TP Link Tapo 2K 4MP Smart Wire-Free Security Camera and Solar Panel Kit

This TP Link- Tapo wire-free security camera system was exactly what I was looking for. I didn't want a cloud based storage system or anything that was hard-wired for power or storage. This 2-camera kit offered both cloud based or local storage as well as battery operated wi-fi outdoor cameras. As it is a bundled kit, you get pretty much everything you need to be up and running in a couple of hours or less. If you are intending to use local storage for video you'll need a good Micro SD card (I chose a SanDisk 256GB Extreme PRO microSDXC card which is suitable for this type of recording - but other makes are available). Charging the batteries was the task that took the longest but so far the batteries are holding charge well despite a fair bit of use. The spec ... MoreThis TP Link- Tapo wire-free security camera system was exactly what I was looking for. I didn't want a cloud based storage system or anything that was hard-wired for power or storage. This 2-camera kit offered both cloud based or local storage as well as battery operated wi-fi outdoor cameras. As it is a bundled kit, you get pretty much everything you need to be up and running in a couple of hours or less. If you are intending to use local storage for video you'll need a good Micro SD card (I chose a SanDisk 256GB Extreme PRO microSDXC card which is suitable for this type of recording - but other makes are available). Charging the batteries was the task that took the longest but so far the batteries are holding charge well despite a fair bit of use. The spec suggests they should be good for a few months before needing a recharge. The app shows the state of charge of each camera battery so you'll know when to top them up. Set-up instructions were easy to follow so that aspect was a doddle. Using the cameras is quite intuitive, and fine tuning the various settings through the app helped reduce false activations. Permanent Installation on a wall is easily accomplished by someone with average DIY skills. Tools required are a drill, preferably a hammer drill, a 3 mm drill bit to make pilot holes, a 6mm drill bit for the wall plugs (Masonry bits for brickwork), and small Phillips screwdriver. The bundle even includes templates to stick on the brickwork as a drilling guide. The cameras record good pictures and video and faces/people can be easily identified. Activations appear on my phone app almost instantly. Other great features include the ability to speak through the camera, remotely activate an alarm at the camera and record sound. Great value of peace of mind and a basic home security enhancement.

Absolutely incredible camera and app!

This camera is very nicely built. It's heavy in the hand, but the included magnet mount supports it without issue. There is a rubber panel on the underside for inserting the microSD card and charging. The panels fit back in snugly to uphold that IP66 rating.The camera includes a speaker that announces (quite loudly) when the camera is turning on and off. It also announces when it is pairing to the WiFi. The voice lines don't sound robotic.The Tapo application is a huge win for TP-Link and these cameras. It's a strong competitor to the likes of Ring and Nest. The setup is very easy and everything just works. The process offers useful tips and intermediate previews with guidelines rendered in the view. It also shows you the WiFi signal strength after you've ... MoreThis camera is very nicely built. It's heavy in the hand, but the included magnet mount supports it without issue. There is a rubber panel on the underside for inserting the microSD card and charging. The panels fit back in snugly to uphold that IP66 rating.The camera includes a speaker that announces (quite loudly) when the camera is turning on and off. It also announces when it is pairing to the WiFi. The voice lines don't sound robotic.The Tapo application is a huge win for TP-Link and these cameras. It's a strong competitor to the likes of Ring and Nest. The setup is very easy and everything just works. The process offers useful tips and intermediate previews with guidelines rendered in the view. It also shows you the WiFi signal strength after you've positioned the camera, just to make sure you're getting a good signal. The app offers the cloud subscription, but it doesn't constantly throw it at you like other cloud-based systems. On top of that, this camera supports saving video to a local SD card, which you can then preview and download from the camera itself! Wow!The app also supports a variety of handy features for this camera, such as manually enabling the LEDs, manually enabling a visual alarm using the LEDs or an audio alarm through the speaker, listening to the microphone, and speaking through the camera using its built-in speaker. The listing makes note of these features at the very bottom, but I think they should be presented more prominently! That's quite a collection of features for a battery-powered, wire-free home camera!Even better, this camera and the Tapo application supports RTSP! You can find it in the app in the 'Advanced Settings' section in the camera's settings. You set up a 'Camera Account,' then you connect to the camera by its LAN IP and use the camera account credentials. I was able to connect to this camera using the iSpy application for Windows (and Mac, I believe). This lets you handle your own remote recordings and backups outside of the TP-Link cloud service. This approach is going to involve more work, and you lose some of the benefits that you get in the full Tapo ecosystem, but the fact that it's even an option is greatly appreciated. Unfortunately, it's increasingly common that smart home cameras like these fail to offer RTSP, so big props to TP-Link for such transparent support.At the time of writing this review, the price of this cameras was $89.99 including a $30 coupon. For the resolution, the easy of setup, the feature set, and the appreciation for non-cloud users, I think the price is easily justified. If TP-Link keeps up the quality and respect for their customer base, I will be migrating my IP camera system to a Tapo system.

