At the start of the year Y-Cam launched a new range of easy to use wireless IP cameras with beefed up resolutions and free cloud storage. The HomeMonitor HD beams video to the cloud and keeps it there for 7 days. You can check these videos on your PC, Mac or smartphone and it works in all light conditions. Oh and they say it can be configured in less than 60 seconds; naturally I had to put the HomeMonitor HD to the test.
What’s in the HomeMonitor HD box
– 1x HomeMonitor HD Camera
– 1x Stand/wall mount
– 1x 3m/10ft power supply with UK/US/EU plugs
– 1x 1m/3ft network (Ethernet) cable
– 2 x 1-inch screws and wall anchors
-Quick Start Guide
Setting Up
The next stage shows your live HomeMonitor Feed (it has a second of two delay in all reality as video is bounced up to the cloud and back to your PC). During setup you’ll have the choice to choose two hot spots, which is a useful way of excluding areas you don’t want monitored (a busy road through your living room window will trip the camera every few seconds ).
After running through the above I installed the iPhone app and logged in to my HomeMonitor account. This neat app lists all your active cameras and allows you to control them remotely. Notification settings, power options and a live view can all be accessed from the app. You can also view the last 7 days of video from an archive section.
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- Recorded activity is shown under the archive view.
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- A recent update to the app also allows you to delete clips on the move.
Cloud Storage
The main thing that sets this aside from other home IP cameras is that free cloud storage is included as standard. This means you can get instant updates via email or smartphone when the camera records. This is ideal if you’re away from home and want to keep abreast of what’s going on.
The caveat to having free cloud storage is clips are discarded on a 7-day cycle unless you upgrade to their paid service. Even this paid service is cheaper than rivals though, and ensures all of your clips are safely stored if you’re away for extended periods of time (you get 30 days on the paid plan).
Any clip can be downloaded from the HomeMonitor website with ease. This is ideal if you want to keep or store a clip indefinitely. You cannot save clips using the iPhone app though, so you’ll need a computer to make full use of the service.
Video Quality
I’ve got hours and hours of footage of me walking past the camera, but not much else. With that in mind I thought a simple daylight and infrared (night) video would show the cameras quality.
As you can see everything works amazingly well and is more than clear enough to pick up details. I was particularly impressed with the night-time footage (i’ve added another still below to demonstrate the clarity).
Conclusion
The HomeMonitor HD Camera is a good solution for people or businesses that want to keep an eye on things when they’re away. Yes there is a lag, but that doesn’t really matter when used for its intended purpose. The one-way sound isn’t really an issue either, because this isn’t designed to an intercom. The main selling point is the quality video and ease of use, which is all supplied for £129.99 if you buy it from Amazon (at the time of writing). This is more expensive than competitors for the hardware, but when the free storage is thrown in works out a much cheaper deal. All-in-all i’d say this is a good solution and the best home security camera i’ve reviewed to date.
