Wireless IP Camera,GAKOV GA829X Wifi 1080P HD Security Surveillance Camera for Baby/Pet/Nanny with Night Vision and Motion Detection- Cloud Service Available (White)

This was weird, I have a camera called "Kamtron", which lacked things like FTP uploads, and I saw someone praising how this could be set up for FTP and other advanced features so I thought I'd get it. Turns out, it is exactly the same in software and features (just a bit better in image quality) as that other camera, so no FTP that I can see (I really searched). OK, I know it didn't actually advertise FTP - my bad. Anyway, I am plagiarising parts of my review for the other camera.Installation: Easier than the average IP camera (using the phone app which sends a sound tone to the camera microphone). Do the automatic firmware update afterwards.Video quality: The video quality is quite good. The night vision seems to kick in when needed (it starts a bit too soon maybe - note if it doesn't kick in, check the settings in case it is disabled, and select automatic) and provides a good image (see screenshots).Alert/Motion detection & Cloud: It has full motion detection and alert features, as well as scheduling. However, it doesn't support FTP or ONVIF like my IP cameras, which meant I couldn't use my usual cloud provider, so I the manufacturer's own. It is reasonable at $2.99/month and whenever there is motion (you set the sensitivity), you get a notification on your phone and the video starting with the motion is uploaded to the cloud (which you can see in the same phone app).Mobile interface: Here is where I take at least one star off. The app is quite sluggish (Android & iOS) for some reason. I am not a big fan of app camera controls anyway, if you rely on them, it might put you off. But in general you can pan/tilt by swiping and control all camera settings, as well as access the cloud clips.Browser interface: If you look under the WiFi settings you can find the IP of the camera (this information is also in the LAN section of your router UI) and connect to it with a browser. Unlike the app, this gives you a very snappy access to the camera settings, however its plugin to see live video for chrome is NPAPI, which means it won't work with modern versions of the browser (you see a still image), so I could only make the video work with Internet Explorer. The plugin it tried to install had a suspicious name ("Mining Technologies Co"), but it seems Shenzen Mining Technologies is actually the manufacturer, so it is not some bitcoin mining malware (I checked!). There is also a plugin for Mac, which works on Safari (restart Safari after installing).Windows app: Even better than the browser interface is the windows app, since it doesn't actually require you to fudge with any plugins etc. Still snappy.Privacy concerns: My suggestion is that if you have privacy concerns do not get a camera that is controlled by an app or offers its own cloud services. The way this works for all such cameras is that they connect to remote servers so that your phone can connect to them when you are not in your local network, and I doubt that the security of the connection would be a big priority for such a device.

When the camera arrived, it was packaged very nicely. Everything needed to set up and use the camera was included. Setup was extremely easy using the direct wired (ethernet) option. I think the wireless option didn't work because the camera wasn't yet recognized on my password protected wifi. Once setup was complete, the camera worked exactly as it should in wireless mode. I was also able to setup email notifications for motion detection and voice detection, and always receive the notification within seconds. Text message notification is not doable because I'm using iMessage on an iPhone. For the price, this is an excellent security camera.