Phylink PLC-128PW 720P HD Covert IP Wireless Mini Pinhole Spy Camera, Camera Motion Detection and Wireless Video
by people ...
Product Specifications
- Wireless ultra discreet hidden camera motion activated, with its miniature size design which enables easy integration into any hidden place. Almost impossible to discover, which keeps it protected from vandalism
- 6 meters (20 ft) cable, providing maximum flexibility to place the sensor unit and the main unit. Small hidden nanny cam.
- Small size sensor unit. Free app for PC, Mac, iOS and Android. Wifi nanny cam small home convert security secret cameras.
- Multi-zone Motion Detection and adjustable sensitivity, alerts by Email or Push Notifications (for iOS and Android).Tiny spy camera.
Built-in Micro SD card Slot up to 128GB (SD Card not included) with remote playback from anywhere. Free iPhone, Android Apps for Quick & Easy remote Viewing. Smallest spy camera
Product Description
Size:Indoor 720P Professional Covert Network Security Camera Ever want to make a camera less visible, hide it from view, be discrete? For example, maybe condo rules prohibit you from having a camera, or you want cameras in your home, but you don’t want them to stick out for aesthetic reasons. The PLC-128PW may be for you. PLC-128PW is a small-sized, high-performance device perfect for covert installations or where a discreet and compact surveillance solution is required. Almost impossible to discover, which keeps it protected from vandalism.
Various and flexible mounting The sensor unit and main unit are connected by an 6 meters (20 ft) cable which will provide flexibility for remote location placement. The Sensor Unit must be connected to the Main Unit, it can’t work independently. PLC-128PW includes various mounting accessories for quick and easy installation. The Sensor Unit can be mounted covertly behind a thin wall, cupboard, door and etc. With miniature size design it enables easy integration into any hidden place.
Excellent quality at full frame rate Megapixel and HDTV 720p in both H.264 and Motion JPEG streams, it offers exceptional video quality and audio on your PC, MAC and smartphone. You can keep a watchful eye on your home or business at anytime and from anywhere
Key Features
720P HD video, H.264, MPEG4, MJPEG configurable streams
Windows & Mac compatible, Free software for PC
Free Apps for iOS and Android, view and hear remotely from anywhere
Quick setup within minutes, no complicated settings needed
Micro SD DVR supports cards up to 128GB (SD Card not included)
Motion record/alerts via Push Notifications/Email/FTP
Fully compatible connectivity, works over Wi-Fi, Ethernet，or Power over Ethernet (PoE).
Product Reviews
Spy vs Spy
The Phylink Spy camera is a very good camera in situations of good / OK light. There is no night IR mode, and image performance does degrade as light fades, but it is a spy camera so there will be a payoff with the advantages related to concealment.Keep in mind this camera isn’t as
covert' as some. It is designed to be a hidden IP camera so it is a bit of a hybrid between a tiny spy camera and an IP camera so it will be entirely use specific if you see function with it that suits your needs. If you are covert with your mounting then you can keep it hidden well enough as i detail later and it can stay mounted as it has its own power source.In the video I did a quick sting operation on a toy penguin to demonstrate but its use will be user dependent. The other option was filming my cat but she wasn't in the mood for being slightly social.To the credit of the good people at Phylink I reviewed their Bullet 1080P camera - thought it was pretty good - but pulled no punches in relation to a few aspects of their interfaces and mobile app. I thought the 1080p camera was very good and my complaints are similar although I will dwell on them less here as having time to use the Phylinksystem’ I’m fairly adept in processes and the uses etc. although I still feel it needs improvement.The camera was used wirelessly approx. 20-40ft from the router (i moved it around) and generally would stream well although there would be some missed frames. I used the Phylink app of a mac to set it up which is super easy. Hard wire the camera into the router - search for it with the app - select theopen in browser' button or just copy the IP address - then that puts you into the config screen through your web browser where you can setup wireless functions. admin / admin are you defaults and you are on your way.For some reason it glitches a lot when the Ethernet cable was left in the slot so take that out when running wirelessly._________The Interface - Setup is done via your web browser and the options are fairly comprehensive. The Phylink desktop app is actually quite good for remote live viewing and it is fairly robust and provides a good picture. The mobile app is really only good for push notifications and as a live viewer there is very little value in it for doing anything else at this point although you can set many of the functions I find it clunky and gimmicky and would much rather do things through the web interface.I took issue with the setup and execution of the live app in the Bullet review and my complaints a similar here. There is a duality of function I'm not liking and I don't find it easy to navigate nor sort footage. However, I see it as less of an issue with