We’ve reviewed a few VTech products in the past, mostly cordless phones. What may not be completely apparent is the fact that the electronics giant also makes home monitors, and their latest is the VTech VC931 HD Pan and Tilt Home Monitoring Camera.
The VTech VC931 has a ton of features such as sleep mode, two-way communication, night vision and motion detection. You also have some video storage options including the cloud or the camera’s hard drive.
VTech VC931 Set Up
Setting your VC931 up is a breeze. Simply plug the camera in, download the MyVtech Cams app, and follow the on-screen prompts to pair and connect via Wi-Fi. Once that’s done, you can immediately see a live feed. Recording a video, however, requires either a microSD card, (slot located at the camera’s base) or choose one of VTech’s cloud storage plans, which will save your recordings over the cloud but not to the camera itself.
Use
To get started, select the VC931 from the app camera list to access the live view. At the bottom is a toolbar, which gives you controls for resolution, night vision mode, snapshot mode, video recording and controlling the speaker and microphone. Pan and tilt the camera by swiping the live-view image in the direction you want the camera to move. This feature works really nicely and without lag.
You also have 4 preset positions, which is very convenient. The motion detection feature is also pretty cool. When motion is detected, the camera pushes a time-stamped alert to your phone. You can tap the alert to get to the live feed. By the way, there are three motion-detection sensitivity settings: low, medium, and high.
Sleep mode is somewhat self explanatory. The camera won’t record or detect motion as long as this feature is on. All videos are kept in an Events tab and are listed in a timeline. When you’re playing the video back, you can download the video to your phone, and any videos or snapshots you record are saved under its own tab.
Performance
Video quality and color on the Vtech VC931 is way above par. Colors are vivid, and the 720p video is very distinct, allowing you plenty of footage should you need it. Even the zoom works well, allowing you to pinch in or out, without losing any resolution integrity when maxing out the zoom at 10x. Night vision is probably its best feature. For the price, the Vtech VC931 does a great job of lightening up dark areas. The Vtech app provides the option of setting the intensity of the infrared LEDs, which is also nice.
Verdict
Overall, the Vtech is a supreme winner and a solid home monitoring camera, especially for the price ($99). All the basics and then some in security features are here, and what the Vtech VC931 can do, it does very well. You can purchase it through Vtech here.
Comment on this article and other GadgetGram content by visiting our Facebook page, or our Twitter and Instagram feeds.
