Smartphones and smart homes – these two product categories where Xiaomi wants to make big strides. We have already seen what the new Redmi Note 13 and Xiaomi 14 series can offer with the latest processors and upgraded camera hardware. The company is gradually refreshing and adding new products in the smart home category to take on giants, including Sony, Samsung, Phillips, and so on.
Xiaomi has launched some security cameras in the past, and its latest Xiaomi 360 Home Security Camera 2K aims to take the legacy forward. The most attractive feature is the price tag of Rs 3,299, which many users in urban cities (including myself) would appreciate for that extra peace of mind. Can it match the expectations that security-concerned users would have? Let’s find out.
Table of Contents
Box content and design
The Xiaomi 360 Home Security Camera 2K’s box contents include the camera, a power adapter, an approximately 2-meter-long charging cable, a wall mounting kit, and a user manual. The dome-style security camera features a micro-USB port, which feels unusual as Xiaomi is gradually adopting Type-C ports for charging, including in its trimmers. The box does include a Type-A to micro-USB cable (and charger), so there’s no need to purchase anything separately. Like most brands, Xiaomi has skipped the microSD card in the box (for on-device storage), which wasn’t always wasn’t the case until a few years back.
Setting up the camera is fairly straightforward, over a standard 2.4GHz Wi-Fi band enabled. The app also offers several options, which I will explain in a dedicated section.
Like most Xiaomi security cameras, the Xiaomi 360 Home Security Camera 2K comes in white. This colour option is also standard across the security camera industry, though there’s no harm in wishing for upbeat designs and colours. The build is plastic, but it does not feel substandard at all. In technical terms, the Xiaomi security camera features a dome-style design, though the shape resembles an hourglass. This design is mainly for a sturdy base and rotating top.
The micro-USB port for charging is located on the back, while the microSD card slot cleverly hides beside the camera lens. To access the slot, push the lens upward to reveal the cutout. This design choice is both neat and thoughtful, giving the camera a clean and premium look. The mesh on the back for the speaker and mic also compliments the design.
As the name suggests, Xiaomi 360 Home Security Camera 2K offers 360-degree coverage. It consists of a dual-axis pan-tilt-zoom motor, meaning you can pan the camera up to 360 degrees and tilt up to 180 degrees. This way you can avoid any blind spots. I did not face any lags with the motor, and the speed is equally decent, even if you’re operating the security camera away from home.
However, the catch is that the Xiaomi 360 Home Security Camera 2K is best suited for indoor usage. The company claims the security camera is water resistant, but it is best to keep it indoors (say office or living area) rather than installing it outside.
Setup, video quality and storage
For most security camera buyers, three things always stand out:
- Set up
- Video quality, especially in low-light conditions
- Storage
Let’s get to each concern one by one.
I’ve already spoken about the setup, and it depends on whether you have a separate 2.4GHz Wi-Fi band and a nearby power outlet. The former is often saved by service providers as Wi-Fi Name (4G) and Wi-Fi Name (5G). You must connect your smartphone to the 4G network to set up. Finding the right location can be tricky. If you feel there’s an optimum location for the security camera but no nearby power source, then an electrician needs to establish a connection with an extra wire. In my experience, the whole process shouldn’t cost more than Rs 500.
Notably, the Xiaomi 360 Home Security Camera 2K barely consumes electricity (5V 2A), and it won’t add up to your monthly electricity bill substantially.
Next is the video quality. Again, as the name suggests, the Xiaomi 360 Home Security Camera 2K supports 2K video recording (2,304 x 1,296 pixels), which remains a rarity in the segment. There’s an option to set the recording at 1080p (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) resolution as well. While the camera indeed provides these resolutions as I verified multiple video clips by manually checking the pixels, the Xiaomi 360 Home Security Camera 2K utilises a 3MP camera, which offers decent video quality in well-lit conditions. You will notice some noise and colour distortion, and achieving the picture quality advertised on the official website might be extremely difficult.
In extremely low-light conditions, the security camera performs surprisingly well as it relies on infrared vision. Do note that the higher and crisper the image quality, the more storage it takes. For reference, a 1-minute long footage in 2K was 7.5 MB in size, while the same footage in 1080p resolution consumed less storage.
This brings us to storage, and here, Xiaomi provides three solutions. There’s local storage with a microSD card of up to 256GB. Network Attached Storage (NAS) can directly send files from the camera to your computer, though the process could get slightly complicated.
I mostly used the Xiaomi 360 Home Security Camera 2K with microSD card storage, and the device ran reliably. I used a 16GB microSD card and the camera recorded two-day worth of footage. The camera automatically deletes older footage to make space for new clips. You can select the quality (auto, 360 or 2K) to save memory if you’re using a card with low storage capacity, as I did.
Accessing these files was equally easy with the Mi Home app. You can view clips remotely, take screenshots or separately record clips to the smartphone. The footage automatically bears the date and time of recording. You can use Xiaomi 360 Home Security Camera 2K with a microSD card, though you won’t obviously get a backup.
AI motion detecting and other features
While the Xiaomi 360 Home Security Camera 2K is thoroughly reliable when it comes to basics, there are some extra features for a “smarter” home solution.
The camera supports AI-backed motion detection, which can be hit or miss. The Xiaomi 360 Home Security Camera 2K accurately detects motion in most cases, even slight movements. It can be useful for overly paranoid users, but for most of us, our phones will constantly buzz with motion detection notifications. Sadly, there’s no way to tone down the motion detection.
Additionally, the camera supports two-way conversation with a built-in mic and speakers. This can be highly useful if you’re checking on your family members and need to offer assistance, as it was for me. Xiaomi also promises a fully secure way of data transfer and BSI Kitemark certification, which guarantees certain quality-related standards.
Other options include fluid app control (iOS and Android), sleep mode, automatic surveillance, and Alexa and Google Assistant support. There’s also a desktop app, though you need separate IDs to access the camera. Strangely, the desktop app contains some information in Mandarin, which may perplex many users.
Verdict
With the Xiaomi 360 Home Security Camera 2K, Xiaomi proves that it can make reliable (and affordable) smart home products. Its latest security camera is also a testament that the brand can innovate and challenge key players, including TP-Link, Phillips, and so on.
While the Xiaomi 360 Home Security Camera 2K, does not break any ground in terms of offering something new or remarkably different, it nails the basics very well. Whether it’s set up, video quality, or storage, operating the Xiaomi 360 Home Security Camera 2K is fairly straightforward, which even non-tech savvy users will prefer. Do note, it is best suited for indoor usage, and for outdoors, you can consider a different camera. I’ve been using the Zunpulse Smart Camera (Rs 3,499), which offers a “weather-proof” build and works just fine.
Having said that, Xiaomi must look into improving the desktop app with better controls and UI. The biggest challenge here is not the brand but building trust. Perhaps better partnerships to install its security cameras in new buildings could amplify its popularity in the smart home segment. At an individual level, the Xiaomi 360 Home Security Camera 2K offers great value for the money.
Editor’s rating: 7.5 / 10
Pros
- 2K recording
- Easy to set up
- 360-degree coverage
- Friendly mobile app interface
Cons
- Desktop app needs improvements
- AI motion detector can be iffy
