Yale Smart Indoor Camera review: a subtle way to secure the inside of your home

Home LivingSmart HomeYale Smart Indoor Camera review: a subtle way to secure the inside of your homeThe Yale Smart Indoor Camera is very easy to set up and use in any room, giving you peace of mind when you go awayWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.(Image credit: Future)T3 VerdictThe Yale Smart Indoor Camera will provide good-quality footage of your home straight to your smartphone, letting you know when movement is detected. It’s intended to be used inside, and because of that, it’s a subtle device that isn’t difficult to install or set up.Reasons to buy+FHD 1080p recordings+Intuitive smartphone app+Impressive night visionReasons to avoid-Motion detection is too sensitive-Not weatherproof-Lacks battery optionWhy you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.

The Yale Smart Indoor Camera is very easy to set up and use in any room, giving you peace of mind when you go away

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Future)T3 VerdictThe Yale Smart Indoor Camera will provide good-quality footage of your home straight to your smartphone, letting you know when movement is detected. It’s intended to be used inside, and because of that, it’s a subtle device that isn’t difficult to install or set up.Reasons to buy+FHD 1080p recordings+Intuitive smartphone app+Impressive night visionReasons to avoid-Motion detection is too sensitive-Not weatherproof-Lacks battery option

(Image credit: Future)

Yale Smart Indoor Camera review: security camera in front of painted brick wall

(Image credit: Future)

T3 VerdictThe Yale Smart Indoor Camera will provide good-quality footage of your home straight to your smartphone, letting you know when movement is detected. It’s intended to be used inside, and because of that, it’s a subtle device that isn’t difficult to install or set up.Reasons to buy+FHD 1080p recordings+Intuitive smartphone app+Impressive night visionReasons to avoid-Motion detection is too sensitive-Not weatherproof-Lacks battery option

T3 Verdict

The Yale Smart Indoor Camera will provide good-quality footage of your home straight to your smartphone, letting you know when movement is detected. It’s intended to be used inside, and because of that, it’s a subtle device that isn’t difficult to install or set up.

Reasons to buy+FHD 1080p recordings+Intuitive smartphone app+Impressive night visionReasons to avoid-Motion detection is too sensitive-Not weatherproof-Lacks battery option

Reasons to buy+FHD 1080p recordings+Intuitive smartphone app+Impressive night vision

FHD 1080p recordings

Intuitive smartphone app

Impressive night vision

Reasons to avoid-Motion detection is too sensitive-Not weatherproof-Lacks battery option

Motion detection is too sensitive

Not weatherproof

Lacks battery option

Why you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.

T3’s Yale Smart Indoor Camera review is a good place to start if you’re hunting for a security camera for your home.

Smart security devices in 2024 are simple to set up, easy to use and more often than not, they’re controlled using an app on your smartphone - thebest security camerasfall under that bracket and are a great way to watch over your property, inside and out.

The Yale Smart Indoor Camera launched alongside the Yale Smart Video Doorbell and theYale Smart Outdoor Camera. It’s not the first time this security old-timer has dabbled in smart home tech, we’ve previously tried out devices like theYale Conexis L1door smart lock and theYale floodlight camerawhich impressed us with what they had to offer.

To keep an eye on a room in your home or your pets while you’re not there, the Yale Smart Indoor Camera records Full HD footage during the day and at night. I’ve been trying it out, and here’s what I thought about everything from the setup and design to the performance and the Yale Home smartphone app.

Yale Smart Indoor Camera review: price and availability

You can buy theYale Smart Indoor Cameraright now and it’ll only set you back about £60. To make the most out of it with cloud storage and detailed AI detection, you can buy the Yale Home Camera Plan for an extra £3.50 a month.

Yale Smart Indoor Camera review: design and setup

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Yale Smart Indoor Camera review: close up of security camera

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Subtly slotting into a small space, the Yale Smart Indoor Camera isn’t a massive piece of equipment. It has a square base, a long thin stand and the camera is housed in a circular unit at the top. Measuring 70 x 70 x 115mm and weighing 106g, it looks a little bit like an oversized webcam.

