REVIEW – I have been looking for a security camera for inside my front door. When the opportunity came up to review the Momentum Robbi, it seemed like a great fit.  Was it?  Read on!

What is it?

Robbi is a 1080P, plug-in HD video camera that connects to your network via Wi-Fi.

What’s in the box?

• Robbi camera with articulated neck and magnet base
• Plug-in USB power adapter
• 8-foot USB-A to micro-USB cord
• Mounting disk with magnet attachment to Robbi
• 3M adhesive mounting disk
• Wall anchors and screws
• Drilling template for wall anchors
• Instruction sheet for how to handle returns/issues
• Warranty information
• User manual
• Quick start guide

Hardware specs

• Camera: 1080P Wi-Fi
• Field of view: 130° wide-angle lens
• Motion detection: adjustable sensitivity with push notifications
• Night Vision: infrared LEDs that illuminate up to 25 feet with automatic night vision mode
• SD card slot: Micro SD Slot (up to 128GB SD card)
• Connectivity: 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi connection @ 2.4/5GHz
• Audio: two-way audio
• Dimensions: 4.51” x 2.52” x 2.03” (h x w x d)
• Weight: 0.27 lbs
• Power: 5V DC

Design and features

The Robbi camera is a pretty cute little camera. The face of the camera features the lens and a Momentum logo that lights for various statuses. It glows red when rebooting, blue when online, etc.

The top of the camera is mounted to the body with a metal rod that allows the head to both tilt and swivel.  It’s a simple mechanism that works very well.

The bottom is magnetic so it will attach firmly to the magnetic mounting base.  That base can be stuck to a surface with the included 3M mounting disk or screwed in place with the included wall anchors and drilling template.

On top of the camera, we find the reset button, to be used in the event of a camera lock-up.

On the back is the speaker grill for the alarm and for two-way audio.

On the side, we find the SD card slot.  Note that none of this is sealed as this is an indoor-only camera.

Finally, the identification sticker is on the back of the base as is the micro-USB power port.

Setup

I started the setup by installing the Momentum app (available for IOS and Android) on my Samsung Galaxy S9+. This is where I ran into my first issue.

The instructions included a QR code for the app.  I decided to take the easy route and scan it.  This is what I got:

So, it appears that Momentum isn’t keeping up with that very well.  I went to the Play Store and installed the app manually.

I placed the camera on the top right corner of our curio cabinets with a view of the front door.  The included eight-foot USB cable and magnet base made this all incredibly simple. And, I’ll answer this before anyone asks – yes, my wife really likes pandas.

With the app installed and the camera in place, I started setting it up.

Pairing went perfectly and the camera provided an audible confirmation that pairing was successful.

As soon as we were paired, the app determined that an update was needed.

The app provides friendly updates along the way and the update went quickly.

At this point, I was prompted to choose a cloud storage plan.  A very nice feature is that Momentum provides free storage for 24 hours.

I opted for the free plan and also popped in an 8GB Micro SD card I had sitting around as a local backup of recorded events.

The app supports multiple cameras and you can provide meaningful names for each.

Each camera can have its own settings for sensitivity to motion and sound as well as image orientation.

You can also limit the zone where the camera will detect motion.  The blue squares are the motion zone.  I opted to not include the area to the left so I wouldn’t get notified every time someone went to use the guest bathroom.

The final setup item was for the siren duration whenever the siren is invoked.

Performance

So far, other than a minor issue installing the app, setting up the Robbi camera has been pretty pleasant.

I didn’t modify the default dashboard for the camera.  This is where you access the stored events and camera rules as well as triggering the siren.

Rules determine what happens when an event occurs.

As you can see, I have it set to send a push notification and record video whenever motion is detected, 24×7.

The performance part of this review is where the wheels fall off.

First, let me address the last setup item above – the siren. The odd thing is that the siren can only be triggered manually in the app.  I was expecting an option for motion or sound to trigger the siren, based on time of day.  Nope.  The only way to trigger the siren is to open the app, open the specific camera you want to sound and push the siren button.

