How To Connect Vtech Camera Baby Monitor

Our Verdict

This video babe monitor does many of the same things as its pricier rivals, making it a good choice for parents who want the nearly for their money.

For

Brilliant screen on handheld viewer
Reasonable price
Clear resolution in all weather condition

Against

Poor battery life
Handheld viewer is bulky

Tom's Guide Verdict

This video infant monitor does many of the same things as its pricier rivals, making it a good pick for parents who desire the well-nigh for their money.

Pros

+
Brilliant screen on handheld viewer
+
Reasonable price
+
Articulate resolution in all conditions

Cons

-
Poor battery life
-
Handheld viewer is beefy

Even without a mobile video-streaming app, VTech's VM343 ($200, as depression as $149 online) has many of the best features yous'll want in a baby monitor for a reasonable price. The handheld viewer is on the bulky side, and its battery life is short, but overall, the VTech has what parents demand.

Editors' note: VTech was the target of a major security alienation in November 2015 that could have leaked private customer info; the visitor says information technology has "taken thorough actions confronting future attacks."

Design

VTech'southward monitor measures v.6 10 iii.four x 0.6 inches, making it bigger and thicker than a regular-size iPhone. At 7.two ounces, the VM343 might seem a piddling hefty, simply the housing is solid and feels good in your hand.

The removable battery sits beneath the kickstand on the underside. The antenna swivels off the top but also locks back into place when not in use, and there are 10 main action buttons on the front end that control power, volume, management, push-to-talk, image magnification and the primary menu.

From at that place, you tin can control alarm volumes, pair up to four total cameras and even adjust for five levels of screen effulgence or motion sensitivity. (Exist warned: Every time yous change a menu setting, yous'll get a confirming merely annoying beep, and you lot tin can't turn off that office.) You can come across the temperature reading clearly on the screen, which is not always the case with these monitors.

The monitor buttons have excellent tactility and click with confidence, but the confusing office may come in the dark. The buttons themselves don't light up, and with the unorthodox layout — left and right directional arrows on one side, up and down on the other — you may be left fumbling until you tin can memorize where your fingers desire to become.

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Four successive lights atop the monitor (showing the connectedness link, battery condition, sound alert and push button-to-talk feature) are more intuitively placed than the lights on other infant cameras nosotros tested and will permit y'all know quickly if anything is amiss.

Specs

Camera Range: 270-caste pan, 120-caste tilt
Handheld Monitor: Yeah
Mobile App: No
Temperature Sensor: Yes
Humidity Sensor: No
Handheld Viewer Size: v.half-dozen x iii.four 10 0.half-dozen inches
Weight: seven.2 ounces
Video Recording Capabilities: No

Features

With a push-to-talk feature, temperature sensor, upwardly to nine levels of sound alerts and activation modes that kick on from either motion or sound, the VTech ticks a lot of the boxes for what every parent should be looking for in their dwelling baby monitor.

The VM343 is wall-mountable and has just a couple of built-in infrared lights that won't make your child think something'southward going bump in the dark. But you improve enjoy what yous run across when peeking in on your kid, because at that place are no options for taking pictures or video every bit there is with the iBaby or Motorola monitors.

VTech's 4.3-inch color LCD display was the clearest and most vibrant in our tests.

The camera pans left to right 270 degrees, and upwardly and downwards 120 degrees. That's a respectable range, on a par with the Motorola and Levana models we also tested, but it's the blank minimum for what a photographic camera should do.

The VM343 uses a stand-alone monitor instead of a mobile app. You can picket full-motion 25-fps video on the monitor, which gives you clear images both in daylight and at night. You can't record that video, though.

Performance

Plug-and-play connectivity was quick and like shooting fish in a barrel with the VM343; flat walls presented no problems, even at xx to 30 feet abroad.

At that place are no options for taking pictures or video as there is with the iBaby or Motorola monitors.

Amid the units we tested with their ain monitor, VTech'due south iv.three-inch color LCD display was the clearest and most vibrant. In daylight, the feed was well-baked and floral, with a very clean picture. At night, there was no issue seeing facial features from viii anxiety away, and the letterbox-style screen shape gave off a comforting wide-screen presentation.

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The remote photographic camera movements were quick and authoritative, with picayune noticeable lag. Our testing showed near iv.5 hours of continuous video streaming, which is on the low side for the monitors we tested, but perhaps understandable given the superior stream quality. You can too turn off the LCD screen and leave it to exist activated past sound (which just kicks on with loud noises like a baby's screams) to maximize battery life.

Bottom Line

For the cost and the features, the VM343 is an excellent choice for parents hoping to salvage a few bucks on pricier models like Motorola's MBP853 and who prefer to have a dedicated monitor. Only the lack of a smartphone streaming option and the inability to capture video keep this baby monitor a notch below other comparable units.