D-Link DCS-935L HD Wi-Fi Camera Review

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Over the past few years, we have seen a tremendous amount of Wi-Fi enabled cameras come through the lab. While many of these have been from D-Link, we have also seen solutions from TRENDnet, Netgear and Tenvis. While most of today's wireless camera solutions come with wireless connectivity, D-Link has upped the bar with their latest solution coming in with 802.11ac out of the box.

The DCS-935L is the latest and greatest in the Guardian series of camera solutions from D-Link. This solution features a quarter inch progressive CMOS sensor with an impressive 16 ft of night vision range and 4x digital zoom. Adding to the package, the 935L carries a built-in microphone along with its first in the industry 802.11ac connectivity. Resolution options for this camera include 240, 480 and 720p at 30fps with H.264 compression.

MSRP of the DCS-935L is listed at $119.99 with a one-year warranty.

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Packaging for the 935L features an image of the camera on the front along with a simple description of the camera below.

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Scope of delivery includes the camera, power adapter, and guide to get started.

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Looking at the camera, we find a similar platform to what we have seen in the past. The camera being white carries a black inner ring that houses the camera and IR LEDs surrounding. At the top a LED denotes power.

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The back of the camera houses direct key and WPS buttons with LEDs for each along with a reset button in the center.

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All new solutions from D-Link have now switched over to the mydlink Home app. This app is available for both Android and iOS. When you first start up the application, you will need to begin setting up your camera by adding a new device.

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We used the manual setup option for our camera, and as seen above we select our camera model number from the list.

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After plugging in the camera, you must wait for the green light before continuing with setup. After which you run through a few menus and land here, from here you can upgrade your camera's firmware if needed.

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Checking out the image quality of the camera, we found it to pick up light in the room quite well. Sharpness seems to be quite good as does the color saturation. Below you have options to change the resolution on-the-fly along with enabling audio.

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Yet another option for those using the mydlink Home app is the ability to have notifications sent to you when motion or sound is detected.

The 935L is the next evolution of the wireless HD camera. With many solutions we have tested in the past coming with 802.11n only, it's quite nice to see these popular devices take on wireless ac connectivity. With the market shifting towards a higher adoption rate of the latest wireless technologies, it only makes sense. The build quality of the 935L is quite good, but does lack some features found on previous models. While these features such as the three-piece plastic mounting base are missed, the new mounting base that comes with the 935L does allow for easier setup of the camera.

Performance of the DCS-935L was quite good, while this was most certainly helped by the addition of 802.11ac and this solution being a 720p camera, image quality was sharp and the camera with its F2.4 aperture was able to gather enough light so our image was nearly spot on. The mydlink Home app has been relatively unchanged and is a much better solution to the previous mydlink app. The app is laid out in a manner that allows quick setup and easy access to all of your D-Link smart devices, which includes switches, sensors and cameras.

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