Home Gadgets D-Link DCS-2630L 180 Degree Full HD Ultra-Wide View Review

D-Link DCS-2630L 180 Degree Full HD Ultra-Wide View Review

D-Link DCS-2630L Review

Oct 25, 2015

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I remember back in the days, a simple surveillance system would need a technician to put it in place, a bulk hardware and a VCR for keeping the recordings. Keeping tabs on your abode and family is pretty easy now and requires no help from a handyman/technician to get you started.

Before now, I never thought of getting a Wi-Fi camera not because there are a lot of options from different makers to choose from. Most of the time, I get discouraged because of the humongous bills I’d have to pay for cloud recording. I finally settled for the new D-Link DCS-2630L 180 degree Ultra-Wide View Wi-Fi Camera. For the $200 price tag, the D-Link DCS-2630L Ultra-Wide View Wi-Fi Camera shoots higher-quality images, comes with a nice stand, lets you record your videos to a microSD card and comes with a bunch of other cool functions.

Hardware

Out of the box, D-Link DCS-2630L 180 degree Ultra-Wide View Wi-Fi Camera feels solid. The company recently launched two cameras with the Full HD Ultra-Wide View, the DCS-2630L and DCS-960L. Since our review unit is the D-Link DCS-2630L, it comes with a Two-Way Audio – Built-in microphone and speaker for two-way communication, allowing you listen in and speak to people on the other end. You can twist the front of the camera 360 degrees which enables you mount it anywhere in your home and keep a level view. On the sides of the D-Link DCS-2630L, you’ll find your Micro USB power outlet, WPS button, a reset button, the power LED and a microSD card slot for local recording.

Image Quality

The camera’s image quality is Full HD 1080p giving you rich details and crisp image quality for monitoring. The D-Link DCS-2630L also comes with a unique De-Warping Technology that helps maximize video quality with less distortion. The coolest feature of this camera is its ability to record 180 degrees of its environment, something you do not typically see at this price. The camera offers up to 16ft of night mode vision for when you need to keep an eye on your home at night. Another cool feature of the camera is the motion and sound detection. You can get alerts on your smartphone when movement is detected, or if there is a loud noise in your house, this feature is most useful when no one will be home.

Other Wi-Fi cameras on the market offer on average a 130 degree or less field-of-view, while the new D-Link Ultra-Wide View Cameras provide wall-to-wall surveillance coverage from a single device — perfect for large rooms and areas with multiple entry points. Using unique de-warping technology, the 180 degrees Wide Eye lens is able to take a ‘fish-eye’ view and transform it into a more viewable video stream with less distortion. Built-in night vision offers up to 16-feet of viewing in total darkness, and with two-way audio users can respond to what they see and hearD-Link

Setup

Setting up the camera is also easy, all you have to do is just plug the camera into a power source, take a photo of the QR code with the iOS or Android app and plug-in your wireless password. The setup process eliminates the need to mess with any IP configurations, ports or anything (it’s even easier if you Wi-Fi router also comes with WPS feature). The app walked me through connecting the camera to my home network as well as creating an account with MyDlink.com to log in remotely.

Software

Mydlink software lets you keep an eye on your feeds from anywhere or any device. The free mydlink app is available for iOS, Android devices, and Windows Phones. The app gives the user quick access to your live video feeds and even push notifications when sound or motion is detected. You’ll also have to your live video feeds via a browser when you log into your D-Link account.

Storage

Since the D-Link DCS-2630L lets you record your videos locally on your mircoSD card, the default video clip is set for 1-minute recording duration with a 5-second event trigger and 5-second post event trigger recording. You can get access to more advanced settings by logging into the camera’s UI by typing the camera IP address into a web browser and using the username “admin” with the camera password you configured during setup. We used a 128GB microSD card for our review unit, the diagram below you can see how much video you can record on a 128GB microSD card.

D-Link understands that users are looking for an easy, DIY security solution. Our new 180 degree cameras provide customers with the ability to see an entire room from a single camera. While competing solutions may require multiple cameras to see details of a room, our Ultra-Wide View Cameras bring it down to just one – users can worry less about what they might be missing.Daniel Kelley, vice president of marketing, D-Link Systems, Inc

More about the Full HD Ultra-Wide View Wi-Fi Camera (DCS-2630L):

180 Degree Field of View – Widest angle lens on a fixed consumer camera
Full HD 1080p Quality Video – Rich detail and crisp image quality for monitoring
Unique De-Warping Technology – Maximizes video quality with less distortion
802.11AC Wireless – Latest Wi-Fi technology for better bandwidth and improved range
Sound & Motion Detection – Push alerts notify users of detected motion or loud noises
Two-Way Audio – Built-in microphone and speaker for two-way communication
Local Recording – MicroSD/SDXC card slot for local recording based on event triggers
Night Vision – See up to 16 feet in complete darkness with built-in IR LEDs

More about the HD Ultra-Wide View Wi-Fi Camera (DCS-960L):

180 Degree Field of View – Widest angle lens on a fixed consumer camera
HD 720p Quality Video – Rich detail and crisp image quality for monitoring your home
Unique De-Warping Technology – Maximizes video quality with less distortion
11AC Wireless – Latest Wi-Fi technology for better bandwidth and improved range
Motion Detection – Push alerts notify you of detected motion
Local Recording – MicroSD/SDXC card slot for local recording based on event triggers
Night Vision – See up to 16 feet in complete darkness with built-in IR LEDs

Wrap-up

The D-Link DCS-2630L 180 degree Ultra-Wide View Wi-Fi Camera trumps most of its competitors with the features it comes with and the fact that you don’t need to pay monthly fees for storing your content in the cloud. With the microSD card slot, users have more flexibility on recording video locally to the camera without impacting network or Internet bandwidth. In addition, users can choose different options for recording based on event trigger, schedule or continuous recording for more control on what video they want to record. As if all these features aren’t cool enough, users can combine the D-Link DCS-2630L or the DCS-960L with the mydlink Camera Recorder (DNR-202L) to simultaneously stream, record and playback up to four D-Link Wi-Fi Cameras for home security 24/7. The Camera Recorder records footage locally to an attached USB hard drive. There is no need for cloud-based storage, contracts or fees – delivering a comprehensive surveillance solution at an affordable price.

Availability and Pricing

The Full HD Ultra-Wide View Wi-Fi Camera (DCS-2630L) is available for $199.99 at Best Buy and the D-Link Shop. The HD Ultra-Wide View Wi-Fi Camera (DCS-960L) is available for $159.99 at Amazon, Newegg and the D-Link Shop. Detailed specifications are available online at D-Link’s website.

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