Swann - Xtreem Wireless Security Camera

Not great i"m afraid and I feel as thought I was taken in by a lot of hype by marketers and influencers as to the quality and performance of this camera. I purchased the twin pack so that I could monitor the front and back porch areas of our property. Despite my order being processed and shipped on the same day, according to the tracking information it sat in a depot in Wellington, (1 hours drive from my place) for the rest of the week! Free shipping basically means slow shipping I reckon. I would rather pay for an efficient courier who would typically deliver next business day within and urban area on the same island etc. but that options is not available! Back to the camera review: The quality was originally set to low, in fact everything by default is set to low ... MoreNot great i"m afraid and I feel as thought I was taken in by a lot of hype by marketers and influencers as to the quality and performance of this camera. I purchased the twin pack so that I could monitor the front and back porch areas of our property. Despite my order being processed and shipped on the same day, according to the tracking information it sat in a depot in Wellington, (1 hours drive from my place) for the rest of the week! Free shipping basically means slow shipping I reckon. I would rather pay for an efficient courier who would typically deliver next business day within and urban area on the same island etc. but that options is not available! Back to the camera review: The quality was originally set to low, in fact everything by default is set to low because that would be the only way you could come close to 6 months of battery life. I set mine to medium quality and the front porch camera went from 100% battery after the initial charge up before use to 35% in just over 2 weeks. Not very hopeful of the advertised battery length at all. Reliability is so bad that I feel less worried without the cameras, now I check and recheck to see if they are working because more often than not they don't detect or record anything unless you are close, eg advertised to detect up to 8 meters on the highest detection setting but in fact my testing show time and time again that it's closer to 3 meters and you definitely have to be moving a lot, waiving hands, swaying your body etc. Sometimes I would get even closer, moving large items in front of the cameras to no avail, they simply would not wake up or record anything. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, in the beginning I thought I was my old Netgear Nighthawk router which is old and tired, it showed 70% WiFi signal on both cameras but because occasionally the router has issues it prompted an upgrade. I usually buy the best I can find as they usually perform best and last the longest and typically have the most features. My new router is the TP-Link Archer AX11000, also purchased here, I see after only two weeks since I got it the price went down. A little annoyed at that but anyway the down side is it made no difference with the Swann Xtreem camera issues, they continue to be unreliable and the WiFi signal is the same at 70% which to be honest should work fine, so the issues as far as I am concerned remain with the cameras alone. I have tried several different locations of the cameras to see if there were any improvements but nothing helps and because the screws heads are so small mounting is not as simple as advertised, if you have to screw them into a wooden weather board you have to drill a hole first and even then it's quite difficult to manually screw them in, can't use an electric screw driver as the mount is too tight to fit, only choice is to use a quite skinny shafted Phillips head screw driver. To top off the difficulties I have experienced so far, the iPhone app “Swann Security” is laggy and buggy, usability is quite poor. Every time you want to view recordings on the sim or change settings the camera has to be woken up which happens automatically when you run the app but you have to move quickly to make changes to camera settings or view recordings on the sim as the camera will go back to sleep after approximately 10 seconds, about the same length of time the camera operates to record movement etc. Refreshing by sliding down the app interface rarely works and the only way to wake the cameras back up again is to close down the app and reload it which takes it to live view by default. Everything about this interface is buggy, sometimes recordings from the cloud say that the video isn't ready and to try again later, well later never comes so the recordings are lost, same on the sim, the recordings load up with an error. The cameras cannot be relied upon to capture anything, often if a recording starts it's so laggy that the person has come and gone by the time it records if it is activated to record at all. I am extremely disappointing and kick myself for getting sucked into buying these cameras and if I could get a refund I would and may well try. I cannot recommend these cameras at all.

Do not buy - Pointless security camera

Do not follow the 5 star reviews. Obviously have been paid and do not talk about functionality. I installed this camera which was easy, but for a security camera it is a complete waste of money. The camera films for 10 seconds regardless if anything is still on the screen and next recording can be up to 3 hours later or more. I spoke with the helpdesk who said the camera shouldnt be operating that way, after rebooting and trying all sorts of settings changes it was escalated to technical support. After going out of my way to be available for this phone call, the technical support officer confirmed straight away that these cameras only record for 10 seconds and they dont know why. Swann will no longer respond to emails which confirms this is a poorly made product. Do ... MoreDo not follow the 5 star reviews. Obviously have been paid and do not talk about functionality. I installed this camera which was easy, but for a security camera it is a complete waste of money. The camera films for 10 seconds regardless if anything is still on the screen and next recording can be up to 3 hours later or more. I spoke with the helpdesk who said the camera shouldnt be operating that way, after rebooting and trying all sorts of settings changes it was escalated to technical support. After going out of my way to be available for this phone call, the technical support officer confirmed straight away that these cameras only record for 10 seconds and they dont know why. Swann will no longer respond to emails which confirms this is a poorly made product. Do not buy.

