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Home is the one special place in the world that’s supposed to be perfectly safe. It’s your own personal sanctuary, where you can retreat, rest, and regenerate. It’s where your family lives, and where you hope they’re totally secure.

That’s why having your house broken into can feel like such a violation. Even if nothing of value is taken, it can feel like your personal space is no longer safe. That’s why a lot of people install home security cameras. They allow you to keep an eye on things even when you’re not able to be physically present.

In the past, home security cameras were the domain of the 1%. For one thing, they were expensive to install. For another thing, you needed a lot of space for monitoring, with a dedicated TV and VCR. If you wanted to save your recordings, you’d have a rack of VHS tapes.

And for all of this trouble, you’d get grainy black-and-white video. Remote monitoring wasn’t even a thing until a few years ago. So even if you could afford a home security camera, there was little point in buying one.

But technology has changed a lot in recent years. Modern cameras are more affordable than their older counterparts, and provide better video quality. And with high-speed internet, anyone with a smartphone can remotely monitor their own camera. What used to be an expensive luxury is now an affordable tool for everyday people.

SwitchBot Pan/Tilt Cam

We’re about to review the SwitchBot Pan/Tilt Indoor WiFi Cam. This is a compact camera that’s designed to monitor an entire room. It can rotate 360 degrees, and tilt vertically to 115 degrees, which is pretty impressive. But that’s just one of many features we need to think about.

We’ll have to talk about the video quality, as well as the night vision mode. We’ll have to look at the power supply, and how your videos are stored. And of course, we’ll have to evaluate the smartphone app and user interface. After we’ve factored in all of those things, we’ll have a better understanding of how well it works. Let’s begin!

Design & Installation

The SwitchBot Pan/Tilt Indoor WiFi Cam has a unique, quirky design. The footprint is roughly circular, at 4.09 inches wide and 3.94 inches tall, but it’s not a regular cylinder.

Instead, the base flares out slightly above the bottom, then slowly tapers towards the top. The upper portion of the housing is arched, so the top is shaped almost like a hemisphere. The total height is only 6.26 inches, giving it a small overall profile. The bulk of the housing is white, with an easy-to-clean matte finish.

Inside the top portion is the lens housing, which is a globe that peeks out through a gap in the front. When the lens is pointed towards you, it’s clearly visible behind a blacked-out glass cover. Just underneath, if you look closely, you’ll see a visible microphone hole. Just above the lens is a tiny white LED, which lets you know when the camera is active. When the camera is turned off, the lens will roll back into the housing, and will no longer be visible.

The camera is easy to set up just about anywhere. With the flat base, it can sit on a table, desk, or shelf without any extraneous parts. However, the base is also threaded, which allows for alternative mounting methods. You can put it on a threaded ceiling mount, and have it right in the top center of your room. Threaded wall mounts are also a viable option. Point being, you have plenty of choices, and you’re not just locked into one kind of position.

Connectivity, on the other hand, is a bit of a mixed bag. Power is supplied by a USB Type-A to Micro USB cable, which is included in the package. This means you don’t have to charge any batteries. But it also means your camera will only work as long as your power is on. Not only that, but it means you need to run a wire to the nearest power outlet. Depending on where your camera is positioned, this could be unattractive.