Amcrest 5MP UltraHD Security Camera Outdoor Indoor IP Turret PoE Camera with Mic/Audio, 5-Megapixel, 98ft NightVision, 2.8mm Lens, IP67 Weatherproof, MicroSD (256GB), White (IP5M-T1179EW-28MM)
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5MP UltraHD ResolutionExperience magnificent 5MP UltraHD footage with the latest Starlight 1/2.7″ CMOS image sensor and a 103° viewing angle. The Amcrest UltraHD camera soaks in the entire scene, dynamically painting all the vivid colors and rich imagery, pixel by pixel, onto your desktop or mobile device in 5MP UltraHD 2592×1944 resolution. | Motion Detection AlertsReceive intelligent alerts that send notifications directly to your computer or smartphone via the Amcrest View Pro app anytime motion is detected. Create up to 4 motion detection zones and customize each zone’s sensitivity to receive only the alerts that you need. Be notified anytime your smart home camera goes offline. | Mobile Viewing & StorageView, record and playback UltraHD footage directly from your smartphone with the Amcrest View Pro or Amcrest Cloud app. Locally record HD footage directly to a 256GB MicroSD card (sold separately). Never worry about losing your footage with Amcrest Cloud optional Cloud storage plans. | IP67 WeatherproofThe 5MP UltraHD PoE Indoor/Outdoor Camera is built to endure even the harshest weather conditions and protect against impacts. The camera is equipped with a heavy-duty IP67 weatherproof designed to protect against dust, rain, hurricane level winds. |
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| Resolution | 5MP (2592×1944) | 5MP (2592×1944) |
| Viewing Angle | 103° Wide-View | 103° Wide-View |
| Night Vision | 98 Feet | 98.4 Feet |
| Compatible With | Amcrest View Pro App, Amazon Alexa Devices, Amcrest NVRs, NAS | Amcrest View Pro App, Amazon Alexa Devices, Amcrest NVRs, NAS |
| Audio | 1-Way Audio with Built-in Mic | N/A |
| Storage | 256GB MicroSD (Sold Separately), Amcrest Surveillance Pro, Amcrest Cloud, Amcrest NVR, FTP, NAS, Blue Iris. Limited Compatibility with Third Party Software | 256GB MicroSD (Sold Separately), Amcrest Surveillance Pro, Amcrest Cloud, Amcrest NVR, FTP, NAS, Blue Iris. Limited Compatibility with Third Party Software |
| Weatherproof | IP67 Weatherproof | IP67 Weatherproof |
| Compression | H.265 / H.264 High Efficiency Video Compression | H.265 / H.264 High Efficiency Video Compression |
| Connection Type | PoE 802.3a | PoE 802.3a |
| Weight: | 540 g |
| Size: | 1 Count (Pack of 1) |
| Dimensions: | 15.6 x 15.6 x 13.7 cm; 540 Grams |
| Model: | IP5M-T1179EW-28MM |
| Part: | IP5M-T1179EW-28MM |
| Colour: | White |
| Batteries Required: | No |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Manufacture: | Amcrest |
| Colour: | White |
| Size: | 1 Count (Pack of 1) |
I run many different types and makes of IP cameras in my job and at home.
The Amcrest PoE camera provides a sweet spot between cost and performance. I love PoE cameras, as they avoid the hassle of getting power to a camera, and provide the immediate connection of a wired camera.
This camera provides very good image quality, with a couple of nice applications to view images.
I have this camera installed above my outdoor office to provide security. The motion detection of the camera can be a little sensitive would be my only critiscism of this camera.
Image quality is superb, and the application hooks into the camera with virtualy zero delay (unlike my Ring doorbell camera which rarely connects first time and is generally a pain to use.)
Camera at this price point are never going to match up to the offerings by the likes of Axis, but the same functionality in an Axis camera would cost at least 3 or 4 times the price.
Ive powered this camera from both a PoE injector, and also from a PoE switch, and it performed perfectly on both.
Overall, if youre looking for a good VFM PoE camera, these cant be beat.
This was so much easier to set-up and configure than my previous, cheap camera.
I’d suggest searching for and downloading the user manual on the Amcrest website to explain what each setting does, and install the settings via the local webpage rather than the app or the browser plugin.
The only things not included in the box are a 12v power adapter or network cable, so make sure you have an existing cable that can use PoE or buy a power adapter. They seem to be pretty standard for each camera make – I used the 12v one form my old ieGeek camera.
Another great camera from Amcrest
I have had a couple of cameras from Amcrest now after being seriously impressed every time I get a new one. Every time they are just getting better and better.
I have replaced an old 4MP with this new camera, this overlooks the front door, I thought this was best with this one having audo, it’s good to pick up on delivery drivers and door to door sales from time to time.
when it came to fitting, I really like the new mounting bracket that is supplied with this camera, litterly place this when you would like, dot in the holes with a sharpie and then drill the new mounting holes. once you have the mount fitted, the camera just clicks in place, doing this also lets you hide some of the long supplied cabled within the base of the camera, I have tried to do with with another Dome camera I had in the past but it never really worked very well. Also using this click in mount, means you dont have to open the camera up to get it mounted, meaning a much faster installation.
With the camera mounted and connected up, it took around 5 minutes to it reporting into Blue iris and recording to my NAS. You can just clone an existing configuration and update the IP, and there you got it’s hooked up!
