The Netatmo Welcome is a connected camera that features facial recognition, adding another level of safety and security to the home. The Welcome notifies users through their app so that the homeowner knows who is home and when. The device is positioned to compete with some big players in the market, such as the recent Nest Cam upgrade and Piper. Although Netatmo's offering doesn’t quite meet the standards of those two devices, the company still has a decent camera.
Design
Anyone that has used a Netatmo product before will see that its smart home camera fits right in. The design is very similar to the company's other products and is kind of a symbol of the Netatmo brand. Here, we are looking at what is essentially a lightweight, tall and thin cylinder in “Champagne Gold.”
The top and bottom is accented with gold and white. Down the middle you’ll find a black stripe with the camera positioned at the top. There is a glowing red dot at night, indicating that the camera is utilizing night vision. And, actually, that red dot looks kind of creepy. It feels like an intro into a bad horror movie. During the day, though, you’ll hardly notice the Welcome is present.
Around the back you have three ports, the first being a microSD card slot. It comes with an 8GB microSD card, and you can swap it out for a larger 32GB or 64GB size which is highly recommended as the 8GB card fills up quickly. Unfortunately, in doing that, you have to reteach the camera who is who because you are also essentially swapping out its brain. That is actually kind of frustrating if you want any reliability with the Welcome. It’d be nice if there was some sort of internal storage where it kept all of its necessary information and then just wrote video to the external storage.
Below the microSD card slot is a micro-USB port and an Ethernet power. One of them will have to be plugged in for power, but the Ethernet cord is a great option if you prefer a wired connection over wireless.
Overall, the Welcome has a fairly simple and straightforward design. There’s nothing really unique going on here, but that is not a bad thing. It really is just a cylinder shaped camera.
Setup
Setup is an easy and quick process, too. Plug the Welcome into the wall, then download the companion app on your device, and it’ll quickly take you through the setup process.
Setting it up on the computer is also simple enough. Head over to Netatmo's site, create an account, and use the Netatmo web interface to recognize your WiFi network and link the hardware with a connection. The Welcome can begin learning who you and your loved ones are. Does that sound creepy? Maybe. But that's home security!
The tricky part in the Welcome's setup is getting it positioned in the perfect location. You want it to always recognize who walks in the front door, realizing that members of your family are home, and sending you a notification when it does realize someone is home. That is easier said than done, though.
Software
The software is.. interesting. It works really well recognizing faces, but the biggest issue is how the “Away” feature works. The Welcome will, by default, decide no one is around if it has not spotted anyone for four hours. In other words, if you’re in your home office working for four hours, the Netatmo is going to assume that you've left.
In reality, the Welcome isn’t really telling you if someone is home, only if the device has seen that person recently. Another frustration I came across is that the device is great at recognizing faces, unless you come in through the door and rush to the next room. In doing that, it tends to get confused and isn’t sure who is home, signalling that the device saw an unknown person. It also doesn’t work very well at all when there’s too much sunlight, so hopefully your front door doesn’t have any windows around it.
That said, the Netatmo Welcome has essentially become a paperweight because, at this point, it’s just not useful. It features some very clever ideas that are poorly executed. Netatmo claims this is a smart home device, but it’s really not smart at all. If you want this device to make sure your kids come home on time and to warn you of strangers entering the house, this isn’t going to do it for you.
On another note, the Netatmo Welcome's video quality was actually really good. It plays in Full HD, making every detail of what the Welcome captures crisp and clean.
Closing
The Netatmo Welcome feels like a rushed security camera in order to compete with the refresh of the Nest Cam, marketing the local storage aspect and no monthly fees, two of the small cons of its Nest competitor. But in all honesty, if you’re looking for a true smart home camera, the Nest Cam will be way more functional and practical for your security needs.
At $199, it’s difficult to decide whether the Netatmo Welcome is worth it when you could get a more all inclusive package like the Nest Cam. The Welcome does have some strong points, but it still feels like Netatmo has some work to do before this device becomes something to rave about.
[Netatmo Welcome]