That’s right; ANYWHERE. How? The iHealth Baby Monitor for Apple iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. Seems cool huh? I thought so too and was really excited to receive one of these babies to test out for myself. As many of my readers know, I’m a mom of 3 and extremely busy. I love the idea of being able to check on my little ones from anywhere visually and audibly with the click of a button so that got my attention. Also, I have a crappy monitor and would love a better one. I have been through many monitor brands so literally gave up on finding anything better than what I have. My current monitor is a little loud, but does the job.
However, I hadn’t gone the video monitor route yet and just refused to cough up the money after so many let downs before. My first bout would be the iBaby Monitor.
What’s in the box:
-The actual camera/monitor
-An AC adapter
-An ethernet cable
-A Wi-Fi antenna
-A camera mounting kit
-Installation CD
-An owner’s manual
Once I opened the box I wasn’t overwhelmed at all. Although I am not the most tech savvy person, I really had no problem setting this thing up. I actually took a peek at the owners’ manual the night before and popped the installation CD into my computer as well only to find the CD was just another instruction guide that I didn’t really need to look at.
When I was ready to set it up the next day it took me all of 15 minutes to plug the ethernet cable into my wireless router, fasten the antenna to the camera (which I admit I had to enlist help from my hubby for because out of the box the hole that the antenna had to screw into was kind of loose and so he needed to tighten it with one of his tools), and then I just downloaded the app onto my iPhone. I followed the instructions from the app itself after that and viola! I was in business. The instructions let you know when to unplug the ethernet cord so that the monitor can be placed anywhere after that making it wireless.
I put the monitor in my child’s room aimed at her crib as I was expecting this thing to replace my old monitor. From my experience over a period of two weeks, here are the pros and cons:
Pros:
-Decent camera quality including that of the night vision
-Easy to move the camera with a swipe of your finger!
-Quiet enough for my daughter to sleep without disruption.
-I can take pics of what I see!
-Up to 4 devices can connect and I can control access; I can let family from out of state see the kids in real time and take a pic over a safe and private connection.
-I can even see and hear what’s happening with my child when I’m over 50 miles away from home. If I want I can purchase additional speakers to plug into the monitor and have two-way communication.
-This works well for other purposes, like seeing what my kids are up to in their playroom while I’m cleaning in another area of the house or really anywhere.
Cons:
-This could not replace my old monitor because it only works when accessing it via Apple device. It doesn’t consistently run as traditional monitors do (like when you are sleeping) without shutting off. Doesn’t really work as a “monitor”.
-When the app is running you can’t use your device for anything else unless you shut off your access to the monitor.
-The connection was not consistent for me. I had to reset it about 4-5 times because it just suddenly would not connect at times.
-There is a slight delay from real time. Didn’t bother me much though, but I can see how it might be bothersome for another user.
-It does not come included with a speaker to use the two-way communication.
-The app could just be better. For such a high tech gadget I would expect more.
-Price.
So my conclusion is that while this monitor does not do exactly what I thought it did, it does have some upsides. I’ve found other useful ways of using it to check in on my kids. That’s exactly what it does well in my opinion; help me “check in” from time to time, take some cool candid pics, and get peace of mind and convenience when I am in another area of my home or even out grocery shopping and want to peek at my kids while their playing or even napping. This is an actual pic taken from the device. It was actually cool to be able to just snap a shot at any moment.
I continue to use the iBaby monitor paired with my “crappy” monitor and do find joy and convenience of being able to check on my youngest one in her crib using the night vision feature as I wake up during the late night or when we have late night company over and I want to be sure she is sleeping comfortably in her room.
I have received the reviewed product from Best Buy for free.
