Often when we talk about video cameras to keep an eye on your home even when you’re not at home, you immediately think of the external ones, those that control access, the driveway, the stairs. We have also tested several of them, such as the Annke C800, of which you can read our review. But if your intention is to have a view of the house from the inside, whether it’s to check a different floor if arranged on several levels, or to check what the children do when you’re not there or, why not, if you leave the house only animals, then what you need is an Indoor Room like the one we’re going to tell you about today.
Specifically, I’m talking about the Annke Crater Indoor Camera, designed specifically for this purpose. Is this a product to buy?
Annke Crater Indoor Camera, the packaging
Inside the very compact box (15 cm wide by 9 cm high) we find the essential that allows us to use our video camera right away, namely the central body, an adapter and a USB cable, a set of screws and a support to possibly fix it to the wall and the instruction manual in English and German.
The lack of the Italian language is not felt too much, there are many images that explain the detailed steps to be done for connecting the camera to the home network and everything happens quite quickly. However, you may run into the same problems that I had, namely:
- having to differentiate the 5Ghz network from the 2.4Ghz one (on the first the connection does not work). In my modem, which has both frequencies, I proceeded to change the name of one of the two networks some time ago in order to understand which one to connect to, given that practically all the home automation products I have at home only support the 2.4Ghz network;
- the second problem is due to the fact that passwords longer than 20 characters are not accepted. Since my home network has a strong 24-character password, I had to connect the webcam to a second modem that I already use. I find this a considerable flaw, I would never have reduced the length of my modem password just to let a video camera access it, thus undermining the security of the network itself.
As I mentioned, connecting to the application is still very simple. It will be sufficient to download the application, create an account (simply linked to a valid email), scan the QR code visible on the mobile phone screen from the Camera and that’s it.
Now that everything is ready we can start with the tests.
Annke Crater Indoor Camera, our test
I admit it, I was very impressed by this little camera for the number of features it has, which makes it very complete and suitable for different uses.
First of all appearance and size: we are in fact talking about an internal camera, and its small size (7cm x 10cm approx) combined with the design aspect also make it a perfect ornament. The only limitation to its positioning is given by the length of the USB connection cable, so it must be close to a power socket. I admit that this can be a bit limiting but it is also right to remember the purpose for which it is used: it is not a security camera, it can be used as a baby monitor or to keep an eye on your pets when you are away from home just to name a few.
The app to which it is connected allows you to have total control, from movement to listening to sounds. Among other things, it is very interesting that audio is bi-directional (option that can also be deactivated if desired), so not only will you hear what is happening in the environment but you can also make your voice heard.
Shooting can take placeboth in SD and in HD at 1080p with a recording up to 8 meters deep, both day and night. The difference can actually be seen, as you can verify from the image below.
Good quality even for night shots thanks to the infrared camera.
Also notable is the ease with which videos and images can be savedwith the push of a simple button on the camera interface, as well as the ease with which it can be remotely directed towards the point of the room of greatest interest.
Annke Crater indoor room, additional features
In my opinion, video quality and ease of use are the most important features for a surveillance camera, but Annke has added some very interesting features to this indoor camera, such as the motion detection that sends you a message whenever something moves in the house. I strongly advise against activating it if you have pets at home or like me you will find yourself receiving alerts every 5 minutes, a sign that it still works and works very well!
Another possibility is to turn on notifications based only on human movement which also allows the camera to follow the person as they move around the house. Of course, it’s unlikely that an attacker who breaks into your home doesn’t notice a video camera following him in his movements, but in the meantime you’ve received the warning! In this case you can also activate a one-click alarm directly from the app, to scare away any intruders.
The possibility of inserting a micro-SD card up to 128GB for video recording or alternatively referring to a cloud service (for a fee) for recording and storing the footage completes the whole thing.
Annke’s internal camera is available for purchase on Amazon both in white and black version, or on official site at €24.99 for the version without micro SD or €44.99 for the version with micro SD up to 128GB.
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