CodnidaSecurity Camera Wireless Outdoor,2K Solar Security Camera,3MP Battery Powered Surveillance Camera for Home with Night Vision,PTZ Control,2-Way Audio,Motion Detection,Compatible with Alexa

Seems like things are getting more freaky everywhere. More burglaries, more vehicle breakins, more freaky people doing freaky things. I'd never really had any problems, and I've been fortunate to live in a "quiet" neighborhood. But, I thought that I might've become a bit too complacent, so I decided to go on the hunt for some security cameras, just to know what goes on around my home when I'm not there or when I'm asleep.I checked into a Ring or SimpiSafe system, but they were too expensive, and I didn't really want indoor security or a subscription to an ongoing monitoring service. I found these Codnida wireless WiFi cameras, and they appeared that they would fit the bill for my needs. Although I made my living installing professional video and audio equipment in all types of facilities, I didn't relish the thought of trying to bring power to an outdoor camera in 3 locations at my home. So, I thought that I'd give these solar powered cameras a try.I installed 1 camera on the front of the home, to monitor the driveway and front yard. The other 2 were installed to monitor a side yard and the back yard/patio area. Mounting was straightforward, with the exception that the plastic mounting post hardware for the solar panel was too short for my backyard location. I had to fabricate a mount from aluminum bar to get the solar panel far enough away from the roofline to ensure that the entire panel would be exposed to sunlight during midday and afternoon. At the front of the home, I needed to add a 20' micro USB extension cable to make the run from the solar panel to the camera.Setup of the cameras was quick and relatively easy. Through the CloudEdge app, the cameras were recognized quickly and added to my 2.4GHz WiFi network. I was able to give each camera a unique name, according to its location. The only issue that I had was in formatting the microSD card. My windows 10 computer wants to format anything over 32GB in the exFAT format. The instruction booklet tells the user to use the FAT32 system, as the camera won't work in exFAT. I found that the best way to format the card was to just insert it into the camera, and format the card on the RECORD MANAGEMENT page of the camera settings for each camera. Even then, it took a couple of tries, reinsertion of the microSD card, camera power down or a different card altogether, to get the camera to successfully format the card. So, you might want to be a little patient with that process and keep trying if you're not able to format on the first attempt.When an alert is triggered, the duration of the recorded video clip can be set for 10, 20, or 30 seconds. I set my motion detection (MD) sensitivity at 5 for the back yard. I caught a kitty cat walking across the patio that night, but I received no other alerts. For the front yard, I set the MD at 4, and the side yard at 3. Both of those cameras have partial views of the street, so I wanted a lower MD there. The cameras allow you to set the alarm "zone"...that area in which an alert will be triggered, while the other area(s) will be ignored. You can also set the time period in which an alert will be sent to your phone. But, there is some trickery there.In my case, I was only interested in getting alerts for things that happened between 10pm and 6am. But, that time period cannot be selected as a single block of time, because the software won't allow the alert period end time to be earlier than the start time (for example, 22:00 to 06:00). I had to set a time period from 22:00 to 23:59, then add another time period from 00:00 to 06:00. That leaves me a minute where I have no alert capability, but I couldn't figure out any other way to do it. It'd be nice to be able to set an alert period as a single block when that time period crosses midnight.I was impressed with the image quality and the sound. Images are clear and colorful in broad daylight. I have my camera to switch to black and white images as darkness falls. Color rendition in full darkness is mediocre at best, and doesn't really add any value, in my opinion, except to increase battery consumption. With the speaker volume at 70 (default) I could hear plainly through the camera and my phone on the other end. I turned off the siren and lights for an alarm during the alarm period. No need to wake up the neighbors and freak everyone out.Pan and tilt of each camera is easily controlled through the app. Be aware that there is no optical zoom lens in this camera. Nowhere in the instruction manual is mentioned the method for zoom control, so that was something that I had to find by searching on the internet. Thanks to a comment on a YouTube video, I discovered that zooming is digitally accomplished by "pinching" or "expanding" the camera image on your phone. As the image is zoomed in, the picture quickly loses its resolution, so be aware of that. It works best for me to leave the cameras fully zoomed out for the highest resolution and widest area coverage.Is this the perfect solution for home security? No, it is not. It's pretty basic, and is simply a way to monitor what goes on around one's house when one is not there, or is otherwise indisposed. It doesn't call 911 or do anything fancy. If you pull up the camera and see someone throwing a brick through your window, it's up to you to call the cops. That's all that I wanted. I can modify alert times and alarm settings at any time through my phone, even if I'm 1500 miles away, and I don't have to pay a monthly monitoring fee. There is an available cloud monitoring and storage feature that one can sign up for, but most folks, including myself, choose simply to call up the images and video clips from the microSD card.For the small amount of money spent, these cameras add some level of confidence in knowing that I can monitor the outside of my home against miscreants, and step up my game down the road, if necessary.

