With the recent rise in home automation, one of the categories to see the most improvement is security. For years the idea of a home security system was costly and complicated. As more companies enter the space, it becomes harder to know what to pick, their offerings, or even what you personally need. Noorio hopes to answer some of these questions with their new line of products, but are they good enough to compete with the major players?
Editor’s Note: Due to Noorio B210 and Noorio B310 having similar elements, these reviews will contained reused or slightly altered sections where applicable. Likewise, certain images will be altered due to privacy or similar concerns.
Noorio B210 Review Overview
Unboxing
At first glance B210 packaging looks exactly like I imagine a security camera product would. The front shows the product, Noorio logo, and highlights the wire-free aspect. Two sides also feature the Noorio logo, third contains specifications, and the last being a laundry list of big features.
I actually like how robust the specifications are. Not only are basic things like the product dimensions included (3.3″ x 3.3″ x 3″), more technical aspects are also listed. For instance, the site lists this model as having a 2K resolution, compared to the packaging mention 2560×1440. This is a great distinction, as there is a lot of discourse about 2K and 1440 being different things. There is also confirmation of a 140° field of view, 1/2.7″ 4-megapixel camera, to even mentioning night vision is IR LED x2, White LED x2.
Inside is a well designed set of compartments. On the bottom is a paper holder containing the camera, with all the accessories safely stored above. These include a full paper manual, positioning sticker for mounting, screws, mounting bracket, and base.
Design
Noorio played it safe by giving B210 a fairly standard design. The round white camera has camera related functions on the front, with the back having a port cover, and threaded opening for a mount. The latter is a standard screw that can be used with a wide variety of accessories. In my case I used it with one of my tripods, though you need to be careful with that. My tripod has a black rubbery barrier that slightly discolored the back of B210.
For me the real highlight are the accessories. Both the mounting and magnetic brackets are designed with simplicity in mind. When hanging either, the part that connects to the wall is effortlessly removed. After that they’re attached by simply twisting into place.
Easy to Install
I also want to talk briefly about the magnetic base. As much as I like the clean look it provides, such designs can be hit/miss. I was relieved to see the magnetic base is extremely powerful. Not only does it require genuine effort to separate the two, it shouldn’t cause an issue under normal use.
Set Up
After downloading the application (Android/iOS) and making/signing into your Noorio account, select set up a device. A very well made guided tutorial will explain you need to scan the QR code on the back, potentially disable phone cellular, give it a name, sign into wifi, and it will conclude.
Brief Look at the Set Up Process
Immediately after Noorio offers mounting support as well. I won’t show all the settings, but it’s fantastic to see such an intuitive application. I’ll also give Noorio a lot of credit for having it usable on a Mac computer.
My M1 iMac was able to download the application, get notifications, and fully use it which is extremely useful. It even gives notifications and appears to work exactly the same way as the app itself. Huge benefit for anyone in that ecosystem.
Application Functionality
Once B210 is fully set up you can start using the application to explore its features. These can be overwhelming at first, though most exist to tailor the experience to your liking.
So Many Settings
Among the most important to set up is smart detection. This setting controls alerts for motion/people, proximity (7′ to 30′), or activity zones. Up to three can be used at a time, perfect if this is in a high traffic area that might trigger false alarms. These can also be customized a fairly well through a six point adjustable object.
Some other notable options include HDR support, light brightness, which notifications do you want, privacy modes, audio recording, to even how frequently alerts go off and the duration of each capture. Most of these will vary depending on your actual use case or situation.
Alerts
One of the most important features to a security camera is how well they handle alerts. With a 140° field of view, B210 performed exceptionally well. Anytime I tried to trigger it I would get a notification within a couple seconds.
Insert Metal Gear Solid Sound
Where I was really impressed is their human detection system. At no point was B210 able to determine a human from just my hand, though if I stood even slightly within its general range I would get the someone detected notification. Even in low light situations it performed well enough where I am confident it would perform when I needed it most.
Automation
In addition to alerts, those with multiple Noorio cameras can create automations to protect their home. Overall, the idea is good, it just lacks a good number of options.
For triggers you’re limited to a selected camera noticing motion or limiting it to a person. Once this occurs, another camera can either start recording or set off an alarm. It’s great to have and something I suggest using, I would just like to see more options.