Anonymous

Initially, I was skeptical that this camera could be worth the premium it charges. After getting a chance to actually set it up and use it, however, I was immediately impressed. Setup is as simple as any other smart camera: get the applicable app, sign in, and set up the device. It was also a breeze to link with Alexa, so now I'm able to view the camera feed either from the Tapo app, or on any of my Echo Show devices.The video quality in daytime is fantastically clear. At night, the image is also sharp, but I find the night vision to be a little bit of a mixed bag. The color night vision absolutely does work in dim light, but not in zero light. In these cases it falls back on infrared. If you plan to use this as an indoor camera and want color night vision, the ... MoreInitially, I was skeptical that this camera could be worth the premium it charges. After getting a chance to actually set it up and use it, however, I was immediately impressed. Setup is as simple as any other smart camera: get the applicable app, sign in, and set up the device. It was also a breeze to link with Alexa, so now I'm able to view the camera feed either from the Tapo app, or on any of my Echo Show devices.The video quality in daytime is fantastically clear. At night, the image is also sharp, but I find the night vision to be a little bit of a mixed bag. The color night vision absolutely does work in dim light, but not in zero light. In these cases it falls back on infrared. If you plan to use this as an indoor camera and want color night vision, the camera will either need some small light source nearby (a nightlight or something--it doesn't take much), or can use its built-in spotlights. The spotlights range from nightlight-tier (for maximum battery life) to SURPRISINGLY bright at the maximum output setting (which I only recommend with the solar panel or in a wired configuration). You can set the camera to toggle between color and infrared night vision, or lock it down to infrared only, or even turn night-vision off, depending on your preference. Given that the color night vision requiring at least some light is really more of a physics limitation than anything, I'm more noting that for your reference, rather than condemning the camera for it.In terms of mounting and ease of use, it comes with everything you need. Mounting indoors can be as simple as attaching the magnetic mount to any magnetic surface. Want the camera by your front door? I confirmed this is strong enough to attach to my metal front door without issue. If you have a magnetic surface already, like a fridge or freezer, then you can have this set up in seconds. For outdoor mounting, this does include a magnetic base you can mount with screws, that the camera's separate magnetic base attaches to, and then the camera attaches to that. It's honestly more simple than it sounds.I haven't had the camera long enough to fully comment on the advertised "300 days" of usage per charge, but I have to imagine that's based on conservative settings, such as with infrared night vision, minimal frame rate, and possibly lower resolution. I'll update this review later (posted October 2023) if it falls significantly below the advertised duration since I plan to use some middle-of-the-road settings with this camera. With that said, it's very easy to charge, and coming with a rechargeable, high-capacity battery is an immediate benefit in my eyes.Overall, my initial impressions are strong!

Great Camera with Tons of Features!