All and all the picture quality is very good. It also has alot of great options. And they can all be accessed from your phone. You can block off certain areas to record. And other areas that would constantly set off your camera. Not to mention several power modes. Like I said it's a great outdoor setup. After having this product for awhile. I had to go back in and edit my post. The solar power dose work you just have to play with it a little bit until you find the best place. One that will get sun all day. Sometimes if you were playing with it like I was all the time lol. It's just easier to get the unit and plug it in and charge it. It charges pretty quickly. I hope I didn't put to many people off from buying it if any. But I personally love this camera. It looks like one you would pay alot of money for. Especially with all of it features and robotic movement. It was a great buy.

This is well worth the price! We get alerts to our phone, it is easy to set up and the best part is the solar panel we have not had to charge it in months!

Easy installation and use.I dislike the recording of any length requires a monthly subscription to the cloud.

I have had this camera for several months now, and it has functioned flawlessly. The picture quality is very good and the app has worked with very few issues, normally a reset will take care of it. The solar aspect of it works well, too, it stays charged up. I will buy more to place at other locations. Recommended camera!

This is a good camera, I bought two of them. The solar panel is able to power the camera 24 hours/day even if not in direct sun all of the time. This is a huge advantage compared to having to run a power cable. I have one at the end of my garden, which is maybe 80 feet from my wifi gateway, and it has no trouble connecting. One of the two I bought has survived a very rainy winter already, without any problem. I would have given 5 stars, except the specification says it is "Compatible with Alexa". But Alexa doesn't seem to have any skill that recognizes the Codnida camera name or the CloudEdge app that talks to it. The CloudEdge app itself works well enough on my Android phone, but there doesn't seem to be a way to access the camera from a PC browser.UPDATE: I started receiving almost daily emails from this company offering me money to delete this review, first $20, then $30, then $40. I replied that I'd be happy to revise my review if they corrected the product description to remove "compatible with Alexa". The boilerplate response back from them was clearly from a bot, not a real person (and they didn't correct the product description). They sent me messages almost daily, from different email addresses, almost to the point of harassment. So, in conclusion, this is a great camera, it is NOT Alexa compatible, and you need to consider the reputability of the company who are harassing customers to remove honest reviews.

Good manufacturing quality. Installation package was complete and well thought. Features are excellent. App is stable and pairing was very easy and fast, unlike some other well known brands I used. The only reason for not giving 5 stars is there are no preset positions. This feature would really help to make it easy to scan up to 3 directions. This should be just a firmware feature and matching app update. Something to think of in the near future. That is the only reason i am not buying another one because i need that feature for the other location.

Battery refused to charge after 6 months from solar panel. Need to contact customer service for warranty.

Pretty easy to set up and mount camerasSo far great coverage of yard etc . Night vision pretty good too . Would recommend

Using it for 3 months, quality is good. Has motion detection but smart ai is a purchasable option. Does not PTZ (Move the camera automatically to track a person moving across the scene) but is good at motion detection. as with any camera's in this segement there is some lag in motion detection however not so much that it completely misses a window :D

Easy to install and set up without the need of an IT expert. Works as specified.

I wish it could detect farther. It was not mentioned in the descriptions when purchasing, until bought it and installed. Just found out it can only detect 8m far.

Doesn't record or save video clips, only photos