Verdict
The Tapo C410 KIT combine an out-of-door security television camera with a virtual solar charging organisation . As a no - wires root , it ’s far easier to install than a tv camera that needs main power , and with careful solar panel emplacement it should well stay powered class - round . Unfortunately , its video quality was a little lacking compared to the better , particularly in faint natural light . We also have patchy Wi - Fi functioning during our test . It ’s a substantial shame because with better telecasting quality this would be a great choice for a fit - and - forget surety system .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
TP - Link ’s Tapo C410 is a battery - power security camera , designed for out-of-door use . It ’s also available as the C410 KIT reviewed here , which sees it bundle up with a little solar panel , and a elastic mounting system to check that you could get the best from them both . The photographic camera enter 15 frames per second at up to 2 K closure , and has both seeable and infrared highlight for night transcription .
At its £ 100 suggested retail price this is n’t the crummy out-of-door security camera , but at the metre of my inspection it was discounted to £ 60 , which is very competitive when you debate its feature article . The camera can recognise people , pets , vehicles and generic movement . Footage is stack away on an MicroSD card , which you ’ll necessitate to supply , but while you’re able to sign for cloud storage and enhanced function , the stock features should cross you for most circumstances .
Design and installation
The Tapo C410 camera is cylindrical , with a more or less smaller diam than a tin of bean plant . On its front panel you ’ll find a lense , along with two infrared lights and two little white limelight . There ’s also a microphone and speaker , enable features like alarms , admonish message and two - agency communicating .
This camera has two metal mounting points , giving you the pick of connect it either parallel or perpendicular to a paries , floor or ceiling when using its stock backing . This is fitted with a metal testicle - joint , so you may move it to almost any predilection , then fasten the locking hoop to hold it in place .
In the television camera ’s rubberised rear venire you ’ll also find thick spile covering the MicroSD slot – which supports cards up to 512 GB – and a USB power connection . With these closed the tv camera is IP65 rated , signify it should withstand any normal weather stipulation .
I ’m review the C410 KIT , which pairs the C410 with a solar panel and a twofold setting design to have both . you may orientate the camera and solar panel one by one , help you get the optimum amount of sun on the panel while the camera cover the area you need . If that ’s just not workable – for lesson because the tv camera need to be under a louche porch – you could lay the two components individually . There ’s a 3.8 - metre weatherproof extension transmission line in the boxful , so they need n’t even be that close together .
TP - Link say that this camera can appease powered indefinitely with as little as 45 minutes of direct sunlight each twenty-four hour period . That may go like a tall order given that the admit solar control board is dinky , and rat at only 2.5 Isaac Watts – commemorate that it has to power the camera and keep its 6,400mAh barrage fire charged up . When to the full juiced , TP - Link says the barrage fire will last up to 180 days .
With no office or networking to connect , this is one of the comfortable surveillance television camera I ’ve installed . If you ’re using the riding horse for both tv camera and panel , you just need to drill three kettle of fish and screw it onto the wall – it ’s much easy to do this before you actually connect the tv camera or get through the solar panel into station . Alternatively , you may detach the camera mount and position it one by one from the solar panel , in which case there are twice as many shag to fit .
While the forcible setup was simple , I struggled to get this camera onto my net . Like other Tapo gadget , you should only power it up , check it ’s in pairing fashion , then add it as a novel gadget through the app , but while the app could see the photographic camera , the camera could n’t find any wireless networks , even when placed directly on my router . I was about to conclude I had a defective sampling when it abruptly started working , allowing me to join and configure it .
With this done , I finished instal the camera out of doors . It ’s important to fit one of the supplied bungs around its USB connection to keep piss and dust out of the embrasure , but the program line for this are a little vague – it took me a mates of try before I was happy that the closing result was properly waterproofed .
While most other surveillance cameras I ’ve screen have get by praiseworthily with the patchy Wi - Fi signal in my garden , the C410 seemed less comfortable . In the app , television playback defaulted to 360p instead of 2 K , presumptively due to a lack of bandwidth . I was able to change it manually , but at times I was n’t able-bodied to get at the photographic camera ’s springy provender at either resolution . In addition , I could n’t always regard stored recording .
Features
I was particularly impressed with this tv camera ’s received AI and motion espial option . It patronize straightforward question detection ; tape or notifying you if anything moves within its 125 - degree battleground of view . to boot there ’s person , pet , and vehicle detection .
While I criticised theTP - Link D230S1 doorbellfor its sturdy AI filters , here you may configure affair exactly how you desire . you’re able to select to set up a single detection zone that applies to all bm and object types , but alternatively you’re able to configure zones individually for each AI - labour warning signal . This is excellent if you ’re pointing the camera towards a busy street , as it helps you filtrate out , say , tree diagram that are move in the walkover , but still scan the same arena for motorcar and masses . to boot you may set the sensitivity for each AI alarm , although you ca n’t do so for square movement detection .
At first the legs of my garden chair fooled the C410 into think I ’d inherit an extra pet , and the television camera would once in a while think that trouser swaying on my washing line were a person . Decreasing the preferred sensitivity cure the first problem , while adjust the human signal detection surface area got disembarrass of the second . It ’s more or less thwarting that each detection geographical zone can be formed by only four points , limiting you to a four - sided shape . However you may add multiple zones for each category of physical object , allow you to ply for more complex environments .
By default , this camera stores footage on an sneak in MicroSD card , which is n’t supplied . That ’s fine for most applications , but it does get to the possibility that an unwished-for guest could steal the photographic camera and cut through their tracks . The C410 does n’t offer ONVIF or RTSP streams that would let you record its yield to a surveillance centre , so if you want to insure yourself for this risk you would take to support to Tapo Care .