Must specify that this camera doesn’t come with a power adapter, so you must have a POE switch or injector already. Using a POE switch also means less cables are needed from the get go.
Having this overlooking the front door top down, it means that the IR’s dont have to travel too far, doing this means that the night time video feed is excellent quality with a lot of illumiation and clear aspects.
Pros
– Cost, you getting a dahua cctv camera for the price of Amcrest
– Amazing image quality
– Super simple to install & setup
– looks very robust (time will tell)
– Auto adoption to POE
– Installation mount included making it easier to fit and install
– Easy reset and MicroSD card hatch for easier installation
CONS
– no power supply included (clearly stated this though)
– paid cloud storage subscription
– very sensitive motion detect
– Long cable which is quite hard to hide, even after trying to hide it in the body
would be a great option to have it on the back somewhere
– Amcrest cloud is pricey for multiple installations. with it being per camera, it makes my installation of blue iris pay for self really fast.
Fantastic hardware, picture quality is superb. For a PoE weatherproof camera, it’s a solid purchase.
I purchased this camera primarily to help monitor a holiday property remotely. I am actually a huge fan of Amcrest cameras – I already own 5 others – 3 outdoor bullet POEs and 2 indoor PTZ cameras – but this is the first bullet camera I’ve tested. I originally bought Amcrest because they seemed a good compromise between price and quality. This camera appears to be no exception to that. It is a solidly made camera which was very easy to set up (although I do have a bit of experience in this regard already) and the mounting bracket was easy to fit. The qualityof the image is excellent, as usual. I upgraded the firmware to the latest version which went smoothly. My only real complaint about Amcrest is the website — I’ve always found it quite tricky to navigateto the firmware download section althoughthis time I went there via the direct link in the camera GUI and it seemed to go straight to the right spot in the Amcrest site. I haven’t tested out the SD card slot in the camera as I use BlueIris for all my monitoring. As usual, it was a piece of cake getting this camera added to my BlueIris device list. Overall, this camera seems to be up to Amcrest’susualstandards and I am happy to recommend them to anyone looking to set up a decent quality private video monitoring solution.”
Straight out the box the set up was simple and easy to do.
The opening box experience wasn’t like Nest or Apple products, but to be fair I didn’t buy this for the box.
The clarity of the picture during the day and night is amazing and for the price, I don’t think you’ll find a better camera.
There is a template in the box to assist with mounting this camera, which is a really nice touch.
Would definitely recommend.
I bought this camera to add to my security setup to cover my work van. Having bought a few Amcrest webcams for streaming and recording in the past, I was hopeful for another quality product to add to my kit.
The camera arrived in a plainer box than the usual Amcrest branded kit, but I put this down to it being directed at a more commercial market. The camera itself is sturdy and build from a cast metal shell, but the base for it is a lighter weight plastic, which a found to be a little disappointing. It’s certainly geared to lighter weight uses because of this. Although the camera is POE, it does in fact have a 12V DC socket to inject power into the unit, which is helpful if you don’t have a POE switch to hand.
The camera is easy to mount with the supplied base being detachable from the main camera housing. The cable is fairly long at around 12-15inches to the connectors, which is sadly too long to conceal under the dome itself, so would require a secondary connection box to house the cable and connectors.
The image quality as expected is fantastic. The lens can pick up a wide area and works fantastically well in daylight and even in night-time conditions with minimal light. It’s easy to configure within the Amcrest pro app and works very well inside third party software and with NVR’s.
Overall, this camera is very good for the price point. Great for local surveillance in domestic areas, with crisp images, local and cloud storage, motion detection, and a host of features. I look forward to trying out more of the product line to keep an eye on my home and business.
I installed this camera near my front porch which in directly in the way of heavy rain + wind and is in a somewhat dark area. As I already owned a PoE switch, the setup was very easy and I was able to install and setup the camera within an hour (the included template made the installation very smooth).
The mobile app is also super intuitive and easy to use and I found it very simply to set up motion alerts with the app. My previous experience with motion alerts has not been great since they have so many false triggers, but this camera handled it perfectly.
The quality of the built in mic is adequate. I wouldn’t say its mind blowing, but it serves its intended purpose very well.
The image quality in low light situations was probably my favourite feature about this camera. With my setup, it was able to get amazing quality in the dark that outperformed some of my other security cameras. Most importantly, the infrared lights didn’t add glare onto the lens- which is a problem that my other cameras suffer from.
In terms of design, I initially thought this camera felt a little bit cheaper and low quality compared to other Amcrest products I’ve used in the past (same with the packaging). The weight, plastic texture and overall feel of the camera may be something that I would find off-putting it the actual operation of the camera wasn’t so good.
Image/Picture Quality
Image quality of both SD and HD very impressive especially in day light. Image from the high end 2592 * 1944 very sharp and stunning
No motion blur noticed even at lower frame rates. Great field of view to capture or wide enough to capture my church hall where it is used.
Noticed a fish eye effect on the high resolution setting however for the intended purposes this is not a problem.
When Audio is turned on on the app, the quality is good
Night Vision mode not a problem
2. Build Quality: Lightweight and easy to install/Mount. Used a power source as no access to a POE router. Live view of LAN, already has Network cables installed in the church building so this was easy to hook up.