This TP-Link Tapo camera is a great little product that is very robust and offers a heap of features. The video quality is great (including at night) and can be set to auto select either 720p or 2K depending on your connectivity. The setup was super quick and easy and there are lots of settings that can be tweaked to setup the camera the way you like. Installation and positioning was super easy due to the magnetic base, which is such a great idea. The camera connects directly to wifi, so there is no need for a hub or additional hardware which is nice. The Tapo app is clean and easy to use and I really like the AI detection where the camera will recognise people, animals or vehicles as well as motion. You can use these detections to setup custom notifications and ... MoreThis TP-Link Tapo camera is a great little product that is very robust and offers a heap of features. The video quality is great (including at night) and can be set to auto select either 720p or 2K depending on your connectivity. The setup was super quick and easy and there are lots of settings that can be tweaked to setup the camera the way you like. Installation and positioning was super easy due to the magnetic base, which is such a great idea. The camera connects directly to wifi, so there is no need for a hub or additional hardware which is nice. The Tapo app is clean and easy to use and I really like the AI detection where the camera will recognise people, animals or vehicles as well as motion. You can use these detections to setup custom notifications and recording rules which is great. For example instead of just recording from motion detect, you can set it to only record if a person is detected which has greatly reduced the number of notifications/recordings of birds or trees in the wind. You can also setup specific detection zones, so it will only record/notify if it detects in a certain area, again so you are not getting notified of people walking down the street, only if they enter your yard for example. One feature I also love is the spotlight which can also be configured based on time/detection (there is also a siren, but I have left that turned off). So if someone is detected in your yard overnight, the spotlight will automatically turn on (it is surprisingly bright) for a period of time and the camera will start to record which is a great security feature. One of the major selling points is the battery life, which so far has been fantastic. Because of the 10000mAh battery, there is no need for a power cable or even a solar panel (although that is an option) and from performance so far I am only going to need to recharge once a year, which is amazing and does make this camera truly wire-free! Another thing which is great and worth pointing out is a majority of features are included without requiring a subscription which isn't the case with a lot of other cameras. Everything except cloud record and image preview on notifications appears to be included with no additional cost, which is a huge plus in my opinion. One thing to be careful of is which micro SD card you purchase with the camera. I noticed many retailers are recommending the Samsung cards, however Tapo specifically say these are not supported, so double check. I purchased a SanDisk Extreme PLUS and it has worked well so far. Probably the only couple of downsides I would point out is even though I love the magnetic base, depending on where you place the camera, this could become a problem if the camera is accessible to people. It is super easy to just grab it and walk away due to there being no cables or fixings. Just something to be aware of before ordering. The only other possible downside is that Tapo doesn't currently work with Apple Homekit, which for some people may be a deal breaker. Apart from that, I am really happy with the TP-Link Tapo camera, I love all the features, the design, flexibility and the app really is nice and easy to use. I will certainly be installing more in my home in the future!

RTSP - (can be used with Blue Iris & VLC)

Review for: TP-Link Tapo Wire-Free MagCamI use mostly POE (Power Over Ethernet) Cams in my house but when I was this 'MagCam' I thought I would give it a try.First of all, I believe TP-Link is a quality brand name and I have been buying their products for years. I really liked the idea of their MagCam which uses a large, rechargeable battery. But the primary reason why I decided to give this cam a try is because it uses RTSPRTSP - Real-Time Streaming Protocol which allows the camera feed to be viewed and recorded by computer based software, like Blue Iris. You can also view the feed on your computer using VLCThe 'Tapo' app works quite well on my android phone and allows 2 way communication, so this would be a great cam to monitor your front door with. The app ... MoreReview for: TP-Link Tapo Wire-Free MagCamI use mostly POE (Power Over Ethernet) Cams in my house but when I was this 'MagCam' I thought I would give it a try.First of all, I believe TP-Link is a quality brand name and I have been buying their products for years. I really liked the idea of their MagCam which uses a large, rechargeable battery. But the primary reason why I decided to give this cam a try is because it uses RTSPRTSP - Real-Time Streaming Protocol which allows the camera feed to be viewed and recorded by computer based software, like Blue Iris. You can also view the feed on your computer using VLCThe 'Tapo' app works quite well on my android phone and allows 2 way communication, so this would be a great cam to monitor your front door with. The app has a 'tap to call' button and once you tap it, your connected via a 'voice call' to the cam and the sound quality is quite good.It also works quite well with 'Blue Iris' software which I have been using to stream and record from my IP Cams for years. Keep in mind though, the camera is battery powered so your only going to get a signal when it has detected motion or you are viewing the stream in the app.If you're looking how to set this up in Blue Iris or VLC, google 'How to view Tapo camera on a PC through RTSP stream' which you should find on the Tapo website.Note: you need to go into the advanced settings on the Tapo App and under Camera Account, create a username and password that will be used for RTSP

