Neos SmartCam Review – Protect Your Home With the Budget Smart Home Camera that Does it All

As a family, we love to travel, and we will go away for a night or two whenever we can. But whilst we are away I do worry about leaving our house and particularly our cat! We do, of course, have family to come and make sure she is fed and watered, but I have always worried a bit about leaving her and the house to go away, or even if we are out for a full day.

We all want to protect our family and our homes as much as we possibly can, whether we are away, or just out for the day, and now that is made more possible with the brand new Neos SmartCam – an indoor security camera for your home, that is available at the incredibly low price of £19.99, plus £4.99 p&p for next day delivery! I’ve never really considered getting a home camera before because I just presumed they were all really expensive, but this one is amazing value for money.

The Neos SmartCam has only just been launched, and we have been testing it out to see what it can do for our family. The SmartCam is packed with features found in more expensive indoor cameras and is small and discreet, so it fits nicely anywhere in your home.

I’ll be honest, I did put off setting up the camera for a couple of days, as it was slightly daunting, but actually, it was seriously quick and easy to do. All I had to do was download the Neos SmartHome app and register, and then plug the camera in and follow the instructions on the app. The whole thing only took a few minutes and then it was ready to go and I was looking at myself on my phone!

The SmartCam has so many features, especially for such a budget price. It includes live streaming in razor-sharp 1080p full HD so you can see every detail, night vision, and motion and noise detection for which you can set to send an alert to your phone, as well as 2-way audio. You can also set it to auto-arm – meaning it automatically switches on and off as you leave and arrive home, which is so clever. It also automatically records motion and stores 12 seconds of video in the cloud for 14 days (or you can add an SD card to be able to continuously record, even without WiFi), and you can even download the clips and share them, just in case your cat or child does something hilarious and you need to show everyone!

The small camera has a 3-axis movement so that you can point the camera in the direction you want, and is powered by mains electricity with a 1.8-metre USB power cable, so you don’t have to worry about it switching itself off when you need it most. Although this does, of course, mean that you need to have an available plug socket nearby.

You can also get a mounting kit with a 1.5-metre extension cable if you need it, plus it has a magnetic base so you can attach it to any metal surface, as well as a metal base plate and sticky pad so it can pretty much go anywhere you like! The camera stays connected even if you unplug it and move it elsewhere, you don’t need to re-sync it, which is also a bonus.

I am loving being able to check on my house when I am out to keep an eye out for any pesky burglars or cats trying to steal Molly’s food. It’s also pretty fun to sneak a peek at what Ava is up to when I’m not there! It’s pretty cool that I can be in the bath and have a look at what she is doing downstairs and check she is safe. I love it.

I didn’t quite realise how much we would use a home security camera, or how much I would get from it. It’s great to feel so connected to my home and family and I would honestly recommend that everyone gets one for their home. It is such a bargain price and the list of features are unbelievable at such an affordable price point. There are so many ways it can be used in a family home and so many benefits to having a security camera in the home, and it’s really nice just having that reassurance that your house is a bit more protected when you are away from it.

Another thing that it’s brilliant for, is using the camera to keep an eye on Ava once she is in bed. Even though she is older now, I still sometimes like to be able to keep an eye on her without potentially disturbing her by going into her room, especially at times such as her being unwell. It just gives me a bit more peace of mind, and I think it would be great with younger kids too, once you have stopped using a monitor (and you could actually use this as a monitor itself, thanks to the video and 2-way audio – and much cheaper than a video monitor too).

When we are out for the day or away overnight it is great to be able to check everything is alright in our house. It is ridiculously simple to install and use, and I would say it is comparable to much more expensive cameras – I can’t think of anything else that you would require a home camera to do. The picture quality is brilliant; it is really clear and shows every detail. The night vision is also really good and clear too, which makes it perfect for keeping an eye on any little rascals that may have got out of bed.

You could even use it to monitor your back garden by placing it pointing out of a window whilst you are out for the day, and make sure your house is safe via the app. I think that would be particularly great if there has been a spate of burglaries in your area and you want a bit of reassurance. You could also use the SmartCam to check that older children are leaving the house on time, or make sure they are home after school if say, you’re at work. There are so many possibilities with it.

We’ve been really impressed with the Neos SmartCam and it really is a great addition to our home. It has so many great, useful features, and the low price makes home security more accessible to everyone. You can sync more than one SmartCam to the app, so I am seriously thinking of getting a second one for upstairs.

The Neos SmartCam is compatible with iOS and Android and is available to buy for only £19.99 on the Neos website.

This is a paid partnership with Neos SmartHome, but all words and opinions are my own. See my full disclosure policy here.