When I set up the camera, I opted for the automatic night vision mode. The camera will turn on night vision when the ambient lighting is too low for a quality picture.  What really happened was this – as we were sitting watching TV that first night, we kept hearing a clicking sound every few seconds.  I finally figured out that even though I had the foyer light on like I do every evening, Robbi couldn’t decide on night vision or no night vision, so it was continuously turning the night vision LEDs on and off, each time with a fairly loud click. To make matters worse, every time it did that, the camera interpreted that as motion and sent a motion push notification to my phone. So our evening sounded like: click – beep – click – beep – click – beep.  I tried turning up the brightness of the foyer light (I usually have it at about 20%), to no avail.  Click – beep – click – beep. I finally lowered the motion sensitivity to low and the beeps stopped but the clicks continued.  I finally turned off night vision.  Of course, later, after the foyer light turned off, the camera was useless. Turning on night vision permanently makes daytime images black and white and poor quality.

The joy continued when I tested actual motion. I walked out the front door.  Nothing.  I walked in. Nothing. I stood in front of the camera and waved frantically.  Nothing.  Then, I clicked to manually record a video of me waving frantically.  The camera will allow a 20-second manual clip.  It said it recorded.  Nope.  Not in the cloud and not on the SD card.

I tried capturing a still image.

When I looked on the SD card, the image was available, so I know the SD card storage was working.

And, I could view the image.

But when I tried capturing video:

There was nothing saved to the cloud.

And, nothing stored on the SD card.

I reached out to Momentum support with all of these issues.  It has been several days and I have received no response.

And then everything changed…

Fast forward two days…<insert swirly video and funny sounds here>

Suddenly, and inexplicably, I started getting motion notifications on my phone.  A lot of notifications.  And, video was being recorded for all those events, both in the cloud and on the SD card. For example, here’s a portion of notifications from 6/20:

As you can see, I was getting notifications essentially continuously, and I verified that the sensitivity was set to low.  Here’s an example of what was recorded:

If you listen closely, at 9 seconds in, you can hear the notification of movement sound go off on my phone.  The bottom line is that even on its lowest sensitivity setting, the tiniest of change in lighting is interpreted as movement and triggers the camera to send a notification. I even have the sound trigger turned completely off, so noises don’t trigger events.

So, I went from no notifications, even with frantic waving to constant notifications with no actual movement. It is recording video to the cloud and to the SD card, so that’s an improvement.

The ultimate outcome here is that the camera provides so many false notifications, the notification feature is essentially useless to me.  I understand that I am placing the camera into a very difficult lighting condition.  But a change in lighting, any change, is interpreted as motion.  In fact, as I typed those last two sentences, a cloud came over the sun and then passed, so the sun came out again.  I got two motion notifications while I typed.

What I like

• Attractive physical design
• Easy, step-by-step setup
• Long USB cable adds installation flexibility
• SD card backup
• Free 24-hour cloud backup

What I’d change

• Start detecting motion when motion exists (it did after a couple of days)
• Stop interpreting changes in lighting as motion
• Save supposed motion event videos (it did after a couple of days)
• Allow recording video manually (it did after a couple of days)
• Improve ambient light detection
• Have some sort of automatic siren options with schedules
• Have tech support return email

Final thoughts

I really wanted to like this camera.  I liked the design and it installed perfectly for my application. But given that it simply didn’t work and then did, with absolutely no application changes or hardware changes makes me concerned. In addition, tech support is completely non-responsive. Solely relying on contrast changes to identify motion means that this is useless in any application where lighting conditions change at all. I would say that if you’re looking at the Momentum Robbi as a security camera, you should keep looking.

Price: $99.99
Where to buy: Direct from Momentum also available for $79.99 from Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Momentum.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: security camera

Momentum Robbi Wi-Fi camera review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 28, 2019 at 8:00 am.

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REVIEW – EZVIZ CTQ3W outdoor surveillance camera features full HD 1080-pixel resolution, two-way audio, and integrated strobe lights and sirens.

