GALAYOU Cameras for Home Security Outside – 2K Battery Powered WiFi Surveillance Indoor/Outdoor, Security Cameras with AI Motion Siren, Color Night Vision, Spotlight, Waterproof, Cloud/SD Storage

Unfortunately, it has become necessary to monitor an elderly parent that lives alone, a few miles away. We already had some indoor cameras with power cords that worked well for us to view remotely with the Wansview app, but needed some cameras for both indoor and outdoor use where a power plug was not available. This 4-pack of Galayou cameras fit our needs perfectly. The R2 cameras are easy to pair with the Wansview app, and include nice features like night vision (both black & white and color, depending on how the lighting options are set up) and alerts that recognize movement as a person, pet, package, etc. as well as specifying an area or distance for the alert to trigger. This minimizes false alarms, when we only wish to be notified (by real-time alert notices to our phones, specifying the name we gave to the camera), like when our parent goes outside on the patio, not when the birds raid the feeder. To extend the battery charge, features can be reduced easily with the phone app, or if a regular power cord source is available, the features can be maximized (like extended usage of lighting options). With the Wansview phone app, the lighting features can be turned on and off whenever you need them, or set to come on during specific times. The microphone sound is very good, and if needed, there is the option of two-way sound, or even to sound a siren (i.e., to deter a dog from shredding paper from the trash basket). These cameras do not pan back and forth, but it has a wide range of view, so panning is not a necessary feature for us. With 2K quality, the quality remains quite clear by simply zooming closer, as you do with a photo, on the phone screen. The camera view easily covers the entire patio outside, and inside use high on a bookshelf (without an easy plug-in option) covers the whole living area. There are no fees for using the Wansview app for real time viewing, or for a full day of recorded motion alert photos, which are date and time-stamped, if you choose to have alerts set up on any of the cameras. It is not restricted to alerting/viewing just one person’s phone, either, as each camera can be accessed for one primary user and up to three additional phones, by invitation. The battery life remaining for each camera is shown on the phone app, also, so we keep one camera fully charged and switch them out when needed, which is rarely necessary. The cameras do require Wi-Fi to remotely monitor with our phones, but also have a memory card slot that can record movement without Wi-Fi, if a camera is needed to catch raccoons in action somewhere outside the Wi-fi range, etc. (The memory card is not included.) We are very pleased with these cameras, paired with the Wansview app, and have come to depend on them to help our aging parent continue living independently.

I didn’t read the other reviews about this using the Wansview app, so I was a bit surprised when I was going through the setup and suddenly found myself using the Wansview app. When trying to add the camera it took me a few moments to realize that there are 3 options of Wansview, GALAYOU, and Cinnado near the top on the add page. I guess these are associated companies of Wansview. From the list, it appears Wansview also has battery cameras, but I never saw any on Amazon so decided to give GALAYOU a try. Compared to the Wansview cameras I have, one difference I found is that the GALAYOU does not have the local application option with ONVIF and RTSP. I have always thought that was a major selling point for the Wansview cameras compared to their competition. Fortunately, for my application the lack of ONVIF wasn’t an issue and have found this camera works well for me.

When I first saw the size of the base of the holder I was thinking it would have to be screwed down to hold the camera. But as shown in the pic, it is balanced well enough that I didn’t need to use any screws. The other thing I didn’t notice at first is the water resistant cover on the bottom has two “doors” The small one is for the USB cord alone and the bigger one also includes access to the buttons and SD card.

I wanted a camera that would still be working when power went out and I leave this plugged in most of the time. I am not sure yet how that will affect battery life. Hopefully it is smart enough not to overcharge and fry the battery. Where I am using this there is not much motion so there is nothing to trigger lights, etc and battery charge life has been good when unplugged. There is no information on battery replacement if the battery dies, but there are a few screws holding this together, so perhaps it is replaceable. I haven’t tried taking it apart, since I didn’t want to void any warranty.

The bottom line is that the picture quality is good and it works well for me.

I ordered this camera independently of the Vine program, guided primarily by its amazon reviews and its affordable price, and I can say without hesitation, I am glad I did! The camera arrived super-fast (thank you amazon!) and was neatly packaged in a white box that contained the camera, instructions, a charging cable and mounting hardware. A foam with compartments protected nicely the content during transportation.

I charged the camera for a while, downloaded and installed the Vansview Cloud app on my phone, and proceeded with the camera activation (linking it to the app). No issues whatsoever with the camera accessing my wifi 6 mesh network (I use TP-Link Deco x55 routers). The entire process was guided by the Vansview app and took only a few minutes. With the camera live, I attached the support to our front door’s jamb and easily installed the camera in it. I prefer that location for now (see picture) since the camera is protected from the elements but I might relocate it next spring. Lastly, I plugged the usb cord of a small solar panel into the camera’s port and it was good to go. I assume that the camera’s battery lasts a long time before needing to be recharged, but with the solar panel connected, it only goes back and forth between 99% and 100%.

The image quality is excellent during the day and very good at night. I enabled camera notifications and I like how it detects persons without being intrusive. The notifications come with thumbnail pictures and their quality is adequate. The app itself looks quite elegant, offers a variety of options, and it only takes a few seconds to access the camera’s live feed. I did not install an SD card yet but I plan on doing that soon and I have not owned it long enough to see how it performs in freezing temperatures. Overall, a great little outdoor battery camera that fits my needs. I ordered a second unit for our backyard.