Smart home products are on the rise as more and more people look to incorporate devices that are connected into their own homes, and smart connected cameras are one of the more popular items due to their ability to add an extra layer of security. They’re essentially security cameras with the ability to connect up to the internet making it easy for consumers to see what’s going on around even when they’re not at home thanks to the use of connected companion apps that can link up to the camera. The XiaoYi Ants Smart Cam is one such product which we reviewed towards the end of last year, and the second generation of the camera was unveiled earlier this year just at the end of last month, titled the Yi Home Camera 2.
As of today, it’s been announced that the Yi Home Camera 2 will soon launch inside of the U.S for consumers to pick up at a cost of $129.99, making it a fairly affordable option in the smart home market alongside other smart connected cameras. Yi Technology Inc. is calling this the “world’s first intelligent home video monitoring system,” offering up a decently sized list of features and the ability to keep things as private as they want. With the Yi Home Camera 2 Yi is focusing on the fact that consumers will have complete control over the content that is captured with camera from where it’s stored to how consumers access the video footage.
The Yi Home Camera 2 will be featuring a Panasonic CMOS sensor on the inside capable of capturing video in Full HD, but will also be coupled with an Ambrella S2LM IP camera processor so that video is available at high quality with a low bit rate in H.264 video format. The Yi Home Camera 2 will also feature a two-way audio capability at a sampling rate of up to 48KHz. It comes with gesture detection that allows the camera to pick up a pre-designated gesture which sends out video of up to 10-second clips to the connected mobile device of the user’s choice, and it also has Human Detection so it knows when it sees an actual person, allowing it to cut down on potential false alarms. Those who have infants and newborns will likely find the camera’s ability to detect a baby crying rather important, and it will have apps for both iOS and Android. The Yi Home Camera 2 will be available from Yi’s own website shop, but consumers can also pick it up on Amazon, and the $129.99 price even includes a 32GB micro SD card for storage of the recorded content. At this point there is no exact date for the launch, just that availability is coming soon.
