Until Matter takes hold, there will be a paucity of smart home devices that work with HomeKit. That’s why we were pleased to see Eve’s new Outdoor Cam, which is only the second outdoor security camera that's compatible with Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video.
Available in April for $250, this 1080p camera connects to and stores encrypted video in your iCloud account. It can also use the existing on-device intelligence of Apple TV or HomePod to detect and automatically record any movements, as well as differentiate between people, pets, vehicles and packages. The convenience of this compatibility is definitely a bonus if you already own a lot of Apple products.
The Eve Outdoor Cam features a 1080p sensor with 157-degree field of view, two-way communication, and infrared motion detection and night vision. Being IP55 certified, it can withstand the elements, and it doesn’t appear anywhere near as obtrusive as other models we’ve seen on the market — the light is built onto the same body as the camera for a compact and sleek design. However, that means you can't direct the lights at specific areas separate from the camera.
At $250 (available in April), the Eve Outdoor Cam is priced comparably to other outdoor floodlights, such as the Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera. However, Eve's device needs to be hardwired and you will need an iCloud+ account (starting at 99 cents per month for 50GB of storage) in order to use the HomeKit Secure Video features. So you can’t rely on your free iCloud storage unfortunately.
We're definitely interested in testing it to see if it will make our list of the best home security cameras.
Be sure to check out all of the latest product news on our CES 2022 live blog, which we're updating with all the latest announcements.
