadvantaged smaller or emerging companies, as they could not afford to start additional companies. In another side effect, (now ) executives have suggested that the price of publishing games on the along with the degree of censorship and control that Nintendo enforced over its games, most notably, were factors in switching its focus towards 's console. [ ] In 1993, a suit was taken against Nintendo under allegations that their lockout chip enabled. The case was settled, with the condition that California consumers were entitled to a $3 discount coupon for a game of Nintendo's choice.

Seal of Quality in regions The gold sunburst seal was first used by, and later Nintendo of Europe. It is displayed on any game, system, or accessory licensed for use on one of its, denoting the game has been properly approved by Nintendo.

The seal is also displayed on any Nintendo-licensed merchandise, such as trading cards, game guides, or apparel, albeit with the words 'Official Nintendo Licensed Product'. In 2008, game designer cited the Seal of Quality as one of the three most important innovations in video game history, as it helped set a standard for game quality that protected consumers from.

NTSC regions In regions, this seal is an elliptical starburst titled 'Official Nintendo Seal.' Originally, for NTSC countries, the seal was a large, black and gold circular starburst. The seal read as follows: 'This seal is your assurance that NINTENDO has approved and guaranteed the quality of this product.' This seal was later altered in 1988: 'approved and guaranteed' was changed to 'evaluated and approved.' In 1989, the seal became gold and white, as it currently appears, with a shortened phrase, 'Official Nintendo Seal of Quality.' It was changed in 2003 to read 'Official Nintendo Seal.' The seal currently reads: The official seal is your assurance that this product is licensed or manufactured by Nintendo.

Always look for this seal when buying video game systems, accessories, games and related products. PAL regions In regions, the seal is a circular starburst titled, 'Original Nintendo Seal of Quality.' Text near the seal in the manual states: This seal is your assurance that Nintendo has reviewed this product and that it has met our standards for excellence in workmanship, reliability and entertainment value. Always look for this seal when buying games and accessories to ensure complete compatibility with your Nintendo product.

Charitable projects Since 1992 Nintendo has teamed with the to build Starlight Fun Center mobile entertainment units and install them in hospitals. 1,000 Starlight Nintendo Fun Center units were installed by the end of 1995. These units combine several forms of multimedia entertainment, including gaming, and serve as a distraction to brighten moods and boost kids' morale during hospital stays. Environmental record Nintendo has consistently been ranked last in 's 'Guide to Greener Electronics' due to Nintendo's failure to publish information. Similarly, they are ranked last in the 's 'Conflict Minerals Company Rankings' due to Nintendo's refusal to respond to multiple requests for information.

Like many other electronics companies, Nintendo offers a take-back program which allows customers to mail in old products they no longer use. Nintendo of America claimed that it took in 548 tons of returned products in 2011, 98% of which was either reused or recycled. Trademark During the peak of Nintendo's success in the video game industry in the 1990s, their name was ubiquitously used to refer to any video game console, regardless of the manufacturer. To prevent their trademark from becoming, Nintendo pushed usage of the term 'game console', and succeeded in preserving their trademark. See also • • • • • Notes. Retrieved 27 April 2017.

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External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to. Wikiquote has quotations related to: •.