The Blue Indoor Camera is one of three home do-it-yourself security cameras from ADT. The camera is USB powered and comes with support for motion zones and facial recognition to help cut down on the number of irrelevant alerts you might receive.
Design and features
All Blue products are styled in a rather utilitarian gray color and are a bit bulky. The design isn’t to my taste, but might be to yours. Regardless of how they look, they work well.
The indoor camera offers a two-way talk feature, so you can remotely speak to people through the companion smartphone app. It also packs a CO2 and smoke alarm siren sensor. This will alert you if it hears a CO2 or smoke alarm going off in your house.
All in all, it’s a pretty good number of features for the price.
The camera can be used as a stand-alone device, with other cameras that each operate independently but are viewed within the same app, or as part of a larger security system. Right now the indoor camera works with the LifeShield system, which ADT purchased last year, and a dedicated Blue security system is promised for later this year.
Installation
Getting the camera up and running is not much more difficult than plugging it in and pointing it. It’s USB-powered but includes a battery back-up for short power failures. It can’t be operated without wired power for a long period of time.
Like the other Blue devices, getting the cam on a Wi-Fi network is simple. The companion app displays a QR code which you hold in front of the camera when it’s in set-up mode. The camera reads the QR code, which includes your Wi-Fi network name and password, and connects.
The camera can be mounted on just about any surface, either free-standing or with a mounting bracket. You can even mount it upside down on a ceiling and then flip the video image in the app so it’s the right way up.
In use
The camera has several features that cost a premium on competing cameras. The first is the ability to set motion detection zones. This can be really handy if, for example, the movement of cars or trees outside a window sets off your camera. There are also settings to restrict alerts to certain hours of the day. When the camera is triggered, it will record for 30 seconds.
The camera offers a 130-degree view, which is plenty wide enough to see most of what’s going on in most rooms. The image was sharp and looked good on a smarphone.
Downloaded video was high-definition resolution of 1920×1080 pixels, but only 15 frames per second, which is half the typical frame rate. However, for this application that doesn’t really cause a problem.
The two-way talk function worked well and dual microphones on the top of the camera helped with noise reduction and made conversations clearer. One nice feature on the top is a mute button, providing some privacy to anyone in the same room as the camera.
An extra feature is local storage should the Wi-Fi network go down. The camera has a microSD card slot on the side and you’ll need to supply a memory card.
Verdict
In the end, despite an uninspired design and the lack of a true battery option, the Blue Indoor Camera has a solid feature set, good performance, and an easy setup, all at a decent price.
The Blue Indoor Camera from ADT comes with advanced detection features as standard and will even listen out for your CO2 or smoke alarm.
Pros
- Motion zones and facial recognition as standard
- Smoke and CO2 siren detection
- Battery and microSD card backup
Cons
- Unimaginative design
- No battery-power option
Source: techhive.com
