With all the options on the market today, it’s difficult to choose a hidden spy camera that’s going to work well, have a good feature set, and still be easy to hide within your home. You do have small cameras that you can hide in the middle of some other household objects, but if someone does notice them, you won’t be able to pass them away as something else.
However, one good option that many people seem to forget exists is an HD Wi-Fi clock camera. On first sight, it looks just like a conventional wall clock. Nothing to indicate that it isn’t one, and being such a common household object, a lot of people won’t even look at it twice. But choose carefully, and you may get yourself a great tool that might come in handy any time you want to record something that’s happening inside your home or your office.
There’s still a few questions surrounding an HD clock camera that people want answered. To begin with, how do you choose one? And when you do choose one, how do you set it up so that you make the most of it, you capture all you need, and people don’t spot it?
Choosing a clock camera
Even though many people believe the specs are most important, with a clock camera there’s one thing that matters a bit more. There are two main types, so you should be careful as to which one you choose. You could get either a desk clock camera, or a wall clock camera, and no, you shouldn’t use them interchangeably.
The reason is that both can look out of place if used wrong. For example, a desk clock in an office looks somewhat unprofessional. In a living room, it’s common to have a wall clock, so a desk clock might raise some questions. Therefore, if you’re getting one for your office, living room, or other place where a desk clock might look out of place, it’s often better to go with a wall clock. If not, you could get away with a desk clock, but make sure you decide before you buy and think about it well.
The next thing you’ll want to consider is how much the camera looks like a camera. Ideally, it won’t, at all, and nobody will be able to tell it’s anything more than a conventional clock. For example, with a desk clock that’s pretty easy as long as there aren’t any buttons on top that might say things such as “Record” or “Photo/Video”. With a wall clock, especially with a white one, that might be tricky. If you’re getting a wall clock, perhaps it’s best to go with a black variant, and one that has the camera lens in the middle, so it’s as hidden as possible.
Once you’re sure your clock won’t show the camera hiding inside, you should try to get a camera that’s as high quality as possible. The first major factor here is going to be the resolution. The bare minimum should be 720p, but for a much higher quality at a slightly higher price, go for 1080p, you won’t regret it. It’s going to be a significant upgrade, especially when you need to capture details, such as someone’s face or an identifying feature such as a tattoo. In any case, go as high as your budget allows you – it’s not something you skimp on.
Then, you should consider the field of view. You can’t have three wall clocks on each wall of your living room without people asking questions, so you want one with a wide field of view that’s going to cover as much of the room as possible. Ideally, you want to go higher than 100 degrees.
Last but not least, there are two main features that you should always invest in. The first one is Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi means that your camera is connected to your home network, and you can access it from pretty much anywhere. You can connect to it from outside, which will allow you to see what’s happening in your home even when you aren’t there. And the other one is motion detection, that will save a lot of battery, and will send you an alert as soon as someone is moving in front of your home. As far as quick reactions go, the combination of these two things will enable them.
You chose one, how do you make the most of it?
The first step is careful placement. With a clock, you should have at most one per room – more will definitely raise questions. Regardless of the type, put one, and put it on a place that will capture the largest part of the room. On the other hand, if your goal is to have surveillance over a specific part of your room, such as your gun safe, try to place the camera so that it covers that part, and what surrounds it. Make sure you aren’t too obvious, though.
Another key thing to consider is the battery and battery life. When you’ve got months of battery on a clock, it’s not an issue, but with a camera, that battery life will disappear pretty quickly. If you have the option to have it discretely plugged in at all times, you can have it record all the time. This is especially true if your camera has loop recording, because you’ll basically never run out of storage, and you get continuous recording until you turn it off.
Wrapping things up
At the end of the day, if you’ve got the aforementioned information, it’s easy to choose a good HD Wi-Fi clock camera. Decide on the type, make sure you get the best possible quality with a wide field of view, and always get one with Wi-Fi and a motion detection feature. Do this, and you’re more than good to go.
