Security Camera Outdoor, Solar Wireless WiFi 360° PTZ Camera with 9000Mah Battery with 2-Way Audio, 1080P Night Vision, Motion Detection

SKU: GW50.0039

  • 149.99
Overall Rating 5   480
Reviews
5
Rich in function and attractively priced – a tentative five stars
I have several Netatmo Presence cameras attached to the house and garden, but wanted a camera looking AT the house from a point where there’s no mains power. It had to be battery or solar-powered. This solar camera seemed like a good idea, and so far, after just a couple of days, I’m pleased.The trouble with reviewing a solar product in June, when the days are at their longest and the sun at its strongest, is that I’ve no idea how well it will perform in December. I’ll have to assume, for my review, that it’ll pick up sufficient sun to keep it going 24x7. The solar panel comes with a 3 metre cable, so offers plenty of choice when it comes to location of the camera. It won’t work everywhere, however, e.g. in winter on the front wall of my north-facing house.Image quality isn’t up to Netatmo standards, and nor is the app. But they’re acceptable for most purposes, and it’s half the price or less (£59.99 right now, on Prime Day, but normally £110 after £20 voucher).It’s rich, functionally, with benefits over Netatmo Presence. It has pan & tilt capability, for a start. And it offers two-way audio instead of just one-way, although that’s only of real value if the camera’s close to your front door (and I wouldn’t agree with their “high-fidelity”). One thing it doesn’t offer, however, is a floodlight.Like the Presence, it includes on-board SD-card recording. With this one, however, you have to supply your own card – I recommend investing in a high endurance card, as supplied with Presence. The contacts should be smeared with a grease such as Super Lube Synthetic Grease with Syncolon (PTFE). As well as or instead of SD, you can record to their subscription cloud service – I haven’t checked the price. Presence lets you save recordings to Dropbox or any FTP service including your own NAS drive. If you want Amazon Echo or Google Home support (e.g. "Alexa, show me the garage"), I don't think you get it with this camera.They say the camera can distinguish between people and objects, which is good, although I suspect it’s the app that’s doing the distinguishing. Presence can distinguish between people, cars and animals, and set separate actions for each (notify, record, floodlight, nothing) which I find very useful I even get thumbnail images with alerts on my Apple Watch.Build quality appears good, and the wi-fi seems stable and reliable. I wish I could say how long it will survive British weather. My experience of inexpensive solar lights says 2-3 years before the panel fails, but this one may be better-sealed. And I wish I knew whether it would work 24x7 in the middle of winter. I'd say it's a four-star camera. For now, though, given the low price, I’m going to award a tentative five stars.
22/06/2021