I really wanted to like this. iPhone/iPad integration, portable, it has some nice features. I am comparing this against my Sharx SCNC2700W camera. Both are about $300. Sharx info can be found here:Sharx Security VIPcella-IR SCNC2700W Wifi Wireless b/g/n IP network camera with MicroSD DVR and True Day/Night vision
I did not care for any of the push notifications, other parents may like this feature. I don't care to hear any audio since I live in a small condo. The talk back feature is nice, although with a slight delay (to be expected).
What I like:
* Music feature is nice, but could use some more songs
* I like the iPhone/iPad app
* Pinch and zoom feature is okay, but I can do the same thing with Sharx camera, although they work a little differently. The quality increases slightly on the Withings camera where the Sharx camera has no quality gain, but also doesn't need to refresh.
* Frame rate seems to stay fairly smooth when connected through ethernet. It's slightly better than Sharx when viewing on iPad.
* Portability This is a nice bonus (1 hour of video on battery) but I don't cover this in my review because I would only use this 1% of the time.
* Wireless quality and frame rate don't degrade too much compared to Ethernet (with a good signal).
What I don't like:
* My main gripe is that I can't view the video on my computer. I believe Withings has said this feature is coming in the future.
* Video quality not on par with the Sharx camera I own in quality.
* Night Vision quality not as good as Sharx. I would say the Sharx camera night vision is A LOT better actually. The Withings IR lights are too bright in the middle.
* No option to force IR mode on/off.
* No option to turn off audio on iPhone. This could be fixed with a firmware update, but not sure if it will ever happen.
* Delay I noticed maybe a 1.5 second delay when connected through ethernet. A little under 2 seconds wireless. Sharx delay is almost no delay when viewing on a computer, and less than a half second on iPad. These numbers are with a fairly strong wireless N connection.
* Sharx is a half second faster on WiFi than Withings is connected through Ethernet when viewing both on the iPad. I don't mind a small delay, and even 1 second to me isn't that bad.
For a baby video monitor, I don't think you need HD quality (Sharx is only 640x480). You mainly just need to see the baby and be able to tell if they are moving, awake, pacifier out, etc. The Withings monitor is definitely good enough to be able to see all of this. The Sharx camera is noticeably better which is a nice bonus. The Withings camera has a wider angle of view than Sharx. Sharx certainly has a lot more options continuous recording, snapshots, dydns setup, etc. Sharx does involve more network knowledge to setup, where the Withings is easier to setup out of the box.
If you are not experienced in network setup, DHCP reservation, dyndns configuration, don't mind slightly lower quality, and don't need to view it on a computer (yet), and don't mind a slight lag, the Withings monitor is decent. If you are a more advanced user, want better quality, instantaneous feedback, and more advanced options, Sharx would be the way to go. If Withings optical quality was a little better, and I could view it on a computer, it might be a different story, but I think I am going to keep the Sharx unit. The portability, and iPhone/iPad integration is pretty cool and nerdy, but Sharx still looks better using Safari browser in iPad than Withings does with their app. I really hope Withings does well with this, because I think they could make a lot better 2.0 product, and a little more work. That said, it isn't a bad initial offering in my opinion.
The biggest deal breaker is Withings charges to view away from home. I think 15 minutes each day are provided free. My wife loves the setup of the Sharx so she can see her baby when she has time at work. I would like it if Withings allowed a dns setup so I could use my own bandwidth for away-from-home use.
6-1-2012 *I guess Withings has allowed unlimited viewing away from home which is nice, but it should have been offered in the first place. I still stand by my 3 star review*
There are many many other video cameras, IP cameras, & Baby monitors on the market. These are just the two that I have used. Actually, I have used the AngelCare monitor as well, but that has the worst quality of all, even though it has a nice portability factor.
Unfortunately I tried every which way to fall in love with this product, but I did have to finally return it. There are definitely a lot of positive aspects of the unit and the SW, but a few negatives that in the end of the day made me realize this product just isn't ready for prime time. The biggest problem is that if the unit isn't near 100% reliable, its not worth the risk when dealing with an infant. I found myself constantly running this monitor as well as my other monitor as a backup, which is not a long term solution.
So very quickly after unboxing I was set up, that truly was a breeze. You initially connect via Bluetooth, but then set up over WiFi. Had the unit set up over 3 devices (Ipad, Iphone, and Ipod touch). I eagerly awaited the first night to test this out.
So first reactions and several positives:
1. Loved the way the app worked in the background. It didn't tie up the device, or the battery, yet still notified you and let you hear the monitor
2. The trending, while limited to 15 minutes, was cool to see graphically the activity on the motion and noises
3. The history log as well was great to see the patterns that occur through the night, be great if this could also be graphed, but that's just SW App development
4. The temp and humidity monitoring were also good, this was the first unit I could find that did both along with having iphone integration.
5. The music and lights are really bells and whistles, I don't use them, but its added features
Most of my cons are really product design and quality. This wouldn't be the first time I saw a great idea, for a rather expensive product fail on product quality. Rather upsetting, but also tells me there is no hope for it being fixed until a later release.
1. The unit is basically a large clam shell. Its actually even a bit bigger then I expected. When you fold it up, you literally have to point it straight forward otherwise the base gets in the way of the image. This literally cut out about 30-40% of my crib. After one or two times of my child crying, but being out of view I had to change something. I literally had to make a white finished wooden wedge with a rubber top and a Velcro strap to angle the entire withings unit down to capture most of the crib. It was better, but you shouldn't have to do that for a $300 monitor.