What is it?

A high quality, sensitive video camera with night vision and all sorts of bells and whistles to protect your home and property.

What’s in the box?

• Camera, base and cord
• Mounting hardware
• Instruction manual

Hardware specs

• 1920 x 1080 pixel camera resolution
• Lens:
  • 2.8mm at F2.2 (horizontal angle: 103° and diagonal angle: 118°)
  • 4mm at F2.0 (horizontal angle: 87° and diagonal angle: 104°)

• Connection: WiFi 2.4GHz or wired/ethernet
• Image sensor: 1/2.7″ progressive scan CMOS
• Infrared night vision: 2*850nm IR LEDs up to 98 feet
• Smart features: Smart motion detection, supports audio pickup within 16 feet
• Storage: EZVIZ cloud service (first month free) or micro SD card (up to 128GB)
• Operating condition: -22°F to 140°F; Humidity 95% or less (non-condensing)

Design and features

Setup

We used this with our home wifi, and it was quick to connect and running in minutes. We’ve toyed with the idea of hooking it up to the ethernet, which is another option, and we probably will use a wired connection once we come up with a permanent fixed location for the camera. But right now, it’s so easy to use with wifi and move around as we want to, that we don’t feel any rush to wire it.

Storage

Similarly, we haven’t used the proprietary cloud storage system, because we found it easy and convenient (and free) to use our own micro SD card for storage. However, if you’re interested in cloud storage, your first month is free, and after that camera owners can opt to subscribe to EXVIZ CloudPlay for $5.99/month or $59.99/year for 7-day playback and $10.99/month or $109.99/year for 30-day playback.

App

Two members of our family downloaded the EXVIZ app on their phones without issue. On the app you can elect to record 24/7 or only when motion is detected. Via the app, you can also control the sensitivity for notifications, the lights and siren.  

The app also lets you view up to four cameras at a time, which would be nice for a complete view of your property. We only have one camera, so we couldn’t test out this feature but could see how it would be very handy.

Instead of or in addition to using the app for monitoring the camera, it also works with Alexa and can be controlled via Echo Show. Simply ask Alexa to show you anywhere you have an EZVIZ camera. (We don’t have Alexa, so we didn’t test this feature.)

Performance

You can choose your sensitivity level 1-6 to determine when you receive a notification, with 6 being the highest sensitivity. At 6, ours was constantly triggered. Even on lesser settings, shadows or just slight changes in brightness would set it off. Ultimately, for our purposes, the lowest sensitive setting of 1 worked the best.

Using the app, you can select if you want the light to go off each time motion is detected. Or you can simply push a button on the app in realtime to trigger the light, which is billed as a strobe light, but we thought it looked more just like a flashing light. That said, in the dark, it would certainly be enough to give a would-be intruder a jolt.

The sound setting is all controlled in real-time. I should note that you can easily switch from motion-only notifications to your live camera feed. So, for example, if you’re not home but see some funny business triggered by motion, you can go directly to the live camera and, if you want to, get right on the microphone (and trigger the lights and alarm, too!) to make it very clear that you’re watching and recording every move.

The image clarity and especially the night vision are very impressive. We’ve had security cameras before and this one is a world apart when it comes to image quality.

And even though it’s geared for outdoor use, and it’s weather-proofed accordingly, we used it indoors when our dog was having some separation anxiety, and it worked great there, too.

Our only suggestion for improvement, and it’s a very minor one, is that when you use the motion-detect notification system, the app shows you the video thumbnail starting before the action (so they all look the same, like my typical backyard) and you need to watch through each video to see if it was a shadow, rabbit, falling leave or scary burglar captured in the frame. My husband noted that he had dozens of 15-second videos to watch and most were just shadows. He noted that it would have been nice on the thumbnail to see the “action” frame, like the actual bunny or masked bad guy. That way, you could quickly prioritize which ones to watch. It’s a minor issue, but it would make this camera more user friendly.

