Imou Outdoor Indoor Security Camera with 20m Color Night
Imou Outdoor Indoor Security Camera with 20m Color Night Vision, AI Human Detection, WiFi Wireless Wired Home IP CCTV Camera 1080P, Built-in Siren/Spotlight, 2-way Audio, IP65, Magnetic, Support Alexa
From the brand
| Dimensions: | 11.2 x 9.5 x 6.9 cm; 290 Grams |
| Manufacture: | IMOU |
| Dimensions: | 11.2 x 9.5 x 6.9 cm; 290 Grams |
| Origin: | China |
Highly recommended camera. Easy to set up and good range. Mine is at the back of my house and reaches WiFi ( located at front) easily. Use a SD card to save on the monthly charges with all functions available through the app. Good nightvision and weather proof. Great app and software through the imou app. Have 4 different imou cameras and all work so well. Can’t fault this system at all.
Good camera but can be actually quite annoying as it goes off all the time!
A nice little camera for the money. It doesn’t come with an SD card, however, and there’s no way to delete old footage from the SD card without removing it from the camera.
This is the second IMOU camera I’ve had from this program and this one was super easy to setup in comparison to my other. The other is a tilt and zoom controlled unit, this is fixed position.
This one was sorted in five minutes and works perfectly with onvif. My DVR found it no issues and once the password and username is set up, you’re away.
I now have three IP cameras set up and all work flawlessly alongside 7 fixed BNC 2k cams.
With my other camera I had to change quite a few things using SmartPSS which can be found via a Google search. With this I just needed to log in via the DVR and it was done.
You’ll find your password where it states Safety Code – the username is lowercase ‘admin”. This is hidden in the tilt bracket area.
I already had the IMOUlife app for my other camera. I use the app to tilt the other camera and use the flashlight (non of which can be done via my DVR software). Due to that reason it was simple to just add.
When setting up via the app you create an account, then simply scan the cameras QR code. It will then allow you to sync. Once this is done it will then ask you to pick your WiFi.
I have four wireless points around my home, two on 2.4g and the others 5g. Once the correct 2.4g is linked it will automatically save this for the camera.
If you’re only using via the app then that’s all you need to do. If you’re going for onvif – use your DVRs automatic search once it’s on your WiFi. It should appear and the serial will identify it if you have more than one IP camera already installed.
Enter the password and username, then assign to a box and it’s done.
I will be changing some settings in SmartPSS as I want to make sure the static I pick locks and also change the main password. The software allows you to change other things too which could help if your security conscious and don’t want the default credentials remaining.
Picture quality is 1080p and I’m managing to stream at 30fps mainstream and sub 25fps.
My main use is via my DVR and it was for onvif that I picked this camera. The simplicity with IP cameras means you just need a socket close by. Literally put them anywhere you wish. It took me a full week wiring my BNC setup and you can have this type of setup done in minutes.
The wi-fi camera was easy to install and works perfectly well. The image quality is outstanding. It’s vivid, crisp, and clear. Moreover, the camera comes with night vision plus 2-way audio.
Motion detection works as it should. No problems there. As soon as motion is detected, the spotlight is turned on. It illuminates quite a large area and I get an instant notification on my mobile. In addition, the camera is waterproof and perfect for both indoor and outdoor use
This little camera has most of the features of larger devices, although it lacks the PTZ remote adjustment that allows you to direct the camera lens and zoom in and out using the app (you can zoom live view digitally, but you won’t see any more detail). The camera needs to be adjusted manually, and the mounting allows a limited range of height and vertical angle control. It can also be rotated on the flat base, which can be fixed to surfaces using the screws provided, and is also magnetic should some ferrous metal be available to support it.
There are no batteries, and the camera is powered via its USB lead, which has a rather old-fashioned micro-USB plug at the camera end. This plug has a slightly undersized shell, so that it can enter the rubber surround on the camera and form a watertight seal. If the lead gets damaged, it should be possible to replace it. Due to its small size, the camera has limited space for lights, but the performance at night is pretty good. I usually test these cameras by trying to capture nocturnal wildlife in the garden, and I’ll include a sample to show what it can do. Live view using infra-red is quite sharp and contrasty, but I am not convinced that there is any more detail than there is with perhaps less-processed output from rival cameras.
To start using the camera, the most straightforward approach is to follow the instructions carefully, and install the Imou Life software onto a smartphone or similar device. In this instance, installation of the app and camera went smoothly, but it is easy to make a false move, and for things to go wrong. It’s probably best to reset the camera and start again when this happens. The app will hopefully provide enough information to enable the use of third-party software by the dedicated. I have had mixed success with this, but it would be nice to be able to access all the cameras of different makes from a single interface. Typically, there is no PC version of the app, so an emulator is the only other option.
