Review on 📷 SV3C 5MP POE IP Camera: Outdoor Security Camera with Two-Way Audio, Motion Detection, IP66 Waterproof & SD Card Recording Support (No WiFi) by Adam Quintana

In short: Excellent picture quality, decent sound, nice web interface and settings, easy setup. Excellent value for money and quality. I've been buying SV3C cameras for a long time and they've always been very affordable. I was offered to get acquainted with this model and it did not disappoint. My previous cameras had a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and were good enough to see what's going on. This one has a resolution of 2560 x 1920 and is actually good enough to read license plates on my driveway. It also appears to be more sensitive to light, maintaining a sharp image late into the night before switching to infrared. Speaking of IR, the combination of higher resolution, improved IR LEDs and better light sensitivity also results in a clearer night image. (see image) An admittedly mixed change is the aspect ratio. The wide screen of my previous camera allowed me to see a little more of the road, while this camera's squarer ratio crops the edges a bit (less than the road) but shows a little more vertically. For where I've installed it, it's actually a decent compromise and ultimately preferable. It is also zoomed in very slightly closer. None of this is really a downside, just something to consider when considering camera placement. For example, consider an image in which an old image is superimposed over a newer one. Due to slight differences in camera position, aspect ratio, magnification, etc., it's not a perfect match, but it roughly shows the change in aspect ratio. The camera can also be set to 2560 x 1440, but that only crops the top and bottom of the image. The audio is a nice addition compared to my previous cameras. I've already caught a pack of howling coyotes and it's also handy to hear my kids even when they're around the corner out of sight. The camera web interface is another nice improvement. Previous firmware would have required a web plugin to display video, although the configuration was initially available. This camera displays videos as is and supports a range of configuration options such as flipping horizontally or vertically. You can also change the power off level for night mode or always turn it on or off. There are additional settings for image quality, video bitrate, timestamp and tagging. Many options for every installation location and orientation. I set up the camera with Camect where it was automatically detected. Audio and video stream and playback are fine, everything is local. And with PoE, you can connect everything with one cable. As I'm using Camect I won't be using the built-in person detection feature, but it's a nice feature that can fill the gap and reduce false alarms due to minor movements. . Camera alerts can be configured to send notifications via email or upload to an FTP server. Downloads can also be scheduled at recurring intervals. The only feature I'm still learning is two-way audio. Currently you need to enable P2P access, connect directly to the camera's Wi-Fi network or directly through the web interface. Of these, I would prefer not to enable P2P to keep camera traffic entirely local, I can't connect regularly to the WiFi generated by the camera, and according to SV3C support the web interface requires Flash for audio connection. Flash is of course out of date and I currently have no way of running the older version. I'll keep looking and hopefully find a way to use two-way audio with a local connection. If you're not picky about local camera traffic like I am, these limitations don't apply and the audio works just fine. There are a number of P2P or direct connect apps for Mac, Windows, iOS, Android that support, or at least listen to, two-way audio. Overall this is a really good camera with good features, great quality and great value for money. I've been happy with the SV3C in the past and continue to like it.