Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am very impressed with this camera. Professionally, I work with some of the best surveillance cameras money can buy, which cost in the $1500 range. I decided to set up a home surveillance system using my Synology DS 918+ as the Network Video Recorder(NVR). I purchased this camera with hopes that it would satisfy my needs but expected it to fall below my expectations. I was wrong! This camera is easy to set up via a phone app. Once the cam was up and running on my network, it paired very easily with my Synology NAS. From unboxing to complete setup, it took less than 30 minutes. As I continue to read up on this little camera, I've learned that an DVR is not even necessary. The cam accepts a micro SD card which can be remotely accessed from Amcrest's web portal. They also provide four hours of cloud storage for free, but I just don't have the need for it so I can't speak as to the effectiveness of the cloud. Firmware updates are a breeze and can be done from a remote laptop without having to manually plug in an ethernet cord. The most surprising quality feature is the wifi connectivity. I don't have the best connection, pulling speeds of 20meg download and 750k upload. Streaming quality is excellent remotely even with those dismal speeds. The camera is feature rich with many different configurations that seem redundant but cater to your particular style of monitoring. There are various perimeter alarm settings either with video or audio detection. You can also set portions of the video recording with privacy blocks, just in case one of your cameras peeks into a bathroom if someone was to leave a door open. You can also set audio alarms if you wish by using the onboard speaker or you can plug it into a more robust sound system. Two-way communication is easily available but the on board speaker is not loud enough in my opinion. Video quality is great whether you are in daylight or nighttime settings. IR blasters seem to illuminate a large room without a problem. However, based on my experience, this would not suffice in nighttime outdoor settings for any long distances. This is to be expected and I rarely have found consumer grade cameras to fit the bill for let's say driveway nighttime video. Looking at some of Amcrest's product line, they do have a camera with the right specs in the $300 range which is still a great deal. Whether or not you are looking to spend less than $100 for just this camera and an SD card or you plan on going all out with a dedicated NAS/NVR, this camera will definitely accomplish your goals.