Godrej is among the most established names in the business of home security in India, with a wide range of products including door locks, personal lockers, video door phones, alarm systems, and CCTV camera systems. Among the company’s more recent launches is the Spotlight range of home security cameras, which is a foray into the Internet-of-Things space. That means Godrej will have to compete against popular tech brands such as Xiaomi and Realme. I’m reviewing the Godrej Spotlight Pan-Tilt home security camera, a compact Wi-Fi-enabled device that works with an app on your smartphone.
Priced at Rs. 3,499, the Godrej Spotlight Pan-Tilt home security camera does exactly as its name suggests; you can not only view the camera feed remotely, but you can also adjust the field of view by panning or tilting the camera using the app. I’ve had a chance to use this new IoT home security camera from Godrej, and here’s my review.
The Godrej Spotlight Pan-Tilt Home security camera has a microSD card slot to store recorded footage
Godrej Spotlight Pan-Tilt Home Security Camera design and build quality
Godrej currently has two Wi-Fi-enabled home security cameras in the Spotlight range – a fixed version, and this one, which as the name suggests, is able to pan and tilt mechanically when controlled via the app. The cylindrical camera is attached to a vertical ‘stem’ from one side, and this attaches to a circular base that holds the electrical components and Micro-USB power port. The entire base turns to pan left or right, while the stem allows the camera module to tilt upwards and downwards.
The camera can be placed on a tabletop or mounted on a ceiling when clipped onto an attaching plate (which is included in the box). A lengthy USB cable and power adapter are also included, allowing for some flexibility in positioning the Godrej Spotlight Pan-Tilt camera. Interestingly, Godrej states that the camera can be powered even with a power bank, so it can be used on the go or away from a power outlet.
The device has a microSD card slot on the underside of the camera unit, which supports up to 128GB cards for continuous video recording. At around 400g, the camera is fairly heavy for a device of its size. It isn’t rated for water or dust resistance, so you’ll need to be careful if you’re mounting it in a semi-exposed, dusty, or humid area.
With a 2-megapixel sensor, this camera is capable of recording video at up to full-HD (1920×1080-pixel). The field of view is 110 degrees, and the camera can pan up to 350 degrees and tilt up to 90 degrees. This gives it the ability to look all the way around itself. There is also night vision through an IR filter which allows it to function in the dark. A built-in microphone and speaker let you use it for two-way communication.
Godrej Spotlight Pan-Tilt Home Security Camera app and features
The Godrej Spotlight app (available for iOS and Android) is used to set up and control the Godrej Spotlight Pan-Tilt home security camera. The setup process was fairly simple and took around 10 minutes to complete, following the on-screen steps. Once done, I was able to watch the camera’s video feed and configure other settings. The app can be used to watch and control multiple Godrej Spotlight cameras.
Jumping straight into the camera view, it takes four to five seconds to activate the camera from standby and show you a live feed with the date and time overlaid. It’s also possible to switch between SD and HD resolutions for the feed, view it in full-screen mode on your phone, and activate the microphone on the camera so you get a live audio feed along with the video.
The Godrej Spotlight app is available for Android and iOS, and lets you control the camera and view the feed
The app has an on-screen D-pad to pan and tilt the camera with, and you can save angles to quickly jump to. You can also take screenshots, record video to save onto your smartphone, turn on two-way communication to speak to someone near the camera, configure the motion detection settings (to capture screenshots or video clips when motion is detected), and configure continuous recording settings (if a microSD card is inserted into the camera).
You can also set up cloud storage through the Godrej Spotlight app. This lets you access recordings even if the device and storage card are stolen or damaged. Cloud storage is a premium feature, and you’ll need to subscribe to a monthly Rs. 99 plan for unlimited space. Godrej does offer a seven-day free trial. It’s worth noting that this doesn’t mean you can record continuously and store everything; the cloud plan can only be used to store clips recorded because of motion detection.
You can log in to your Spotlight account to access your camera’s video feed and settings from a desktop browser, if you prefer. On one occasion during this review, the app froze and refused to load anything despite rebooting my smartphone. Only uninstalling and reinstalling the app fixed this issue.
Godrej Spotlight Pan-Tilt Home Security Camera performance
As with any home security camera, the hope is that you don’t need to use it at all. However, if that need does arise, the Godrej Spotlight Pan-Tilt camera gives you quick and reliable access to its video and audio feeds. This is, of course, a Wi-Fi enabled camera, and you will need a stable and reasonably fast Internet connection for everything to work properly. Godrej states that the Spotlight camera is only compatible with 2.4GHz Wi-Fi networks, and I didn’t have any trouble when it was connected to my home network.
The Godrej Spotlight camera can be powered even using a power bank, according to the company
The Godrej Spotlight Pan-Tilt home security camera provides a colour video feed in well-lit conditions, and automatically switches to a monochrome night-vision feed when needed. The video feed is clear and detailed at HD and SD resolutions, both in daylight and in the dark. It’s useful to be able to take screenshots or video recordings to save to your smartphone, in case you don’t want to use a microSD card for continuous recording.
Although there was a bit of blur in the feed when panning or tilting, the picture was about as good as you could expect for a home security camera. It’s sharp enough to recognise faces and objects, or even read text. On the whole, the Godrej Spotlight Pan-Tilt camera worked as expected when it came to its core functionality.
Pan and tilt movement was easy, but there was a noticeable delay of about a second between issuing a command and the camera responding and moving in the right direction. Two-way communication is a useful touch, although there is a bit of delay in the transmission of audio on both sides. This isn’t something you should be using as a substitute for video calls; rather, only use it for occasional functionality as a door phone or intercom.
The speaker on the Godrej Spotlight Pan-Tilt camera is quite loud, and there is also a built-in alarm function that should scare off intruders, once it’s set up and activated. The camera chimes loudly when turned on and connected to the Wi-Fi as well as during the setup phase, which can be very annoying. The microphone quality is decent, but there was always a slight hum to be heard from household appliances such as ceiling fans, or sounds coming in from an open window.
Verdict
The Godrej Spotlight Pan-Tilt home security camera is simple but effective at its core functionality, and offers just about everything you would expect from such a device. A wide range of movement means you can have the camera look all around wherever you place it, which is a nice bonus. Stable network connectivity and app support let you access the camera from anywhere, and additional features such as microSD and cloud support offer flexibility when it comes to storing footage.
Although there are slight delays in transmitting both video and audio, these issues are quite small relative to the generally positive experience I had with the Godrej Spotlight Pan-Tilt camera. There are more affordable options with similar features such as the Mi Home Security Camera 360 and Realme Smart Cam 360, but the quality of this product coupled with the reputation of Godrej as a security solutions provider make this a device worth considering.
Price: Rs. 3,499
Rating: 8/10
Pros:
- Wide range of motion and field of view
- microSD and cloud storage supported
- Clear video in well-lit and dark environments
- App is well designed, camera works through desktop browser too
Cons:
- Slight delay in transmitting audio and video