Link-U Hybrid SmartCam - Review 2022

Wi-Fi security cameras are great for monitoring your home remotely using your smartphone, but if your connectedness goes downwards, y'all're left high and dry out with no mode to see what's going on. Enter the Link-U Hybrid SmartCam ($199), a three-fashion indoor security camera that automatically switches between Wi-Fi, wired Ethernet, and a cellular data connection. It too has a born backup battery, motility and audio sensors, and a Bluetooth radio for connecting to up to eight Sigma Casa home automation devices. The camera delivered colorful 1080p daytime video and sharp black-and-white night vision in testing, but its overall image quality can't friction match that of the Nest Cam IQ.

Design and Features

The Link-U SmartCam is the size and shape of a typical smartphone at 5.iv past 3.0 by 0.8 inches (HWD). Information technology sits atop a circular stand that lets you tilt the camera all the way back, and forward effectually 15 degrees. The glossy black top section on the front of the enclosure holds the lens and five condition LEDs for bombardment, ability, cellular, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi. Around back are a microphone, a speaker, and an RJ45 power port. The camera supports PoE (Ability over Ethernet) and comes with a power adapter with two RJ45 ports; one that supplies power to the camera, and one yous can use to give the camera a wired LAN connectedness.

The lower front department of the enclosure is glossy white and slides down and off to reveal a microSD carte slot that volition arrange media up to 32GB for storing recorded video locally. At that place's also a slot for your cellular SIM card (it'southward up to yous to subscribe to a cellular programme) and a reset button. Under the hood at that place's a 4G LTE modem, an 802.11n Wi-Fi radio, a Bluetooth iv.0 radio for connecting to other smart devices, and a rechargeable lithium ion battery that provides up to three hours of power. Link-U'south hybrid switching technology allows the camera to automatically switch to a cellular connection if you lose wired or Wi-Fi connectivity. The company likewise sells a version of the photographic camera without an LTE modem for $149.

The SmartCam uses PIR (passive infrared), motion, and sound sensors to trigger alerts from body rut, moving objects, and dissonance. Once a sensor is triggered, the camera will begin recording a video clip and send a push notification to your phone. It streams and captures video at 1080p, has a 130-degree field of view, and uses a unmarried powerful infrared LED to provide upwards to 25 feet of night vision.

Unlike the Nest Cam IQ and the Netgear Arlo Q, the Link-U SmartCam does non support integration with third-political party devices using If This Then That (IFTTT) applets, nor does it support Amazon Alexa voice commands. Notwithstanding, you can add together upwards to eight Sigma Casa smart dwelling house devices such as door/windows sensors, smart plugs, motion sensors, light bulbs, and shock detectors, and control them from the Link-U app. The movement and door sensor volition trigger a push alarm and initiate a recording, but you lot tin't have them, or the camera, turn on lights or smart plugs.

The Link-U mobile app (for Android and iOS) opens to a home screen that lists all installed cameras with a snapshot of the last captured image from each photographic camera. You can tap the plus button in the upper left corner to add together new cameras and employ the bell icon at the bottom of each photographic camera prototype to plow motion and sound detection on and off. There'south also a calendar push button that takes yous to an Event List screen that shows all triggered events with their time stamp and an icon that indicates what acquired it (motion, sound, PIR, or a connected Bluetooth sensor). Tap on any event to view the video recorded at the time of the upshot. The gear icon takes you to a Settings screen where you can configure Wi-Fi settings, alter passwords, ready sensor sensitivity levels, add new sensors, and format the SD menu. Hither yous can besides check system status including Wi-Fi and 4G signal strength, firmware version, and battery condition.

To view live video, tap the even so image. Below the feed is an information bar that shows how you are connected (Wi-Fi, 4G, LAN), and the current resolution and frame rate. If you have a smart plug connected it volition appear beneath the stream with an On/Off switch and voltage and wattage usage statistics. At the very bottom of the screen are a microphone button for initiating ii-manner audio and a tape push button for manually recording video in 5, 15, xxx, or 60 2nd clips. You lot tin can turn your telephone sideways to view the stream in full-screen way.

Installation and Performance

Setting up the SmartCam is like shooting fish in a barrel. Following the steps in the quick installation guide, I slid open the console on the front of the camera and inserted the cellular SIM card and the micro SD menu the company sent me for review purposes. I plugged the LAN cable into the power adapter and the photographic camera, downloaded the app, and created an business relationship. Next, I pressed the plus button in the Your Cameras screen and used the Add by QR code option (you lot tin can also add it by typing in the UID number that appears with the QR code on the back of the photographic camera). The camera was instantly added and offered a live feed via the cellular connectedness. Side by side, I used the Settings gear to connect the camera to my habitation Wi-Fi.

Link Spousal relationship sent along a few Sigma Casa devices including a motion sensor, a door/window sensor, and a smart plug, which were easy to pair with the camera.

The SmartCam provided crisp 1080p video in my tests. Daytime video showed skillful detail with outstanding color quality, and dark vision video was sharp with good contrast and splendid illumination. Barrel distortion (rounded edges) was evident, however. Additionally, the stream would stutter every so often, despite having a very stiff Wi-Fi betoken.

The camera's motion and sound sensors worked every bit advertised, and always generated a recorded video clip and a push notification when triggered, every bit did the Sigma Casa motion sensor. I had no trouble turning the smart plug on and off from the app, and was able to see how much power the plug was consuming. I turned off Wi-Fi and the photographic camera immediately switched over to a cellular connection without missing a beat.

Conclusions

With the Link-U Hybrid SmartCam you don't have to worry most losing your power to monitor your dwelling house if you lose your connection due to a bad Wi-Fi router or if you're experiencing ISP service issues. In addition to wired LAN and Wi-Fi circuitry it contains an LTE modem that volition take over if either of the other ii connectivity options fail, and it has a rechargeable backup battery that'll supply upward to 3 hours of ability. You tin control upwardly to viii Sigma Casa Bluetooth devices with the photographic camera's app, just you can't make them trigger each other, nor can you use IFTTT recipes to brand the camera piece of work with tertiary-political party smart devices.

In my tests, the camera delivered sharp 1080p video with outstanding colour quality in the daytime and good contrast at nighttime, but there was noticeable barrel baloney and the stream would stutter every and then frequently. If image quality is paramount, the Nest Cam IQ offers amend accommodating performance, uses facial recognition technology to place visitors, and works with lots of tertiary-party smart home devices, but information technology costs effectually $100 more than the Link U SmartCam and doesn't have cellular capabilities. The Netgear Arlo Become connects via a cellular radio, just information technology costs more than twice the price and doesn't support Wi-Fi.

Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/link-u-hybrid-smartcam/18422/link-u-hybrid-smartcam

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