The app is quite accessible, and connecting to the camera and obtaining a live view is simple, if rather slow at times. Camera settings can be altered with the app, but it’s not very clearly set out. I also had issues with viewing alarm recordings. It seems that you may or may not get preview images depending on the screen from which you access them. Recordings can be sent to an SD card in the camera, or to the Cloud, for which a 7-day trial is included, but which will need to be paid for thereafter. I have just removed the SD card in order to transfer the files to my PC, but I find the files are of an unfamiliar type (IDX and DAV), and won’t play on my media programs. They are individually too small to be videos. So a sample of the video quality might not appear in this review. No doubt, there is a solution to this, but my patience is wearing thin with these devices. They are sold chiefly to the general public, most of whom are not IT specialists or systems analysts, and won’t enjoy solving computing conundrums. Like most electronic gadgetry, and much else besides, this can be brilliant when it’s working as planned, and infuriating when you hit a snag.
In using the app, you will discover another subscription service, Imou Protect, for which there is a 31 day free trial. I immediately liked this camera, for its neat attractive design and presentation, and the sharp videos. There is more to it than meets the eye, like the app, which takes a little effort to penetrate. To get the most out of it, you may need to pay for the online services.
This is a small gadget, perfect for use in areas where a standard size bulky unit would stand out too much.
Set up is simple and straightforward, I always pair any device near the router to make sure everything is working well prior to drilling holes, it’s also easier to troubleshoot any problems when you’re inside and not stood under heavy rain or freezing cold.
The app is very similar to those of other manufacturers’ and is easy to use, just make sure you’re connected to the 2.4 GHz on your WiFi router and you’ll be up and running in 5 minutes.
Picture quality is excellent, I have also installed an old 64 GB MicroSD card to allow recording and it works perfectly. Night vision is fantastic for a small space, so is the floodlight.
This is not designed for larger areas, you can of course install a separate infrared floodlight to enhance your coverage but I would just find a larger camera with longer range if that’s what you require, but this is extremely well made and served it’s purpose very well, would definitely recommend.
I’m a big fan of Imou cameras because they don’t force me to use a cloud backup that costs a fortune but the do have one if needed. I like these as they have built in memory cards that can be accessed from anywhere with live video and notifications. The cloud subscription does add human detection and longer recording, but I haven’t needed it.
The app works perfectly and I have a number of different types for different locations. The WiFi signal is excellent and the cable is long so I don’t have to keep it next to a socket.
Overall it’s great value for money as I’m not forced i to using the cloud.
The camera quality and night vision are also the best I have seen in this price bracket.
This is a neat little security camera that can be used both indoors and outdoors. I’m using it indoors and I’m impressed with the image quality and range of features but it’s good that I have the option to use it outdoors in the future.
The setup instructions are easy to follow and I liked the use of pictures to guide me through. The unit is quite sturdy on its own but all fixings are included if you want a more permanent location, with a choice of screws or a sticky pad. The magnetic plate that fixes to the wall is incredibly strong so it holds the camera securely.
The Imou app is user friendly and easy to use. The camera is easy to set up and share so multiple users can access the recordings and settings. You get a 7 day trial of the cloud service but I didn’t sign up for this, choosing instead to just use my own micro SD card.
Picture quality is excellent. I was intrigued by the claim of colour night vision but it’s actually just a spotlight that comes on when it detects movement in the dark, thereby lighting up the room in full colour. The normal monochrome night vision is crisp and clear though.
The camera is static once its placed in position so it’s not a pan and tilt camera that you can move around from within the app. This is perfectly fine if you only want to monitor a particular area of your home.
Overall, I’m impressed with this camera. It’s compact, suitable for external use, has good mounting options and the app is easy to use and full of features. Recommended.
This camera is designed to be used outdoors and it is waterproof rated, but it could also be used indoors. It does look quite smart and I think it is a great buy. It was quite difficult to set up, it took me several hours. The picture quality is good and it of course connects via wifi in order to be able to send alerts to the app. You can also use a memory card for local storage.
I ordered this camera to add to the coverage around my house, specifically the entrance door to the garage. I was looking for something compact, for placement in a tighter space. The motion detection works well to keep me alerted when someone is around the door. This one can be placed either indoor or outdoor.
Overall, well pleased.