2. The night vision is really sub-par. Man nights it took squinting to see if the baby was on her back or her stomach. Average would have been OK, but I didn't expect it to be substantially worse that run of the mill video units. Again, for $300 why not beef this up.
3. I was actually able to deal with the first 2 issues, but #3 was the game breaker. The unit is not stable. It disconnects and buffers endlessly on occasion. This is not anything I was comfortable taking a risk on. I'd say realistically it was about 5-15% of the time, meaning one morning every 1-2 weeks I would awake to find out that I was not monitoring my baby all. Scary right? Literally the application would say you have been disconnected with your monitor and could not be reconnected. Some times the unit buffered and never would let you actually begin monitoring. Not all the time, but enough for me to not take a risk of not having a monitor.
4. From my experiences above, I can also tell you there is no quick support resolution. You cannot call the company. You must email and get a response back anywhere from 1-5 days. They are helpful when you get them, but being in a different time zone it was at least a day to troubleshoot each step.
To elaborate more on #3. The unit has Bluetooth connectivity in case the WiFi fails. This never is sustainable, even just one room away. My router, the monitor and the device in most cases were withing 25 feet of each other. I even tried the unit at someone else's house to see if its my network. I ran into the same issues. Sometimes shutting down the apps completely and relaunching helped, but I cannot do that when I'm sleeping! Eventually I was simply told that it would not get better and I should return the unit. Again, any other device, I'd chalk it up to being n early adopter and take the pros and cons, but with my child, there is no risks worth taking.
I'm hoping this helps those on the fence and also gets some attention to look at the product quality. Like I opened with, I truly wanted this to work as I love the concept and the features.
Buy Withings Smart Baby Monitor (White) Now
We used to have the MobiCam Audio Video Baby Monitoring System. We always seemed to have problems with it, even from the start. Sometimes there was just no picture even though our room shares a wall with our baby's room. I researched baby monitors for quite some time and was excited when I found the Withings smart baby monitor. The only issue was that it was not available in the US yet. After several months of waiting it finally became available so I snatched it up and I am so happy I did.Video quality is much better than our previous camera and I LOVE that I can access it away from home. It is so wonderful to see my baby sleeping while I have to work late. I haven't had a problem with the limited time period away from home but it would be nice to have the option for extended viewing for free. The night vision is about on par with our previous monitor and gets the job done. I am able to tell what he is doing in bed without issues.
The screen shows temperature and humidity which is nice feature that I would have really enjoyed having when he was a newborn.
I love being able to use my phone to talk to him, my husband and I have both utilized this feature away from the house and it works very well.
It would be nice to have another way to mount it (perhaps on the wall) besides on the crib because the other day my son had managed to pull it off and into the crib.
I really enjoy having this baby monitor and have already recommended it to several of my friends. If you have an iPhone and the $$$, I would say go for it, you will not be disappointed.
Read Best Reviews of Withings Smart Baby Monitor (White) Here
I have been using this monitor for a few weeks now with my new baby and am really satisfied. I know there are other ways to get this done with setting up IP cameras and making security cameras work for this purpose, but for overall design I don't think there is any comparison. The recent app update has been working very well for me.Pros:
1-Hardware is nicely designed and the build quality seems very good.
2-If you have multiple iOS devices this is a great product. Love how we can have multiple monitors going at once.
3-Nice "hidden" features like it works as a traditional audio only monitor if you close the unit and the app can be configured to play the audio in the background when the app is exited.
4-Can configure to use 2 wifi networks and will default back to bluetooth if off your network (bluetooth range is very limited).
5-Had issues at first with push notifications not working after recent app update. Emailed support and received a response in less than one day and they acknowledged there was an issue on their side that would be corrected in about a day (and it was).
6-Really like the fifteen minute visual graph of motion and noise. Temp and humidity are helpful.
7-Great nightlight.
8-Nightvision has been working pretty well with one exception.
9-Off network connection is seamless.
10Configurable notifications.
11My wife knows how to use it!
Cons:
1-The battery is really not that useful as it is reported it will only work for 1 hour with video and 2 with audio. Really just useful to move the unit from one area to the next.
2It is expensive, but not the most expensive option. There are many video monitors that do less but cost more.
3The music options are pretty limited, but the last app update listed that support was being built in for more options.
4No website connectivity, only can be viewed over iOS devices.
5Off network viewing limited to 15 minutes per day (reported you can buy more time but not yet available).
6Their account services web site is not really ready for use and it is confusing what it will even be for.
7Little odd details with the app like it is not very clear with the custom notifications for motion and noise as to which way the slider makes the sensor more or less sensitive.
8I have noticed that in some light levels the camera seems to get confused and flips back and forth from night to day vision.
Overall very happy and would not hesitate to fully recommend this device. Most importantly the app and push notifications have been very reliable (after recent bug update). I was initially concerned that I would miss my baby crying or moving.
7There is a slight delay with video and audio (0.5 to 1 second maybe).
Want Withings Smart Baby Monitor (White) Discount?
The camera looks good and has tons of good functionality. HOWEVER, the main functionality remote connection to the mobile app for remote monitoring does not work reliably! The mobile app keeps losing connection to the camera and the camera has to be restarted manually at least once a day.Without remote monitoring, this is a very beautiful lullaby player and thermometer things I would not pay $300 for :)
Costumer service for Withings is non-existent, which is unacceptable for such an expensive product.
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