You can move the camera backwards and forwards, and from side to side, to angle it exactly how you need it. It’d be even better if you could tilt it, although there are ways around that. Not only can you pop this on any flat surface but you could also mount it with the base up against the wall. You’ll find fixings and fittings to do so included in the box.

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Yale Smart Indoor Camera review: camera plugged in from behind

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A USB-C port on the back of the camera powers the device, it doesn’t have a battery so you’ll need to keep it plugged in using the included wire. The cable is long enough for most of the places I would want to put it around my house, which would be on a low shelf or side table for the most part.

Unlike some cameras, there’s no weatherproofing here, nor is there a spotlight so this won’t be for use anywhere other than inside the house. Having said that, you place it on a window sill looking out towards your garden or driveway.

Yale’s smart home devices are all very easy to set up, and the Indoor Camera is no different. You need to have the Yale Home app downloaded onto your phone or tablet, then it’s just a case of tapping Set Up a New Device, plugging the camera in and scanning the QR code on the bottom of the base. You can add it to a designated home or room, and name it accordingly. Then, the app will take you through a couple of short steps to get the camera hooked up to your Wi-Fi network.

Yale Smart Indoor Camera review: performance

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Yale Smart Indoor Camera review: security camera shot from the side

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Full HD 1080p recordings make the Yale Smart Indoor Camera a convincing option. Throughout my testing, the video quality was fantastic. During the day you can easily make out details, even across the other side of the room. The colours look bright and accurate too. When the light dips, night vision takes over. It isn’t quite as impressive but still manages to show the space well enough to make out faces.

Yale Smart Indoor Camera review: app and features

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Yale Smart Indoor Camera review: Yale Home app screenshots

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Controlling the Yale Smart Indoor Camera is done entirely through the Yale Home smartphone app, which is available for bothiOSandAndroid. Generally speaking, the app is easy to use. Your devices are split up into homes so you can have more than one property listed, and there’s a whole page dedicated to your events timeline.

To make use of the pet detection, you will need to pay for the Yale Camera Plan which will set you back £3.50 a month. That subscription will also get you cloud storage for the footage, as opposed to the more temperamental and limited local storage without it.

As well as looking back on past events, you can use the app to see a live view from each of your cameras. Below the live view, there are options to hear the camera’s audio, record the scene, take a snapshot and turn on your phone’s microphone to talk to people or pets through it.

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Yale Smart Indoor Camera review: Yale Home app screenshot

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Each device has a comprehensive list of settings to play around with, depending on what you need from the camera. You can adjust the motion sensitivity settings, switch on the automatic night vision, adjust the recording length and so on.

Two other useful features worth knowing about are motion detection zones and privacy zones. If you intend to put the camera somewhere where there’s regular movement, and you only actually want to be notified of events in a small part of the scene, you can set detection zones. Similarly, privacy zones allow you to put a black square over parts of the shot you don’t want the camera to record at all.

Yale Smart Indoor Camera review: verdict

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Yale Smart Indoor Camera review: camera on bedside table

(Image credit: Yale)

Yale’s Smart Indoor Camera is worth considering thanks to its top-notch video quality at all times of day and night. Granted it is a bit more expensive than some other indoor cameras and the motion detection proved to be too sensitive at times. But even so, it’s a neat little device that won’t exactly break the bank.

If you already own other Yale smart home tech, adding the Yale Smart Indoor Camera to the mix makes a lot of sense. You can control them all through the same smartphone app which is straightforward to use. I liked that I could easily scroll back to the exact time and day that I wanted to see, and the two-way talk feature is a big plus point too.

Yale Smart Indoor Camera review: alternatives to consider

If you were hoping to spend less than the Yale Smart Indoor Camera costs, then theBlink Miniis worth considering instead. At £30, it’s about half the price. It’s also even smaller than this with similar two-way audio, night vision and motion zone customisation. Granted the video quality isn’t as detailed in comparison and the build quality is lacking a bit but it is still great value.

TheRing Indoor Cam (2nd Gen)is one of the best indoor security cameras you can buy. It’s small and easy to set up, with a simple app and it even has a privacy cover for the times when you don’t want the camera to be watching. You may lose out a little on the recording quality but it still gets the job done well.

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