3. APP
The View App is easy to use with a lot of features which is quite intuitive for the novice
Motion detection setup was very accurate with notification alerts on Mobile phone
I have purchased number of Amcrest Devices (webcam and baby monitor) — I have found the products so far to be of fantastic quality and with a very reasonable price point. The security camera itself was something I looked into after not being 100% happy at the really high prices of the nest and ring cameras, I have bought them in the past but the image quality seemed quite grainy (admittedly I bought original versions and I hear they are much better now!). Also, this offers a much better field of view than say a doorbell camera which only shows half my drive. I decided to look at this because the camera quality seemed really good from the reviews and I was not disappointed — I also like the fact you can use Chrome to see things rather than install anything specific. For the money the images you receive and the and sound is great I was able to read a number plate from a car driving past. Physically the camera itself is metal and you can feel like it’s really good quality, the housing is plastic but still seems to be quite rigid and strong. I like the fact that this is white because it blends in really well with my white cladding on the front of my house. I am thinking of buying another one for the rear of the house.
I was in the market for a new surveillance camera to be able to keep an eye on my front door when I came across this product by Amcrest. Looking at the specifications, this camera looked perfect for my needs and had a good price tag too, so I went ahead and ordered it. I have been using this camera for weeks now and I must say this is a great piece of kit! The 5MP camera quality is more than enough to identify people, and the wide-angle lens allows me to see people coming from any directions. The two-way microphone is also good quality and allows me to talk to anyone at my doorstep when I’m away, how cool is that! With the Amcrest View app, I am alerted whenever someone is at my doorstep via a notification. I am also very impressed with the quality of the night vision mode, allowing me to see my doorstep even in complete darkness. For video storage you can either store it on the Amcrest cloud or locally, I decided to store it locally on a MicroSD card as it was the most affordable way to store the footage and it’s been working perfectly. The only criticism I would give is that the Amcrest View app could do with some improvements in terms of functionality, however, this is not related to the camera itself. I’d definitely recommend this to someone looking for a good, value for money outdoor surveillance camera, you won’t get much better than this for the price.
The Amcrest Security Camera is a brilliant little camera that performs highly. The arrival packaging is simpler than other products (normally within a blue branded box) however box it arrives in is branded and holds it’s contents well and snugly by using shock absorbent material which prevents any damage in transit and means there’s no excess packaging.
The box contains a template for ease when mounting the camera onto a wall which prevents any misalignment when mounting and comes with the screws required to securely fix the camera in place, the mounting disk itself is sturdy. There are further waterproofing caps to ensure that cables are safe from the everchanging weather and a clear usual manual that takes you through the set-up process. It is a well nicely designed camera with its petite form nestling nicely into the corner of a window, making it blend into the wall. The camera has brilliant rotation, it can turn 360 degrees when on the mounting plate and this allows perfect positioning.
When using the camera over the last month I have been vastly impressed by the image quality and it’s performance overnight in a low light area has been impressive. The images are clear and precise for such a small camera. Further to this the audio is clear, it picks up on voices well.
The camera has a Micro SD card slot allowing use of the camera without an NVR which makes it accessible for those alike myself who have a minimal security set up.
Overall, I am very impressed with the quality of this camera, it’s provided consistent clear high-quality images over the last month and I am eager to continue with this camera as my primary security.
I was offered this device for free and requested but not required to write a review. This is my own, unbiased opinion.
Note: this is a PoE camera, you’ll need a powered hub or injector. There is no power connector in the box. Powered hubs and ethernet cable are cheap and what you need to use for this camera. There is no wireless. If you want something “wireless and easy” then this isn’t it. It’s a proper camera!
High level: this is a reasonable, fisheye camera that will operate with a fixed view. It’s rainproof in my testing and works consistently.
The software provided for your phone is a good start, but you’ll either want to sign up for the paid service (I didn’t do this) or set up some IPCamera software like Netcam studio etc.
Overall for the price, it’s worth a buy to start your home security journey.
Ok, firstly let’s address the elephant in the room… it’s clear that this is a collaboration between Dahua and Amcrest (the user interface is almost identical) but that’s no bad thing, as they’re recognised to be one of the leaders in the CCTV world at the moment. So this is a Dahua for less than the price of a Dahua.
The camera feels a little more ‘budget’ than my other (Hikvision) cameras – which are all cast metal – the camera itself is metal, but the base is plastic, also the camera is designed to be easily attached to the base (which you mount first) but it also means it’s easily removed without tools – something that’s a bit of a downside in some applications I expect.
I use this with an existing networked system, so didn’t use AMCREST’s own applications, just configured the camera in the browser – the video works great without any plugins, something some older cameras have struggled with making them a nightmare to configure on modern browsers.
The image quality is fantastic, and surpassed my expectations for a camera of this price point, even in low light and at night with zero illumination other than the IR in the camera (I live in an area with very little light pollution and no streetlights) – the IR illuminator itself is visible (as almost all are) but not particularly obvious.
On the full frame (2592×1944, 4:3) of the sensor there is a lot of lens distortion visible, fine for most CCTV applications but the cropped 16:9 image (2688×1520) is more visually appealing if you were using this for a ‘webcam stream’ type purpose. As you’d expect it supports two streams although the low stream can only go up to 704×576)
A really minor annoyance is the overlaid timestamp isn’t as easy to read as the Hikvision style, would be useful if it could be changed to a more blocky font (more in keeping with Hikvision and traditional NVRs) as it’s more easily read when scaled down. Additionally, by default, it displays an AMCREST logo – this is easily turned off but completely pointless – if this feature allowed a custom image to be uploaded it might be useful, but no-one is going to want their CCTV system displaying someone else’s logo.