What I like

• High-quality picture
• Very easy to use

What needs to be improved

• Video thumbnails could show peak action

Final thoughts

It’s a very impressive surveillance camera, with lots of options for wiring, storage and interactive features, making it useful for many different settings and situations.

Price: $89.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by EZVIZ.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: security camera

EZVIZ CTQ3W outdoor surveillance camera review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 17, 2019 at 10:00 am.

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REVIEW – I live on a corner with lots of foot traffic both day and night. Pair that with the recent increase in porch thefts and I felt the need to install an outdoor security camera. I needed one that was totally wireless. The LaView ONE Link Wireless WiFi camera with Smart Station met all my needs, but does it work? Let’s find out.

What is it?

The LaView One Link WiFi security camera is a wireless 1080P security camera with a rechargeable battery and easy 2-step installation. The Smart Station plugs into your router. It connects to the camera with the touch of a single button, extends the cameras battery life and expands WiFi transmission.

Hardware specs

Camera

• Field of view: Wide angle 130º
• IR Night Vision: 25 ft IR distance
• Weight: 0.47 lbs
• Size: 3.6” x 2.2” x 2.8”
• Storage: Laview Cloud storage – Micro SD Card (Max. 128GB)
• Audio: Built-in omni-direction microphone – Built-in loudspeaker – Noise suppression
• Video: Smart H.264 compression – 1920×1080 Max Resolution – 50hz @ 25fps, 60Hz @ 30fps, Adaptive frame rate
• Power requirements: 5500 mAh rechargeable lithium battery and 5V DC

What’s in the box?

Camera

• Battery
• Magnetic mount
• USB cable
• Power adaptor
• Screw kit
• Surveillance stickers
• Quick start guide

Smart Station

• Smart Station
• Ethernet Cable
• USB Cable
• Power adaptor

Design and features

The Laview One Link camera has a pod-like design similar to those offered by Arlo and Eufy. On the front of the camera is the 1080P lens, microphone, IR light (used for supplementing recording light), LED indicator, loudspeaker, PIR (Passive infrared) sensor and Photoresistor (used to detect light conditions to activate the Day/Night switch functions.

There’s a Sync button located on the top of the cam as well as a release latch to open the camera.

On the back of the cam, there’s a micro USB port used for charging the battery or powering up the camera. It’s protected by a flexible rubber cover that keeps out moisture.

The bottom of the camera has a threaded socket for mounting it onto a tripod.

Opening the camera reveals the rechargeable battery compartment and Micro SD card slot.

The slot supports up to 128GB of HD footage or if you prefer LaView offers affordable Cloud service options.

The camera comes with 30 free days of ONE Cloud service, after that, you must subscribe to continue to use the service.

Note: Although you can access the ONE Cloud service via the app I was unable to find any info on plans or pricing.

The 5500 mAh battery will last 6+ months on a single charge when paired with the Smart Station. And when it does need a recharge all you have to do is pull it down and plug it in.

Smart Station

The Smart Station is the brains of the security system, supporting access for up to 6 wireless cameras.

The tear-drop design is quite small (3.7” x 3.7” x 4.3”) and weighs less than half a pound.

The front of the unit has a power button, a sync/siren off button with LED indicator ring and a speaker for the built-in 120-decibel siren.

One the back there’s a micro USB power port, an ethernet port for connecting the Station to your router and a reset button.

The Smart Station creates a secure ecosystem of WiFi coverage. It also extends the battery life of the cam from 3 months to 6 months versus a WiFi only connection.

The built-in 120dB siren works in conjunction with the cameras motion detection. When enabled it will go off when the cam senses motion. You can set it to stay on from one to five minutes. Or you can manually disable it by pushing the siren off button on the Smart Station. I tested it, and it’s VERY loud! In fact, it had my ears ringing for a couple of hours afterward. And it was audible outside even with the windows closed.

