Follow your pets all day with this camera
We have used security cameras from various brands for the past five years in our home. They are all pretty comparable, regarding features. I really think the biggest differences between them lie in how easy they are to work with and sync them to your phone. And as I said in this column before, the best security cameras are really whatever old phone or tablet you have lying around. Almost all of them can be turned via an app into a workable, feature-packed security camera for free.
But if you’re willing to buy one, you can find several online. I’ve been trying a new one from a brand I’ve used before: the SpotCam Mibo. But this one is unique in that it is advertised as a cloud pet camera that supports pan and tilt to follow your dogs and cats, and is capable of detecting and tracking pets rather than humans. It shoots 2K hi-res video that looks sharp on both my phone and laptop. Horizontal pan stretches 360 degrees, while vertical tilt spans 90 degrees. That covers a lot of ground. The camera can also perform general sound detection to meet your surveillance needs.
You can connect it by either, or both, WiFi and Ethernet connections simultaneously. And just like other similar devices, it offers integrated motion/audio detection with real-time notification. SpotCam claims to be the only brand that offers full-time, forever free cloud recording. There are optional cloud recording plans for up to 365 days. It comes standard with a deer ears headband, flex cable mount, magnetic base, and camera mount adapter to mount anywhere.
However, the optional AI Pet Care package that includes pet sound detection, virtual fence, and pet video diary costs an additional subscription. And that seems a bit disappointing to me. It seems that a product that touts its ability to monitor your pet 24/7 should actually include all of those features, at least for a year. Because otherwise, it appears to be just another home security camera.
I admit I did not purchase the optional pet care package. But as an indoor home security camera, the SpotCam is pretty decent. It reminded me of the last camera I used from the brand. Initially I had a bit of trouble connecting to our WiFi network. But once I rebooted the camera, I was good to go. I really like the interface of the app, and yes, it works on both iPhone and Android in a similar way. It offers night vision, flicker reduction, a status light, 180 degree video rotation in case you want to mount the camera upside down from the ceiling or to fit in a tight space where upright positioning is not an option. It also has a built-in microphone and speaker, so you can talk to your pet. I tried it once and it seemed to bother my dog. Also, you can take still photos from the video, which will be saved in your phone’s photo folder. And it will send alerts to your phone for motion events, audio events, offline events, pet movement, or human tracking.