Overall, a great low-cost IP camera. Time will tell how will it stands up to being in a particularly exposed environment.
This is an excellent security camera. Installation was easy and the instructions were clear. Setting up remote viewing on my phone was simple and the picture quality is fantastic with clear and accurate colours both day and night. The built in microphone is a nice touch and has excellent audio quality. The desktop software is also clear and easy to use.
Where it falls down a little is the fact that you have to pay for the cloud storage. I will be getting round this by recording to a micro SD card instead. The unit doesn’t come with a 12v power adapter which it needs in order to work, which seems like quite a major oversight. Luckily I already had one spare. The only other slight gripe I have is that the instructions did not explain how to set up a power over Ethernet adapter, but when I contacted customer support they sent me some useful articles and I managed to work it out in the end so a great experience on the whole!
Very pleased with the quality of the camera, plugged it into my POE switch and used Amcrest Surveillance Pro on my PC to view the camera. Setup was a breeze and super easy for someone who’s never setup POE cameras before.
Looking to upgrade to a synology NAS and add more cameras in the future.
Would recommend to anyone wanting a high quality bank friendly POE camera.
The Good Points…
– Fantastic picture quality, the colours and sharpness of the image is really good.
– Good night time quality, really good IR illumination from the unit.
– Easy setup through the APP
– Easy to use web interface
– Integrates well into my Milestone VMS as an ONVIF compatible device.
– Good to see a privacy mask feature, you can this being used in the picture below.
– Great to have the onboard SD card slot for local recording, great as a back up is the NVR fails or goes offline.
– Easy to install with the drill template and the easy clip bracket. Perfect for domestic settings, and the DIY’er
– A Really good microphone. It’s Crystal clear and picks up on sounds really well. Ideal for having by the front door to pick up on conversations when persons come to the door.
– It’s a nice unobtrusive size so it can be tucked up out of the way.
– The camera is a nice solid metal construction.
– Easy to adjust the camera of the view you want.
– 28mm Lens is perfect for the general overview.
The Bad Points…
– Not a fan of the plastic mounting, ok for your domestic situations but if used in a more commercial setting its not very vandal resistant.
– Would like to see a bigger back box for the RJ45 joint to go inside as not many people will want to drill a 20mm hole though there walls, window or door frames to get the gland though.
– Would like to see the introduction of intelligent analytic alarms rather than the “unreliable” motion detection, which is old tech nowadays.
Exactly what I needed. Never had one before. The camera comes with mount that can be screwed into a wall or ceiling (screws are included). It can be clipped and unclipped as you please. Which is very handy for access to memory card.
It can be powered by the Ethernet or with an adapter. I think its 12v 1A. I had to buy separate power injector as I don’t own PoE switch. You can get those cheap on Amazon or ebay.
Works without any problems. Easy to set up as long as you are on the same network. It took me a while to set up remote access but once its done, I can access it anywhere in the world as long as the camera is connected to your home network and internet is on.
Application lets you change settings and even record onto your phone.
Motion sensor can be set up to fit the area you want to look out for. Its sensitivity can be set as well. I had mine set pretty hight to start with and any small movement was detected and notification was sent to my mobile. I had to play for a while with sensitivity as i was getting a lot of notifications where there wasn’t anyone in the area.
Built in microphone is good. I can hear birds chirping outside or even hear the conversation.
Night vision is very good. I can see clearly even when its dark.
There is also possibility of inserting memory card into the camera but i haven’t played with it yet.
Overall I am very happy with the purchase. I can see who is by my door when I am not around.
-Build and Installation-
The camera itself is mainly made of our plastic, but it is still feels well built and should survive the elements. Within the body there is a slot which is accessed by unscrewing 2 screws and allows for the insertion of a MicroSD card of up to 256GB to store video locally, as well as a reset button to restore to factory settings if required. The camera has one cable coming off from it which splits into two ends a Ethernet/PoE plug and a DC 12V plug, as a big user of PoE I won’t be using the 12V plug so would have preferred that the camera just contains the PoE plug so not to worry about having to waterproof the 12V connection.
-Picture Quality-
The camera I got is the 5MP 2.8mm version which has one of the widest angles of view that I have seen in an IP Camera other than doorbell cameras, providing 103 degrees horizontal and 71 degrees vertical, which compared to the 100/55 of my previous camera provided much better vertical view and slightly better horizontal view. This makes it for perfect use as at a low level to provide good close-up image of people for better identification if required, also as this camera has a built-in microphone putting this closer to the area of interest means you are more likely to pick up any audio.
I have attached a couple of pictures showing the difference of day and night quality for both the Amcrest camera vs the previous Hikvison, in it you can see that the quality is quite close to one another, but in terms of the viewing angle you can see how much more the Amcrest is able to capture. Regarding night mode, I prefer to just to leave the cameras on Colour mode throughout the night and then use the streetlight outside and a LED PIR light to light up the area if there is anything of interest in the area. This provides colour images for more accurate description if required, but it also means that you won’t have the problem of the camera triggering motion events because of insects, spider webs, rain or fog which is a problem when the IR lights and night mode are enabled.
