In the world we live in today, “trust but verify” has become a necessary expression. Whether it’s a babysitter you have concerns over to wanting to make sure that your home is safe and free from intruders, putting measures in place that will monitor such things is a smart thing to do.

There’s hardly anything better for proof of misconduct or crime than a crisp, audible video that catches them red-handed, shot from a secluded spot. With the NexGadget’s Photo Frame security camera, this becomes possible and easy.

The camera comes hidden inside a standard modern photo frame. There’s even a nice picture inside it, which you can obviously exchange with one of your own to make it more believable. The nifty thing about this design is that you can place it on your wall along with ordinary photos or paintings.

Not only will this make it blend seamlessly into its surroundings and make discovery of the lens virtually impossible, but it also gives the camera a high vantage point that’s favorable to capturing the entire room, giving it a distinct advantage over models camouflaged as chargers dependent on electrical outlets.

The camera is capable of recording good quality video and sound at 720p, as well as saving screenshots in the .JPEG format. You’ll have to put a microSD card of up to 32 GB into it to get things going though, and unfortunately one isn’t supplied. Once the camera captures something interesting and you want to take a look for yourself, the card needs to be extracted and hooked up to a computer to access its contents.

The photo frame camera’s biggest flaw is the poor capacity of its battery. At 300mAh, it can record less than a full hour’s worth of continuous video. When switched to motion-sensor mode, this isn’t that much of an obstacle, but if you were hoping to do overnight recording sessions and analyzing them later on, you’re out of luck.

Having to spend two hours to recharge the battery each time doesn’t help much either. It can record while charging, making the battery complaint a non-issue, but then you lose out on part of its placement advantages.

Another concern comes up when it’s time to operate the camera and review what it has seen. It can take pictures, but in order to do that you have to press a button on the frame itself.

The same goes for selecting and starting the two recording modes. It would have made a lot of sense to include either a small remote or connectivity support for smart devices to mitigate those functions, but the camera’s attractive price probably made that impossible.

Features of the NexGadget Photo Frame Security Camera

• Camera disguised as a picture frame
• Shoots still images as well as 720p video with audio
• Has a 300mAh rechargeable battery
• Comes with a lovely pre-inserted picture

Pros:

• Very well disguised camera. Its lens and buttons are unnoticeable as is, and if you hang it up on a wall detection becomes practically impossible
• Switching between modes is as easy as pressing a button, provided you don’t mind doing it manually
• Very affordable, given its set of features
• Can continue recording while the battery is being charged and operate continuously while plugged in
• Included instruction booklet is easy to understand and will help you set the camera up in a jiffy

Cons:

• No ability to connect to other devices for live streaming
• Depends on a microSD card to function but doesn’t arrive with one
• Needs to be operated manually
• Very short battery life makes only recording in motion-sensor mode viable
• Has no night vision

Conclusion

In spite of some obvious drawbacks, the photo frame security camera from NexGadget is bound to find a large number of customers. At a price that’s truly a bargain, you’re getting a camera that produces acceptable images and video recordings at times when you need it the most. It’s also probably one of the best-hidden cameras you can get and its potential to deliver a bird’s eye view of a room is hard to beat.

Overall, if you’re budget-conscious and don’t mind having to go over the camera’s recordings manually, the NexGadget Photo Frame Security Camera is the best hidden camera you can get in terms of value. A beautiful item that improves your home’s security at a very reasonable cost! What more could one hope to get from it?