Dropcam Pro Wi-Fi Wireless Video Baby Monitor Camera Review

Dropcam Pro Wi-Fi Wireless Video Baby Monitor Camera Review 1

best wifi baby monitorRecently, Dropcam upgraded its original cloud-based Wi-Fi video camera to Pro version by improving most of the specifications. The new version has twice as much zoom, a wider view, a clearer video, and better performance under low light. It sounds really appealing. We will walk you through all these details in this Dropcam pro review and see if there is any room for improvement.

Click here to check out the comparison between Dropcam and Dropcam pro.

Main Benefits of Dropcam Pro 

 

  • The sleek and cool shape can well accommodate the nursery of your house
  • It only takes 1 minute to set it up regardless of your technological literacy
  • You can get incredibly crystal clear picture of the whole nursery
  • The app is way more stable and reliable than some other wifi baby monitors, such as iBaby monitor

 

Read More Real Customer Reviews

Let’s Go Through The Details

1) Overall Design

Both of the new and original versions have the same general form. You can choose the original version as an entry-level option at the price of $149. The cylindrical camera is connected to a round base through a tilting hinge which provides a wide range of orientation options. You can place the base on a shelf, desk or other surface, or mount it to a ceiling or wall with the help of an included hardware kit.

2) Hardware update on the Dropcam Pro version

The Pro version has quite different internal components from the basic one. The new camera comes with a larger sensor and an all-glass, six-element lens. This feature is rarely seen among competitors on the market in the same price range, though someone could easily assume that most of the baby monitor cameras use all-glass lenses.

3) Better Audio Clarity and Less Wireless Interference

The designer has improved the integrated speaker and upgraded the microphone by doubling the audio sampling rate which makes the voice much clearer. To eliminate potential connectivity problems on 2.4GHz range in crowed environments, support for the 5GHz band is added to the Wi-Fi chip. A Bluetooth low-energy chip is also integrated in the camera for the future of home wireless.

best baby monitor

4) Cool Cloud Feature

Dropcam is firstly considered to be a software and services company by itself. Therefore, there is no local storage for the device. Instead, it’s geared for cloud storage, which allows users to watch the live feed from desktop browsers or mobile devices. Besides, you can choose optional subscriptions to get access to a week or 30 days of video recordings.

5) It is Easy to Set Up And Operate

It only takes 1 minute or 2 to set up the camera. User can connect it to a computer via USB to choose the Wi-Fi network. Or, he can just power it up and connect it to the mobile via Bluetooth to select the Wi-Fi network. The interfaces of mobile and browser are friendly and clean. Users can get access to live feed or cloud recordings through the interfaces lightly.

6) You Won’t Miss A Thing With The Exclusive Motion Alert Feature

You can manage time schedules, motion alerts and multiple cameras through it, either. The motion-identification algorithms can automatically identify certain kinds of motion. This useful feature can separate concerning alerts from the motion which can be overlooked.

In addition, the browser interface provides a detailed timeline of previous recordings and a useful tool for video clipping, which is easy to use. Users are able to adjust the starting and end point on the timeline and export the video in few seconds.

Dropcam Wifi timeline

7) You Don’t Even Need Pan and Tilt Features

Though the Dropcam pro is not a real “PTZ” camera, it does take the most out of the digital zoom to achieve the same goal. Digital zoom is often considered to be the gimmick that doesn’t have much use, but not to this camera. The sensor of the camera can deal with a much higher resolutions than 720p, which enables the zoom function to enlarge the video frame while still keeping it at HD resolution.

8) You Will Get Amazingly Great Video Feed

The image sharpness under bright condition is claimed to be twice as much on the Pro version and the low-light performance is improved by 7%. Though users often don’t pay too much attention to image sharpness, it’s a special feature that other competitors don’t have.

The lens expands the field of view out to 130 degrees, much better than the original Dropcam’s 107 degrees. In this way it reduces the need to pan and tilt to a certain extent.

Video clarity under low light condition is surprisingly good. Though the integrated infrared LED can just light up the space beyond a few feet, the camera is good enough to see the details on the other side of a room.

Recording sensitivity and quality is impressively good. According to a mother’s feedback on Amazon, she could hear the exchange between her nanny and the FedEx delivery man who stood right outside the room, and the speaker seems to be loud enough for gently calling for the dog.

Dropcam image

Cons

 

  • To those who get used to traditional ways, the lack of local storage is an obvious downside that would bring some inconvenience, especially to those who have poor internet connection
  • It will cost you at lease 100 bucks each year for the video recording feature, which seems to piss some users off
  • You are gonna get a fisheye effect in the image as it is designed to deliver a wide field of view

 

Final Thoughts

Overall, the Dropcam Pro is a stunning gadget that provides you with the best video quality despite the fact that it has something lack compared to traditional top rated baby monitors. The only thing that we really don’t appreciate is the monthly fee for video cloud recording service which is optional, though.

And FYI, The price of the Pro version is $199, while the basic Dropcam(known as Dropcam HD) is $50 cheaper. The subscription for 7-day Cloud Video Recording costs $10/month or $99/year, and there is a free two-week trial to start with. Meanwhile, the thirty-day recording upgrade is available for $30/month or $299/year. Hate to spend money on this part? WiFi Baby 3 baby monitor with local video recording feature would be a more appropriate option for you.

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One comment
  1. Great digital cam with amazingly clear picture except for the expensive fee for the online cloud service which we don’t subscribe to!

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