Wireless baby monitors offer extra peace of mind
It’s a long time since I had babies in my home, but recently I got to test the Eufy SpaceView Baby Monitor. Back in my day, we didn’t have wireless baby monitors with cameras or any of the bells and whistles like those found on the SpaceView. All we had were simple audio baby monitors and although basic, they got the job done.
When it comes to small babies, peace of mind is essential to getting a good sleep. The SpaceView is a fantastic system of assisting parents to monitor their infants in an easy to use setup. The box contains all you need to get going with little to no setup required. There’s a camera that comes with a power supply with a micro-USB connection. It also comes with a monitor which is also powered via a micro-USB port. You don’t have to connect them to your WiFi since it uses its own built-in WiFi to communicate between the camera and the portable SpaceView monitor.
To get up and running with the SpaceView you simply plug in the camera and place it in room or location that you need to monitor. The camera doesn’t have its own battery and so it has to be plugged in all of the time. However, it does come with a long cable, which makes finding the best location a little easier. It also comes with a corner bracket for mounting the camera.
The camera has a built-in mic and speaker and comes with an additional wide-angle lens. It can pan 330 degrees and tilt 110 degrees and features a 2x digital zoom. The standard lens, which is pre-installed has a 62-degree field of view while the extra lens has a 110-degree field of view and allows you to see an entire room in a single view. Which lens you choose to use really depends on where you place the camera and how much you want to see.
The normal lens is ideal if you want to keep an eye on a sleeping infant, while the wider angle lens is great for keeping an eye on an entire playroom.
The camera itself doesn’t have any controls or buttons to press. The HD monitor is an impressive 5-inch, 720p LCD display. In terms of quality, it is excellent, but not in the same league as you’ll find on a good smartphone. The screen is bright and the controls are easy to see. To the right of the screen are the main controls starting with the menu button, then a directional pad for panning and tilting the camera as well as moving through the basic menu system. Below the D-pad is a push-to-talk button, which acts as a walkie talkie.
Basically, you can hear sound from the room where the camera is placed via the camera’s speaker and if you want to talk through the camera’s speaker, you push the button and talk. Sound quality is excellent both from the mic and speaker.
The top of the monitor has the volume up and down and power on buttons. On the back, you’ll find a speaker grille, a flip-out stand and a swivel up aerial. On the right-hand side is a micro-USB charging port and a slot for a micro-SD card which allows you to record video.
The monitor has its own battery that has to be charged, but once charged, you can roam around wire-free. The monitor itself is pretty compact and sleek making it easy to bring around the house with you. The flip-out stand is really useful too, especially, if you need to place the monitor on a nightstand or table.
During my time of testing, I never had issues with the video signal breaking up, even when walking around the house while looking at the monitor. The screen does display signal strength and I never even had to put up the aerial.
Of course, if you have a really big house, that might test the signal more than I was able to.
Other features include a temperature sensor built into the camera that is displayed on the screen. You can also see the monitors’ battery level and the time. The menu allows you to zoom in 1.5x and 2x as well as play five different lullabies melodies through the camera’s speaker. You can also set sound-activated alerts.
The camera also has a black and white night-vision mode that can literally see in the dark.
Finally, the tilt and pan function is incredibly responsive - there’s only a slight delay when you turn the camera using the D-pad.
Overall, the Eufy SpaceView Baby Monitor is a super slick option for those looking for some peace of mind without all the fuss and complications you’d expect from such advanced technology.