The siren might be a little much for everyday use (especially if your cams motion sensor is set off by a critter at 3am), but I could see it being effective if you have it linked to an indoor camera. Or use it to ward off trespassers while you’re away on vacation.

Pairing camera with the Smart Station

Setting up the camera and Smart station is relatively simple. First, you must install and fully charge the camera’s battery. Fully charging the battery takes 6-8 hours.

Plug the Smart Station in and connect it to your router using the Ethernet cable.

To pair the camera to the Smart Station press and hold the SYNC button on both for 5 seconds. When the camera is connected to the Smart Station, the LED indicator on the front of the cam will slowly flash blue. There are also voice prompts that will update you on the connection status.

Camera installation

Installing the camera is as easy as 1-2-3. 1) screw provided screw where you want to mount the camera. 2) Secure magnetic dome to the screw. 3) Secure cam to the magnetic dome. You’re done!

LaView ONE app

Launching the app takes you to the home screen which features thumbnails of both the Smart Station and the cams live view. From there you can access the cams live view by tapping the thumbnail.

You can also access settings for both the Smart Station and cam. From there you can customize the camera and Smart Stations various features.

The Messages screen lets you view and playback recorded PIR (motion detection) events.

You can enable alerts and choose Motion Detection Sensitivity in the app’s settings.

When the cam detects motion, you receive an alert notification on your phones lock screen. Tapping the notification opens up the app, from there you have to go to Messages and tap on the thumbnail of the event to view it.

It would be nice if when tapping on an alert the app would open immediately to the cams live view or at least the recording of the PIR event.

Things I like about the app

• Works with Face ID for faster login
• Clean interface
• Easy to navigate
• You can view both live cam and recorded motion detection events
• Easy to view and change settings for both the Smart Station and the camera
• Ability to easily add cameras to the system

Things I don’t like about the app

• Both the live view and recorded PIR events can be laggy
• No way to check WiFi connection strength
• Tapping on an alert doesn’t immediately take you to the cams live view
• Not optimized for iPad

Camera performance

This camera has a lot of features, I wanted to touch on a few that I thought were the most important.

Motion detection

The camera has a PIR thermal detection sensor for advanced motion detection that focuses on objects with significant heat signals like people and animals. Weeding out false alarms caused by inanimate moving objects.

I did receive a few false alarms, but it was during extremely windy and rainy conditions. I found that lowering the Motion Detection Sensitivity level in the app helped with this.

During normal weather conditions, it works flawlessly.

Night vision

The cams night vision feature works at a distance of up to 25ft. As you can see from the pics below the picture quality is quite impressive.

2-Way audio

The 2-way audio feature is hit or miss at best. The biggest problem is that the built-in loudspeaker isn’t loud enough. And there’s no way to adjust the volume level to make it louder. I suppose that it would work to ward off a trespasser at night but trying to have a conversation with someone is nearly impossible.

What I like

• Easy setup
• Easy 2-step installation
• Option of onboard SD card or Cloud recording
• Good picture quality
• Rechargeable battery lasts 6 month on a single charge
• IP65 weatherproof

What needs to be improved

• Viewing live cam and recorded alerts on the app can be laggy (Overall app performance is a little buggy)
• 2-way audio doesn’t work as advertised

Final thoughts

The LaView ONE Link isn’t perfect, but its benefits far outweigh its flaws. If you’re looking for a totally wireless camera setup with lots of features that’s easy to install and use this camera should be on your shortlist.

Note: If you would like to add additional cameras to your system at a later date they can only be purchased by phone from LaView. To order call (626)566-7550.

Price: $229.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by LaView.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: security camera

LaView ONE Link Battery Powered WiFi Outdoor Security Camera with Smart Station review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 29, 2019 at 11:00 am.

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REVIEW – If you believe what you see on TV, cameras are everywhere.  The police dramas regularly use surveillance video to get the bad guys.  We have also seen all the fun video on Facebook and Youtube from home cameras, catching the family pets, or the family themselves, doing cute, funny, and even dangerous things.

