The Best Indoor Cameras for Artificial Intelligence

While we haven’t reached Blade Runner levels of artificial intelligence or AI, we’re on our way there with home security cameras. Person detection and intelligent alerts —only being alerted when the camera detects people as opposed to animals, cars, and other inanimate moving objects— are just some of the advanced capabilities that security cameras with AI offer. Of the multiple cameras with AI that we’ve tested, the ones we picked out for this review have earned the spotlight. Let’s dive right in and decide which option is the most ideal for your needs.

Our Review Process And Criteria

Tech Specs of the Best Cameras for AI of 2023

The Cream of the Crop

Nest Cam IQ Indoor

The Nest Cam IQ Indoor ranks pretty high in terms of quality. A step up from the Nest Cam Indoor, we were most impressed by the two-way audio, which has a speaker that’s seven times more powerful than its predecessor and includes noise cancellation. While we placed the Nest Cam IQ Indoor in the living room, we heard our voices loud and clear from the bedroom with the door shut. Another impressive feature is night vision with HDR and invisible infrared LED lights. Despite our living room being pitch black at night, the Nest Cam IQ Indoor gave us a view that was bright and crisp.

Arlo Pro 3

When we tested the Arlo Pro 3, the video quality and artificial intelligence stood out the most. The video quality is 2560p HD with HDR to boot, so when we set up the Arlo Pro 3 outside our apartment by the front door, we saw footage that was clear and without any shadows or glares. The three-month trial for their subscription service, Arlo Smart Home, allowed us to take advantage of AI detection for people, animals, packages, and vehicles. With these advanced features, our notifications were minimal and we received alerts for important activity only.

We tested all for cameras from our apartment in Brooklyn, New York — a boisterous city that experienced a 25.5% increase in burglaries from 2019 to 20201 — so it was crucial that we felt secure. We placed the Canary Pro and Nest Cam IQ Indoor in the living room while we installed the Arlo Pro 3 both in and outside our apartment at different times. Each camera came with a companion mobile app from which we received alerts whenever it detected motion or people, depending on the camera and the subscription we chose. On top of that, we viewed live footage, communicated through two-way audio, and accessed our video history via cloud storage. With all this out of the way, let’s see what each camera is all about!

How We Chose the Best Cameras for AI

Although this review touches on the best cameras for artificial intelligence specifically, we take all of a camera’s technical aspects into consideration such as video quality, audio, night vision, storage, and smart platform integrations. We also measure the overall value, convenience, and protection that these cameras offered during our testing.

Our preferences for security cameras are as follows:

• 1080p HD video
• Two-way audio
• Optic zoom in-capability
• Field of view of at least 120 degrees
• Infrared night vision
• Free cloud and local storage
• Person detection
• Alexa and Google Assistant integrations
• DIY installation or free professional installation
• Affordable equipment and subscription prices
• User-friendly, companion mobile apps

For cameras with AI, we prefer person detection to be included, although more often than not, this requires a paid subscription. Other AI features include facial recognition and detection for packages, animals, and vehicles. With person detection, not only did the cameras distinguish people from moving objects and animals but it also notified us only when detected activity was person-related. This made for fewer notifications and, more importantly, fewer headaches from managing notifications. The Nest Cam IQ Indoor has familiar face alerts but this feature requires a Nest Aware subscription.

Much as we like to praise technological advancements in security cameras, privacy concerns like Ring cameras being hacked, have been brought to light by multiple outlets. That’s why we appreciate companies that implement extra security measures like two-factor authentication, which requires a code that’s texted to a user’s phone in order to access their account. This prevents unauthorized access, even if the hacker has the user’s username and password.

Other technical factors that we consider when reviewing security cameras are power options and IP ratings, which determine a camera’s weather-resistance. When looking at camera setup, we like to have wired and wireless options. If it’s wireless, we look at the battery life; we prefer a battery life of a year or longer. Wired cameras are typically more reliable because they are less prone to signal interference that wireless cameras can experience from radio, TV, or phone connections. However, wireless cameras are a better fit for renters and apartment owners because setup is more flexible with mounting and dismounting; no hardwiring needed! For a concrete list of wireless cameras, check out our best wireless cameras of 2023.

Technical specifications aside, we also weigh in on professional monitoring and cellular backup. For the extra security, 24/7 professional monitoring is ideal. We mostly choose monthly plans that include professional monitoring because we’re often too busy to self-monitor our apartment. Cellular backup is something we tend to rely on whenever our Wi-Fi connection is lost or when the power goes out. This ensures that our cameras can still detect activity, send alerts to our phones, and stream footage to their respective app.

Reviewing security cameras has been our bread and butter. If you haven’t already, check out our best home security systems of 2023 and best security cameras of 2023 for a broader scope on smart home security.