My Top 10 Baby Video Monitors
A baby video monitor is such a useful and parent friendly device that everyone with young children should have one in their home. You will be surprised at how less stressed out you will feel when you can keep an eye on your baby, toddler or young children from anywhere in your home, day or night.
One of the important points that you need to remember is that a baby monitor is meant to be used at home and within a certain range of the base unit. It is not WiFi capable and you cannot use your smart phone to access live feeds remotely.
When you purchase a baby monitor you receive a camera unit and a hand held parent monitor with a screen, where you can view live video streams in your home.
On the other hand, with a nanny cam you receive a WiFi capable security camera, which you need to configure with your home WiFi and your smartphone. You can then access your live video feeds from anywhere in the world.
Let’s take a look at my Top10 baby video monitors.
1. Samsung SEW 3043W Baby Video Monitor
This sturdy little Samsung baby video monitor has 2 way communication, pan and tilt, IR night time vision and a zoom facility.
It also has a soft nightlight that can be turned off, 4 pre-programmed lullabies and a feed timer alert.
With a long 900 ft range, you can be just about anywhere in your home and still receive good reception from the nursery. There is only a 4 hour battery in the handheld unit, but that is for continuous use, but if you switch it to standby mode, then you will still be alerted when your baby wakes and it will extend the life of your batteries.
Customers love the crystal clear images of this Samsung baby monitor and the large 5″ touch screen on the parent’s handheld unit as well.
2. Infant Optics DXR-8 baby monitor
With 2 way communication, ambient temperature sensor, IR night time vision, pan and tilt, an optical zoom and a 700 ft range, the Infant Optics DXR-8 has everything you need in a great little baby monitor.
One of the great features of the Infant Optics DXR-8 is the interchangeable lenses, because it comes with a normal lens and a zoom lens, but you can also purchase a separate wide angle lens, even though it comes with a pan and tilt feature.
You can also switch the monitor over to standby mode, helping to save the battery, but there is only a 10 hour standby battery life with the DXR-8, which is shorter than many of the other baby monitors. On the other hand, the Infant Optics DXR-8 has just about the best and clearest images out of all of the monitors, so its a trade off between battery life and the clarity of the images.
Customers love everything about this little baby monitor, especially the amazingly clear images and how easy it is to use. FYI: This baby monitor does not play lullabies.
3. Philips DECT Baby Video Monitor
The Philips Avent DECT Baby Monitor is a lovely sleek looking combination with 2 way communication, a temperature sensor, feed timer, night light and lullabies.
It also has a long 18 hour battery life for the handheld parent unit and a great 2 year warranty.
DECT technology is a super innovation because it prevents other mobile devices interfering with your reception. And you have FULL data encryption giving you a completely secure home network and a private connection in your home.This means that no-one can hack into your network and view your videos.
The few negatives are that the DECT baby monitor only has a very small 1.5″ monitor screen, and it doesn’t have IR night time vision or pan & tilt. However, customers still love this baby monitor and it sells well.
4. Levana Jena Baby Video Monitor
The Levana Jena baby monitor has 2 way communication, IR night time vision, an ambient temperature sensor, soothing night light and a 12 hour standby battery life in the parent’s unit.
You also have 5 preset lullabies and a 500 ft range around the house.
There is also a zoom feature, so you can take a closer look at your little one when you are in another room of your house.
Customers like the clear images on the hand held monitor, the excellent signal strength and the 5 lullabies that they can play remotely to calm their little one when they are unsettled. This is a very affordable baby monitor that is popular with parents.
5. Timeflys AudioBaby Video Monitor
This lovely little baby video monitor has 2 way communication, pan & tilt, x2 zoom, an ambient temperature sensor, Mp3 lullaby player and a 1000ft operating range.
You also have a 12 hour battery life on standby mode, IR night time vision,a brightness setting for the display and a 1 year warranty. The MP3 player is a great feature because you can load your own lullabies, songs or even stories and play them remotely anywhere within the large operating range.
The VOX feature gives you an extended battery life, because it turns off the display on the monitor when it hasn’t sensed any sound for 50 seconds and comes back on automatically when it does detect sound.