Yi (pronounced “Yee”) Technologies has a new entry in their line of connected cameras with the Home Camera 3.  Should you get one to capture your own set of internet-worthy videos? Let’s take a look.

What is it?

The Home Camera 3 (I will just use “camera” from here on) is a standalone 1080p Wi-Fi camera.  Yi also includes six months of cloud storage with subscription options available after that.

What’s in the box?

• Home Camera 3
• USB-A to micro USB power cable
• USB power adapter
• Cloud storage info card
• Yi Technology contact card
• Limited warranty
• Instructions

Hardware specs

• Dimensions: 4.3 x 5.9 x 4.3 inches
• Weight: 9.6  oz
• Resolution: 1080p (1920×1080)
• Lens view: 107 degrees
• Audio: mic/speaker full duplex
• Wi-FI: 802.11 bgn
• Wireless security: WEP/WPA/WPA2
• Power: DC 5v/1A Micro USB
• Video compression: h.264

Design and features

The camera is nicely styled and can blend into most decors.  I opted to put the camera in my garage. Here it is on a shelf by the entry door, pointing toward the garage door.

For reference, that yellow case is a set of screwdriver bits. At just over four inches tall, the camera fits almost anywhere. You can also see the small blue LED below the lens, indicating the camera is online.

The camera has a rotating mount, allowing you to rotate the camera a full 180 degrees, from flat, pointing up, to flat, pointing down, relative to the base.

And, that base has a magnet in it, so you can mount it to anything a magnet can stick to.

On the side, we find a microSD slot.

On the bottom of the camera assembly, we find the USB port for power.  This is a powered camera, so you will have to be relatively close to a 110V power plug. It is a little snug, getting the power cord into the port, but with a little patience, I got it connected.

Setup

After the unboxing, I installed the Yi Home app on my Galaxy S9+, and set up an account. I inserted my own microSD card into the slot on the camera and plugged in the camera.

The camera surprised me with a series of verbal updates and commands.  They were quite clear and made the setup very smooth. I didn’t get everything transcribed exactly, as the audio came as a surprise.  I will describe the gist of what the voice prompts conveyed.

As soon as I plugged in the camera, it welcomed me to Yi Home. It then reported that it was waiting to connect. In the app, I chose to add a new camera and provided Wi-Fi connection information. The app presented a QR code and the camera told me to put the QR code in front of the lens.  As soon as I did, it reported that the pairing was successful and that I could begin using the camera. I was impressed with how simple the process was, and how well the camera reported progress.  Nice work, Yi.

Performance

Initially, I installed the camera in my living room.  The 107-degree view allowed me to see from one side of the room all the way to the other. This is a screenshot from my phone.

The image quality was pretty impressive with a bright, clear image and accurate colors.

After thinking about it, I decided that I really wanted to be able to monitor my garage, so I relocated the camera to the garage. This is a downloaded snapshot from the camera.

Note that this is really tricky lighting. I have a retractable garage screen, so much of the time, there is strong light coming in, Still, the camera does a good job showing colors and overall detail. That green in the lower right is actually my shirt sleeve.

When you view alerts on your phone, they are segregated by day.

Items that you still need to review are highlighted in orange. You can also live-monitor the camera. When in that mode, you can use the microphone on the camera and on your phone to do full-duplex two-way conversations.

In the app, you can control a wide variety of camera options, like 180-degree image rotation, turning the camera status light on/off, whether to use the IR night vision light, whether you want to use the camera microphone (perhaps as a baby monitor), and if you want the audio to be in push-to-talk mode or full-duplex hands-free. You can also set up camera schedules and whether you want to use cloud storage or just the microSD storage.

Alerts are controlled by another large variety of option settings.  You can choose motion, sound or both to trigger the camera. In addition, they have logic included that detects human movement versus other movements. In my testing, lowering my garage door triggered as human movement, so that can certainly be improved.  Movement and sound both come with sensitivity adjustments so you can fine-tune the alerts to meet your needs.

Video quality is good, especially given my challenging lighting conditions.  Here I am heading out to pickleball in the morning.

