Shelly Group has launched its first smart camera, entering the video monitoring market with a subscription-free device priced under £40 in the UK and $50 in the US.
Rather than debuting as a standalone product, the Shelly Camera slots directly into the company’s existing smart home and building automation ecosystem, working alongside its relays, sensors and lighting devices.
That ecosystem approach comes as Shelly enters a video monitoring category already crowded with established smart camera brands, a market it plans to differentiate in through automation rather than notifications alone.
On the hardware side, the camera captures Full HD 1080p video across a 110 degree horizontal and 70 degree vertical field of view, wide enough for a single unit to cover most rooms. Black-and-white night vision extends that coverage once natural light drops away.
Motion detection sits at the centre of the camera’s automation role, triggering lighting, relays or other predefined actions across the Shelly ecosystem without requiring a Cloud subscription or ongoing running costs.
Upgrading to Shelly Cloud adds intelligent object detection, letting the camera distinguish between people, pets and vehicles for more relevant alerts, while advanced users can instead run local AI models on compatible hardware for fully local automation setups.
Storage and subscription options
Shelly has built the camera around three viewing and storage choices, letting users watch a live stream without recording, save footage locally to a microSD card that is sold separately, or opt into Shelly Cloud for cloud-based storage.
The Shelly Cloud Premium plan covers storage for one camera, with additional subscription packs available for three, six or ten cameras, and every purchase includes three months of Shelly Cloud at no extra cost before any ongoing payment is required.
Connectivity and compatibility
Dual-band Wi-Fi across 2.4GHz and 5GHz pairs with Bluetooth for setup, and the camera requires no additional hub, connecting through MQTT, WebSocket and WebRTC protocols that support Home Assistant, Frigate NVR, Amazon Alexa, Google Home and Samsung SmartThings.
Beyond monitoring, a built-in microphone and speaker enable two-way audio, a feature suited to speaking with children, elderly relatives, visitors or colleagues remotely through the camera itself from anywhere with an internet connection.
Stamen Tasev, UK and Ireland country manager at Shelly Group, said the company built the camera to connect with a wider automation ecosystem rather than add another camera to an already crowded market, describing it as the first product in a new area of innovation.
The Shelly Camera carries a recommended price of £37.90 in the UK, €39.90 in the eurozone and $49.99 in the US, and comes in black and white finishes with a two-year manufacturer’s warranty.
Powered over USB-C with a two-metre cable and mounting plate included, the compact camera can sit on a shelf or desk, or mount to a wall or ceiling depending on where coverage is needed.
The Shelly Camera becomes available soon through Shelly.com and the company’s network of authorised distributors and resellers, with a firm UK release date yet to be confirmed by the company.
