Recently I decided to look into getting an indoor security camera for my home. I wanted something that would be able to detect motion, have recording ability, and connect to wifi to view the live stream from your phone. I also wanted something simple and affordable. After doing a good amount of research I decided to get the Kasa EC60 Spot camera by TP-Link.
There is plenty of information out there about the specs so I will focus this review on my experience with the camera.
Set Up:
For set up, you first download the Kasa Smart app which allows you to connect the camera with your phone and access all the features. Then you plug in the camera and follow all the steps in the app such as making an account and connecting it to your wifi.
I noticed when plugging in the power adapter to the camera it did sound kind of “crunchy” which was not very assuring, but the camera powered up just fine. It did make some clicking noises while setting up which appear to be normal as I noticed it does this when switching to IR night vision mode. The setup process was ok and after a few minutes it was up and running.
Camera:
The camera quality is acceptable. It's 1080p HD and has the option to go with a lower resolution if you want to use less storage space and have faster transfer of data. When you first view the camera in the app the screen is small, but you can maximize it to full screen. I think it would be better if it just defaulted to the full screen right away as it is pretty small on the first screen.
You are able to view the live feed from your phone which is great for checking in on what is going on when you are away. It also has the option to record if you add a micro SD card. I purchased a 32gb micro SD card to use with it, but so far I have not felt the need to install it.
Features:
The app lets you take screen caps of the feed if you give it access to your pictures on your phone. It can also record audio and has a speaker you can use to talk through it if you give the app access to your microphone. I'm pretty cautious with security so I did not use any of these features but they are there if you want it.
One thing I like is it has the option to easily turn the camera on or off using your phone. I did notice however that the camera stays warm even when it is turned off which I found to be odd. I did some research and I don't think it records or live streams when it is off but it's hard to be 100% trusting of things like this so I would recommend covering the lens physically or facing it away when you don't want it recording just to be on the safe side.
The motion detection seems to work pretty good and you can have it send a notification to your phone when it detects movement which is a good security feature.
The infrared night vision also works very well. I turned off all the lights and tested it out and you can see everything pretty clearly. It's pretty amazing how it can do that.
There are plenty of other settings to play around with so you can really customize it to fit your needs.
Conclusion:
Overall I am satisfied with the camera and think it is a pretty good deal for $25. If you are looking for an affordable security camera that can record, stream, and detect motion, I would recommend the Kasa EC60 cam.
No comments:
Post a Comment