-Audio Quality-
One of the features of this camera is the fact it has a built-in microphone, so not only are you able to get good picture quality of the area of interest, but you are also able to get any voices and sound as well. This can prove useful when identifying someone who may have covered their face, but you are still able to pick up their voice. This camera has also got the ability to detect changes in the loudness being picked up by the microphone, which is a similar feature to the motion detection for the image, but instead of motion it is detecting a change in intensity for audio and then record the audio once the intensity change is noted. Personally, I always look for audio recording when buying a camera to be placed at low level to give that added level of protection and recording
-Summary-
Overall, this is an excellent camera and my second Amcrest camera, with one camera providing an overview shot from higher up and this camera to provide a close shot for the area of particular interest. Both cameras have provided great picture quality both day and night and I would recommend them to anyone who wants a camera that provides good quality, local storage and audio recording, and can optionally work with 3rd party NVRs.
Design and Constructions
– The overall weight of the product is very reassuring, it was a bigger camera than I was expecting, but it came with all the instructions and mounting plates and screws etc I needed to mount it on my porch.
– The camera cable length is also very good, I was able to tuck the camera cable under my flashing to keep it concealed, I could have only done this with a longer cable.
– It’s quite easy to manipulate the camera into any position, in my case I had it set at a 90degree angel and was able to flip this in the app to get it looking the correct orientation on my mobile.
Overall very pleased with the design and mounting plate.
Camera Quality
– this 5M sensor is superb, the quality of the daylight shots is superb.
– I wrongly assumed the device would also have nighttime IR sensors, every product i’ve had from Amcrest did but this one actually doesn’t, but nighttime camera images are actually very good, it has a larger sensor so it picks up a surprising amount of light.
– The camera features a wide angel lens, and it captures so much area for footage it’s amazing, I can see almost my entire porch and driveway when the right angel was setup in the app.
Storage Options
– I put a 128GB SD card into the camera, I then set my motion options directly on the web browser, I was able to see motion triggers and watch them via the app.
– I have also experimented with the cloud recording features, Amcrest will give you 1 months free or 2 months 50% off on signup, I really liked this and thought it was a good trial.
Software
– I was quite taken back when searching “Amcrest” on the app store, I had a list of lots of different apps to pick, I ended up downloading 2 apps, Amcrest Smart Home & Amcrest Cloud.
– After lots of trail and error I realised that Smart home doesn’t work with the camera and it couldn’t find it, I ended up downloading Amcrest Cloud instead and it worked flawlessly, this was mainly my mistake as it said in the manual to use Amcrest Cloud it was just an oversight.
– I tend to use the web browser for lots of tasks like Live view etc, I really like it isn’t in flash anymore and it works with any additional plugins etc.
Overall very pleasure with the camera, I think it’s of solid construction, the software works well and the quality of the sensor is superb for such a small camera.
We got the Amcrest security camera to monitor our garden and signed up for the monthly subscription so we can use the cloud services instead of just using the memory card as storage. We had to purchase a cable so that we can connect the camera to power it as it’s a POE camera; just something you should be aware of. Depending on how you’re looking to set it up, you’ll just have to get an appropriate cable for it.
We set it up using its app and we just had a few issues setting it up at first because it asked for a password that we hadn’t created yet but we realized that we had to use the non-cloud app (Amcrest View Pro) first to set our camera to be ready for the cloud app, which is something we found through trial and error. Once you got there, it wasn’t a problem! We did this using our mobile, not on a desktop so the process may be different/easier on the desktop version.
The angle of view is quite wide so our garden is perfectly visible from one corner to the other; the detail in the video during day time is really good and crisp and even during nighttime, without a single source of light it was surprisingly decent, too. There are a few adjustment options to change brightness, contrast, etc, so you can optimize the video. Definitely recommend to use the desktop version to configure your camera to get the video looking its best. Our camera was so clear during day time that you could see small bits flying past in the wind.
We set ours to be triggered by a motion sensor which we tested out to make sure it works and it did. You can then see the events in your app to see when the camera was triggered and review the footage, there are also a handful of settings to modify how often you want it to record and/or save, and so forth. If you want to just log in to view the camera in live-view while you’re out, you can do that, which can be quite handy if you are traveling and just want to check in.
Before we get a professional out to hook it up to our wall outdoors as we don’t have any tools or a ladder, we actually have been using it from our top floor window looking down to the garden, and even with the window between the camera and the garden any motion was triggered and recorded in the video just fine!
It looks quite neat and is not big at all and can be adjusted to get the angle right. Overall, we’re happy with our camera and the video quality (especially if we hadn’t had a few issues setting it up at the start to get it connected)! Now we’re looking forward to it being mounted to the wall outside!
I’m writing this review as a product tester for Amcrest. Following submission of my review I will receive reimbursement form Amcrest of the price paid.
After receiving the camera, I found it to be dead on arrival; that is, it would not power on when connected to 2 different PoE switches. The replacement from Amazon had no such problem.
Mounting of the camera was as straight forward as expected. This involved drilling a one inch wide hole through a concrete outbuilding, to allow the RJ45 socket to be passed through.
With the mounting bracket installed, the camera clipped on very easily. I found that the camera will also unclip just as easily – which is a little too easily. Although it isn’t going to fall off, it is very easy for someone to pull or knock the camera off its mount. A better mount or securing screw or similar would be useful.
Connecting the camera to the Android Amcrest View Pro App is easy, either via IP address or the QR code printed on the label. It’s worth knowing that by default, access to the camera is possible externally using the serial number (QR code), username and password. This could be useful for many, although being security conscious, I have turned this feature off. It Amcrest View Pro app itself has been reliable and well done.
