Wireless IP Camera, Elebor Pan/Tilt 720P HD Night Vision Remote Baby Mini Home Camera Surveillance Camera for Security System, Video Baby Monitor, Two-Way Audio, Motion Detection White

It could be said that my reason for buying this device is because I'm a big soft-hearted buffoon, but I'd rather be a soft-hearted buffoon than an cold, uncaring one all the same. You see, the reason I bought this was so that my partner and I could keep an eye on Maurice, our cat. He's a house cat who has reached the grand old age of 19, which is about 92 in human years, so we worry about the wee guy and thought that it would be a great thing if we could keep an eye on him while we're not in the house.I looked at several different cameras but decided to go for this one in the end, as it has got the ability to be panned and tilted and seemed to have some other cool features which belied its budget price tag.>>>>>>WHAT'S IN THE BOX?In the box for this IP camera, you'll find (rather obviously) the camera itself, an adjustable mounting bracket, its power adapter, an instruction booklet and a couple of screws with rawl plugs to attach it to a wall or ceiling.>>>>>>FIRST IMPRESSIONS?When I first opened the smart-looking packaging for this camera and removed it and the various components from the box, I have to say that I was quietly impressed with the camera itself - it really felt well-built and looked really smart. The mounting bracket is also of a high quality and features a swing arm on it that allows it to be attached to a wall or a ceiling and be adjusted up to ninety degrees vertically. So yeah, it all looked pretty good!>>>>>>SETTING IT UPIn my experience, this is often the bit that can either improve upon or break the first impressions that I have with a device and with this particular camera, I'm a little split. Sure enough, it was easy to install the 'iSmartViewPro' app from the Google Play store onto my smartphone, but when it came to actually getting the camera connected to my WiFi, it proved to be a bit more of a battle than expected. If the included instruction booklet was to be believed it would only take a few moments, but in reality it was somewhat akin to pulling teeth. Despite my best efforts of pointing it towards my router's 2.4gHz SSID, it kept wanting to connect to its 5gHz one, which it was incompatible with - so I explored its other connection methods and eventually used my routers AES ability to finally get them to speak properly to each other, which is what I wish I'd done to begin with!I should mention that the setup process involves you having to scan a QR code on the base of the camera itself, so you should make sure that you set it up BEFORE mounting it on a wall or ceiling to avoid headaches!>>>>>>A FANTASTIC APP!I've used a couple of the smartphone-connected IP cameras in the past and while the cameras themselves were pretty good, the smartphone Apps that they interfaced with were truly awful. Thankfully, I'm glad to report that this is not the case with this one - the 'iSmartViewPro' app is actually really rather good and, despite the small setup hiccups that I experienced, I was pleased to see that it ran nicely on my Nexus 6P Smartphone.Once connected to the camera, it allows you to immediately go in and view the image from it, where you also have several options along the top and bottom of the screen that allow you to flip the image horizontally or vertically, lock the pan and tilt modes, take photos, take videos, mute the audio, adjust the brightness/contrast and toggle between 720P and 480P. Panning and tilting can be done remotely by simply swiping your finger across your screen for it to pan/tilt up, down, left and right. Rather excitingly, since the camera itself has a loudspeaker built-into it, the App allows you to use the it as a means of communicating with whomever is in the room with it, so it's possible to have conversations! This was an unexpected bonus!>>>>>>DECENT PICTURE QUALITY!It would be somewhat pointless of me to review a camera without describing what it's image quality is like, eh? Well, with this camera, I'd say that the image quality that it's capable of providing is 'perfectly acceptable'. It's not going to win any awards and isn't the clearest in the world, but you can switch it to 720P mode to give a bit more clarity than the slightly-fuzzier 480P one and it's absolutely good enough for me to keep an eye on the cat with. There are a couple of images from it below so you can see what I mean.>>>>>>NIGHT VISIONOne of this camera's coolest features is its ability to record images in complete darkness. Yes, it comes armed with infra-red night vision so if you're intent on using it for any form of security recording, it will keep your place safe at any time of the day or night. Again, take a look at the grayscale picture below, which was recorded in complete darkness.>>>>>>OTHER FEATURESThis little camera comes with a whole host of other features, too. For starters, it has a micro-SD card slot which can accept cards of up to 64Gb in size and various security functions that allow you to set it to take a picture or record a video upon detecting motion and can even be set to send you an email when it detects motion, too. Amazingly, it's also able to detect the temperature and humidity in the room and can be set to record them too. That's actually just scraping the barrel, too as there are settings within those settings that also allow other things such as sending images and videos via FTP among other things. For the low cost, it has many features that I was not expecting!>>>>>>SUMMING UPThis is a great little IP camera which has actually exceeded my expectations and allows me to conveniently check on my cat (and, of course, the security of my house) when I'm out and about via my Smartphone. It has decent image quality, night vision and a whole heap of other features which is impressive at this price point and this, combined with its pan/tilt ability, makes it a very impressive little gadget. The icing on the cake is that the 'iSmartViewPro' Smartphone app is superb. Recommended!

This IP surveillance camera comes nicely boxed, and includes a UK mains power adapter, a bracket to enable fixing to a wall, door, or cupboard (or even a ceiling), and a Quick Installation Guide with instructions for installing on either Android or iOS mobile phones. Because I’m old and not very techy I found installation anything but quick but, that’s not the fault of the camera or the guide – it’s because of my fuzzy brain. When first plugged in, the camera did all sorts of things – it started to pan and tilt, and tiny blue and red LED lights began to flash, it began rotating, and it made lots of different sounds – reminding me of a robot dalek. I couldn’t, now, say how I did it – but I read, and reread the Quick Installation Guide, and I got there in the end (after three failed configurations). However, that’s only the beginning, as I’m still only just beginning to learn how to use it to its full effect.I’ve never had any dealings with such cameras, and I cannot describe how exciting it felt to go upstairs and view my little dog (on my phone) snoring in her bed. The sound and picture quality (and colour) are amazing. I can only recall seeing fuzzy, spotty, black and white pictures on home IP cameras in the past. My little dog was my reason for getting the camera in the first instance. My neighbour (who’s never owned a dog) used to tell me how my dog cried whenever I went out, and how worried she was about her. I wasn’t concerned about the dog because I knew she was warm and comfortable, and had food and water, but I was concerned about the neighbour being upset on the dog’s behalf. I hadn’t asked, in recent months, if the dog still pined for me, but I did often wonder. Now I know.I have this camera on my living room window sill but, after just one day (and having played with it for a week or two), I knew immediately that I wanted (and needed) a second one to put in the hall, because I’ve started leaving a door open when I’m not here, to give the dog more indoor freedom, and I’d like to know what she’s up to. I’ve stood it on a box until I decide if I want to permanently fix is somewhere, because its vertical range (tilt) is only about a third of its horizontal panning, and it could not see the floor over the sofa.Not only does the camera scan up and down and all around the room, but it also scans outside the window, into the side yard leading to the garden. This could be very useful in the event that I ever have unwelcome intruders. It makes me feel a lot safer at night, knowing that I can lie in bed and watch outside from my bed, on my phone.