New YI Home Camera takes on Nest Cam for less than half the price

Zach Epstein

The Nest Cam is a terrific idea, allowing anyone to easily set up a camera that will stream high-definition video from home to any mobile device. It’s also remarkably simple to install, giving anyone and everyone the ability to monitor what goes on in their home while they’re away. Of course, that simplicity and functionality comes at a relatively hefty price — not everyone wants to spend $200 on a single home camera.

Well, now they don’t have to.

Beginning today, YI Technology is making its simple HD home security camera available in the United States, and it costs just a fraction of what Google-owned Nest charges for its home camera.

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The YI Home Camera represents a huge step forward for connected home devices, taking the wide range of features typically associated with far more expensive devices and making them incredibly accessible. Whereas similar devices can cost $200 or more, the new YI Home Camera costs just $59.95 on Amazon.

This isn’t the first time YI Technology has entered at popular market and undercut rivals by a big margin. The company’s YI Action Camera, a $99 GoPro competitor, was recently listed in our popular un-gift guide.

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yi1

The YI Home Camera records and streams video in 720p HD resolution. The device features a 111-degree wide-angle lens, accurate motion detection that can be set to alert you and begin recording when movement is detected, non-invasive 940mm infrared LED night vision, microSD card support up to 32GB (an 8GB card can hold up to 18 hours of footage), 4x digital zoom, a two-way speaker and mic system and no monthly subscription fee.

YI’s system also allows users to connect multiple cameras to one network for whole-house security. And in order to ensure privacy, the YI Home Camera features 128-bit SSL encryption with a 2048-bit RSA key, and it has an option to protect locally stored video with a pincode.

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yi2

Here’s the full list of highlights:

  • 111° wide-angle lens

  • 720p HD video

  • Activity alerts on your phone

  • Secure storage on a micro SD card

  • Non-invasive night vision

  • 2-way audio

  • 4x digital zoom

  • No monthly subscription fees

  • Multi-camera management on the app

  • Pan and tilt camera control

  • Activity summary on timeline for optimized viewing & storing

  • Record, save, and share videos and photos

The YI Home Camera is available immediately on Amazon for $59.95, and it’s eligible for free express shipping with Amazon Prime so new orders will be delivered before Christmas.

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This article was originally published on BGR.com