Swann Wi-Fi Series Outdoor Camera Review

TweakTown's Rating: 84%

The Bottom Line

The DIY market gains a solid entry with the features and quality of the Swann Outdoor add in low cost of entry and this solution is a great value.

12

We have had a number of products in the lab from Swann, and I'm always impressed with the image quality they pull off, even with wireless solutions. The latest to come through is part of the Wi-Fi series, model SWWHD-OUTCAM.

While Swann doesn't produce fancy marketing names for their products, they do put a good deal of effort into the components in every solution. The OUTCAM has been developed as a standalone solution; it offers many of the technologies found in the big "kit" products in their lineup such as True Detect heat sensing motion detection.

Adding to that we have Full HD streaming and recording with free cloud storage for two days with the ability to expand it to 30 days. This solution is weatherproof garnering an IP66 rating and thanks to its 30m night vision Swann say you can see everything 24/7.

This solution functions in both wireless and wired modes. App compatibility includes Android and iOS. MSRP of the Swann Outdoor Camera comes in at $119.99 with an 18-month warranty provided you register on the website.

12

Packaging includes an image of the camera with features to the right. Along the bottom, we see the Safe by Swann app mentioned, and True Detect support.

12

On the back, we have more detail on the features including weatherproof rating, AV capture and local and cloud storage options.

12

Included in the package, we have theft deterrent stickers, mounting screws and the antenna. We also have the ethernet cable with weather tight fittings and the power adapter.

12

The camera itself is a bullet style solution. The housing is an aluminum design with branding on the side and three axis adjustment at the base; you can see the antenna connection as well for Wi-Fi.

12

On the wired end, we have power, ethernet, and a reset button.

12

Above we have the lens with heat-sensing motion globe below. This includes two LEDs for activity and a series of IR for night vision.

12

The Safe by Swann app used in this article was for iOS.

12

With Swann, you need to create an account for remote viewing. After you select the pair camera option, followed by selecting the appropriate solution.

12

At this time your camera should be blinking blue, denoting it's in pairing mode. Give the app a minute or two and setup is complete. Once we are setup you have the option to change your environment in Hz, setup the Wi-Fi network and image quality.

12

Image quality is quite good even in night mode as seen above. I had a slight issue initially where the camera wouldn't come out of night mode even during the day with lights on windows and doors open. That has since been resolved with a reset.

12

Last we have the extended cloud recording plan that Swann does offer free for 30 days.

The review comes a little late to the party, but with that, I have had an extended amount of time and a few brutal winter weeks to test the camera. That said this camera survived in temperatures down to -10f and -40F wind chills, with no lockups or video streaming issues at all.

That said my install of this camera was wired so I'm unsure if wireless would show any bugs. Overall performance has been great, the app loads very quickly on the iPhoneXR and while streaming can get a bit jumpy when I'm out of town on LTE, when I'm home on the same network it's really crystal clear. The free cloud recording feature is fantastic and does give plenty of time to download any events that may take place, but for those that travel for weeks at a time, the 30-day cloud package will certainly be something to look into.

With all of that, I did have two issues with the Swann Outdoor, one being it does not support local recording which is a downside for most that want to use a NAS or microSD and keep their footage off the internet. The is this unit not being PoE, but due to additional costs, I can understand this one.

Tyler's Test System Specifications

• Motherboard: ASUS Prime Z370 (buy from Amazon)
• CPU: Intel Core i3 8350K (buy from Amazon)
• RAM: Corsair Vengeance 32GB 4x8GB DDR4 3200 (buy from Amazon)
• Cooler: Corsair Hydro H115i (buy from Amazon)
• Case: Corsair Air 540 (buy from Amazon)
• OS Storage: Samsung 960 EVO 250GB (buy from Amazon)
• Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (buy from Amazon)
• OS: Microsoft Windows 10 (buy from Amazon)
• Wi-Fi NIC: ASUS PCE-AC88 (buy from Amazon)
• 10Gbe NIC: ASUS XG-C100C (buy from Amazon)
• Thunderbolt 3: ASUS Thunderbolt EX3 (buy from Amazon)