After 4 days the camera became non-responsive, but was resolved with a reboot. Other than this, the camera has been reliable in the 1 week it has been installed, even with a significant amount of rainfall.
There are some useful features including a DDNS client, and ONVIF for easy connection to a DVR/surveillance software. The camera has plenty of configuration including picture adjustments, and the ability to remove the Amcrest logo, camera name and time from the camera feed. The privacy filter allows sections of the camera view to be blocked out, which I have used to block out the neighbour’s garden.
The picture quality from my point of view is good, during the day and the monochrome IR LED lit image at night.
Apart from a few pieces of inaccurate information in the instructions (which I have fed back to Amcrest as part of my product testing), the instructions are written in real English, rather than a poor or awkward translation.
I’m happy with the camera, but feel it is too expensive for the price currently listed (94.99) when there is plenty of other alternatives.
Amcrest 5MP UltraHD Security Camera
On first unboxing i was pleased to see what appeared to be a well-made solid dome camera, I was very impressed with the quality of the wall bracket fixing also as this felt very solid.
Installation was relatively straight forward, and I roof mounted mine into a eave on the front of the house, one area of improvement would be a longer lead for the Power/POE connection which is aprx 30cm from camera for first connector, not a massive issue but if you have thick cavity walls or deep dead space you are forced to have the connectors outside, this again is not a massive issue as the camera comes with waterproof connection covers.
To use POE you need a POE switch but this was made very clear in the advert for the product. I already had one in place so connection and power was simple enough to achieve. But for anyone just wanting a single use camera can use a mains adapter.
I am using Amcrest view pro but there are several connectivity options including a cloud-based service from Amcrest. Now I am satisfied with the quality of the images I intend to use a SD card in the camera as local storage, I’m expecting to get 4-5 days of recording the max 256gb card size.
So camera installation and set up are simple. Very pleased with the stress free set up. The app itself is straight forward to set up and use also.
Image quality in all conditions so far has been excellent — certainly better than some “CCTV” shared from commercial premises looking for shoplifters. The audio is good but redundant for myself as I live on a very busy road so its mainly heavy traffic noise, but in suburbia it is certainly going to be sharp enough to catch voice.
In summary this is a well-made and high-quality device. As before my only “gripe” is the length of the cable from camera to connector, if this was extended to 1m then it would most definitely be 6 stars.
Once again Amcrest impresses with its quality.
Well packaged but disappointed at the “OEM” packing with zero branding.
First impressions look good, but ermm the camera eyeball is metal, yet the outer casing / bracket is plastic. Wonder how long this will last before it goes brittle only time will tell.
WOW a camera with an actual readable instruction booklet, and a free offer for Amcrest Cloud for 1 month, also a warning to update the firmware, a reminder slip to register the warranty which will get done soon, and also a drill template.
So plugged it into my POE switch and jumped straight on the interface via using the IP it obtained from DHCP, made some changes, I.e. updated the time etc and disable the Amcrest Logo on the video feed as that look very professional.
Logged into my Synology NAS and setup the NAS to record from the camera, all I had to do was input my username and password for the camera and also set the manufacture so its configured.
Video feed on both day and night are very good for the money, can tell this has a true 5MP camera as the quality is there by day and night.
Video angle also seems to be impressive for such a small camera.
Just installed the Amcrest View Pro app for easy viewing of the camera and I must say works very well, however I don’t think I will keep the P2P enabled as I will be using the Synology Surveillance station app.
Also, from the product listing title was maybe a little misleading as it said MicroSD 256GB, this could have meant the camera had a 256GB SD card built into it but it doesn’t, just a word of caution.
All round good camera, would replace my other cameras with one of these. Only gripe is the camera back box you can buy for this camera is “Massive” and is somewhat to be desired.
Worth it over the cheaper one that I had before just because of the much better picture quality.
A solid metal case with weatherproofing for the network cable. Good camera and easy to install. Quality is good especially at night. Excellent picture quality compared to my existing cameras. One thing that really stood out to me is the quality of the zoom, when zooming the picture maintains a crystal clear picture which is very impressive. You can really pick out fine details a lot better than my other camera’s. Very good dynamic range as always with Amcrest; multiple options present for improving the picture via the web interface . I would recommend playing around with these setting because they can hugely increase the quality. The night vision is also very good. I was able to pick out a distance number plate at night time about 6 meters from the camera. Very impressive.
I have a number of Amcrest Devices. So I am used to the interface and quality of the Cameras.
I was not disappointed with the “plain” packaging. In this world of recycling, its nice to receive a plain box compared to a glossy box.
The Camera and accessories (mounting screws and plate) were all present, sealed and good quality. Always reassuring if you plan to mount something outside, high up and out the way! Inside the box was also the Quick Start Guide and Waterproof PoE connectors.
I setup the Camera connected to my PoE Switch. I didn’t use PoE injectors.
Like other reviews, I have a separate VLAN for CCTV Cameras around the House.
The Mobile and Web App were both easy to use. I did not try the Amcrest Cloud. But looks competitively priced in terms of Costs and Features.
Video (Night and Day) and Audio Quality was what I expect from Amcrest. Motion detection is good from Notification response and setting Motion Detection Zones.
The Camera is certainly Weatherproof. So far this Month we have had Snow, Rain, Frost and Sun. Its not affected the Camera at all.
