Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

UPDATED 5-3-18 -- Keeps getting better and better I had first rated this camera 3-stars (November 2017) because of significant deficiencies. After a series of updates by Amazon I upgraded my review to 4-stars, and now again to 5-stars. Thank you Amazon for responding to user complaints quickly, and continuing to add features. Because of the updates, I have purchased more cameras. I have been replacing my lower resolution security cameras with the new Amazon Cloud Cam. Several of the older cameras were pointed outside (through windows) and one indoors. They were recording to a single hard drive on a small computer hidden in my house. The Amazon Cloud Cam, offered higher resolution, a wider angle lens and free 24 hour cloud storage, making it a good replacement. Things I like about this camera: * Very good picture quality, even in marginal lighting conditions * IR night recording not bad, and the IR LEDs are barely noticeable (see note below) * Wide angle lens covers entire room. (I am using one of these to replace two of my older cameras.) * Free app for monitoring one or more cameras and reviewing recorded video. App can be installed on multiple phones. * LIVE monitoring of cameras from web browser (newly added feature) * Good motion detection with settings high, med, low. * 2-way audio intercom when using app * Free cloud storage (24 hours). This is a big deal for me. * Can access & download clips from the Amazon Cloud drive even with the free plan. * Can view and download clips from the app. * Proximity setting turns off interior cameras when I am home (based on my cell phone location) * 10' USB power cord. (My other cameras have shorter 5' cords and all require extensions.) Things that could be improved on this camera: * Mounting stand/bracket. The plastic stand was designed primarily for setting on a flat surface, or optionally mounting on a wall or ceiling. A short arm has a swivel ball which extends into the camera. This cannot be disconnected. There is limited travel on the swivel. It works okay, but is not as flexible as other cameras that I have used (Sony, JVC, Axis, D-Link, etc.) * Cloudy night vision with built-in IR LED's. The eight LEDs (night vision illuminators) are behind the dark front faceplate. They are barely noticeable when looking at the camera in the dark. If stealth is what you're looking for then this is fine, except for the fact that the green power LED ruins the stealth effect. As a test, I turned OFF the night vision illumination in the Cloud Cam, and used the IR illumination from one of my older cameras in a totally dark room and, WHAT A DIFFERENCE. Suddenly the Cloud Cam image was punchy and had much more contrast. So the trade-off is to use the built in night vision LEDs and have a cloudy picture that's okay, or use external illumination and have a picture with more punch and contrast. You can buy an external IR LED illuminator on Amazon for about $10-12. This allows me to illuminate an outside area (my deck) with the Cloud Cam in a fixture behind a glass panel. * No way to disable the green power LED on the camera. There should be settings for ALWAYS ON, MOTION DETECTED, and ALWAYS OFF. (I have covered the LED on the cameras pointing outdoors with black tape.) I've kept the power LED on the indoor camera visible since it goes off when camera detects when we are home. (Based on my cel phone location) Bottom line: the camera shouldn't call attention to itself unless you want it to. * No time/date overlay in the video window. Yes you can use the file time/date, but a video overlay would be much better--especially in court. * No microSD on-board recording. In recent years this has become a must since networks can go down (or be intentionally disabled). It would be very nice to have a backup recording in each camera. * App notifications available, but SMS notification might be better. (see note below) REGARDING CLOUD STORAGE: I find it a bargain that Amazon is giving us free cloud viewing and storage for 24 hours. If something happens during that time, I can view the video and do as many screen grabs from the app as I need, or download clips--even with the free plan. Some people have asked for continuous 24 hour recording. That just wastes bandwidth. I only want the camera to record things that change in the video (motion, etc.)--which this camera does very nicely. And, if the microphone is enabled it should record when there are changes in the audio--which this camera does not. Since I've added these 3 Cloud Cams, the typical upload data has been averaging about 250 GB more per month than previously. REGARDING NOTIFICATIONS TO MY CELL PHONE: When notifications are turned on, the mobile app sends a notification to my phone. Nice feature, but with it enabled I found that I was using a large amount of data on my cell plan (about 1GB in a few days) not from the app, but instead from an Android background service. When I turned off the notifications, the excessive data usage went away. I have to do more research on this problem before I can make recommendations, but buyers should keep an eye on data usage, even if it's just notifications and not live viewing. I would prefer to get the notifications from SMS and not have the app running in the background. In summary I think the camera is an excellent security camera for many people. I now have 3 Cloud Cams--one outside in the housing (pictured.) A couple of my older, lower resolution, cameras are still operating but there seems to be little use for them anymore now that the Cloud Cams have taken over.