The C410 KIT offer both infrared and visible white ignition for use at night . By nonremittal , it activate the infrared light and switches to fatal and white vision , give way a good compromise between video coverage and battery life . When it find campaign , it ’ll turn the visible spotlights on and read in coloring material . Alternatively you could switch to Colour Mode , which keeps the spotlights lit so you get mean solar day - turn colour telecasting . you may also adjust the consider length , with shorter length command less light and extending the battery life sentence .
This camera ’s final pregnant feature is livelihood for concealment zone , allowing you to score out areas of the frame that wo n’t be record or monitored . This is ideal if you ’d otherwise be stimulate an intrusion of concealment , for representative by film a neighbour ’s property .
Video quality and performance
I essay the C410 KIT during mostly open , sunny skies . TP - Link commend you fully charge it before establish it in the garden , but I wanted to test how quickly it would be topped up by the sun , so I pressed it into service on the 18 % charge it arrived with . The results were quite telling : within two cloudless days the camera had gone past 90 % charge , reaching 100 % after two further , partially cloudy sidereal day .
While these were nigh - optimal condition for charging , they suggest that the C410 KIT would at least preserve its charge on lightly blurred days , or with just the periodic bam of full sunshine , provided its solar gore was facing upwards and south . I was n’t capable to essay the camera over wintertime months , but here it would be particularly significant to verify the dialog box had an unobstructed view of the Sunday to make the most of short 24-hour interval and muddy conditions .
With the camera testify 99 % I polish off its connection to the solar panel . After three weeks , covering an from time to time used garden , it had dropped to a 78 % state of burster . This suggests that you could get around 15 weeks of use from a full charge even if the solar panel receive no light at all . Certainly it ’s enough to win over me that the C410 would rest powered yr - round , so long as its solar panel was well positioned .
you’re able to get higher settlement security footage than the C410 ’s 2,304 x 1,296 output , but alas , that ’s not this camera ’s trouble . When I first lead off test , it seemed to sputter to resolve all right details of the thought , farm far blockier footage than I ’d expect from a 2 K camera , even in broad daylight . In inactive part of the frame , area of strong contrast grow odd digital artefacts , suggesting the camera was digitally sharpen them . In moving areas video could become quite poor , look as though it had been heavily compressed .
Tapo ’s app is n’t productive in video quality configurations , admit you only to change the clip triggering and buffering parametric quantity , and to choose between 360p , 2 K and machine configurations . I check that the tv camera was countersink to 2 K , and brought it indoors to rule out any issues with the Wi - Fi signal , but colour footage , whether commemorate or viewed in actual time , remained comparatively disappointing .
you may see this in some of the pursue comparison shooting . In each , the left screenshot is footage from the Tapo C410 , while the good guess comes from aTapo C320WSmounted just below it .
This surveillance camera appear to perform wonders in small brightness . It was able to decide an image long after sunset , before finally interchange to infrared lighting in the deep dusk of the evening . However , canvas humiliated - Light Within colour footage revealed even defective issues with blockiness , and so little particular that go faces could n’t always be clearly name .
At least , once the infrared lights had switched on , the C410 bring forth more private-enterprise bootleg and clean footage .
I partake in my concern and sampling of my footage , with TP - Link , which produced a microcode update that markedly improved the TV quality , particularly in daytime . break down were the odd sharpening artefacts , and there was far less blockiness around moving objects . Still the C410 seemed a small behind other Tapo cameras for the bite and overall clarity of its recordings .
If you ’re looking for a television camera with bright , vivacious spotlights , you ’ll find the C410 disappointing . Its visible lights sure as shooting are n’t strong enough to double as garden kindling , although they may well be enough to avail you avoid pratfalls in a dismal passageway . They ’re really only there to provide enough luminance for the tv camera to switch to colour modal value , for which they ’re more than sizable .
The C410 had the relatively easy undertaking of monitor my back garden , but all the same I base its AI to be precise , and it was easy to tune up out false alarm system . I also noticed that notifications were essentially instant , which could be important if you need to respond quickly to an event such as a break in , or a deary making a bid for freedom .
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Should you buy it?
This security department camera is easy to fit and dim-witted to configure . Put its solar panel in the correct billet and it ’s likely that you ’ll never involve to worry about index .
This is the first Tapo television camera I ’ve test with unsatisfying video quality . If crisp television is especially crucial , look elsewhere .
Final Thoughts
I really like this tv camera until I took a secretive look at my video answer . It ’s a well - designed product , with a great app , and with free AI features that actually work . What a shame then that its video quality was disappointing – far more blockish than 2 chiliad should be , and without the clearness we ’ve come to expect from Tapo . I was very sticking to see this improve with TP - Link ’s subsequent firmware update .
The C410 KIT remains a nice option if you just need to see what ’s going on outside . Its telecasting calibre is good enough to identify faces in most lot , and it ’s okay in infrared mode . However , if reliable , sharp surveillance footage is your priority , choose an choice from ourbest outdoor protection cameraroundup .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every security tv camera we review thoroughly over an elongated period of time . We use industry standard tests to compare features properly . We ’ll always tell you what we find . We never , ever , swallow money to review a product .
find out out more about how we test in ourethics insurance policy .
FAQs
TP - Link says a full charge will last up to 180 days . In our test , the camera used 21 % of its charge over three hebdomad , suggesting the battery would last more than three months . We would n’t wait it to turn tail out of charge at all allow you position the solar instrument panel well .
Not anyone . You ’ll only be able to view and manage the television camera while logged into the Tapo app . you’re able to share it with the rest of your household , provided each member also creates a Tapo report . Nobody else will be able-bodied to access your camera .
Full Specs
