Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Updated 1/16/2016: Both the camera and the Android application were updated the other day. You can now easily share your cameras with other people if they make an account. Also, they added more customization to the event alerts. You can now specify alerts based on the days of the week and create three custom schedules. Finally, they added the option to set the alert region on the picture. In my original review, I mentioned activity in the fish tank sets off an alert. Now, I can set the active area and leave the tank out. Overall a significant update making these cameras even better. Original review: I typically don’t write product reviews; however, after spending some time trying to find a decent camera for the house and using this one for a few days, I figured I’d share my experience. I’ve only used this camera since 12/25/15, but I already think this camera has the potential to give Dropcam serious competition. First, the setup. If you can operate your smartphone, you can setup this camera. Plug it in, install and run the application on your phone or tablet, and you’re good to go. I did have some issues making a YI Home account using my email address; however, after several attempts, it finally worked. You don’t have to use your FaceBook account; however you can if you want as it’s an option. I opted to create a YI account instead. After creating your account, you hold the phone in front of the camera which allows it to scan a QR code. Once it scans the code, the camera is connected to your WiFi. Overall, very easy. Second, the phone application itself. The application is very easy to use. Once you sign in, your camera will be listed, along with any additional cameras you connect. Tapping on the camera you want to watch takes you to the live feed. Rotate the phone and now you’re viewing it full screen. For each camera, you can customize how it records (all the time or motion only) and you can create alerts if motion is detected. If you use the motion alerts, you get a notification from the application on your phone. Opening the alert shows you a six second video of what the camera detected. From what I understand, this video is backed up and available online for seven days. All other video is stored on the SD card (not included). While watching the live feed, a bar is shown at the bottom (can be hidden) which shows you the motion events. Sliding the bar allows you to review the video saved on the SD card. I will add that the fish in my aquarium trigger motion events, so it does work and camera placement should be taken into consideration when installing. Also, I was using the application on a Samsung Galaxy Note 4. Third, the picture quality. Overall, the picture quality is great for what most of us are going to use it for. Some will complain the zoom quality isn’t great. For most of us, we don’t need to zoom in on an area the size of a quarter. If you absolutely need that, then you should probably consider the $200 cameras. I’ve included photos taken from within the application while watching the video to show the difference between daytime and nighttime. Overall, for the price of the camera, I’m very happy with the quality of the pictures and video. Finally, my closing thoughts. Overall, this is a great camera for the price. To be fair, I haven’t tried Dropcam; however, I couldn’t bring myself to pay $200 for a camera plus additional money for cloud access per each additional camera. Six seconds of online video backup is good enough for most of us. I would like to see the time extended a little, maybe ten seconds for ten days, as six seconds can go by very fast. I think if Xiaomi offered an optional paid plan for online storage, Dropcam and the others would have serious competition. It does lack a little in the written instructions as they don’t explain how the online backup works, nor do they mention you can easily wall mount the camera (watch here: https://youtu.be/XqESaqsY4HQ); however, if the one I have now keeps going, I’ll buy a few more to add to various areas of the house. Also, Xiaomi is gaining traction in the phone industry for quality products, so my hope is that these cameras are no different.YI Home Camera (Official U.S. Edition)