Hommam 64 gigabytes smart camera is not a cheap camera. So if this is not in your price range, I want to save you the time reading this review. Just to find this out at the very end with that understanding. I’ll get straight to unboxing this new home kit-enabled camera.
So the first thing to greet you is the large black eye, which is the home amp 64 gigabytes. There’s a card surrounding the lens that has a QR code that takes you to the app store. So you can download the home app which is required.
Astonishing build quality
The first thing I noticed is the astonishing build quality and general weight to it. It really doesn’t feel like a plastic shell with a few wires and a motherboard. If you get my drift, it’s rather minimal with only two little speakers at the front. It simply feels like a well-tooled piece of machinery for want of a better description.
Of course, the feel and look are nothing without decent specs and performance. So here are some of the details to give you an idea of what’s inside.
Take in all the details as the company isn’t shy of showing all the specs and features of this camera of which there are many besides the bullet points listed here. The company goes at length to also detail the various ways in which the camera cleans up the image. So you get the best view possible which includes many things.
I’ve never seen anything mentioned before like gamma shading and flicker correction as well as texture enhancement, and an IR optimizer whilst the camera doesn’t have pan and tilt the lens does offer a decent 134-degree field of view.
You also get a pair of stereo speakers which are the things often overlooked in cameras. The body itself is made of anodized aluminium which gives it that premium look and feel yet more specs but it’s worth noting that the camera can connect to the five gigahertz wi-fi band and has NFC pairing for the home kit.
Now the camera itself is only 1080p however which may come as a surprise given the cost point. So the next thing we see is a magnetic stand that is made from the same material as the camera itself and allows the camera to be mounted on walls or ceilings as well as sit on shelves.
Here you can see it’s reassuringly strong at gripping the camera so there’s really no chance of it simply dropping to the floor. We get a mysterious little box. I’ll come back in a minute along with a longer-than-average cable to power the camera.
The cable uses USB on both ends and is three metres or just 120 inches in length. Back to the little box, I mentioned earlier and this contains a set of what are called ferrite rings that are designed to reduce radio noise problems.
I’ve seen these things many years ago in the past but have never really understood their use so it’s quite interesting to see them here and if they do the job, it’s all good. You simply clip these rings to the power cable and you’re done. Next up is a plate that works as part of the mounting kit, if you want to wall-mount the camera.
The metal plate comes with a strong adhesive backing with a small circular nub on one side that matches up with a recess on the camera stand, it’s magnetic when I place it on the camera stand, you also get a pair of screws and rawl plugs for a more permanent mounting solution.
We’re not quite done yet with a couple of small envelopes, the first of which contains instructions and stickers with. The second envelope contains a branded microfiber cloth to keep the camera looking clean and shiny.
The final piece of kit in the box is the power supply itself, which is all in black and even has the same logo imprinted on it uses a USB port to work with the provided cable and once again just adds.
That premium feels to the whole package even though it’s a type plug. It can work in other regions too at 100 to 240 volts at 50 and 60 hertz. When it comes to setting up the camera initially in the home app.
The process is quite clever as it binds to your phone using Bluetooth to create a one-off anonymous account. Once you then set up a full account in the app the camera can no longer be detected via Bluetooth for subsequent pairing if it was stolen.
For example, if the camera is stolen neither the recordings nor the camera can be set up or accessed until the original account removes that camera. So it becomes useless to thieves. A special six-digit code is sent to your email that then allows full control of all the features which includes also setting the camera up in the home kit.
Now you can get the home kit code within the app or you can simply use NFC in the camera. So your phone can detect it for pairing. when it comes to the home kit side of things. It’s all standard stuff using the same setup procedure as normal. I’ll now quickly run through the features of the home app.
First which opens up to the live camera stream, you get access to four separate modes which are view nanny guard and capture mode. This mode gives you a larger display but not the whole view so you need to manually pan left or right to see more of the picture.
You can also digitally zoom in up to eight times at the bottom of the screen in each mode. You get two separate timeline guides. One of which is for motion which shows waves that vary in size depending on the intensity of the motion.
If I go back through the timeline, I can see peaks where motion is more intense. Now below that is a separate audio timeline that gives you a more traditional idea of the loudness of any particular noise.
Next is a nani mode which offers two options, the first of which is a sound monitor. So once activated, you can hear any sounds coming from the camera on your phone, even when the app is minimised the second is for detecting very small amounts of movement so you can probably guess this is ideal for monitoring your baby.
Guard mode on the other hand has a function that is called intelligent detection so it’s a form of AI motion detection which also offers you the option to activate it based on your location. Finally onto capture mode which still has the live view as is the case with the other modes but in this case offers you the option to take a snapshot or a video recording of the live feed or even an event further back in the timeline.
These recordings are all stored in your phone’s photo library. To record an event you simply hold down the record button whilst the recording is played back. I’ll go back to live view and then select view mode and as with all other modes in the app you have the option to stream in low quality.
If you’re out and about and want to conserve data usage, for example, it should be noted that recordings are always recorded at 1080p regardless of whether you’re streaming in low or high quality as you may have guessed in the home app.
It’s all fairly generic but it is compatible with a home kit secure video which is good. If you don’t want to rely on homemade’s built-in recording option, you can disable the status light but fully turn it off. You do need to do the same in the home amp app as standard.
So what do I think of the home amp 64 gigabytes? Is it worth the asking price and what’s the potential for pros and cons?
First is the build quality which I have to admit is top-of-the-line and something I can imagine Apple would be proud of in terms of attention to detail and materials used. I’m not sure if this camera is unique in its ability to ensure the camera and its contents are protected in the way I previously outlined but it gives peace of mind.
Knowing that the camera can’t be used in any way without access to the original account. In my tests, I did find image quality better and smoother than the others cameras tested especially in low light where the home is still able to glean a colour image where others switch to night mode.
Additionally, there was no hint of image graininess in either low light or night vision, even though I like being able to use home kit secure video and the ease of which I can access and download footage directly from the camera in its own app.
Really makes it feel a lot easier and more user-friendly. Hopefully, Apple can take note of the cons. I can’t ignore the elephant in the room. Which is the price?
There’s no denying, it’s expensive but of course, you’re not obliged to buy it and there are plenty of cheaper options that on the surface do much the same or in some cases more but all I would say is that Apple users try to spend more on their devices for the same reason.
I would argue is present in this camera much of which I’ve outlined earlier, Would I buy it not just because I don’t have the money and I don’t require the level of security, the home amp offers in general but if I did then I would be tempted to have at least a couple of these and dare I say it uses the home app for viewing live feeds and recordings over the home app.
Given the constraints within the home kit without compromising the speed of loading, quality of image and bandwidth use. Now I can buy that and in all honesty, as this is an indoor camera.
