All about Xiaomi’s new home security camera

Small shops, apartments with pets or outside any door, a security camera is a must. There is no upper limit to splurging on security cameras but most people don’t need anything complicated. Housing complexes need to have high-end options but not a small shop, which is what Xiaomi is targeting with its 360 Home Security Camera 1080p 2i. Though a mouthful, it does a few jobs quite well but if you are looking to secure a big house, then you have to look elsewhere.

There are several brands that are offering similar devices but Xiaomi has excellent integration with the Mi Home app and the overall build quality appears good. Either you can keep the camera on a bookshelf hidden from view or install it upside down. The former is helpful if you want to keep things discreet within the apartment.

Out of the box, the set-up process takes a few minutes. First, you need to install the Home app and then add a new device by scanning the barcode at the bottom of the device. It’s not a complicated process but it all depends on the Wi-Fi.

First plug the camera to a power source and then install a microSD card (there are two types of storage options — microSD; up to 64GB, and NAS or Network Attached Storage devices) to record everything the camera picks up.

The things we love ....

Here are a few things about the product that interest me. First, there is a status light to show if the camera is recording. You can turn it off, so intruders will not be aware of the camera. Second, you can turn on the timestamp to get an idea of the time the house may have had intruders.

In case you are keeping this fixed near the door, you can easily use the Talk Back feature (two-way voice calling ); when delivery person appears at the doorstep, you can make enquiries or give instruction. The feed that’s coming to your phone can also be shared with someone you trust.

The recording is pretty good and if you are in the mood to click pictures, those come out well too, all thanks to the 1080p resolution (captures a full 360-degree horizontal view as well as a 108-degree vertical view). The AI Motion Detection Alert feature works quicker than on rival devices.

Coming to the quality of videos, under good lighting obviously there’s no problem and even when it’s dark, videos are more than acceptable; infrared night vision has magic tricks to capture the night (the invisible 940nm infrared LEDs offers the consumers enhanced night vision for clearer night-time images). And HD performance is surprising good. But we would like to see waterproofing in future devices because most of us live in monsoon-prone zones.

Should you buy it?

It’s perfect to keep track of movements in small stores or at home for keeping an eye on the pet or even senior members of the family (besides the person who has been stealing cookies at night). 360 Home Security Camera 1080p 2i is a well-designed Xiaomi product that will allow you to keep an eye on the apartment when you are at office… and picture clarity is spot on.