Compact security camera useful for in and outdoors
Fairly easy to set up and to use
Picture quality, although not crystal clear, wasn’t too bad
I use it to keep an eye on dog when I’m not at home
This Imou Versa Security camera looked really good and I found it easy to download the required App, then connect the camera to Wi-Fi and my mobile phone. It did, however, only arrive with a short two metre cable so it was fairly impractical to connect it to an internal socket and site it at a decent height on an outside wall. It seems to provide a reasonable image, even during the hours of darkness, although it would always be difficult to identify anyone who was a fair distance away from the camera, or to read a vehicle registration plate. To fully utilise all the benefits this camera provides a subscription is required, this is a fairly common situation with this type of security camera. Imou does offer a free 2-week trial which I am currently using. Without a subscription you are unable to access cloud storage, but the camera does allow for video storage on an SD card and you can always view live footage when away from home. This camera works well indoors and if you can work a way around the short cable length when siting it outside, then it is a decent security camera for the price.
Very nice and little for a outdoor security camera
Well made
Solid plastic
Lightweight
Easy to use and put up
The quick guide is easy to understand
Very long cable
Full HD
You can use the APP Or ALEXA
I recommend
I got this camera to use a security camera to protect our shed and garden but also because we’ve had a couple of foxes passing through and I never seem to get a good look at them so I was hoping the camera would pick them up
I found the camera reasonable easy to set up. The app could do with some updating but it is perfectly usable for what we want it for. The picture quality is great – even the night vision. The motion sensor feature seems to work really well too!
I’ve had the camera installed for nearly a week now but have not yet caught a fox – maybe they’re camera shy Other than that, I am happy with this device and would be happy to recommend!
Good quality security camera that can be used indoors or outdoors thanks to its IP65 waterproof and dustproof rating.
Produces clear, high quality HD images both in the daytime and at night thanks to the built-in IR lights. Powered by a USB cable (no battery).
Can be set to start recording when it detects sound or movement. This works pretty well in practice.
Control the camera via the Imou Life smartphone app. Connects on a 2.4GHz WiFi network. The setup process definitely could do with some improvement. Took quite a bit of effort, seemed quite buggy.
Decent little security camera, providing good performance at a budget price.
Not quite a security solution on its own, this will nevertheless provide piece of mind if you use it as part of a security system for your home.
Like another reviewer here I also had to add the camera in the app by serial number, not a problem and easy enough but could be tricky for some, once set up though it is a really neat camera, a small and discreet camera that can be used indoor or outdoors with good night vision too and even two-way audio which is handy for when deliveries come when you are out, all in all, a good camera.
It is not easy to find a complete and economical device like this one at the same time. Faced with a low cost, it offers good functionality, performance and solutions to increase home security.
Night vision is good and sharp, but not great.
Motion detection instead is sensitive and well done.
Aesthetically, the lines are soft and have a curved pattern, with few edges.
The excellent build quality is accompanied by two-way audio; you can hear the noises of the monitored environment and at the same time speak through the app.
I am satisfied with the quality of the shots, solidity and software functionality.
Only discordant note: not very easy to set up.
This is a nice IP camera with an excellent waterproof connector for the USB power lead. It’s got the usual functionality of most fixed IP cameras just slightly more expensive.
The Imou Life app needs to be installed on your phone for setup, and it gives the usual functionality of motion detection, illumination options, storage, etc. Setup is quite easy though and it all works fairly well.
The camera has a nice bracket that allows positioning at any angle. Underneath the camera is a flap to hold a micro-SD card that holds local storage. Even a 16GB card is enough for weeks of 3-4 triggers a night. You can review recordings from the card or have a live view.
Image quality is quite good and clean even at night. Range is over 40ft at night.
If you need a fix view then this isn’t bad. You can get IP cameras that pan and tilt and with 2K resolution for a similar price though. I’ve loads of these and they are really quite good : https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09Y5FG27D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Overall, this seems to be an excellent security camera and at a very good price.
This is a greate little camera! I have bought many IP cameras over the years and this one is fully featured and excellent value for money. It’s so good I have now bought 2 and I expect to buy more.
It has really good picture quality both daytime and night-time with the built-in infrared light, the smartphone app is not perfect but it’s perfectly adequate and provides nearly all the functionality that I need. There are also desktop apps you can download from the manufacturer which give access to much more detailed configuration and access from your computer such as the video stream bitrate, compression codec, audio parameters and resolution of picture.
The motion detection is reasonably good and you can configure parts of the image to be excluded it will then save video to an SD card that you put inside the camera
The videostream can be accessed remotely via any standard media player over rtsp this allows capture and storage on my local computer network.