Downloading video is a little finicky. The app is pretty specific about where you tap, and trimming the selected video, while available in the app, is pretty hit or miss.

Another issue is that the videos are not accessible in the app unless cloud recording is turned on. Without cloud recording, to view the videos – all mp4 files –  you have to pop out the micro SD card, put it in an adapter and pop it in your PC.  Then, you have to find the right video.  The mp4 files are in a folder called “record” and then subfolders named like <YYYY>Y<MM>M<DD>D<HH>H, so videos from 4/20/2019 at 11am should be named 2019Y04M20D11H, however…they aren’t.  Everything was exactly four hours ahead of my local time. I expect that they are labeled for GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), which is four hours ahead of where I am in EDT. My folder for that time was labeled 2019Y04M20D15H. The files themselves are labeled like <mm>M<ss>S<tt>.mp4, where mm is replaced with the minute within the hour, ss is replaced with the seconds within the minute when the video begins and tt is replaced with the duration of the clip.  It all sounds complicated, but overall it makes sense.  To find a video recorded on 4/21/2019 at 2:33:15 pm that runs 18 seconds, assuming no GMT offset, look in the 2019H04M21D14H folder for 33M15S18.mp4. Just remember to add the GMT offset for your timezone to get to the right folder.

Videos are saved in a rolling fashion, where the oldest recordings are replaced with newer ones as you run out of room on the micro SD card.  The number of days you can save will depend on how often the camera triggers based on our settings and the size of the SD card.  Mine triggers a lot since motion and sound outside the garage screen trigger it based on my sensitivity settings. With a 16GB card, I get about three days worth of recordings.  I should be able to expand that by lowering the sensitivity a bit to eliminate records of essentially nothing.

If you opt for cloud recording, six months of seven-day rolling cloud recording is included. After that, Yi offers six options:

• 7-day rolling, 24-hour continuous for one camera – $19.99/qtr;$66/year
• 7-day rolling, motion detection only for up to five cameras – $19.99/qtr;$66/year
• 15-day rolling, 24-hour continuous for one camera – $9.99/mo;$99/year
• 15-day rolling, motion detection only for up to five cameras – $9.99/mo;$99/year
• 30-day rolling, 24-hour continuous for one camera – $19.99/mo;$199/year
• 30-day rolling, motion detection only for up to five cameras – $14.99/mo;$149/year

One thing that I don’t like is the app’s insatiable demand for power. The first day I installed it, my phone battery was really low in the evening – about 15%. I usually have 30-40% at that point.  When I looked at what was sucking battery, Yi Home was right at the top of the list by a long margin.  Using the Yi Home app means that I can’t get a full day out of my phone without recharging. I opted to change the app management settings and allow Android to put Yi Home to sleep.  That solved the problem, but, I no longer get alerts from the camera until I open the app.  That kind of defeats the purpose.  Even today, when I have the app mostly sleeping but have opened it to write this, Yi Home has consumed 4.3% of my battery over the past hour or so.  Google Play Services is the closest at 1.5%.  This is kind of a deal breaker for me.

What I like

• Nice design
• Terrific setup process
• Really good image and video quality
• Comprehensive application with lots of customization
• Free cloud storage, even though for only six months

What needs to be improved

• Yi Home needs to be modified to stop eating my entire battery
• Video download interface needs to be improved
• Human detection needs to be improved
• The timestamp on the mp4 files should match local time
• Videos should be viewable in the app directly from the SD card and not require cloud services
• The instructions should have some explanation about how the SD card and cloud services work – there is absolutely nothing about it

Final thoughts

Overall, the Yi Hime Camera 3 is a nice little camera. It was easy to set up and produces great images and video. But until the app can be modified to stop wiping out my phone battery, I will have to have the app sleep most of the time, eliminating much of the benefit of a monitored camera.

Price: $49.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Yi Technology.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: security camera

Yi Home Camera 3 review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 27, 2019 at 9:00 am.

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