Full description not available
J**O
Good Camera, not so good cloud service
Overall this is a good buy for the price. Here's the breakdown of ny experience so far:The Good:1. Although the image quality isn't really 1080p, it's good quality. You can clearly see and zoom in and still get back good image.2. Setup was easy. The instructions aren't the best but you can get through the setup easily enough with what you're given.3. Wifi connectivity is good. So far we haven't had issues with it disconnecting or being unable to acces the camera4. The intercom feature is good and fun. If there's echo it can be hard to make out, but overall the feature is useful.5. MicroSD slot for saving is good though I don't really use it.6. Motion detection is good also unless you have pets. It's pretty sensitive and will alert you often if you have pets so it's not a feature I use.The Bad1. The cloud storage offered isn't very good. You get a 30 day trial with it but there's no way to log into the account. Inwanted to attemp to link the camera to my Google Home with the cloud service but it doesn't work.2. Packaging could be better.3. Can't add it to Google Home unless you have the cloud storage service.
F**N
A very nice little camera! Especially surprising for the reasonable price.
I received this cam a little over a week ago, but I put off installing it, because of the lousy experience I'd had with other superficially similar devices in the past. I didn't have an extra afternoon to devote to installing, setting up, debugging, and swearing at another one. I read the instructions, and thought, "Sure, it'll work just like that."But, when I got around to installing it, I was a bit shocked, because the little guy actually installed quickly and easily, exactly like it's supposed to, with no messing around.I downloaded the 360eyes app. Some might be nervous about this since it's from a website, not the Google Play Store. Although I hadn't heard of the developer, I run Malwarebytes on my device, which keeps a pretty good eye on my installs, so I felt confident in giving it a try. I suspect there are other Google Play-available apps that would work with it, but this one works fine, so I'm not shopping yet for another one. (I also installed the iOS app on my iPad, and it looks and works exactly like the Android version.)After installing the app, I followed the very simple instructions in the box, and in the app, and the thing was installed in something like 4 minutes. And it works! Very well! It installs using a series of sonic signals that set up the communications between the camera and the app. This requires the phone to be close to the camera and connected to the WiFi network the camera will be using while it talks back and forth for a minute while setting it up. But after that, it takes care of itself, even in the event of interruptions in power or WiFi signal. As soon as those are restored, it resets itself and all goes back to normal automatically, at least as far as I can tell.I thought I was having a problem with it the other night, since when I checked in on the app it showed the camera "Offline". I thought, "OK, here we go." But it turned out to be the WiFi network AP it hooks up to, not the camera, and as soon as I fixed that, the little guy came right back up "Online" and works like a champ. And this connection is through a WiFi range extender that sometimes gives cameras trouble, in my experience.It comes with a decent phone-style block charger, and a very long (8' or so?) cord (USB to USB-C). This plugs into the back of the camera, right next to the reset button that unlike most, is very easy to see and activate, should you need to do that.Mounting it would be very easy with the mounting bracket and screws with anchors provided, but I chose not to even do that. I had a PIR alarm system sensor mounted right where I wanted to put the camera, so I just set it on top of that. Of course, that means I can only see a 90 degree slice of the room because it's in a corner, but that's OK for this use. I checked the cam, and it does spin full circle if needed. (See photo above.)I installed it in an outbuilding (airplane hangar) so I can keep an eye on things, and check out any intrusion alarms my security system might send me. In daylight, it is fantastic. (See photo above.) It has a very clear picture, and the camera is very responsive to pointing commands. It operates very smoothly and quickly, as long as it has a good WiFi signal.After installation, it does a 360 degree scan and stores a panoramic picture of the area in which it's installed. This is helpful because if you want to point it at a certain place within it's visible range, all you have to do is tap the image, and it will point to that position. (See app screenshot above.)The app gives you the opportunity to turn on or off the green status LED that indicates the camera is functioning. You may want it on, to draw attention to it, or you may not. Either way, it's your choice, with the slide of a switch in the configuration menu.It has a motion-detection alarm that you can select, which will notify you via the app if anything moves in the field of view. I didn't test this extensively, since I don't need that function, but I did try it, and it seems to work fine.For night viewing, it has several Infrared LED's which light up the dark areas. They work very well to illuminate a normal size dark room, but they are also visible to the naked eye, so