The Wi-Fi on the camera is amazing it will pick up usable Wi-Fi signal in locations that my smartphone will not even when it looks like there’s no network at all.
The camera is USB powered and this is extremely useful because it means that I can easily just connect it to a USB battery pack and put the camera in any location I like. I have even managed to successfully set it up with a small solar panel and battery and have it running 24-hours a day outside. It uses approx 400mA at 5V even with the infra red on.
There are only a few small downsides but the benefits outweigh them:
1 it does not appear possible to download saved videos from the camera that have been saved on the SD card directly You can play them back and record them to your smartphone but that seems to be the only way
2 the initial setup instructions for the camera and the method of configuring the Wi-Fi are rather flakey and you end up having to enter in the serial number manually in order to configure the camera, but this is just a minor inconvenience that you only have to do it once. it also seems that you can only set up the camera using a smartphone and using no other method.
3 you can configure multiple Wi-Fi networks on the camera but it will not automatically switch between them it seems. you need to connect to the camera and manually choose the alternative network in order to make it switch over.
I drove myself loopy trying to set up this camera, but then i went back to the reviews and read one where another customer had the same issue….. i then tried to pair the camera using the serial number and in under a minute i was up and running!!
Anyway great camera, slightly bigger than i imagined, but not big by any means. Item seems very robust and well made and picture is very clear and crisp. I brought this version as it was for over my front door and im please to say the wide angle lense is very wide without causing destortion.
Will be using a 5m usb extension cable to power the camera on final install as the 3m cable doesnt reach to my power source. Brought 64gb sd card for recording function as didnt want to pay for the cloud storage…items says they support up to 128gb sd card thought i would see how i go with the smaller ones.
Great simple to use and access app. Light on front is very very bright and speaker and sound seems very clear. Not wanting to cheapen or dampen the appeal of this camera, but love how it looks like a little robots face too….. looks less industrial than other cameras on the market.
Bought this whilst on special offer as had been watching for a while. The market is full of these types of cameras, some very expensive, some cheap.
This is a good value camera for the features from a reputable brand with a core skill set in security cameras.
Pros:
Cheap
Well built
Good features
Can choose sd card or subscription
Cons
Cable is only 2.8m with fixed usb end – had to cut the cable and splice a third party 5v powerline to extend to get to the nearest socket
Night vision is limited due to small IR light
Motion sensivity is difficult to get right even though adjustable
You could pay for a fully hardwired system costing hundreds or from a higher cost brand such as hive or nest, or get this- at the end of the day unless it’s a professional install the pictures won’t be helpful to police so it’s a deterrent and at least you can work out why your recycling bin went missing at 3am!
Very good CCTV cameras for the price, you definitely get what you pay for and I wouldn’t say its outstanding image quality but it does the job for the price. I wouldn’t say you could make a licence plate out unless it was parked in front and not moving but clear enough to see faces.
I had one issue and it’s the microphone it’s making a crackling noice that me or the manufacturer couldn’t resolve. They recommended I send it back for a new one but due to me paying for it to be installed up high on the house I’ve opted to take the lose of the mic over paying for installation again. So make sure you check out its all working before installation.
The motion detection is good but could be better as it picks up on a lot of lights bouncing off windows and the house such as ambulances or police cars. I’ve had to narrow the motion detection area to a small part that doesn’t go on my windows due to this issue.
I wanted the camera in Black so bought the silicone black cover but oddly the fitting is still in white. So I bought an outdoor plastic black paint to make it all black. I’ve added a few photos. I also painted the cable black and now it is much less noticeable which is how you’d want it. The actual camera is brilliant. A week in and I’m loving it, the led at night is great and the voice function also works well.
I’ve just bought a second one of these for the back of my house and it setup without any issue. They are a great camera and the app is great too. But please make the black one completely black ie The the bit that screws to the wall and the cable.
REVISION : *** This is a really important thing to know ***, if you change your wifi and should you accidentally delete a LOOC camera, it initially seems like you won’t have a QR code or the serial number as you will most likely will have thrown out the box that the camera came in and the box is the only place that the QR code and serial number exists (for the LOOC model) So after a few emails with IMOU support, we discovered that within the app at the bottom middle of the screen there is a “Message” “bell” tab. when you go in there, at the top of the screen there is a green button called “personal push,” tap on it. In personal push it records when you deleted a previously installed camera and thankfully it has recorded the serial number too so you CAN recover and reinstall your camera. That said I would recommend going into the device details on your camera, click on the name of it, it then brings up the details including the serial number “S/N” I recommend you take a screen shot of this information and keep it safe!