Netatmo Welcome, we analyze the surveillance camera that recognizes your face

The possibility of domotize our house is becoming a closer reality every day thanks to manufacturers like Netatmo who offer us very complete solutions at reasonable prices. One of them is Netatmo Welcome, a surveillance camera that is capable of differentiating an acquaintance from an intruder.

We already gave you our first impressions at the last edition of the IFA in Berlin, but now it is time to carry out a much more exhaustive analysis of a product that has pleasantly surprised me with its quality and possibilities. Without further ado, I leave you with it. Netatmo Welcome surveillance camera analysis.

Netatmo Welcome has an attractive and modern design

Before talking about the design, say that in the pack that the guys from Netatmo sent me, the video surveillance camera in addition to sensors, the Netatmo Tags that work as a complement to Netatmo Welcome and that serve to detect if a window or door opens. This pack is sold separately, as I will comment later.

Let's start with him Netatmo Welcome camera design Because, as you may have seen, the truth is that its cylindrical shape with an adonized gold aluminum coating makes the camera look incredible. And very premium.

When taking it offers a good touch and feel of durability, which I can also confirm without any doubt: I have been testing the surveillance camera for a month and I have to say that Netatmo Welcome is really resistant to falls; I have a playful cat who enjoys testing all the gadgets that come into the house and the camera has been dropped three times to a height of 1.5 meters without suffering any damage.

With a size of 15.5 cm high and 4.5 cm in diameter the camera is small enough to be placed anywhere in the house, even on a shelf, as it will fit easily.

On the front is where they have located the lens that has a large field of vision of 130 degrees, in addition to a small LED that will light up when connected for a few seconds, in addition to the Infrared LEDs that will allow the Netatmo video surveillance camera to be used even in complete darkness.

Both the upper and lower parts of the camera are clean, while in the rear we find three ports: on the one hand, a micro SD card slot, a micro USB port to connect the Netatmo Welcome and finally an Ethernet port to connect the device to the router.

This is where I have found the only but in its design: the fact that the camera needs a cable to feed itself partly breaks with its perfect aesthetics, in addition to limiting its location by needing a nearby outlet, or the use of extension cords. Of course, it must be remembered that, despite its complete technical characteristics, the Netatmo Welcome camera costs less than 200 euros, so somewhere they had to cut costs.

Finally I want to comment on a detail: the device becomes very hot after prolonged useIt's not going to burn your hands but I was initially concerned that it might spoil. In the instructions they warn of this and say that there is no major problem, but I wanted to inquire to find out the reason for this overheating.

Belén Andrada, from the company's communication agency, explained to me that it is totally normal since Netatmo Welcome works with very complex algorithms and is continuously processing information, so it is normal for it to heat up. In order not to increase its design, Netatmo Welcome does not have a fan or external outlet, but the anodized aluminum that covers it acts as a heat sink, so you don't have to worry about the Netatmo Welcome overheating. Of course, it is better to avoid direct sunlight to ensure the proper functioning of the device.

Installing Netatmo Welcome at home, first steps

The camera is very nice and all that, but how does it connect? This is another of the great surprises that I have taken since its Plug and Play system it is really easy to use.

You just have to install the official Netatmo Welcome application on your Android device and follow the four steps it asks you to do. With the app you can monitor the camera in real time at all times, in addition to receiving alerts if an intruder enters your house, so it is essential that the camera is connected to the internet.

The most comfortable way is through your Ethernet port, but also you can connect it to your Wi-Fi network easily and simply. In my case I had problems connecting it to my router, I already told you that the problem is with my Ono router, but the application offered me the possibility to connect Netatmo Welcome to my Wi-Fi network manually by entering a series of parameters such as the router IP address. It didn't take me five minutes to set it up. 2 in the office where I had no problems with Wi-Fi.

This is a point that I want to highlight a lot since I have tried other solutions to domotize your home and the truth is that it was a real hassle to get it to work. With Netatmo Welcome, things are really easy.

Netatmo Welcome, these are your specifications

On paper we have a very complete camera, but how does Netatmo Welcome really work? I already tell you that the surprise has been great. And for the better. To begin with the camera offers a resolution more than correct, offering a sharp image in a well-lit environment.

One detail that I really liked is that the camera has a 130 degree viewing angle so it perfectly covers a complete room without problems allowing you to quickly detect the faces of people entering and leaving the house.

