SimpliSafe’s Wired Indoor Camera is affordable and has all the basic features.
5 min readSimpliSafe's Wired Indoor Camera (formerly known as the SimpliCam) is one of the most well-known and affordable DIY security systems on the market. While we love the SimpliSafe security system, its cameras are a bit basic, and the Wired Indoor Camera is no different.
For an indoor camera, the Wired Indoor Camera has decent features and will be good enough to keep an eye on kids or pets. Although the camera's $99 price tag is relatively cheap, you can still find better cameras for less, like the Wyze Cam v3.
Wired Indoor Camera price and details
Data effective as of 7/10/23. Offers subject to change.
Wired Indoor Camera features
The Wired Indoor Camera has useful, but basic, security camera features
The Wired Indoor Camera has features we expect from any security camera worth its salt, including night vision, two-way audio, and motion detection.
The Wired Indoor Camera can send you notifications when it detects motion in a room, and two-way audio lets you hear what’s going on in the room and talk to whoever’s in there. If you need to scold your pet (or your kid) for eating something they shouldn’t, the Wired Indoor Camera makes it easy.
Source: SimpliSafe
Wired Indoor Camera features:
- 1080p resolution
- Motion detection
- 120º field of view
- Two-way audio
- Person detection
- Free livefeed
- 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi compatibility
- Downloadable video clips
- 30-day cloud storage plan
- Video verification with SimpliSafe
Free livefeed, paid cloud storage
You don’t have to pay a monthly subscription fee just to use the Wired Indoor Camera, but you will if you want to review footage later.
Without a cloud storage subscription, the Wired Indoor Camera lets you view the camera’s livefeed and respond to alerts in the moment. But if you want to look at clips you missed or download video footage, then you’ll need to subscribe to SimpliSafe’s camera-only plan.
Person detection
The Wired Indoor Camera has person detection, which means it can tell the difference between humans and non-humans. Instead of alerting you every time it spots motion of any kind, the Wired Indoor Camera can send alerts only when it detects human motion.
Person detection is useful because you can otherwise get 50 alerts in a day just because it was windy outside and the camera spotted a moving tree branch.
This feature is less useful if you’re using the camera to watch pets. If you’re using the Wired Indoor Camera as a pet camera, make sure you set alerts to “all motion” instead of just people.
Wall-mount option
The Wired Indoor Camera works best on flat surfaces, but you can also mount it on a wall if you want to. The camera’s stand comes right off, and you can position the camera in the corner of a room to get a full view.
The Wired Indoor Camera does still use a power cord, so you’ll need to figure out how to wrangle that to keep the camera plugged in. But the Wired Indoor Camera power cord is honestly quite long to begin with.
No Alexa or Google integration
If you have a SimpliSafe security system, you can use Alexa or Google Assistant to arm your system and check its status. But you can’t do anything with the Wired Indoor Camera and Alexa or Google. There effectively aren’t any smart home integrations for this camera. You can’t pair the camera with SmartThings or IFTTT either.
If you want a home security camera with better smart home integrations, we recommend Arlo or Eufy cameras.
Wired Indoor Camera pricing
The Wired Indoor Camera costs about one hundred bucks
The Wired Indoor Camera is pretty affordable by security camera standards. It costs only about $100. Compare that to something like the Nest Cam Outdoor that costs more like $200.
Image source: Reviews.org
Despite its low price, the Wired Indoor Camera isn’t the cheapest security camera around. There are cameras from Blink, Wyze, and Ring that are cheaper than the Wired Indoor Camera, and all of them have more advanced features than SimpliSafe’s little indoor camera.
For example, the Wyze Cam v3 can be used indoors or outdoors, has color night vision, local storage, sound, human, package, and vehicle detection, and 24/7 continuous recording. All that and it costs only around $32.
Motion-activated clips only
Whether you use the Interactive monitoring plan or SimpliSafe’s individual Camera Subscription plan, the SimpliCam can’t record 24/7 continuous footage—you get only motion-activated video clips.
Wired Indoor Camera home automation
The Wired Indoor Camera doesn’t really work with any smart home stuff
Even the full SimpliSafe system doesn’t have very many smart home integrations—and the Wired Indoor Camera has even fewer.
The Wired Indoor Camera will work directly with your SimpliSafe security system. You can view the camera feed on the SimpliSafe mobile app home screen, and camera events will show up in the SimpliSafe timeline of security events. But the camera doesn’t work with Alexa, Google Assistant, or any other smart speakers or devices.
Wired Indoor Camera installation
The Wired Indoor Camera takes only a few minutes to set up
The Wired Indoor Camera will take you only 5 to 10 minutes to set up. The SimpliSafe mobile app will give you step-by-step walk-through instructions to plug in the camera, link it to your Wi-Fi network, and connect it to your SimpliSafe system (if you have one).
Wired Indoor Camera installation steps:
- Plug in the camera.
- Open the SimpliSafe app (or download it if you don’t have it.)
- Log into your account (or create a new one.)
- Select Cameras from the menu and tap Add New Camera.
- Select the Wired Indoor Camera and follow the instructions to connect the camera to your Wi-Fi network.
- Use your phone to scan the QR code on the camera.
- Watch the app for the confirmation message that your Wired Indoor Camera is connected.
In our tests, the Wired Indoor Camera did just as well as other affordable indoor cameras, like the Blink Mini and the Eufy Indoor Cam 2K. It gave us clear images where you could clearly see people’s faces and movements.
It wasn’t amazing quality, but it was perfectly average in every way.
Recap: Is the Wired Indoor Camera good?
The Wired Indoor Camera is a decent indoor security camera that works with your SimpliSafe system
If you want a cheap indoor security camera that works with your SimpliSafe security system, then the Wired Indoor Camera fits the bill. We don’t recommend it as an add-on for any other home security systems because it won’t work directly with those systems. But for SimpliSafe users, or as a standalone indoor camera, it’s not a bad choice.
- Features: The Wired Indoor Camera has standard security features like two-way audio, night vision, and motion detection. You can use the camera to talk to people through the camera and see what’s going on in that room—even at night.
- Pricing: The Wired Indoor Camera is affordable at only about $100. You can often get the Wired Indoor Camera for free if you buy a SimpliSafe home security system.
- Home automation: The Wired Indoor Camera has basically no smart home integrations. It doesn’t work with Alexa or Google, and you can’t integrate it with other smart stuff in your house.
- Installation: The Wired Indoor Camera is easy to set up, and will take you only a few minutes to add to the mobile app and connect to your Wi-Fi network.
Not sure if the Wired Indoor Camera is right for you? Check out our Best Indoor Cameras review for more options.
Related Articles
An Honest Verizon 5G Home Internet Review, According to Customers
Verizon 5G Home Internet is reliable, affordable, and a crowd-pleaser, at least until you run...
Best Internet Deals and Discounts for Veterans and Active Military
Veterans and military families may qualify for free or discounted internet; check out our guide...
How Much Cell Phone Data Do I Need?
You need data for your smartphone. But how much? Here’s how to figure out just...
The Best Internet for Streaming
We have three fiber internet and two cable internet suggestions. We go over speeds, pricing,...
