I’ve tested over a dozen pet cameras, and they are not all created equal. A pet camera sets itself apart from a regular indoor security camera with special, pet-related features like treat tossing or interactive two-way audio. Each usually has a subscription service, where you can review pet footage historically and get alerts when things seem amiss, like odd behavior or continuous barking or meowing.
At an already super-affordable price, this Petcube camera has 360 PTZ rotation capabilities (it can not only rotate horizontally, but vertically as well for full coverage), super clear 1080p HD resolution, the ability to digitally zoom eight times, two-way audio to speak and hear your pet, and night vision. It’s already super affordable at its usual $53, but for Amazon Prime Big Deal Days, it’s only $38, a crazy-good price for a pet camera of this caliber.
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Photograph: Molly Higgins
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Courtesy of Petcube
Although I love (and highly recommend) this camera, the Petcube Cam 360 suffers from one of the pitfalls I have with the rest of the brand’s lineup—the features are seriously limited if you don’t want to pay for Petcube’s upgraded Care plan (which starts at $4 a month). You need to subscribe to get the full benefit of the luxury pet camera; with the plan, you’ll get video storage capabilities, automatic pet detection, and automatic video recording capabilities. The price point for the subscription plan is one of the lowest I’ve seen while testing similar models, and I don’t think I’d be able to go on vacation with peace of mind again without the extra plan. (At less than I spend on a cup of coffee, I find the subscription plan to be really worth it.)
There’s an optional mounting that requires some tools, so setup is a bit tricky. (You’ll want to make sure it’s anchored since it needs to be stable while rotating.) The camera feed rotates smoothly without much lag, and because of the wide fish-eye lens and complete panning abilities, I was able to clearly see more of the room I was monitoring than the majority of other cameras I’ve tested.
There’s a bit of inherent risk when having indoor security cameras in your home, and with the camera’s new privacy mode, you can easily turn off the camera lens for even more security while you’re at home so that it’s not catching anything that you don’t want it to.
Petcube is running deals on most of the cameras from its pet camera line for Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days, so I’d check its brand page for even more sales.
If you want to save even more on security for your whole house, check out the camera bundles below that are also on a steep discount.
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