Simple to set up, integrate, and install

This TP-Link Tapo Wire-Free MagCam is super nice and has a giant 10000mah battery in it! It was super easy to set up with the app and charged very quickly with a higher amperage charger than the measly one included with it. It unfortunately does charge with micro USB vs USB-C, but it didn't take more than an hour and a half to charge the remaining 50% out of the box. It does seem to use around 5% battery a week using 2k resolution and being on my front porch. Setting up detection zones is great and simple, allowing separate zones for people, motion, and vehicles. There is a decent amount of connection time when I click on the notification to connecting with the camera, which seems to be a bit longer than other cameras I use, but hopefully this will improve with ... MoreThis TP-Link Tapo Wire-Free MagCam is super nice and has a giant 10000mah battery in it! It was super easy to set up with the app and charged very quickly with a higher amperage charger than the measly one included with it. It unfortunately does charge with micro USB vs USB-C, but it didn't take more than an hour and a half to charge the remaining 50% out of the box. It does seem to use around 5% battery a week using 2k resolution and being on my front porch. Setting up detection zones is great and simple, allowing separate zones for people, motion, and vehicles. There is a decent amount of connection time when I click on the notification to connecting with the camera, which seems to be a bit longer than other cameras I use, but hopefully this will improve with updates. The image is crisp and clear and looks great day or night. The magnet to secure the camera is incredibly strong and the instructions do warn you not to get fingers stuck between the base and the camera. All in all I am incredibly happy with this camera and look forward to using is for a while to come.

The easiest installatin for an indoor camera!

I've used and installed cameras from different brands (e.g., Ring, Blink, Nest) and by far this was the easiest to install. If. you already have a Tapo account and app, adding it to your profile is a breeze and I was up and running in 30 seconds... there was a firmware update available, so I had to wait for that to complete.The best thing about this camera is the magnetic base. If the area that the camera will be used have any metal, the camera would stick to it and can be positioned in any direction. I installed this in the kitchen, looking out of the window and the side of the fridge was the perfect spot for it. If there are no metal to stick on, the package includes all the hardware to install a base plate, which then the camera attaches to it magnetically.The ... MoreI've used and installed cameras from different brands (e.g., Ring, Blink, Nest) and by far this was the easiest to install. If. you already have a Tapo account and app, adding it to your profile is a breeze and I was up and running in 30 seconds... there was a firmware update available, so I had to wait for that to complete.The best thing about this camera is the magnetic base. If the area that the camera will be used have any metal, the camera would stick to it and can be positioned in any direction. I installed this in the kitchen, looking out of the window and the side of the fridge was the perfect spot for it. If there are no metal to stick on, the package includes all the hardware to install a base plate, which then the camera attaches to it magnetically.The picture quality is great, motion detection works wonders (I set up activity zones to avoid multiple notifications) and the light on the camera is bright. Another plus for this camera that others don't have is the local storage. In cases where cloud services are not purchased, the recordings could be kept on the microSD card on the camera.Highly recommended!

This is great!

