I recently reviewed the Kyla Smart IR Cube, one of several products in Aztech’s new line of Kyla smart home products, just like the Smart IP Camera in this review. IP cameras are not uncommon, and many do expect to find one in any smart home ecosystem.
The Kyla Smart IP Camera is Wi-Fi connected, just like the Smart IR Cube, though there are other Kyla smart home gadgets which connect via ZigBee. This Smart IP Camera somewhat resembles another Aztech camera, the WIPC309HD, which I had also reviewed. The main physical difference seems to be that the Kyla Smart IP Camera has a swivel mount, so you have much more flexibility in how to aim the camera.
The smallish Kyla Smart IP Camera measures 68 x 68 x 125 mm. Although wall plugs are included in the retail box, the Kyla Smart IP Camera has a magnetic ring on the underside of the base, so it is easy to attach it to any metal object. It is powered by Micro-USB and has a microSD slot on the back.
The Kyla Smart IP Camera has built-in microphone and speakers, so it can quite conveniently function as a 2-way intercom system. Do expect a bit of lag in the audio and video, but this is not uncommon in any cloud-connected audio-video system.
The camera has 720HD resolution (1280 x 720 @ 30 fps), and images from it look decent. You get a generous 110° field of view, and built-in infrared LEDs provide illumination up to 6 metres in darkness.
For connectivity, the Kyla Smart IP Camera supports only 2.4 GHz 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi. Make sure your network supports Wi-Fi on this frequency band.
Watch my quick video introduction of the Kyla Smart IP Camera on YouTube.
To use this camera, you need the Aztech Kyla mobile app, available on both Android and iOS. The app enables you to take still snapshots, record video, activate the intercom function, and access recorded videos.
There are just some simple motion and sound detection settings available to configure. Apart from the local MicroSD storage for recording, Aztech seems to be planning a cloud recording service, which that doesn’t seem to be working at the moment. You cannot upload recordings to your own Windows share or email out video clips.
In the box, the Kyla Smart IP Camera includes a Micro-USB cable and USB power adapter.
The Kyla Smart IP Camera retails S$69, and is available at Challenger or the Hachi.Tech online store.
Aside: You may start to notice that I’ve begun to post YouTube videos from time to time. I don’t expect to do big-time YouTube productions, but I’m undecided about whether to further explore short clips featuring products that come by for review. In the meanwhile, do help to subscribe to my YouTube channel! Thanks!