This Turret camera is a fantastic addition to the current amcrest line. Although matching the 3.5mm version in all the specs the 2.8mm lens gives you a wider field of view which seems to provide a barely distorted image while showing as much of the area of cover as possible.
The product includes a packed of accessories including waterproof cover for the CAT5 socket and mounting hardware — don’t lose the included mounting sticker as this proves really useful when drilling holes for mounting — no more guessing, just stick the sticker on and drill straight through.
There is no included power supply (which is clearly advertised) so a 48v PoE (power over ethernet) switch or injector is required to get this working. I use a PoE switch for my home network so had little difficulty getting it powered up.
The only problem I had was with using the amcrest cloud to set it up — the camera wouldn’t accept the password change through the app so I couldn’t set it up completely with the app — I had to use the web graphic user interface (GUI) to set the password and then use the app to finish setting up with the new password.
This is a fantastic camera, with metal housing — the plastic mounting lets it down a little in the physical feel but once mounted and fixed in position you obviously wont notice it.
The micro SD slot is a little difficult to get to once installed (you may have to re-position the camera if you need to remove the card once installed) but its behind a little waterproof sealed access hatch to keep it secure.
I use Amcrest Surveillance Pro on a PC which is a little clunky, but once up and running seems to work well.
Amazing little camera — plugged straight in and worked, and picked up by my NVR.
Decent build quality and relatively easy to install for the average DIYer.
The web Interface is good and easy to use — It also worked with my NVR features without much input.
The image quality is just as you’d expect. Nice and clear and can pick out peoples faces easy.
The only think I’d like to see different is the RJ45 port being just on the back of the camera instead of on a cable. Just makes the install look not quite as tidy as it could.
Overall — fantastic camera — would buy another!
This camera is really good for outdoor security. The quality is really good and clear both day and night. Motion detection notifications are instant too which is good. Audio quality is also very good, making it easy to hear what is happening outside. No two way communication but not an issue for where the camera is. PoE makes the camera easy to install and power, providing you have the right equipment!
The mobile app is okay, does everything you need. The web app I find is much better for controlling the camera as it is easier to use and control the finer details. Plenty of options for configuring the camera.
Local control and storage is great, no need for the cloud, especially if you know how to configure external access (the guides Amcrest provide are great). Local control also means it is easy to integrate with Home Assistant. No google assistant or Alexa, which would be a great addition to round off the camera.
Setup was quick and easy using a 128gb SD card, scanned the barcode using app on my camera phone and it auto configured instantly, magic!
Daytime quality is very good with ability to digitally zoom in on the app and IR provides fantastic night vision, clearer than any other cameras I’ve had.
The mounting plate is a good design too makes it easy to fit. There is enough room behind the camera to hide all cabling / connectors without having to use a junction box, this often isn’t the case so a nice bonus in the design.
The contents however held the same contents as other Amcrest products. A mounting template to make it easy to put on the wall (I am still yet to do this as cannot yet get up a ladder due to Covid illness). A mounting ring so the camera can be put on the wall or removed easily, waterproof caps so the PoE cable can be kept securely away from the elements and the usual user guide, warranty information and an introduction offer to use Amcrest cloud. I myself use a NAS to record onto as I prefer my CCTV system to be closed to my internal network only (with remote access via VPN).
The camera was so simple to setup. I configured the switch to be in the correct VLAN for the CCTV, plugged in the camera and it worked straight away, set a static IP address, changed the password and then I started to work with the Camera through the Amcrest app on my phone. The 5MP image is very impressive and allows me to “pinch to zoom” in the Amcrest app to focus more on distant objects. Once I was happy with the image (I had to rotate and mirror the image), I moved onto the Synology Surveillance station to carry on with the configuration for recording and motion detection etc.
As the camera is a compatible product with Surveillance Station, I was able to just put in the IP and credentials and detect the camera from the web interface. I played around with the motion sensors and decided that letting the camera detect motion worked better than letting the NAS do the job. I did drop the resolution slightly as I prefer the ability to record at 30 fps at 2688*1520, than 20 fps at 2592*1944, though I do notice a slight fish eye effect on the lens when I configure the camera to this setting. This does not affect the quality of the image and I am very impressed with the camera image quality.
My only criticisms of this purchase are the different packaging and the lack of the full frame rate at the full resolution. I would still rate this 9/10 as it was clear from the purchase screen about the frame rate prior to buying the camera.
I compared the image quality to a Reolink 5MP camera and the Amcrest camera is miles better in image quality both during day and night.
I have already demonstrated the Amcrest cameras to people who are looking at options to install CCTV in their home and explained the options for both local and cloud based recording. Although the cameras are slightly more expensive than the competition, showing them the difference between the image quality highlights the importance of purchasing a higher quality camera.
I got this camera recently to go outside, and mounted it under my garage eaves. I really like the style of compared to the dome cameras that are popular, because there’s only a small lens area to keep clean. The dome camera I have needs cleaning every couple of weeks or the images are not perfect but this one doesn’t even seem to get affected by rain drops. If I do find that rain drops get on the lens, I’ll use some Rain-X, which I’ve also used on my dome camera.
The image is very sharp and can go up to better than 1080p video. I personally switched it down to 1080p because I don’t need the extra quality but it can 2592×1944. It does the new H265 codec as well as H264. H265 can give the same quality with less disk space/network, but if you have an older phone you might need the old format.
The field of view is very wide and covers my whole drive way and front area of the house. The night vision also works very well at night and is invisible. It is a black and white image which is how all these cameras work, but very clear.