This camera fixes two big problems I've had. It is a high quality camera that I don't have to bore holes in my house to get power to it. The second big perk is one I didn't expect. Instead of just alarming for any motion you can set it to only alert for a person, an animal or a car. It can do general motion, but with most cameras you are buried in false alarms because a cloud went by, or a tree blew too much in the wind. Now I only get the alerts when a person comes to the door or one of my pets does. The reason I gave this 4 instead of 5 stars is the mounting system. It comes with powerful 3M sticky tape and I mounted my first camera with that. I cleaned the spot mounted it according to the instructions and it was good. My second camera arrived the next day, so I ... MoreThis camera fixes two big problems I've had. It is a high quality camera that I don't have to bore holes in my house to get power to it. The second big perk is one I didn't expect. Instead of just alarming for any motion you can set it to only alert for a person, an animal or a car. It can do general motion, but with most cameras you are buried in false alarms because a cloud went by, or a tree blew too much in the wind. Now I only get the alerts when a person comes to the door or one of my pets does. The reason I gave this 4 instead of 5 stars is the mounting system. It comes with powerful 3M sticky tape and I mounted my first camera with that. I cleaned the spot mounted it according to the instructions and it was good. My second camera arrived the next day, so I mounted it with the tape and all seemed good. The next morning I discovered that the tape gave way on both and my cameras crashed to the ground. They are scratched, but still functional and I found a part on my house with wood and ******* in the mounting system. Fantastic camera, but DO NOT use the 3M tape it comes with. I put it on a cleaned surface and it wasn't in the sun to melt it, it just failed.

feature rich and easy to install and use

UPDATE: I was worried about trespassers messing with the camera, but I guess I should have been not concerned about squirrels.I have a Eufy door cam and a few indoor cams which work well. I would say this TP-Link Tapo outdoor cam works just as well, if not better in some areas. The advantages of this one is that it can be used outdoors and is battery operated, so no wires to run. It can record as well, but you have to provide your own microSD card. Pulling up and playing back recorded movement is quick and easy with date/time stamps and thumbnails. You can also download these to your smartphone. You can use a cloud service to record, but there's a monthly fee for that.Downloading and setting up the smartphone app, updating the firmware, connecting the cam to the ... MoreUPDATE: I was worried about trespassers messing with the camera, but I guess I should have been not concerned about squirrels.I have a Eufy door cam and a few indoor cams which work well. I would say this TP-Link Tapo outdoor cam works just as well, if not better in some areas. The advantages of this one is that it can be used outdoors and is battery operated, so no wires to run. It can record as well, but you have to provide your own microSD card. Pulling up and playing back recorded movement is quick and easy with date/time stamps and thumbnails. You can also download these to your smartphone. You can use a cloud service to record, but there's a monthly fee for that.Downloading and setting up the smartphone app, updating the firmware, connecting the cam to the wifi network, and installing the camera were very easy. It took maybe 15 minutes in total to do everything. And another 30 minutes to navigate and learn how to use the smartphone app. You can set it up for 720P or 2K and select a frame rate of 15, 20, or 25 fps. The motion detection area zone can be adjusted and tweaked to ignore things like waving tree limbs/leaves or plants.I've had it set to 720P and 15 fps for the last 2 weeks and it's only down to 85%. I'll update this review after another 2 weeks at 2K and 25 fps.The night vision works well enough, easily seeing to about 30 to 40 feet away. You can 'talk' through the cam; not sure how often I'll use this, but it could be useful. There's even a privacy mode to temporarily cease function without having to manually turning off the cam, which I have to do for the Eufy cam. You can manually take a snapshot or record video and/or audio. You can also adjust the microphone sensitivity.The playback menu has a timeline bar that you can swipe left/right across to see where there have been recorded events, or you can select them directly in the list below. The images and recordings even at 720P are crisp and clear. I'm certain the 2K will be better, especially when you need to zoom in on the image/recording to get more details.My only real concern is that this is mounted magnetically to the base. It makes it really easy to adjust on the fly and to bring in to recharge. But it also makes this extremely easy to take down in order to steal or tamper with. I would have liked some method to secure the cam, like a ring/collar with a keyed lock that traps the cam base to the mount.