Tend Insights Lynx Indoor 1080p HD Security Camera - Home Surveillance Monitor w/Facial Recognition, WiFi, Night Vision

I have an Arlo wireless system and got fed up with it eating batteries like crazy (yes, they came out with solar powered chargers, but they're as expensive as the cameras!). So I was looking for a better option, and could live with the cameras being indoors provided they could be pointed out a window. So I wrote to the manufacturer and got a very quick reply about that (it can point out a window if you turn the IR off, and the area it is pointing to at night is well-lit from another source, like a driveway light). So I ordered one of these VERY reasonably priced cameras and held my breath.Setup was a PIECE OF CAKE - the app walks you through it, and I was up and running in under 5 minutes, including install time. I will update this at a later date, since I've only been living with it about a week now, but suffice it to say I have today ordered ANOTHER of these, and am retiring my Arlo's fully.PROS and CONS:*Install, as already noted, was a cinch. Install the App on your phone or tablet, it walks you through the process. The settings that are available to play with are pretty basic, so simple to run through. The app pulls up quickly on my phone, flipping over to a recorded clip to review is easy, activating the voice mode on the camera is literally as simple as tapping on the picture.* The video quality is exceptional - actually better than my Arlo, but the OUTSTANDING quality of the video is that unlike my Arlo system, which always seemed to MISS the action, this not only captures the action it captures the few seconds BEFORE the action. With Arlo, the camera doesn't even come out of "sleep" mode until it detect motion, and by then someone typically comes and goes - I have a thousand clips of someone's backside on my porch. 2 seconds of them as they leave. Because this is a wired camera. the Lynx is always in at least a low-level "on" mode, so when I review the clips I get the seconds leading UP to the whatever it is that triggered the motion detection, as well as the actual motion. That's just ridiculously superior and useful.*Once the camera detects motion, it records the clip and sends you a push notification on your phone. You CAN set it to only send those notifications at certain times (like NOT at 3am!), which is helpful, but there are two features I'm accustomed to seeing with pretty much any security camera system that are missing - the ability to get the notifications sent to EMAIL instead, and the ability to tell the camera how long to record each clip. It apparently records as long as there is motion, but only up to 30 seconds, and there's no way to tell it to record longer. (Though if action continues, I have noticed it will record an additional clip). There is also no geo-caching option - so you can't, for instance, tell it NOT to record a clip or send you a notice if your phone is at home. That's a very helpful feature on many systems, so you don't get notifications, for instance, if you're at home and step in front of the camera dozens of times a day.* I did email the company and ask about the email notification thing, and they indicated they are working on developing a higher tier subscription option down the road, so perhaps some of those things will be included at a later date.* In the meantime, don't get me wrong - even without those features, I'm TERRIBLY impressed with this camera! Ease-of-use, ease-of-install, picture quality, the app's responsiveness, the fact that it also includes audio - these are top tier features I'd expect to pay more for, so Lynx has carved out a nice corner of the market for a fairly priced, high functioning camera.* One "con" worth noting, as others here have mentioned the teensy screw on the underside of the mounting base it very poorly designed - it requires you to know somehow in ADVANCE exactly what angle you want the camera placed, before you even mount the bracket. If you're not planning to actually mount the camera on a wall, this is a non-issue - the screw is easily accessible, no problem once you figure out your positioning. But if you're using the bracket to mount this on a wall or door frame or whatever, it requires you to figure out the angle, somehow then take it down and tighten the screw, then somehow align that back up with the base you have to twist this into once it's mounted? It's just poor design - the screw should be somehow EXTERNAL, somewhere other than on the UNDERSIDE of the base, so it can be more easily adjusted AFTER you get the camera placed just so.DEFINITELY recommend, without hesitation. I may even have to add on one of those cute little MINION cameras the company makes, just cuz' I think they're adorable (plus, it occurs to me that someone coming into my house is unlikely to look at that on a shelf and think "security camera" - they're more likely to think tchotchke! :D

I first got this camera in November, and it was difficult to get set up on Android Oreo, I had to go through an iPhone. which obnoxious but hey whatever. The power cord that came with it was a 10-foot cord but it's got a standard USB plug and it's kind of obtrusive. The camera quality is great, the motion detection is good. but the identification didn't really work well, part of that is due to the height and distance I have it away from peoples faces. I wanted to see a wide area - if you stand close enough it does work. it took 3-4 different angles of peoples faces before it finally being more consistent. The Talkback function in the speaker didn't work advertised. I could talk through it, but it came across as crackles and broken. it was horrible. Untile last week. They did a firmware update that took the camera offline although it was still capturing images. I put in a trouble ticket, and I got an automated response. later the next afternoon, another firmware update was released. it fixed the camera offline issue, but now the motion detection is REALLY sensitive, (had to turn it down) the facial recognition works at a further distance, AND the Speaker talkback function works as advertised. It's not the best, but it at least works... Sometimes. It seems to be very dependent on their server load. if the app is slow to respond the voice transmission is awful and completely not understandable when the app is nice and snappy the voice comes through fairly clear. When it works, it's GREAT! I can yell at the dog when she's counter surfing. I can tell my kids to bed when I'm out with friends, I can even invoke my Google home to turn off the tv on the kids through the speaker when they should be in bed. Which is hilarious!My only real wish is that they would do some integration with Google - I need another security camera and I'll buy another one of these, due to rising issues in my hometown, but I'd totally throw more money at this if they would do the integration. Truth be told when I get an external camera I'm going with NEST because of their integration. Tend has a decent product here, and it is cheaper, and the speaker proves it on this device, but they are improving it.Pros: good device quality, it doesn't feel like cheap plastic. Solid image/movies. Speaker works decently but not great Easy to setup, and Support is quite responsive by phone.Cons: The app is slow to respond, There's no Amazon/google integration, and the power cord is rather obtrusive in size. I'd like to be able to customize the length of recording on movement. I'd like to see some improvement on the speakers, I don't know if that's a build issue or a firmware issue. The voice when transmitting is still barely audible it only works sometimes. They need to update their APP, the app crashes a lot on Android Oreo, but works well on older versions and an iPhone.