I’m a hi tech kind of guy but had never worked with security cameras until a friend ask me to set some up for him. I started with battery powered cams, but when they arrived, they were bigger than expected and I realized how inconvenient charging would be. I also found the app very confusing, it did have some nice features but was poorly written. So I returned the battery cams and searched for a powered cam, and found these.
At HALF the price of the battery cam, I wasn’t expecting a lot, but these cams DELIVER! They are smaller, easier to position inconspicuously, and the quality of the image is fantastic, far better than the battery cams. They are easy to set up IF you follow the directions, and they seem to have a very stable WiFi connection. The app is not perfect, but much better that the app for the battery cam. There is a very nice feature in the app that lets you define the motion detection area within the camera’s view, although there is no motion sensitivity adjustment. Motion detection notifications are easy to set up and customize, you can define any number of modes, and set up an optional schedule for each mode.
After setting up my first cam, I had a few questions and emailed support. I received a reply the next day with helpful information. Based on the support reply, I decided to install these cams for my friend AND for myself. I bought a total of six. The first five installed flawlessly, but the sixth just would not connect to WiFi. I emailed support again, including a short video of the setup problem, and I received a replacement cam within a few days. My system and my friend’s system are now fully installed and working flawlessly.
Some additional information: I decided to purchase SD cards instead of going with the cloud service. I estimate that a 128GB card can store about 45 days of video. When the card is full, the cam starts overwriting old video with new video, so you always have the most recent 45 days of video available. When adding a device, the app will search the network, and then tell you it found nothing, the only options being to search again or cancel. Don’t let this confuse you — of course it found nothing, the new cam is not on your network yet. So, select cancel, then select Start Installation AGAIN and you’ll get the prompt to scan the QR code in the manual. After entering your WiFi password, you’ll see a QR code on your PHONE which you then scan with the CAM. Don’t get confused by this! For the first scan, the code is in the manual, and you scan it with your phone. For the second scan, the code appears on your phone, and you scan it with the new cam. I also purchased an Echo Show for my self and for my friend. Linking to Alexa is simple, just like all the other services you might have linked to Alexa. After a verbal command, it takes about 10 seconds until the image appears on the Echo Show. I wish the image appeared more quickly, but I understand why it takes that long. You can also hear audio on the Echo Show and speak through the cam, just as you can with the phone. If you have an iPhone and an Apple Watch, you will also get notifications on the watch, which includes a snapshot from the cam at the moment motion was detected. Very cool!
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