Google Clips: Clip it and forget it

This post was originally published in the Southwest Journal, a Southwest Minneapolis community newspaper.#####

Verizon Wireless loaned me the most recent product to try out, called Google Clips. Thisis a small, square camera that looks like a miniature security camera. But what is it really?

Google Clips is a smart, hands-free camera you can set up and forget about, allowing it to take pictures on its own when it deems the setting and participants to be picture perfect. Its machine learning and artificial intelligence decides when to take pictures and can recognize what it considers to be good photos.

It actually captures little motion “clips” without audio. You can then look through the saved clip frame by frame and save a single frame as a photo. There is a manual capture button, but there is no preview screen unless you are looking at the live preview on your smartphone —in which case it would be easier to just take the picture directly on your phone.

According to Google, “Google Clips learns to recognize familiar faces. The more you’re with someone, the more it learns to capture clips of them. It can also pick out pets like cats or dogs.” Additionally, “Google Clips features Moment IQ, a machine learning algorithm that’s smart enough to recognize great expressions, lighting and framing. And it’s always learning.”

In a blog post from Google, “Clips’ improved intelligence can help you capture more of the candid and fleeting moments that happen in between those posed frames we are all so familiar with.”

I love the idea of this — grabbing those candid moments effortlessly.

At $250, this is a pricey gadget that does very little. Google Clips has a 130 degree field of view, captures 15 frames per second and has 16 gigabytes of storage built in, with about three hours of capture time. Videos are captured at 1080p.

It is a simple device, and there is not much more to it than that. The rubber case that it comes in includes a clip that can be used as a stand or attached to something else.

Google Clips requires very little user interaction other than to review the motion clips on your smartphone, where you can choose to delete or add them to your Google Photos account directly. Google has announced that functionality will be added so that you can view the clips from multiple smartphones. This makes sense, as I would like to be able to share the photos with family members.

The problem for me is that I don’t quite get it. I have tried it out, placing it in stationary positions and even clipping it onto my shirt while my kids were playing outside. Google Clips has taken some decent clips for me, but nothing that seems to justify purchasing a device like this.

The demo clips that Google has on their website show clips of young kids and pets, all from great angles. In use, I didn’t find that leaving it on a table produced desirable clips.

I really like the idea of setting it up and letting it do its own thing, but I just haven’t found anywhere good to set it up. My kids don’t remain in one room long enough to get any good pictures.

With the right setup for a good vantage point, this could be a fun device capturing those candid moments and preserving them without having to be prepared for them at all times. For me however, I think I am used to being more in control of my photos.

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Paul Burnstein is a tech handyman. As the founder of Gadget Guy MN, Paul helps personal and business clients optimize their use of technology. He can be found through gadgetguymn.com or via email at paul@gadgetguymn.com.