Becoming a first time parent is one of the most exciting experiences you will go through and also the scariest because of so many unknowns! No matter how much you read up about parenting or how much advice you get from seasoned parents, the nerve-racking reality of bringing a child into the world is very powerful. Cot death is one of the top worries you have to wrestle with and, rightly so. Getting a baby monitor is a worthy investment just for peace of mind.
The baby cam pictured it's the Vacos baby monitor, which comes with a video camera, local storage and a portable viewing screen for monitoring the baby. This setup feels better than some baby cameras that use a mobile app so, you can monitor via your phone. It maybe more convenient but mobile apps can glitch.
Both the Vacos camera and the viewing screen can be powered via a powerbank, making the Vacos baby monitor useful for other monitoring type applications. Setting the Vacos baby monitor is really quick. There is nothing to install. Simply power on the display and camera and they both automatically communicate to one another (via FHSS frequency) within a few seconds. That's it.
The Vacos baby monitor has nine control buttons (including a navigation d-pad) located on the front right side of the unit. The buttons are made of plastic and make a clicky noise when pressed. The buttons are responsive, although the bottom two buttons are a little too close to the navigation down button. You can control the viewing screen brightness, as well as volume and video recording. By default, the viewing screen shows the time, battery level, temperature, volume level, recording status and wireless signal level between the viewing screen and camera. Like with most wireless devices, the range decreases significantly with brick/ concrete walls. Drywall (i.e.plasterboard) partitions don't seem to affect the range as much. You can keep the baby's room door closed if you plan to be next door.
The Vacos baby monitor viewing screen has a plastic frame, making it lightweight (205 grams), and measuring 15.5cm long, 8cm wide and 2cm thick. There is a black bezel surrounding the 5-inch LCD display, which measures 10.5cm long and 6cm high. On top of the viewing screen, there is a power button and a folding plastic Wifi antenna that measures 7cm long and can be positioned at 45 degrees and 90 degrees. On the back of the viewing screen, there is a plastic kickstand and a loudspeaker designed to relay the sound coming from the built-in microphone inside the camera.
There are a total of eight colorful menu tabs located on the left side of the screen. Menus include music, voice detection, temperature, feeding timer, sleep mode, record settings and system settings where you can set the user interface language, change the date, add more cameras (maximum of four), adjust the alert volume and load a new firmware update.
The music tab lets you play instrumental lullabies through the camera speaker, which is nice, although when a lullaby is playing the sound/motion functions get disabled automatically. You can choose from five lullabies or play them in repeat (1 to 5). The volume level of the instrumental can be adjusted. The temperature tab lets you schedule a temperature alarm, which you can set to go off when temperature goes above or below the level you designate. The feeding timer lets you choose from four preset timers (2 hr, 3hr, 4hr and 5hr), as well as customize your own timer. The sleep mode tab lets you choose from four settings (30 seconds, 1 min, 3 min or off) for turning the display off automatically, which extends the battery life. While in sleep mode, the connection to the camera remains active; hence you can still hear if the baby wakes up.
The record settings tab gives you access to more options, including motion detection (up to 5 meters range), video recording interval (10 sec, 20 sec or 30 sec), micro SD card settings (e.g. format, usage, size) and overwrite mode, which basically works like the loop recording mode of a dash cam. This allows the micro SD card to continue recording after it's full by deleting the oldest videos. You can use a micro SD card with up to 256GB maximum capacity. The camera weighs 200 grams and measures 10.5cm tall and 7cm in diameter. The Wifi antenna measures 9.5cm long
Those concerns about privacy will like the Vacos baby monitor because you don't need a mobile app or cloud server for uploading the videos. Everything is recorded locally on the micro SD card and streamed privately without Wifi network connection. A noise meter and alarm beep are also embedded inside the Vacos camera for the voice detection and motion detection features. Voice detection sensitivity can be turned off or adjusted from low, medium and high,
The Vacos baby monitor camera has a quirky monoeye design that looks like one giant eye ball with an iris. The camera is mounted onto a glossy plastic body and can move up/down and left/right, thanks to an internal motor, which is whisper quiet. The camera lens is equipped with a 1/4-inch sensor capable of 720p HD (1280 X 720 pixels) resolution. For the purpose of baby monitoring, the camera offers good quality, capturing the subject clearly and naturally. However, during tilting and panning, the camera freezes, cutting the audio out temporarily. The lens is also fixed focus; hence it will not automatically focus on a subject.