Good camera quality, but it has security flaws

I've had this camera installed for about a week, and while it has a good app and video quality, I think it has a few security flaws that let it down.On the camera itself, the video quality was good – I found from some tests that I could make out faces fairly clearly, and number plates were pretty straightforward to read, so it functions well in that aspect. The setup process was also very easy and the app is quite pleasant to use. The battery life of the wireless unit was also very impressive – up to 6 months and then it simply charges via USB.On to the flaws – firstly, the camera operates off of wifi, so you need to be sure that the camera sits in comfortable range of your router if you want cloud storage and to use the app. This limited placement options ... MoreI've had this camera installed for about a week, and while it has a good app and video quality, I think it has a few security flaws that let it down.On the camera itself, the video quality was good – I found from some tests that I could make out faces fairly clearly, and number plates were pretty straightforward to read, so it functions well in that aspect. The setup process was also very easy and the app is quite pleasant to use. The battery life of the wireless unit was also very impressive – up to 6 months and then it simply charges via USB.On to the flaws – firstly, the camera operates off of wifi, so you need to be sure that the camera sits in comfortable range of your router if you want cloud storage and to use the app. This limited placement options somewhat as I wanted it to cover my garage door, but my wifi signal doesn't reach to that position. Secondly, the base of the camera screws securely to the wall, however the camera itself just attaches to the base via a magnet, meaning a thief could just pull it down and destroy or steal it. This seemed a bit of a bizarre design choice to me for a security camera. If you can't use the cloud function because of wifi signal, or you're unlucky enough to be burgled during an internet outage, all your footage is saved on the SD card stored inside the camera itself. Realistically this is an unlikely scenario, but the design just feels unnecessarily easy to sabotage to me.As good as the camera quality and app were, the outlying security issues made it difficult to outright recommend this camera. However, if you're in a bind and can't use anything requiring wires, the camera itself is a solid performer.

Good wireless security camera

Swann Extreem Security Camera comes in a premium looking packaging and it consists of the security camera, magnetic mounting stand, SD card, USB charging cable, mounting screw and plugs, theft deterrent stickers and the operating instructions. The camera mounted strongly on the magnetic mounting stand, making it easier to be removed for charging. Set up is really easy, just download the app from the app store, create an account and follow the app instructions. The device paired easily with the app by scanning the QR code on the camera. A live WiFi connection is required for both the camera and app to connect to each other. The app comes with three preconfigured modes: Home, Night and Away modes where the camera sensitivity and motion detection notifications can be ... MoreSwann Extreem Security Camera comes in a premium looking packaging and it consists of the security camera, magnetic mounting stand, SD card, USB charging cable, mounting screw and plugs, theft deterrent stickers and the operating instructions. The camera mounted strongly on the magnetic mounting stand, making it easier to be removed for charging. Set up is really easy, just download the app from the app store, create an account and follow the app instructions. The device paired easily with the app by scanning the QR code on the camera. A live WiFi connection is required for both the camera and app to connect to each other. The app comes with three preconfigured modes: Home, Night and Away modes where the camera sensitivity and motion detection notifications can be edited. The camera quality is good and records at 1080p. The camera also has a built-in infrared sensor which allows recording in the dark. A 16GB SD card is provided which allows offline recording. Battery life of the camera is very good, with a rated life of up to 6 months per full charge. The camera battery level can be checked via the app, and takes about 11 hours to charge to full. There is also a live view mode which allows two way voice communication using the push to talk button on the app, which I liked. However in practice there is a noticeable delay of a few seconds on both the video and audio which make it hard to use effectively. From my experience, the camera motion detection is a bit of a hit or miss at times. I had to set the sensitivity fairly high to capture events. Even in those cases I noticed that there is some time lag of a few seconds before the recording starts, this few seconds could've been critical and if it's a short event you could be capturing nothing of use. The camera also seems to disconnect randomly from the app. This means that you won't be getting a app notification if a motion is detected and triggered the camera during this time. The good news is that the camera continues to record and capture the event, so you can still view it from the playback mode on the app after reconnecting the camera to it. Based on these, I would say that the Swann Xtreem Security Camera is a decent camera and good for a simple basic set up around the home, but the delays, connectivity issues and sensitivity settings may not make this suitable for mission critical security requirements.

