Netatmo Presence Security Cam Detects Animals, Cars, People

LAS VEGAS—We’ve reviewed plenty of home surveillance cameras at PCMag, and they all have one thing in common: They detect activity, but not the cause of it. The Netatmo Presence, introduced on Monday at CES, is an outdoor security cam that takes things one step farther—it can distinguish between animals, cars, and people to let you know which has been detected outside your home.

From a design perspective, the Presence looks more like a standard issue outdoor flood light than a security camera, which is a good way to trick any would-be wrongdoers. I’m not in love with the design, which is a little blocky for my taste, though ultimately the minimal aluminum build is pretty inoffensive. It’s rated IP66 to withstand harsh outdoor conditions, like ice, rain, sun, and wind.

The camera records full HD 1080p video. I didn’t get to see a live video feed in action, but it has a 100-degree field of view, and a very impressive 65-foot detection range (many outdoor cameras, like the Netgear Arlo, provide a range closer to 25 feet). There’s also infrared night vision, and Netatmo uses end-to-end encryption to make sure no one else can access your camera feed.

Installation should be fairly simple, as the camera is meant to replace an existing outdoor light. If you don’t have one, you’ll need to do the wiring, which can get a bit complex. Once installed, the Presence connects to your home Wi-Fi network, and can be accessed through an app on your computer, smartphone, tablet, or Apple Watch ($300.00 at eBay)(Opens in a new window) . You can stream live video of what’s happening outside, or view a timeline of past events and videos.

Things get interesting when it comes to Netatmo’s Smart-Sight feature. This refers to a learning algorithm that lets the camera detect the presence of animals, cars, and people. Once detected, the camera can send a notification to your phone saying “animal seen,” “car seen,” or “person seen,” so you can decide whether you want to check out the video feed. Of course, you can pick and choose which notifications you receive (and in what areas), which is helpful if you live in a busy neighborhood.

The camera comes with 8GB of storage onboard, which you can expand via a microSD card slot. That means there’s no subscription fee, and your video clips aren’t floating around in the cloud.

In addition to being a home surveillance camera, the Netatmo Presence could also act as a sort of replacement for video doorbells like Ring, depending on where you place it. The camera will be available in the third quarter of this year, though Netatmo hasn’t yet announced a price. Given the features, though, it could become a very competitive option when it hits the market.