Xiaoyi IP cam

Just a new toy recently, it is a IP camera named "xiaoyi". If you know "xiaomi" brand, it is a brand under it. Basically, it is a budget IP camera that does its job well. You can use it to safeguard you house for example as you stream it live from wherever you are provided it is connected to the Internet.

There are a number of reviews and unboxing out there. So I skip this part and take some photos instead. Locally, a typical branded IP cam cost at least 80 bucks and above.

But for this, I bought it online and cost around 50+ (night version). Non night version is slightly cheaper. It is not on sale locally so it kinda like parallel importing. Inside the package, it has a USB cable, quick start guide, power adapter and the cam itself. Pretty compact and nice. Here are the pics:

 Box

 Contents

It will not work out of the box like that, you need to download the app and use it to link up the cam. For my case, I use the IOS app and it is found in app store itself. Do take note the cam content is all in chinese but not the app. For android, I think you need to go their "xiaomi" store to download. Can't find it in android play store for now.

Pairing up with it is straight forward, it will need your WIFI network password for the link thru the app. Also, I recommend installing a Micro SD card. Otherwise, it will just stream live video but can't record anything. So if you want playback, you will need the storage card.

Video quality wise is not bad (up to 720p). App has some features like motion detection and 4x digital zoom. Overall, it is a good buy to me.