V380 security camera review

Those with memories longer than most politicians and more accurate than most Presidents will doubtless recall that for several months I tried to obtain a cheap WiFi webcam. In the end after two sellers on eBay cost me 4 months by selling the camera then failing to deliver I got it on Amazon for about the price the eBay sellers were advertising.

The good.

• It works.
• The picture quality on standard quality while not stellar is pretty good.
• It pans and tilts.
• There’s a microphone and a speaker for two way conversations.
• It does not use very much power.
• The software is usable.
• It does not need connection to the internet nor to a router as it has its own network.
• It can also be connected to a router.

The bus photo is one taken using the stills function. It can also record video clips. I haven’t tried it in darkness but the daylight imaging seems pretty good. It’s also possible to set up all kids of alerts

I set the camera up, connected to a 5W solar panel and a 7AH battery. The battery also had a voltmeter attached. Over about an hour of usage the battery voltage rose from 12/12.2V to 12.1/12.3V. Clearly the camera did use less power than my 5W panel produces.

The bad.

• Network connectivity on local mode (Tablet connecting directly to the camer) was appalling.
• The software is hard to use.
• There are no real instructions how to use the camera nor the software and the software is non intuitive.
• The camera is not weatherproof.
• The camera is not auto-tracking.
• Wireless range is very limited. 30 feet is about the range limit.
• The video catches up after panning and tilting has been completed - at longer ranges.

At closer range the camera does work better. I have not tried connecting it to a router nor to a phone as the app wants too many permissions and since the software is Chinese, untrustworthy. There’s just too much extra work involved in blocking all the ports it could use.

It’s fun to hear my own voice coming from the camera speaker a second or two after I speak. The speech is unrecognizable as mine but still it’s fun. It’s amusing also when after announcing in a tinny female Chinese voice “System Starting” then “Network Starting” it announces in a very proud tone “Connection Established”. That’s even funnier when it has just set up a network to which nothing is connected yet.

Conclusion.

The problems in getting the camera were a pretty good indication of its worth. It was a problem to get. eBay had to refund me twice after two sellers failed to supply while my money was held hostage for two months on each occasion. 

In use the camera was slow and clunky lacking many performance tweaks that could easily have been made. The software was appalling to use and to set up. The radio range is too short to be useful. Whether it would work better as a corded camera is unknown as this was not tested.

It’s a fun toy to play with but I cannot imagine anybody being satisfied with it. Far better to use a corded webcam or a straightforward motion activated standalone camera. This is probably more aimed at the children’s market for children to put outside their tree house in order to see if their parents are coming.