Picture Quality
As previously mentioned, B210 features a picture resolution 2560×1440 and is listed as a 4-megapixel camera. For this reason, it helps to go into this experience with the right expectations.
In most cases the picture quality will not be a concern. I could easily tell who I was from any image, which is ultimately what matters. I included some images of my large Nendoroid collection to show how B210 holds up on finer details.
Every image is clear enough where I can easily make out each and every collectible pictured. Figuring out their accessories or reading their names, especially characters like Dio, Dark Magician Girl, Giovanni (Pokemon), and so forth prove to be a challenge.
From a previous review I have a Sonoff Cam Slim. This is a streamlined camera that costs about $40. Under HD settings the captures come in at 1179×662 and I included an image of my workstation with it and another using B210. The difference should be clear and illustrate the importance of image quality.
Another big setting are the three different low light options. Out of the three I prefer night vision due to the overall quality. However, I can see situations where having color might make a difference. Thankfully, these are easily accessible by changing the option in the app.
Beware, Vicious Dog
Video recording is in a similar place. Files are given an HEVC encoding and while the picture quality is 1440p, it’s at 15 FPS. Gamers might balk at the idea of 15 FPS, though it helps to remember movies and TV are typically 24 FPS. Again, this is more than enough in this setting and something that helps a lot with storage.
Storage Capacity.
One major concern with home security is storage. The aforementioned Cam Slim camera avoided the issue by including a MicroSD slot, though with Noorio you’re stuck with the default option. This can make picking between B200, their 1080p/8 GB option, and this one with 1440p/16 GB a challenge. While I was not given B200, I can confirm B210 has 14.55 GB is available space.
Since it uses HEVC and 15 FPS the overall file sizes are surprisingly small. 35 triggered events, which should be 35 different 20 second long videos, only used 65 MB of data. A 2 minute long video in full color came out to being 7.2 MB. I repeated the process with the LED enabled and a 2 minute video was 7.3 MB. Finally, I tried it with night vision and this 2 minute video came in at 2.4 MB.
In most situations I don’t think either storage capacities will cause an actual issue. Worst case you might purge all instances every other month.
Subscription Service
Like most smart camera systems, Noorio offers a premium subscription. Before worrying about having to pay for it, a month is included with their products so you can test it before buying. That said, I wanted to talk about it briefly.
Noorio offers two tiers of service. According to their FAQ, they suggest those with three or less cameras select basic for $4 a month or $40 for the year. Those with four or more are advised to purchase their plus plan for $10 a month or $100 for the year. Compared to major players, it’s the same as Blink and slightly less than Nest.
This service offers up to 4K recording, AWS AES security, quicker access to content to better preserve battery life, and remote back ups. The latter is ultimately the selling point, as you’ll have a copy of any triggers in the event it’s destroyed or stolen.
Overall I can’t tell you if the subscription is right for you, though I will say B210 is fully usable without it. Another massive consideration is manual recordings are saved directly to the device watching. So if I select record on my iPhone, it records directly to said phone and not the device in question. This can be massive if you get the trigger and are able to access it before something happens.
Accessories
Since we’re covering both B210 and B310, Noorio was nice enough to include their solar panel as well. This can be used either indoor or outdoor, with an option in the dedicated app for it.
Overall the panel is nothing crazy, though it boasts a roughly 7.3″ x 4.6″ space to collect sunlight. It also includes a lot of the features we praised their cameras for having. These include a two part mount, and threaded mount. In addition to that there is a long non-replacable 10′ USB-C cable. From what I tested it worked fine when I had sunlight and I like it includes a way to hide excess cable length.
Noorio B210 Review Verdict
I can safely say I was satisfied with my experience using B210. Not only was the application easy to set up, there were countless options to truly personalize the experience. I was also happy with how well and consistently the motion tracking worked, to the point where I would have no issue trusting B210 at the time of need. While the picture quality could be a little clearer, overall I feel like Noorio is offing a solid product for the price.
Editor’s Note: Noorio B210 was provided to us for review purposes. This review was updated slightly after it was originally published to reflect certain elements from our B310 review.
