Walmart just turned the smart home market upside down. The retail giant launched its first security cameras today - a $23 indoor camera and $50 video doorbell built in deep partnership with Google to run Gemini AI features. At these prices, they're undercutting established players while offering premium AI capabilities that were previously locked behind expensive ecosystem walls.
Walmart just dropped a bombshell in the smart home space. The retail giant's first-ever security cameras launch today, and they're not just another budget knockoff - they're the result of what Google calls a 'very deep collaboration' to bring Gemini AI to mainstream consumers at unprecedented prices.
The $22.96 Onn Indoor camera and $49.86 Onn Video Doorbell hit Walmart.com today, and the specs are legitimately impressive for the price point. We're talking 1080p HDR video at 30fps for the indoor model, while the doorbell delivers 1600x1200 HDR with a 165-degree field of view that rivals premium offerings.
But here's where it gets interesting - these aren't generic cameras with Google branding slapped on. 'We don't want to constrain Gemini to just one brand, one OEM, one form factor, one price point,' Google Home's Anish Kattukaran told The Verge. 'So we're going to work with a bunch of different partners. Walmart's our first. It was a very deep collaboration.'
The partnership runs deeper than typical white-label deals. These cameras integrate natively with the Google Home app and tap directly into Google's new Gemini for Home features. With a Google Home Premium subscription ($10-20 monthly), users get AI-powered text descriptions of what the camera sees and natural language search through recorded footage.
Walmart's timing couldn't be better. The company's spokesperson Leigh Stidham confirmed that even without a subscription, the cameras offer three hours of free recorded event history. That's a crucial differentiator when budget-conscious consumers are weighing monthly fees against hardware costs.
The market impact is immediate and substantial. At $23, the indoor camera undercuts virtually every competitor while delivering specs that mirror Google's previous Nest lineup. The $50 doorbell directly challenges Amazon's Blink budget models, but with more sophisticated AI integration baked in.