The Vacos baby camera is also equipped with a loudspeaker, a microphone, a rotating Wifi antenna, a motion detection sensor (attached to a flexible arm), a USB charging port, a status led, a reset pinhole and night vision, which works extremely well (see video test). On the base of the camera, you will find rubber feet, two wall mounting holes and a female thread for attaching the included bracket. On top of the camera, there is a plastic trim that you can remove and mount the included set of silicone ears by sliding them along the groove. The ears are easy to insert and remove.
Both the Vacos camera and the viewing screen can be powered via a powerbank, making the Vacos baby monitor useful for other monitoring type applications. Setting the Vacos baby monitor is really quick. There is nothing to install. Simply power on the display and camera and they both automatically communicate to one another (via FHSS frequency) within a few seconds. That's it.
The Vacos baby monitor has nine control buttons (including a navigation d-pad) located on the front right side of the unit. The buttons are made of plastic and make a clicky noise when pressed. The buttons are responsive, although the bottom two buttons are a little too close to the navigation down button. You can control the viewing screen brightness, as well as volume and video recording. By default, the viewing screen shows the time, battery level, temperature, volume level, recording status and wireless signal level between the viewing screen and camera. Like with most wireless devices, the range decreases significantly with brick/ concrete walls. Drywall (i.e.plasterboard) partitions don't seem to affect the range as much. You can keep the baby's room door closed if you plan to be next door.
The Vacos baby monitor viewing screen has a plastic frame, making it lightweight (205 grams), and measuring 15.5cm long, 8cm wide and 2cm thick. There is a black bezel surrounding the 5-inch LCD display, which measures 10.5cm long and 6cm high. On top of the viewing screen, there is a power button and a folding plastic Wifi antenna that measures 7cm long and can be positioned at 45 degrees and 90 degrees. On the back of the viewing screen, there is a plastic kickstand and a loudspeaker designed to relay the sound coming from the built-in microphone inside the camera.
There are a total of eight colorful menu tabs located on the left side of the screen. Menus include music, voice detection, temperature, feeding timer, sleep mode, record settings and system settings where you can set the user interface language, change the date, add more cameras (maximum of four), adjust the alert volume and load a new firmware update.
The record settings tab gives you access to more options, including motion detection (up to 5 meters range), video recording interval (10 sec, 20 sec or 30 sec), micro SD card settings (e.g. format, usage, size) and overwrite mode, which basically works like the loop recording mode of a dash cam. This allows the micro SD card to continue recording after it's full by deleting the oldest videos. You can use a micro SD card with up to 256GB maximum capacity. The camera weighs 200 grams and measures 10.5cm tall and 7cm in diameter. The Wifi antenna measures 9.5cm long
Those concerns about privacy will like the Vacos baby monitor because you don't need a mobile app or cloud server for uploading the videos. Everything is recorded locally on the micro SD card and streamed privately without Wifi network connection. A noise meter and alarm beep are also embedded inside the Vacos camera for the voice detection and motion detection features. Voice detection sensitivity can be turned off or adjusted from low, medium and high,
The Vacos baby monitor camera has a quirky monoeye design that looks like one giant eye ball with an iris. The camera is mounted onto a glossy plastic body and can move up/down and left/right, thanks to an internal motor, which is whisper quiet. The camera lens is equipped with a 1/4-inch sensor capable of 720p HD (1280 X 720 pixels) resolution. For the purpose of baby monitoring, the camera offers good quality, capturing the subject clearly and naturally. However, during tilting and panning, the camera freezes, cutting the audio out temporarily. The lens is also fixed focus; hence it will not automatically focus on a subject.
The Vacos baby camera is also equipped with a loudspeaker, a microphone, a rotating Wifi antenna, a motion detection sensor (attached to a flexible arm), a USB charging port, a status led, a reset pinhole and night vision, which works extremely well (see video test). On the base of the camera, you will find rubber feet, two wall mounting holes and a female thread for attaching the included bracket. On top of the camera, there is a plastic trim that you can remove and mount the included set of silicone ears by sliding them along the groove. The ears are easy to insert and remove.
The Vacos baby monitor viewing screen has an internal 3000 mAh battery that takes 3 hours to recharge and has a runtime of up to 8 hours on medium brightness. The display does not need constant power, unlike the camera, which requires continuous 5V/1A (5W). That said, the Vacos camera can be powered via a powerbank, making the camera more versatile as far as placement. Screws and wall plugs are included for mounting the camera onto a wall.
The Vacos camera can be mounted directly onto a wall or via the included mounting bracket, which is useful as it allows you to reposition the camera at different angles by adjusting the thumbscrew. The only downside of the bracket, it's that is made of light plastic so, it doesn't feel especially durable. Other accessories you get included two 5W wall chargers and two long (22AWG) cables, measuring 1.2 meters and 1.3 meters respectively. You can buy the Vacos baby monitor from Vacos.
