Netatmo Smart Indoor Camera review: Testing a minimalist security gadget

Gareth Butterfield tries out a stylish new piece of home security tech

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My home security setup includes quite a few indoor cameras, and they all do a good job, but none of them look quite like the Netatmo Smart Indoor Camera.

It's a classy little metal column that sits innocuously on a sideboard or table and quietly gets on with its job of monitoring your home.

I've been testing one for a few weeks, having it set up in my hallway, and it replaced a fairly cheap Wi-Fi camera that, on the face of it, did a similar job. That one even panned and rotated. This one doesn't do that.

And it costs £180. My other camera, the one that can move around, cost about £25. So why should I get excited about the Netatmo?

Well, according to the French tech firm, this is the only smart indoor camera that can recognise faces, and it sends an immediate alert if someone it doesn't recognise has entered your house.

You'll get a notification straight away, showing a picture of their face and a video recording.

By comparison, all I get from my cheap pan and tilt camera is a notification to stay its motion sensor has been triggered every time anyone goes in and out of the house. And that can get annoying.

It gets cleverer than that, too. The camera isn't just monitoring the visual threats to your home security, it's also listening out for smoke alarms, security alarms, or other suspicious sounds, and it'll send you a video of whatever it is you should be worried about.

It pairs up with Netatmo's simple and effective Security app, which I've been using for a while now with other home safety tech from the firm, and everything is easy to use and quick to access.

Through the app, you can "teach" the camera who people are as it picks them out and pipes a message to your phone. It's like you're introducing it to your friends and family at first, but you'll soon build a collection of familiar faces, and the notifications become much cleverer. You can save up to 32 faces, so even the postman can have a slot, if you like. It even picks out pets.

I also love the fact that it has no subscription fees. Many home security cameras are only properly effective if you sign up to a monthly service which records your videos - but this camera justifies its price by offering all its features for free. You'll also get regular updates as part of the package.

I've been using it for a few weeks now, and I've found positioning it is crucial. Initially, I placed the camera at my front door, which seemed the logical place. But bright light from the glass pane backlights the subject, and can often fox the face recognition. Moving it slightly, to point away from the glare, worked a charm though. The image quality isn't class-leading, but it's good in the right light.

It's an expensive option for an indoor security camera. There are similarly-priced cameras that can monitor larger areas by moving around, and there are also cameras that offer better night-time and daytime resolution.

But that artificial intelligence is very useful. It means you get instantaneous reports of anyone who passes through, and it's all presented in a clean, fuss-free way.

It's certainly one of the best ways to monitor who's visiting your house and when and, you never know, it might one day pick up the face of an unwanted intruder. And you can't put a price on peace of mind.

SPECIAL OFFER: Netatmo is running a Father's Day offer until June 18th, offering 20% off the Netatmo Smart Indoor Camera. Use code PAPA23 at the checkout on the Netatmo website to unlock the deal.