I was surprised by the image quality in night mode. Now I will leave you a couple of images so that you can compare but, taking into account that I did the test in a closed room and in total darkness, I have to say that the quality of Netatmo Welcome in Night Vision mode is more than enough.

One of the peculiarities of Netatmo Welcome is that it has a facial recognition system that over time it will recognize the people who are inside your system and will warn when an intruder enters. Well, with the night vision mode it continues to detect faces without too many problems, a detail that shows the great work done by the manufacturer.

Netatmo Welcome in a bright room

Netatmo Welcome in night vision mode in total darkness

How the facial recognition system works in Netatmo Welcome

The strength of Netatmo Welcome, and why swept CES in Las Vegas is your facial recognition system. And it is that the camera will warn us whenever it detects someone at home. The big difference between the Netatmo video surveillance camera compared to the solutions of its competitors is that Netatmo Welcome is able to differentiate them and tell you exactly who has entered your home through a notification. 

For this we will use your complete application, available on Google Play, and that works very intuitively. Once we have installed the camera, as it sees people passing by, it will automatically save different expressions and ask us through a notification who they are so that we can create different user profiles.

All this data is stored in an encrypted form on the company's servers. The videos and captures taken will be saved in the Micro SD memory 8GB that comes with Netatmo Welcome. We can also save them in our Dropbox account, although I wanted to simplify the whole process as much as possible, so I have been saving all the information on the Micro SD card. And considering that you can save approximately 120 videos, we have more than enough margin.

In my case we were three people at home and the system has taken five days to recognize us. Once Netatmo Welcome has "signed" us, I have to say that the camera understands the characteristics of each person very well, making a perfect association. I honestly expected the system to work much worse, I didn't quite think that it could recognize and store faces so precisely, but Netatmo Welcome has complied with note in this regard. 

Also Netatmo's notification system is configurable so we can have them send us a notification when a person enters the house that the system does not recognize, when a known person enters that we are interested in knowing when they have arrived home and when they leave (something very useful if we have a babysitter for example) and we can even configure the camera to warn us if an alarm or smoke detector goes off.

This allows be you the one who choose if you want to receive more or less notifications depending on the tastes of each one.

A very complete and easy-to-use application

As I told you, The official Netatmo Welcome application is really simple and practical. To monitor our camera we can do it through the manufacturer's website or using its official application. At the beginning of these lines I have left you a small video where you can see the different menus available in the application.

Highlight that In the case of detecting movement, the video will begin to be stored a few seconds before this movement occurs.or, ending a few seconds later. To give you an idea, when someone enters or leaves a room monitored by Netatmo Welcome, the video lasts an average of 30 seconds.

In addition, both with the Android application and through the Netatmo website we can see in real time what the camera is recording streaming listening to the sound. In this case there is also a slight delay so that the camera has room to record in case someone enters its perimeter, but it is a detail that does not bother at all.

Tags, this is how your door and window sensor works

The last section I want to talk about is the Tags, small sensors that are sold separately in a pack of three and that complement the Netatmo Welcome camera. These tags have a motion sensor so that, once installed on doors and windows, we receive a notification when they are opened.

The sensors work quite well, so much so that it is advisable to reduce the sensitivity so that they are not activated by mistake due to excessive vibration If, for example, a nearby window that does not contain the sensor is forcibly closed or a car passes nearby.

A pack that is not essential but that complements and increases even more the effectiveness of the Netatmo Welcome camera.

Final conclusions

After having been testing the manufacturer's new solution for a month, I can say that the Netatmo Welcome camera is a very complete surveillance system that will more than meet the expectations of any user.

Your software is perfect, with ua mobile application that works like a charm with a multitude of options, and the possibility of monitoring everything through a web page, so the operating system used is indifferent, they give added value to a product that has surprised me.

I want to highlight a detail that has marked me: the feeling of security. It seems silly, but having a video surveillance camera at home, being able to monitor what was happening at all times, knowing which people enter my home It has given me additional peace of mind that I did not expect to have during analysis. 

Taking into account that Netatmo Welcome is available on Amazon for 187.76 euros, it seems to me to be a more than reasonable price taking into account the features and possibilities offered by this surveillance camera. If we add to this the 95.35 of the Tags, we have a complete surveillance system for less than 300 euros, a very interesting price to fully enter the world of home automation.  

Editor's opinion

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