D-Link’s baby camera can sing lullabies but may not hit right note

SINGAPORE — Tech-savvy parents have long used Internet protocol (IP) cameras to keep tabs on their infants in their cribs, but hardware manufacturer D-Link is looking to use music to woo more of them.

The DCS-825L mydlink Cloud Wireless Baby Camera is an IP camera with additional features such as temperature monitoring and a night light, as well as the option to play lullabies — from a selection of five via your smartphone — in case your little one needs that extra coaxing to stop crying. It can also automatically record any motion or sound detected on an SD card.

The camera’s night vision and image quality are good. However, it omits pan, tilt, zoom (PTZ) functions since a baby’s cot is usually in a fixed position — and this can be annoying if you have any blind spots.

The device’s easy-to-use mydlink Baby Camera Monitor app is for iOS and Android. Both versions are similar, but the iOS one seems more polished. The video feed on the Android app sometimes freezes when viewing a live feed and the feed itself sometimes takes a while to restart after the app is minimised.

One useful Android feature is the app’s ability to play the camera’s audio stream in the background, so you can listen in closely on your baby’s every movement and snore while doing other things on your phone. It would be even better if there were a widget showing a camera snapshot that updates regularly.

And the built-in lullabies? Sad to say, that did not work out for me as my child kept staring in the direction of the camera and tried reaching for it, while turning on the night light made her even more active. The camera’s special features might be better for infants who are not so easily distracted. But speaking to my child via the two-chat feature did get her to communicate with me more.

Retailing at S$239, the DCS-825L costs as much as a regular IP camera with zoom functionality and is only slightly cheaper than a full-fledged PTZ model, and its monitor app could use some polish.

Is its “unique singing point” worth the trade-off? Perhaps only if it hits the right note with your child. If you have already invested in an existing set-up, the specialised features, while thoughtful additions, are probably not worth shelling out extra time and money for.

The DCS-825L is available in stores. Jerry Foo