Today, we will do a comparison video between the Nest outdoor cam and the Yi outdoor camera. I have reviewed each of this cameras individually before and I’ll include the link of the videos in the description down below.
We will do a comparison between their pricing, features, sample video footage, the pros and cons so that you will have an idea which security camera will better fit your needs.
First off, retail pricing…The Yi outdoor camera retails for $90 dollars while the Nest outdoor for 200 bucks. You can actually buy 2 of the Yi outdoor cams for the price of one nest outdoor.
Both cameras are 1080p HD and with Yi running at 20 frames per second and the Nest at 30 fps…you will get a smoother video footage with the Nest…
The Yi has a 110 degrees field of view while the Nest has a 130 degree FOV. There is a setting with the Yi called Lens distortion correction that I adjusted to get the widest view…but you will still see a big difference between the 2.
The Yi camera comes with a 10 foot USB cable and the Nest has a total of 25 feet. The Nest starts with a 10 foot USB cable from the camera that is connected to a weatherproof power adapter that has a 15 foot power cable. The Yi’s USB cable to the power adapter connection is not weatherproof and because the cable is only 10 feet, there will be a lot of installs that will need either an extra extension USB cable or an extension cord. I made a video showing some tips on how to weather proof your cable connections…especially for these outdoor cameras and the link will be in the description down below.
The Nest records 24/7 and uploads the footage to the cloud while the Yi can either record 24/7 or only during motion/activity and by default records to a micro SD card. It has an option to record to the cloud with subscription.
With the Nest, subscription starts at 5 dollars/month or 50 bucks a year for 5 day video history..10 day for 10 dollars per month or 100 bucks a year and a 30 day for 30 dollars per month or 300 dollars per year and this is for your first camera. Any succeeding Nest camera subscription will be half the price.
As to Yi..they have 2 types of subscription…recording when there is motion only or 24/7 continuous recording. Pricing starts at 20 dollars every 3 months or 66 dollars a year for up to 5 cameras for motion recording only or per camera for 24/7 recording and this is for 7 days worth of footage. You can also choose a 15 day or a 30 day recording option which also increases the price up to 200 dollars per year. Or Free if you don’t subscribe and just use the micro SD card recording and you will still get all the features of the camera. The Nest on the other hand needs a subscription if you want all the features the camera has to offer.
Both cameras have 2 way audio and it uses the push to talk type of communication which the Yi has the traditional push the mic and hold to talk and let go to listen.
While the Nest has a cumbersome, push the mic to start talking and you need to push it again to stop and listen. If you are not used to it, then you will cause a delay and you will be missing the first few words of the other person’s response.
Both cameras have IP65 rating water resistance and the Yi has an operating temperature range of 5 degrees to 122 degrees fahrenheit while the Nest has -4 degrees to 104. So, you might need to take that into account if you are living up north for the Yi and down south for the Nest.
Both cameras have pretty good night vision and the Yi has 12 IR LEDs while the Nest has 8. Yi states that its night vision goes up to 50 feet and the Nest up to 20 feet but you will see in the footage that the Nest’s night vision can see more than that distance.
Just for comparison, let’s see what it looks like if my patio light is on and the night vision is off on the Nest. What do you guys prefer? black and white night vision or full color at night with the lights on…comment down below.
Now, there is one feature that the Nest outdoor cam doesn’t have that the Yi does. It is the alarm. Yi outdoor cam has a deterrent alarm that is automatically triggered when the camera senses motion. It is not a full blast alarm but more of a 3 second beeps that just lets you know that you are being monitored. It cannot be manually activated.
Now, let’s talk about the cons. Features that I don’t particularly like and it could have been better. With the Yi outdoor cam, it only comes with a 10 foot USB power cable. That is definitely short for outdoor applications and 99% of the time, you will be needing some type of extension, either a USB cable extension or an extension cord. The USB power adapter is also not weatherproof. You can compare it to the Nest which it’s power adapter is designed to be outdoors and the USB attachment is twist and locked in place so that it cannot be easily pulled out.
The field of view for the Yi is a bit narrow at 110 degrees as compared to the Nest cam which is 130 and add that to the short cable, then your installation options are limited. On the other hand, the Yi’s footage is a bit sharper than the Nest. The colors are brighter and more vivid.
The audio recording on both cameras are only one sided. You can only hear the person talking at the camera and not the person on the phone. With the Yi you can actually hear somewhat but the audio is garbled and with the Nest it is just muted.
Now, with the Nest outdoor cam, the subscription is a bit pricey. It was more expensive before but when they offered the 5 day for 5/month option, then it is a bit better but still expensive in the long run. On the Yi, you can choose a cheaper subscription like recording motion only activated events but it can also be free if you just go with the micro SD card recording.
There is another issue for the Nest which I think applies to their other cameras as well like their latest Nest Hello doorbell and that is the delay in motion notification alerts and the long 10 minute “cool off” period. As you will see in the following footage, the Yi will give an alert around 5 seconds later after the motion alarm and followed by Nest after 10 seconds. It also will not notify you again of any motion activity until 10 minutes later… so check it out.
The notification alert doesn’t need to have a delay it needs to be instant and the cool off period needs to be lesser than 10 minutes or how about giving the customers an option of how long it will be. What do you think guys, comment below if you agree. With the Nest, this is a simple upgrade of your firmware.
Another gripe that I have about the Nest outdoor cam is their 2 way communication and if you are not use to push to talk and push again to listen method, then you will be missing a part of your conversation just because of the extra step and delayed reaction time. Their nest hello doorbell addressed this issue and it is more of a hands free..just push the mic one time and then you can talk and listen…or the standard push and hold to talk like the Yi is better than what the Nest outdoor cam has.
Both cameras use software algorithm and change in pixels in their motion detection which the Nest is pretty good in supressing notifications and preventing false alerts. I only chose person alerts in my settings but if you go the Nest’s sightline, you will see that it tags the footage when there is any movement or sound and I only get notified when it detects a person. On the otherhand, Yi occasionally have false alerts late at night or early morning hours and it didn’t alert me on the possum because I set it to low sensitivity but it did alert me from flying bugs and insects that gets too close to the camera.
Most of these shortcomings can be fixed by software or firmware updates and hopefully both of these companies will update and improve on this but I think if more people agrees with me and complain then we can get them to respond.