a spy cam for my uses. As my title indicates this would form part of a system for me and the part that this camera would play would be one of concealment of discretion - I would only bee looking for secondary footage so I'm a bit less fussed.As per my comments on the bullet camera - what should happen is a reasonable GUI for navigating recoded events. As it stands now it is an exercise in part frustration really as you simply have a list of dates and times (in the file path only mind you - not nicely set out) with the option to play or download. This needs improvement and it is two parts of there system that are dissident.I will add though I have used both for a while now and i have kind of gotten used to it. I still think it needs improvement but in actual daily use it hasn't been an issue for me and is quite workable.______Recording and Encoding - Pretty good. The system will take settings for three streams and up to 1280x720 with max frame of 30FPS (then a secondary and a mobile). In use I find it hovers somewhere between 10-20 fps but keeps the resolution solid. The cam will drop frame rate before it drops resolution which is always my preference if given the choice. Recorded files to the SD card does drop frames which i don't like but again you work with it and almost any IP cam I have used has similar issues.NB: You MUST install a micro SD card in this even if you don't record to it. It seems to use the SD card for cache and pre record and even things like motion detect do not work unless an SD card is installed.______Picture Quality - Its OK when you have good light but very pixelated and grainy when the light is bad. It is very small so you will have to make some compromises and this is one. In good light the picture is as good as any IP 720p camera but as your light fades the quality of the picture suffers. It does not have a night mode however unless the subject you wish to spy on can see in the dark you wont need it really. Under lightbulb lighting you can still see everything fine it just isn't the greatest color reproduction nor the sharpest image but you can see it well enough just check the camera footage.It seems to take an average mode of lighting of the room so placement is critical but on the whole the picture quality is very good given the form factor and advantages it brings to the table. You will notice when it is dark a bloom of white to the left I'm guessing this is part of how it determines the light it is in.______The Camera - Nice hardware. The mini cam is hardwired to an 8m cat5e cable that connects to a box interface. The box and camera feel very well made although thought has to go in to placement as these will need to be concealed as well._______Concealment - OK but its functionality as an IP is good as is its integration, so its a tradeoff. The camera face that it is hard wired to a cat5 means you don't only have to hide the camera - you have to hide the tail. You know what your working with here so it is just a matter of can you put it somewhere that is going to be hidden enough? Aside from my test footage I put it on my doorstep as I want to see when drivers drop off deliveries and figure out who stole certain packages from me. For me this is a great usage as not one is going to be looking for it where I have placed it however if you did you would still see it. NB: that my video footage wont show this for privacy reasons but hopefully you get the idea that it will need to be fit for a certain placement and use which includes lighting.I will preface the fact that you need to adhere to the laws required in your state when it comes to recording anything, which are usually worded aroundreasonable rights to privacy’. Please do he reading on this but its pretty simple just don’t be either a jerk or a creep - the world has too many of those. This is a tool that can be used correctly the right way then use it as such.The lens isn’t a very wide angle so you wan to be back from your coverage area (so the longest side of a room if possible). A good solution for this is a cheap / messy painting with a good deal of black as it is going to sit at a good height an cover a lot of the room. The lens is a pinhole so you only need a very small amount of space for it to see through and you could punch a hole through the painting - cover damage with black paint or texta and mount it from behind. You only have to get the cat5e cable through the wall then an you will have it perfectly concealed. To do it properly you will need a black / dark facing to whatever you have as the pinhole will show easily if it contrasts against a white background.Other options I could see working would be things like through a grainy wood panel, speaker boxes, or anything that isn’t going to be moved that is at a decent height._________Motion Detect - four individual triggers and the settings are vague. Even after setting up the bullet cam I’m still at a loss as to the values here and just mess with them. It was fairly accurate but high sensitivity levels will be tripped by the camera artefacts on this so you need to think it through and a bit of trial and error will likely happen. You need to use the scheduling feature to set triggers based on a specific schedule so when your light fades and artefacts are introduced you are triggering without reason. I keep the threshold in the middle and lower the sensitivity a touch it works well in general.Playback - Poor. The list system they use for recorded events is awful and not fun to navigate although it works fine doing what it does so I will give it credit there. Its frustrating and the main miss in the Phylink system so I would love to see them do some work here. As stated though, I have been using their system quite a bit and I have got used to it so if you can see it through it does all the basics well it is just move convoluted than it has to be.