This baby monitor is fairly new on the market, so there are not a lot of customers reviews available online. However, the pan & tilt feature is very popular, as is the MP3 player, whilst some customers question the quality of the video images and had problems with the nit not working properly after a few months.
6. Levana Ayden Baby Video Monitor
This cute looking baby monitor has everything you need to keep an eye on your baby at home.
You have 2 way communication, so you can chat to your baby or toddler from anywhere in your home (it has a 750 ft range) and a zoom facility, so you can take a closer look at them when they are awake or sleeping.
Checking on your little one at night is no problem, because you have crystal clear IR night time vision, saving you the trouble of going to the nursery to check on them every two minutes. You also have a temperature sensor which lets you know if the temperature in the nursery is outside of your set range, a feature which some parents find invaluable.
There is also a long 48 hour battery for the handheld unit (in standby mode), so you don’t have to keep recharging the monitor all the time. The Levana Ayden baby video monitor also plays 3 preset lullabies, which you can activate remotely to calm you baby or toddler while you make your way to the nursery.
Customers love the size of the monitor on the handheld parent unit, the crystal clear images (during the day and night) and the great sound quality.
7. Infant Optics DXR-5 Baby Monitor
The Infant Optics DXR-5 doesn’t have all of the features of the DXR-8, so it is a much more basic model.
However, what it does have, it does well with crystal clear images (although the screen is only 2.4″), IR night time vision and a large 800ft operating range.
You also have a VOX mode, so the handheld unit goes into standby when no sound has been detected for 3 minutes, extending the life of the battery (which is only 3 to 4 hours if used continuously).
There is also an audio mute function, where you can turn the sound off, keeping the video monitor on at all times and when a sound is detected the audio function turns back on again.
Customers like the clear images and how easy this baby monitor is to set up, but many of the reviews are mixed. So make sure to read the customers reviews on Amazon before deciding on this baby monitor. I have kept it in my Top 10 because it is a simple baby monitor with very helpful customer service.
FYI: This baby monitor does not play lullabies.
8. Summer Infant Wide View Baby Video Monitor
This Summer Infant wide screen baby monitor has a HUGE 5″ monitor on the parent’s handheld unit, which is a great selling point.
It also has 2-way communication, IR night time vision, a wide angle viewing angle,a x2 zoom and a 600ft operating range.
The battery life isn’t great, at only 6 hours in continuous use, but the standby mode will substantially increase this to the point that you shouldn’t have to recharge the unit more than once a day.
One of the nice features of this baby monitor is the LED sound lights that display in green, amber or red, depending on the volume of your baby’s cries. When you use this feature you can still keep an eye on your baby, even in a noisy room where it might be difficult to hear your little one’s cry’s over the ambient noise level.
Customers love the large touchscreen, but some customers have problems with the battery life and maintaining connectivity in their home. FYI: This baby monitor does not play lullabies.
9. Levana Astra Baby Video Monitor
The Levana Astra baby monitor has 2 way communication, pan and tilt, IR night time vision, a zoom feature, plays 3 preset lullabies and has a 750 ft range.
These are great features because you can move the camera around remotely to follow your little one around the room if they are crawling or toddling and zoom in for a closer look, all while making your way to the nursery.
An additional feature on this baby monitor is that you can lock the hand held parent’s unit so that little fingers can’t change your settings, which is very useful when you little one is toddling.
Customers like the video quality and the long operating range of this baby monitor, but some find that the LED lights can be annoying at night, so they turn it face down on their bed stand.
10. Levana Sophia Baby Video Monitor
The Levana Sophia has lots of great features that help you to take care of your little one at home, without worrying about leaving them alone in the nursery.
You have 2 way communication, IR night time vision, an ambient temperature sensor and a 500 ft range.
The battery in the parent’s unit lasts for up to 48 hours in standby mode (6 hours in continuous mode), which turns off the video monitor until your baby cries and then it turns itself back on, saving your battery time.
Customers love the size of the monitor screen on the handheld unit and the crystal clear images. They also find that reception is usually very good at home with no interference from other devices. FYI: This baby monitor does not play lullabies.
