The security camera market in India is growing exponentially. The growing petty crime rate can be one reason this market has seen a sudden spurt. In addition, a smart security camera is a nifty way to keep an eye on domestic help, elders in the family or even pets. There is no shortage of options available for people looking to buy a smart security camera. Xiaomi today has announced another upgrade to its 360-degree camera with the Xiaomi 360 Home Security Camera 1080p 2i (2022 Edition). Priced at ₹3,199 (Right now, retailing for ₹2,999 as an introductory offer), it aims to address the two big misses in its predecessor – no cloud storage and no sound detection. Read our review to know how this camera works in both departments and if it is worth buying.
Xiaomi 360 Home Security Camera 1080p 2i (2022 Edition): Design and build
Xiaomi’s Home Security Cameras have been known for their design and build quality. Xiaomi Home Security Camera 2i: 2022 Edition Review features the same familiar design we have seen since its Yi camera (why change something good). The white spherical body has a good finish and build quality. It has a flat bottom, so you can easily keep it over a surface and get started or mount it on the ceiling.
Most of the front is taken up by the actual camera sensor. The speaker grill and charging port are placed at the back. In addition, there is a reset button (much like a SIM card eject slot) and a microSD card slot. To access both these slots, you must slide the camera lens upwards.
Xiaomi 360 Home Security Camera 1080p 2i (2022 Edition): Setup and installation
Setting up the camera was a piece of cake. The 2022 edition camera comes with a talk-back feature, and as soon as you power it on, it instructs you to connect the device by scanning the QR code at the bottom of the camera via the Mi Home app. After that, all you need to do is follow the instructions on the phone. The process will seem familiar if you have used any Mi Smart device in the past, such as their air purifier, water purifier or earlier generations of cameras.
Xiaomi 360 Home Security Camera 1080p 2i (2022 Edition): Performance
The Xiaomi 360 Home Security Camera 1080p 2i has a 2 MP 110-degree wide-angle lens. The company claims it offers a 360-degree view and leaves no blind spots. Along with this, the camera can also move 108 degrees vertically. The Xiaomi 360 Home Security Camera 1080p 2i (2022 edition) delivers sharp, crisp videos and pictures. The camera has invisible 940 nm infrared LEDs for enhanced night vision. As such, even images/videos captured during the night were clear. The lack of external lighting did not impact sharpness significantly, and the level of detail was also satisfactory. I have a security camera of another brand installed in the exact location. I saw a marked difference in the nighttime feed from the Xiaomi 360 Home Security camera 2i vs the other brand’s feed.
The camera’s AI-powered motion detection works well, but there are some caveats. The app gives you the option to record the video feed if it senses a person or any movement. While I was using this camera, this function worked well. However, it only captures a few seconds of the action. For example, in my case, the person was there for 15 minutes, but the recording only captured 10 seconds of footage at regular intervals than a whole session. While one believes that it is to save space, I still feel that after detecting the person, the camera should capture the entire time the person is around rather than a few chunks.
The live footage can be accessed on the phone via the Mi Home app (the same app used to install the device). People who like to view the footage on a larger screen can download the Xiaomi Camera Viewer app on their desktop and see the live footage on a larger screen. The live feed can be viewed on just four screens at a time. This four-screen limit should be fine for individuals, but houses with bigger families or big housing complexes might find this challenging. Along with the footage, one also has the option to hear the output audio. By default, it is on mute in the mobile app, and you have the option to turn it on whenever you want. You can also enable the audio for earlier recording and motion/person detection clips.
One significant downside is that the recordings take up a lot of space. The company claims 36 hours of playback (in 1080p) requires 16GB of storage. This is where the cloud storage feature comes in. Cheaper security cameras only allow for local storage via a microSD card. With the Home Security Camera 2i, Xiaomi gives seven days of cloud storage for free, which should suffice most needs. This is seven days of rolling storage, which means that only the latest seven days of clips are stored in the cloud.
Verdict: A feature-packed security camera
Xiaomi 360 Home Security Camera 1080p 2i (2022 Edition) is a good product overall. It has excellent build quality, is easy to set up, and its motion detection and person detection alerts work well. The picture quality of this camera bowled me over, and I am even more impressed with its nighttime footage. The nifty seven days of cloud storage is just icing on the cake.
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