___Alarms - Excellent. The same process at the bullet camera setup so I’m going to paraphrase my notes from there - Google worked fine but you have to deal with googe security protocols of which the default level iscotton wool' (OK the router - the device - enable POP - enablenon google programs) but it got there. Note theusername' for the google settings use the @gmail suffix when setting it up under user name which is non standard. Use Port 465 for gmail not sure about the others.Notifications can be sent P2P via the app and these come lightning fast with no lag whatsoever. The app doesn't time out though completely (although it drops the feed) and is always pinging. I'm learning to live with it.Phylink Mobile App. It works OK. Ignore it for setting up anything and accept it as a live viewer and a conduit for push notifications and you will be content. The Cam does however work with an android app called Tiny Cam Pro which is far more featured (including the ability to pull the primary stream on your phone or tab which you can't do witht eh phylink app).Its fine for viewing your live fee and that is about it. It has no problem adding multiple cameras and they were very easy to switch between and view._____Audio - I really like this big +. There is line in audio jack and whilst this will take an external mic and preamp (whatever you can product a line level signal from) you have a lot options here. You could buy a small mixing desk and even setup multiple mic sources. Quite cool you could setup a hidden mic (or several) and simply use the box to record audio._____Instructions Provided - I didn't even read them this time as I had setup the Bullet camera prior so I just dove straight. I quickly browsed though and they are similar and just need a bit of tech know how and frankly the ability to try and learn as you go (They do seem quite clear though if you need to follow them from what I brushed over). Phylink has some good support that will help you if you get stuck but just don't expect it to perform miracles and learn about different functions and protocols as it is technically inclined. If you can log in via he web app the this is your best learning centre to get around its functionality._____Advanced Options - Upload to FTP is included - it will accept a DDNS (or aim it at the router like I have done. For folks unsure what this is it gives your router / camera a web address that stays set even if your ISP changes your router address basically so you can log into it like a website) - Will email snapshots - advanced scheduling with ID modifiers (untested sorry but necessary here to avoid false motion detects) - camera controls - network configs._________Final Thoughts - In a situation with decent light it is good and worth considering. Once you get your head around the Phylinksystem’ then adding to it becomes a breeze it just takes that initial learning process. The playback system really needs works, this can’t be understated, but still but for everything else its pretty good and plenty of options for configuration. If you can hide it - and see what your hiding from - then it is a decent option.Product provided for review - its just my opinion.
Great Small Camera with recording to RAID option
Using it as a motion detection camera at front door and saving video to RAID. Features were easy to setup via the well defined web interface. At times the video seems a bit grainy but that is likely do to the lower light available after dark. Overall I’m very satisfied with my purchase and the sellers follow-up making sure everything was working well.
The support turn around was very good – they answered between 24 hours
I have been using this camara for a couple of months now. It took me sometime to get it worked – I found out that the camara does not support hot plug which I found it weird. After contacting support they were able to guide me through the installation process. The support turn around was very good – they answered between 24 hours.The camara is ok – it does what you need. I am lowering a star since the mobile needs tome improvement – is not as intuitive as you I would have expected.
As advertised, Works very well.
Great little camera that is easy to hide. They have separated the controller unit from the camera that makes the placing options better. The lens is very small giving even more options. You have the option to record to a 3rd party DVR or straight to a Micro SD card held in the controller unit. I had no problems setting up this product or configuring it. The picture quality is much better than I expected.A few things to note:No night vision, low light is not the greatest.Must have external power, but with the controller being separated, that makes it an easier task.I cannot attest to the wireless function, as I only used in a wired environment.
Works very well once setup properly. Good phone app, and lots of options.
