Holababy P1 HD Video Baby Monitor - Review 2022

The Holababy P1 ($259) is an Hard disk drive baby monitor that uses motility and sound detection to alarm you lot when your infant is crying or moving around in its crib. It offers several baby-axial features including speakers that play lullabies, multi-color nightlights, and a mini projector that throws a colorful pattern on the ceiling. The camera itself delivers relatively sharp twenty-four hour period and night video, simply its sound quality isn't the best and installation tin be frustrating. The similarly priced iBaby M6S is much easier to install and offers better overall operation and more features.

Design and Features

The Holababy has a unique shape that can be described as a sideways brandy snifter. It measures 4.vii by 3.7 by 4.2 inches (HWD) and is white with pink trim. It has a matching base of operations with xiv small embedded LEDS that act every bit nightlights and a hinge that lets yous tilt and hinge the camera. It too has a mounting hole on the bottom for attaching the included crib-mounting clamp. As well included is a ability adapter with a 54-inch cord, an Ethernet cable, a user guide, and a quick first guide.

The Holababy uses a 1,280-by-720 camera with a 74-caste field of view. It has nine IR LEDs to provide up to 33 feet of nighttime vision, and connects to your Wi-Fi network via an 802.11b/1000/n (ii.4GHz) radio. The pinnacle of the camera has a lens that projects a colorful pattern of stars, trees, birds, and other shapes on the ceiling. The rear of the camera has an Ethernet port, a reset button, and a power jack, and there are two speakers congenital into the back of the enclosure.

A small circular brawl at the finish of a 2-inch cable protruding from the rear of the camera holds a sensor that monitors your infant's room temperature, and there's a tiny microphone pigsty beneath the lens housing. The summit front edge of the camera has four buttons for selecting one of 10 soothing sounds and adjusting the playback book. Sounds include eight popular lullabies, a heartbeat, and a rain forest. You tin't play music from your mobile device library like you can with the iBaby M6S.

Holababy P1 Smart Baby Video Monitor

Alive video is accessed using the Holababy mobile app (for Android and iOS), which allows you to invite an unlimited number of users. It opens to a dwelling screen that shows a snapshot of the last recorded image, the camera'southward proper name, and its status (online or offline). Above the image is a magnifying glass icon used to add new cameras, and a refresh button. Beneath the epitome is a gear icon that takes y'all to a screen where yous can configure Wi-Fi settings, change the camera'southward countersign, configure notifications, and update the camera'southward firmware.

The Notifications carte du jour lets yous enable movement detection and set up motion sensitivity (Low, Med, High), enable audio detection and set audio sensitivity (Depression, Med, High), and enable temperature alerts. Oddly, there'due south no way to adapt the commanded temperature thresholds, which are preset to 86 degrees F (high) and 68 degrees F (low).

Along the bottom of the home screen are Home, Photograph, Video, and Notifications buttons. Use the Photograph button to come across a listing of snapshots and the Video push button to see video clips that are stored on your telephone. The Notifications screen displays a list of triggered events including motility, sound, and temperature alerts with the time and engagement. Clicking on a notification doesn't do annihilation as the camera does non record triggered events. You'll need a dedicated dwelling house surveillance camera like the Nest Cam Indoor for that. The Abode button takes you back to the abode page.

To view live video and check on the electric current room temperature, tap the nevertheless image. At the top and bottom of the live feed are buttons for selecting lullabies, turning on the mini projector, selecting a nightlight color, initiating ii-manner audio and so you lot can speak to and hear your babe, taking a snapshot and recording video (both of which are saved to your mobile device), flipping video orientation, and enabling night vision. A button in the pinnacle correct corner returns you lot to the home screen.

Installation and Performance

Holababy P1 Smart Baby Video Monitor

Y'all can install the Holababy photographic camera using the Ethernet port and a wired connection to your router or via Wi-Fi. Both methods are designed to exist fairly simple, but go out a trivial room for fault. I plugged in the camera, downloaded the mobile app, and connected to the camera'southward SSID in my iPhone's settings. Next, I opened the app, pressed the plus icon, and selected Wi-Fi as my install method. I was prompted to scan the UID code on the base of the camera and enter the default countersign (12345). Here'due south where things got dicey.

I made the mistake of entering the wrong password and could not connect to the camera. The app told me that I had the wrong countersign simply there was no way to go back and alter my entry. Tapping the settings icon but reminded me that I had used the wrong password but offered no way to modify it. I had to delete the app from telephone, download it over again, and start over. Once I had the correct password I was prompted to select my Wi-Fi network and enter its countersign. Within seconds the monitor was online.

The camera'southward 720p daytime video is sharp, with good highlight and shadow detail and well-saturated colors. Black-and-white night video shows good contrast and appears precipitous out to around 25 feet.

Audio performance does not fare so well. The microphone cutting out frequently during two-way sound testing. This also led to missed alerts, which means there may be times when you won't know if your baby is crying.

On the plus side, movement detection is very accurate and push button alerts arrive immediately. The project feature is a nice touch and volition help go on your infant occupied, but the room must be very dark for it to be constructive. Likewise, the lullabies offer a soothing backdrop for when naptime rolls around.

Conclusions

At $259, the Holababy P1 Hard disk drive Video Baby Monitor doesn't come cheap, but it does offer a few premium features including a neat little projector that displays colorful patterns on your baby's ceiling and a nice selection of lullabies. The camera'south 720p video quality is much better than what nosotros saw with the Philips Avent SCD860, and movement alerts are instantaneous. Only the Holababy'south audio performance is middling and the installation process could be easier. For $x less, the iBaby M6S offers 1080p video, a much easier installation, and a more robust feature gear up including mechanical pan and tilt, issue recording, and the power to play songs from your own library, making it our Editors' Pick for smart baby monitors.