Love the camera but…

We love these cameras- bought several sets! We like the freedom of choosing to self monitor. As a tech savvy person set up was a breeze. However, we gifted a set of cameras to my niece’s family and they had issues with the cameras being in connected to another “account” and had to send the camera’s back - so they could not set up their cameras. The problem is trying to get support - a live person - to answer any questions you have about the camera. Swann really needs to “iron out” their accessibility to questions about their product. Waiting to hear back from an urgent question can be super frustrating. A live chat or a 24 hour live person phone line for questions would bump my review up to a five. Email as their primary form of communication can delay set up and 24 ... MoreWe love these cameras- bought several sets! We like the freedom of choosing to self monitor. As a tech savvy person set up was a breeze. However, we gifted a set of cameras to my niece’s family and they had issues with the cameras being in connected to another “account” and had to send the camera’s back - so they could not set up their cameras. The problem is trying to get support - a live person - to answer any questions you have about the camera. Swann really needs to “iron out” their accessibility to questions about their product. Waiting to hear back from an urgent question can be super frustrating. A live chat or a 24 hour live person phone line for questions would bump my review up to a five. Email as their primary form of communication can delay set up and 24 hours or more to hear back with today’s technology is disappointing customer service.

Not a good product at all

I brought this camera on a Friday set it up on Saturday it went okay during the day but would only take a video for 10 secs to a min. It is now Wednesday and I have spent several hours trying to get it to work properly from factory reset to moving camera from one place to another. It has been sending me false alerts at night time at least once every minute and sometimes even twice a minute. It has missed the motion of my partner or I leaving or coming home, and if it has picked us up it's only been for a short video /10 to 15 secs. It is within 1 meter of our wifi router. The battery went from 100% to 60% overnight then 30% the next night took it down fully charged it again, hard reset it again and the same problems repeated. Played around with all the settings over ... MoreI brought this camera on a Friday set it up on Saturday it went okay during the day but would only take a video for 10 secs to a min. It is now Wednesday and I have spent several hours trying to get it to work properly from factory reset to moving camera from one place to another. It has been sending me false alerts at night time at least once every minute and sometimes even twice a minute. It has missed the motion of my partner or I leaving or coming home, and if it has picked us up it's only been for a short video /10 to 15 secs. It is within 1 meter of our wifi router. The battery went from 100% to 60% overnight then 30% the next night took it down fully charged it again, hard reset it again and the same problems repeated. Played around with all the settings over and over spent hours looking up how to fix videos, hours deleting useless videos, I've been up and down the ladder moving positions of camera. It would be nice to have a security camera that provides some security or atleast records what we want it to record.

Not great

After many resets in the first two days, the connection stabilised. I mounted it over my front porch. As with other comments, it takes almost ten seconds to start recording, often missing what it was trying to record. The clips could only run for about ten seconds each time sometimes longer but never continuously if motion is detected, before it stops. Sometimes there’s a long lag before it starts to detect motion again and another lag before a new clip is done. It does a decent job at alerting you on the phone when it detects motion. But each time you try to access live footage, you will need to close and open the app, or it will say ‘connecting’. This is not true because the camera has full connectivity still (verified physically). So it’s just the immaturity of ... MoreAfter many resets in the first two days, the connection stabilised. I mounted it over my front porch. As with other comments, it takes almost ten seconds to start recording, often missing what it was trying to record. The clips could only run for about ten seconds each time sometimes longer but never continuously if motion is detected, before it stops. Sometimes there’s a long lag before it starts to detect motion again and another lag before a new clip is done. It does a decent job at alerting you on the phone when it detects motion. But each time you try to access live footage, you will need to close and open the app, or it will say ‘connecting’. This is not true because the camera has full connectivity still (verified physically). So it’s just the immaturity of the app itself. That I tolerated. It is also very hard to check the storage clips, sometimes does not even show, other times it says device is disconnected and could not access clips. The app fails the camera basically. The camera build is good, with easy magnetic and wire free, which is the key reason I bought it. The video is of decent quality. Originally was going to get a second and a third camera. Now I am just annoyed I have to dismount it, return and look for a replacement. I have been so generous with giving excuses for this product but I am starting to run out of it now because I can’t even access the clips from the storage menu. Well packaged product and can say sturdily built but software capability on camera and app proved to be vastly incompetent unfortunately.