UPDATE - April 2016:I’d like to report that the camera is still working well (most of the time), but have run into a small hiccup. About every 2-3 weeks, I lose streaming capability from the camera (no video), and I have to power cycle the unit to get it up and running again. When this happens, my pc program and phone app can connect, but the video is black. rebooting the device over the app has no affect, and I have to physically unplug the unit for a few seconds and then plug it back in. This is a bit of a pain because the plug is located behind some furniture. After that, it seems to work again for another 2-3 weeks.Original Review below:I purchased this mini cam setup to watch the front of our office. After it is setup, I am happy to report that it works beautifully. The included software and directions for initial setup are not difficult, but the instructions lack a little detail (hence the 4 out of 5 stars. I’d give it 4.5 if I could). But the god thing is that the seller was very responsive in helping me through the issues I initially had with the setup.The kit contains a base unit that needs to be plugged into a wall socket to receive power, and a camera that is connected (and powered) by an ethernet cable. there is no separate power source required for the camera, and the cable it is attached to is fairly long. The base unit is the camera server, which sets up an IP address for the camera, so it can be accessed by your network. You can hard ware a network cable to the base unit, or connect via WiFi. For initial setup, you will need to plug the base unit directly into the router with a cable. Once you have it setup, you can unplug the cable and use wifi.This is where it got a little confusing. The directions for wifi setup on the PC were to use the auto-discovery mode on the router. This can work, but you will need to know your way into and around your router’s configuration screen. I did this, and at first had a trouble viewing the camera on my phone, though it could be viewed on the PC just fine. Later I discovered that you can access a camera setup screen through the included software that launches in your web browser. THIS is the setup process you will want to use. From here, I could input my router’s wifi password and select from various options (such as DHCP, DNS setting, etc). I put all those options on auto, and after that, everything worked beautifully! I was easily able to view the camera and take screen shots from my phone, from any location, through my 4G mobile connection, or through someone else’s wifi network. you can also initiate recordings through the phone.The setup pages also allow you to change parameters for the motion detector, adjust the picture properties, including flip and mirror, and setup a DDNS setting so you can access the camera from any internet connected device with a web browser by typing in your camera’s URL address. There are also settings for streaming quality of the camera, depending on which device you are using. On the PC, you can have it set to 720p, 30fps with a 2048 bitrate. I personally lowered the FPS and bitrate to save bandwidth. There are secondary and mobile streaming options which use lower resolutions, FPS, and bitrate settings, but all are adjustable to your preferences.Also, the base station also has a micro SD slot for auto-recording video triggered by motion detection, or you can setup the program to record on your PC if you leave the software running in the background. You don’t need to have a memory card installed to use the device though. And when the motion sensor is triggered, you will also get a notification sent to your phone, so that you’ll know when something is happening. I haven’t explored all the options yet, but so far I am very happy being able to access the camera from my phone from wherever I am. The software also allows you to connect to and monitor multiple cameras, so it’s expandable. The PC version also allows you to view multiple sources from one screen.
Great idea but product feels unfinished
This is a review for the PLC-132PW 1080P camera. I purchased 3 of them, 2 for outdoor and 1 for behind a window facing outward.
Great product, great customer service
This camera is discreet and works very well. It needs to be in a decently lit area since there is no night vision, but images are clear and I LOVE how tiny this is.
The only thing i liked its own accessories in the box to hide the …
The wireless wlan is not working at all .. i tried every solution even changed the antenna .. i have seen some youtube videos also and they all running this spy cam via cat 5⁄6…
Very good cam with fantastic support
This is mostly what we needed. A simple camera to snap shots as needed. I was hoping for a bit of night vision but that is ok.
Three Stars
Disconnects frequently. Don’t know why.
Great quality & form factor.
Quality :Overall this is a great step up form the 129PW. I believe they are using the newer Sony chipset so that improves the quality.
Excellent HD cam
Excellent HD cam, I loved the camera, well made & customers support was very helpful to me. I will recommend to my friends
Warning.
All seem to work great for about 4 days. Day 5 two of the four failed and no longer connect to the internet in any way. It fried every se card you put in it.
So far so good. This little guy is doing exactly as it …
So far so good. This little guy is doing exactly as it supposed too.Easy to setup.I’ve gone as far as using white plastic dip to make it white so it blends in under the eve…
Worked beautifully for me
comments powered by DisqusThis device is the real thing. It helped me find a offender who had been vandalizing my office. I am grateful to the company for making this product. It’s the real thing.
