Voger VP230 1080p Wifi Baby Monitor Review

Currently priced on Amazon at a crazy £15.98, this new IP camera from Volger is something of a hidden gem. How can they offer face recognition, two-way audio, scheduled motion detection, cloud/local storage, night vision and Alexa/Google integration for less than £16

At this price can it really be any good?

Nicely packaged well above its price point in the box is the camera, USB cable, UK power adapter, wall mounting kit, reset pin and a well designed and easy to read user guide. The camera, designed for indoor use only, is stylishly designed and small and neat enough to fit virtually anywhere. It stands on a robust and stable mount with a ball and socket rotating base and can be free standing or wall mounted.

When first connected I was pleased to see an immediate over the air system update was offered and successfully installed. It is good to see that the device has active support and not just sent to the market and forgotten.

The first thing to do is to download and install the Tuya Smart app for Android or iOS, I tested using the Android app. You have to register the app before use but doing so is free and you can use a disposable email address to do so. Take note to ensure the phone used to configure the camera is connected to a 2.4Ghz network, not 5Ghz. After installing and registering the app and plugging in the camera follow the in-app instructions to add a new camera. After inputting your home wifi details the app generates a QR code which the camera reads to configure it for your network. After a few seconds, the camera will connect to your home wifi network and you can control it through the app or with Google Home and Alexa. The app can be used to control multiple cameras and other IOT devices and is simple and intuitive to use. Unlike with older cameras, there is no web-based interface so you cannot connect directly to the camera using your web browser. In general, I have to say the app offers a very full range of options and settings for the camera and is easy and intuitive to use.

This model has 1080P @mage quality which is clearly not the upscaled 720p of some lesser rivals. Video quality is one of the best I found for this price bracket. Unlike with older budget security cameras, this one boasts an i/r cut filter which when not needed removes the night time infrared filter to ensure good colour fidelity daytime images. It supports two-way audio which means it serves well as a Baby Monitor although the lack of audio in/out ports means external hardware cannot be used to improve the rather tinny audio quality.

It has motion and audio detection alerts with face recognition and it can capture images and send real-time alerts to the phone app as it records pictures and video to the phone, micro SD card or cloud. If you use an SD card (none is provided) make sure you use a Class 10 card or better – the card must be able to cope with the high-speed data stream from the camera otherwise the results will be jittery and poor. Unlike most cameras, this one can take cards up to 64Gb in size. There is also the option to save images automatically to the cloud but which is an inexpensive optional paid service. It will also smoothly integrate with Amazon Alexa or Google to give full voice control.

This is a high-quality security camera, much more than just a baby camera, capable of excellent results. The crazy price is brilliant for the features on offer and allows me to overlook the few features it does lack.

The Good
Stylish design
Great price
Night Vision
Motion detection alarm
Great App
Face Recognition
Real-time App Alerts
Two-way audio
SD card slot
Standard micro-USB power interface
Works Alexa/Google

The Bad
No 5Ghz wifi support
No audio output port
No audio in port
No Ethernet port
No Web Interface

Music: YouTube Audio Library: Geographer: Airline