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Home network video cameras such as the Philips In. Sight, that enable you to keep an eye on your prized possessions while you are away, are becoming increasingly popular. This implies that the cams are getting much easier to establish and install, along with looking less like a CCTV video camera that you ‘d find in a dull car park, and more like a glossy piece of highly preferable technology.
Even as compared to home-orientated network cameras such as the D-Link Residential Network Video camera DCS-942L or the Aztech WIPC402 Wireless-N Pan/Tilt IP Video camera, which are far from ugly, the Philips In. Sight electronic cameras are easily the best looking network cams we have seen up until now.
Small, thin, smooth and white, these cams will sit unobtrusively in even the most minimalist of houses. They cost ₤ 99.95 / US$ 129.99 / AU$ 179.95 for a single video camera, though double kits offer a discount rate. The Philips In. Sight kit we checked had two cameras, with the capability to quickly add more later if you want to.
So the Philips In. Sight cordless home screen looks the part, but how easy is it to set up? Fortunately it’s extremely easy undoubtedly, thanks to some canny design choices. Each electronic camera has a sturdy magnetic base that makes it easy to put on flat or metallic surface areas, while angling the cam for the required view. These can be swiftly swapped out for bases that can be screwed onto walls and ceilings.
The magnetic connections make the cameras simple to include and remove if there are any issues. They’re powered by a mini USB connection, which features a long wire that once again offers you a lot of scope when positioning the video camera.
Configuring the electronic cameras is all done through the app that you can download for iPhone or Android gadgets, which is basic enough to make use of, though we found the iOS version of the app a bit ropey – it crashed and became unresponsive a couple of times.
A rather clever set up treatment follows. By entering your wireless network’s details into the app it produces a QR code image on your phone’s screen. You then hold up the phone in front of the cam and it configures everything for you. Sounds great in concept, but in use there was a bit of waving around to obtain the cams to get the QR codes. When they did, however, things went smoothly.
Once done you can easily understand your cameras from the app or over an internet browser, and you can establish movement and sound sets off to obtain the video cameras to tape-record video directly to your Dropbox account when the system senses something.
Verdict
Image and sound quality captured by the cameras is great, while setup was especially simple. The premium look of the cams indicated we did not seem like we’d to conceal them away like some other network cameras that we’ve actually tested.
The just let down is the app, which appears a little too temperamental at the moment. Ideally future updates will improve the stability.
First reviewed 19 August 2013