Superb Quality

When I received the Swann Xtreem Security Camera package the first thing i noted was the quality of the product build. Upon opening the product I realised that it didn't require batteries to be inserted as the battery is built in to the cameras. The cameras are solid and well made, there is nothing cheap about the quality of this product. The Instructions were simple and clear and so as the cameras were being charged I followed the process of installing the software on my iPhone 11. The App installed without a glitch and stepped me through the process of registration and confirmation of my details. After the cameras were charged the setting pairing of the cameras was simple just using the QR code located on each camera and hey presto I was ready to go. I already had ... MoreWhen I received the Swann Xtreem Security Camera package the first thing i noted was the quality of the product build. Upon opening the product I realised that it didn't require batteries to be inserted as the battery is built in to the cameras. The cameras are solid and well made, there is nothing cheap about the quality of this product. The Instructions were simple and clear and so as the cameras were being charged I followed the process of installing the software on my iPhone 11. The App installed without a glitch and stepped me through the process of registration and confirmation of my details. After the cameras were charged the setting pairing of the cameras was simple just using the QR code located on each camera and hey presto I was ready to go. I already had in mind a couple of spots for the cameras, looking over the pool area and at the front door, driveway. Although the cameras are weather proof it worked out that the best location was under the eave to give me the best view. The App shows both (and more if installed ) cameras at once and allowed me to set a name for each camera from a list or custom name which I did for the pool area. The clarity of the camera image was always going to be important to me and i wasn't disappointed. The notification when movement is detected and quality of recorded video and sound is excellent. All I need now are a couple more cameras for the best coverage and security. Yes I would definitely recommend this product

Swann Extreem Security Camera great Battery

I like this wireless cameras battery life, Amazing! Its been working hard all week and its only dropped by 1%. It picks up motion well both inside or outside the home. It didn't work through the glass window though so it needs to be out side if you want it to register movement outside. It also records to a memory card that comes with the camera. Not a big issue but the card slot is small for fingers to access, you may need tweezers to remove the card. All the ports on the camera are covered to protect from the weather. The magnetic mount is super strong. I like to move the camera around to different locations so I probably wont use the mount. I also like the microphone feature to talk to the kids if they are playing outside. There is an echo when using the ... MoreI like this wireless cameras battery life, Amazing! Its been working hard all week and its only dropped by 1%. It picks up motion well both inside or outside the home. It didn't work through the glass window though so it needs to be out side if you want it to register movement outside. It also records to a memory card that comes with the camera. Not a big issue but the card slot is small for fingers to access, you may need tweezers to remove the card. All the ports on the camera are covered to protect from the weather. The magnetic mount is super strong. I like to move the camera around to different locations so I probably wont use the mount. I also like the microphone feature to talk to the kids if they are playing outside. There is an echo when using the microphone but I haven't played with it enough yet to know if it's a setting I can change or just how it is. Recording Images are clear when used on the highest setting. It was really easy to set it up via the app. All in all its a great wireless camera and I would happily buy another. I'm looking forward to seeing just how long the battery will last before charging is required.

Swann x-treem cam review by John

On reviewing the swann x treem cam I found it very user friendly. Installation took one 5 mins due to the great idea of the adjustable magnet. Connecting it was easy and straightforward. The features are what you expect from a security camera. The overall picture and sound quality is excellent, also the battery life is also excellent. The app is very user friendly and easy to use. Adjustments to the camera are a little complicated to find if knowledge of it is limited but easy to do if you play with the app for a while. The feature i like the best is the live vision whenever I want it and the free recording through its memory card. In conclusion to this review- yes this product is worth buying for all security applications including business, home and including the ... MoreOn reviewing the swann x treem cam I found it very user friendly. Installation took one 5 mins due to the great idea of the adjustable magnet. Connecting it was easy and straightforward. The features are what you expect from a security camera. The overall picture and sound quality is excellent, also the battery life is also excellent. The app is very user friendly and easy to use. Adjustments to the camera are a little complicated to find if knowledge of it is limited but easy to do if you play with the app for a while. The feature i like the best is the live vision whenever I want it and the free recording through its memory card. In conclusion to this review- yes this product is worth buying for all security applications including business, home and including the disability sector to keep an eye on staff caring for the disabled. A product i would buy.