I’m a fairly advanced user when it comes to cameras, and I appreciate that Amcrest added features for changing shutter speed and exposure, with separate settings for night and day. There is a Wide Dynamic Range setting. Even if you’re not advanced, I think it would be useful for many people as you can have both a bright and dark area in a picture and not lose detail. In my situation, the driveway is quite dark with some shadows, and the roof of the house across the road is very bright. With WDR on, I can see both areas in detail, and with it off, I lose detail, so it’s a very nice feature to have.
I’ve got it wired up with POE Power Over Ethernet, which saved me drilling two holes, as the power and network cable are just one wire.
The app works well and has a P2P feature which I appreciate. It means I can access the camera when I’m out and I don’t need to set up any port forwarding. I think it goes via Amcrest’s servers and it is free to use. On the subject of free to use, I also put an SD card in, and the videos are stored on there, for free. I don’t need a subscription.
There is a subscription service which looks very convenient. For my purposes I don’t use it, but it is nice to have the option and the pricing looks decent. There’s an Amcrest app which just got updated this year and work fine.
Anyway if you are looking for an outdoor camera with good image quality, good design, and a good app, this one is working very well for me.
I was looking for security cameras to replace the Nest ones I already have as I didn’t want to pay a monthly subscription any more.
Found this Amcrest camera, which seemed to fit my needs as it allowed for multiple cameras to be powered over ethernet, accepts a microSD card, and I can view via an app if needed.
Installation was really easy, and I had the camera mounted on my wall within minutes, then wired it up.
So picture quality, probably the most important part of the camera. Well I am pleased to say the quality from the camera is really good in both day, and night modes. The IR mode is actually much better than my current Nest camera.
You can easily access your recordings via a web interface or an app, and you get a load of different options to play with, all of which are comparable if not better than those offered by Nest.
In short, I will be updating all my cameras to these now. However, I may go for the 4K versions for some of the outside areas.
Unboxing:
The camera comes packaged in a plain brown box with a pack containing a couple of screws and the connectors for the waterproof network connection. It looks more budget than previous Amcrest cameras and is considerably lighter, hopefully this doesn’t mean its lesser quality than some of the other great Amcrest cameras I have. There is a template which is printed on a sticker so you can stick the template onto the surface you are going to install the camera on simplifying the installation process. The camera itself is very well packaged in shock absorbent material.
Mounting:
I fitted this camera to the side of our house mounted horizontally. The camera was easy to install and adjust to the correct position owing to the way the camera body has the ability to rotate 360 degrees in the mounting plate as well as rotate for when mounted vertically. I have every confidence you can get the perfect angle whether mounting horizontally or vertically. The waterproof network connection is easy to hook up and is a must if mounted outdoors. Using the mounting plate with its sticker template to install the camera made installation very quick for a dome camera. Previous dome cameras I’ve had have had to be opened up to access the mounting points to screw to the wall but this camera requires no disassembly to install which means there is no risk of getting dirt or dust into the camera housing which could affect the picture quality once installed. I have the camera running from a POE switch after initially using a POE injector to test when mounting. The camera looks professional when installed.
Configuration:
The camera is IP and POE which for me is the best configuration for CCTV cameras. The camera comes configured to get an IP address from DHCP but setting a static IP on the camera was easy with the camera redirecting you to the new static IP address as soon as you hit save, very smart! The camera was not running the latest firmware so I performed a firmware upgrade which was quick and easy. I was really impressed with the responsiveness of the web interface on the camera, it was very intuitive to use and clicking around the plethora of configuration options available was instantaneous. Remember to configure some NTP settings for the camera, it’s important to have the time set correctly when using CCTV as evidence or trying to playback specific times fortunately this camera supports NTP and configuration of daylight savings time. The SMTP configuration is best I’ve seen with the ability to select pre-defined SMTP providers including Google, Outlook.com, Comcast, Yahoo as well as manual configuration.
NVR Configuration:
The camera was added quickly and easily into Milestone XProtect using the network quick scan method. I have milestone configured to pre-record for 3 seconds and post record for 5 seconds after motion detection. It really helps with compatibility when the camera supports ONVIF.
Video Quality:
I have set one of my streams on the camera to be the highest quality it possibly can be, the video quality is fantastic I was really impressed. Night time quality is excellent using the built in IR lights and the footage is crisp and clear with no lens glare due to the IR lights being built into the body of the camera and not mounted inside the lens. The video quality is a huge step from the Hikvision this camera has replaced.
Conclusion:
This is a great quality camera which provides crisp and clear video. The software is the most responsive I’ve found on any IP cameras that I’ve tried and is really intuitive to use also. It’s really nice that the video works natively in a Google Chrome browser with no additional software to install.
This camera is good quality and works just as I thought it would. Really impressed with the results of the footage. Thanks for a good device. Been using for a while now with no problems. Good brand!
I have this camera setup on the inside of my bedroom window looking out at the back garden. The picture quality is clear even at night, however we do have a lamppost near by which provides some light to the garden at night. Surprisingly there is no issue with reflection from the window either.
The installation was fairly straight forward, I managed to fix the camera to the wall using command tabs rather than screwing into the wall. The camera is fairly light so this isn’t an issue. The setup using the app didn’t work straight away due to trouble finding the camera on the network but once this was sorted it worked fine.
My only criticism of the product is that the power cable is not included and must be bought separately.