Xiaomi’s C401 camera lets you steer a 2.5K view from your phone
The Xiaomi Smart Camera C401 is priced at £45.99 ($62) and captures 2560×1440 video while its dual motors rotate 360° horizontally and 101° vertically through the Xiaomi Home app. It offers 940nm infrared night vision, two-way audio, and alerts for people, cats, dogs, crying, and loud noises. Users can store footage on a separately bought microSD card, and the AI detection features must be switched on during setup.
The C401 records 2560×1440 from a 4MP sensor and moves via two motors, reaching 360° side-to-side and 101° up/down when controlled in Xiaomi Home. Its 940nm infrared lighting is intended to illuminate dark rooms without a visible red glow, and the camera supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi 6 networks.
Footage can be kept on a user-supplied microSD card ranging from 8GB to 512GB, provided it is Class 10 or faster and formatted as FAT32; NAS backup still needs such a card. Detection for people, cats, dogs, crying and loud sounds starts switched off, while alert pushes initially repeat every ten minutes.
Affordable pan-and-tilt cameras like the C401 could widen access to remote home and pet monitoring for households that might otherwise skip connected security gear. That may help people check on pets, children, or rooms while away, but it could also make always-on indoor cameras more common, raising practical questions about consent, visitor privacy, and how recorded footage is stored and shared. The effect likely depends on how clearly owners set boundaries and manage alerts.