it's not what you'd call stealthy. Anyone looking at it at night will be able to see the 3 red dots from the LED's.Mine is installed in an airplane hangar, as I said, which is much bigger than a usual room: about 50'x60'. This means it definitely helps make things visible in the dark, but at night you don't get anywhere near the great picture it gives you in daylight. Plenty good for the monitoring I need, but you won't be reading anyone's wristwatch via the camera at night. It works just fine in a normal sized room. (The dark photo attached is evening with a full moon outside, with no lights in the building.)It also has a 2-way sound function. You can mute it, or monitor what's going on where the camera is, and talk to the person (or pets) who are visible on the camera. The sound is a little tinny due to the tiny speaker, but hey, it works pretty well, actually.My only complaints would be these:1.) I would prefer to have the option to use a browser to monitor the camera. I would like to be able to check in on things using any computer or phone, without having to install the 360eyes app. I really don't like using third-party apps or cloud services for these cams, but it seems that all but the most ridiculously expensive ones require that, so I have no reasonable choice.2.) I'd like to see the 360eyes app added to the Google Play store. I think I've covered my bases pretty well security-wise, so the idea of adding another "security device" that requires side-loading an app from the internet bothers me a bit. I'll have to do some more research to see if there are any other ways to access this camera.3.) I'd like to see a local storage option so I can use it without a mystery cloud service (Who owns it? Where?) I have to pay for. I don't like others having access to my information. It may be possible with third-party software, but I haven't found that yet. You can use a TF/SD Card (micro) but then that isn't remotely accessible. You have to pull it from the camera to read it. Most of the small cameras work this way, unfortunately.All in all, I've been very happy with this camera so far, and I may be purchasing several more, to replace the junkers I already have (which cost about 2x-3x what this one did.) That way, too, I will be able to use the same app to monitor everything, instead of switching back and forth as I must now to watch my old cams and this one. If it lasts a while, it'll be well-worth the money.
C**R
Meets expectations
Your browser does not support HTML5 video. - Unboxing: the camera arrived well packaged in its box with all accessories accounted for.- Set up: the instructions were not in perfect English but worked fine and the set up on the local WiFi was a breeze.- Power: the camera runs on 5V DC supplied via the included Lightning cable of great length.- Memory card: no card is included with the camera but one can use a micro-SD card up to 128GB capacity to store video footage locally. I have not tested SD card storage.- Cloud storage: not tested.- Video quality: the picture is as close to 1080p as I can discern with a human eye on a screen. Night vision is just slightly less perfect but the illumination from the built-in IR LEDs is more than satisfactory.- Bandwidth: in SD, the BW consumed keeps jumping between 300 and 800 kbps. In HD mode, the jump is narrower but still there, between 800 and 1200 kbps.- Size: as evident from the pictures, this is not a big camera. It fits nicely in a palm. So it won't take up much space.- 360 degree picture: while the picture from the camera can come from 360 degrees, the camera does not offer continuous rotation. I.e. if one rotates it all they way left and wants to see more left, the camera will rotate all the way right to continue rotation left.- Motion detection: the detection itself works fine, it is the notification that requires some attention from the SW developers. Unless the app is running, there won't be any notification. And it is only in the form of a ding with no popup, no warning, no record in the alarm section.- Door bell: it is a nice feature which allows the viewer of the camera to be notified of a guest ringing the bell but again, it requires the app to be running.- Incoming audio: the audio coming from the camera is pretty clear, one can hear birds chirping or people whispering nearby.- Outgoing audio: this feature needs extra attention because it does not transmit the audio very well, it cuts it off or it plays it in batches, sometimes never (and then it plays when someone rings the bell). This definitely needs improvement.- Apps: the manufacturer offers SW for 3 major platforms: Windows, Android and iOS.Room for improvement:- As mentioned above, the outgoing audio feature needs some work.- With the mobile app running, the camera makes constant motor whirring noises (evidenced by the attached video clip). Not only can they be pretty distracting if one is close to the camera, this potentially indicates a bug in the SW which might burn out the motor sooner than later.- The SW for the mobile devices has some flaws but given this is a 1.0 release, it is pretty much expected. The SW for PC isn't far behind in the quality, having issues with multiple monitors etc. But again, I treat all 1.0 SW as buggy versions out for beta testing by early adopters.In conclusion: the camera offers good utility with some initial quirks but all those can be fixed and the product can be improved upon.
Trustpilot
1 day ago
1 week ago
