OK, it's no Dropcam.

Which we guess they just call “Nest Cam” now that Nest owns it. Whatever you call it, that’s the hip video monitor. The sleek one. The one that’s too cool to ever be hanging out with you if you weren’t paying it for its time. You should get Dropc- er, Nest Cam if you’re the kind of person who can say “Internet of things” with a straight face - and if you’ve got $200 up front and at least $100 a year for cloud recording. Go on. It’s cool. See you tomorrow.

Now, who’s left?

The Stem Izon 2.0 is the WiFi camera you should consider. Number one, it’s cheaper. Number two, it’s a lot cheaper. These two cameras will cost you about one-ninth of what a pair of Nest Cams would cost. The price tags are so far apart, it’s almost like the Stem Izon isn’t even the same kind of product.

Except that it performs the same basic functions: live video streaming over WiFi to an Android or iOS app, with motion detection, sound detection, alerts, and a certain amount of recording.

Is it anywhere near as good? Eh, probably not. Will you ever notice the difference? Hard to say. If you want to go beyond the rudiments, maybe.

The real question is: will you notice the difference in your bank account? If not - if you’re not sweating an extra couple of hundred bucks either way - go get The Video Monitoring System Formerly Known As Dropcam. If you can afford a Rolls-Royce, don’t buy a Honda Civic. If you can afford courtside seats, don’t strain yourself hiking up to the upper deck.

But if you just want a car to get you to work… if you just want to be inside the arena at tipoff… if you can think of a few better uses for that extra $$$ than spending it on TVMSFKAD’s bells, whistles, and marginally better performance, here’s your Stem Izon 2.0.

At least you can be sure of one thing: you’ll never have to get used to calling it by some other name because Nest bought the company. Or have any of the other headaches related to a big company acquiring a little one. Believe us, they can be a real pain.