Amcrest 4MP ProHD Indoor WiFi, Security IP Camera with Pan/Tilt, Two-Way Audio, Night Vision, Remote Viewing, 4-Megapixel @30FPS, Wide 90° FOV, IP4M-1041B (Black)

I previously purchased another brand advertised as an indoor/outdoor camera, but had multiple issues after setup and wasn’t able to get reliable support from the manufacturer.My wife has been pushing me to get a replacement and since I’ve had positive experiences with other Amcrest products I own, I decided to give this one a shot. I was hesitant at first because the overall rating isn’t great (4* at the time of my review), but I am so glad I decided to get this one. This review will probably get a bit lengthily, so I’ll add a tldr at the end if you want to skip to it.Before I break everything down READ THIS IF YOU PLAN TO USE WIFI: You will need the included Ethernet cable and your router before you can connect to WiFi. Had I read the instructions before I started setting this camera up, I would have saved time by not installing it in the wall first, rooms away from my router.I read dozens of reviews before making this purchase, and one consistent complaint was the lack of instructions. I can’t say that I agree with most users here; I found the instructions very thorough in terms of actually turning the camera on and setting it up for the first time. I connected via WiFi, but there are detailed instructions for mobile and Ethernet as well. The back of the quick start guide also has links to alternative access methods and physical installation guides. Is absolutely every manual for each setup/installation method included in the box? No, but links to everything are provided in the Quick Start Guide and we’re all ordering this from a computer or mobile device anyway, so why not save the paper and use the links? But I digress…First off, everything came packaged nicely and was well organized. This isn’t something that will necessarily increase my rating, but would definitely count against it if I received a box with a jumbled mess.I found the physical installation itself to be very straight forward, but as mentioned, there is a link in the included guide to help with setup if needed. I ultimately installed the camera on my wall, as you can see in the picture, but there are also rubber feet on the bottom if you just want to set it on a different surface in your home. Note that this device cannot be set up level on vaulted ceilings without purchasing a separate bracket or mounting plate due to the angle of the ceiling. If you have flat ceilings, or choose to install on the wall like I did, it will install just fine with the included hardware. The included USB to micro SD cable is very long and had no problem reaching my wall outlet from the mounting position just under my ceiling, so that was also a plus.I mounted the camera before I connected it to WiFi, which was a mistake, but it was easy to unscrew from the bracket and take into my office where my router is to connect with the included Ethernet cable. The Quick Start Guide does a great job of walking you through the steps to get the camera connected, and once I had the app downloaded and entered my WiFi credentials, I was able to bring the camera back into my living room and operate it with no problems.When it comes to using the camera and app, I recommend going through the tutorial that pops up when you first log in. If you skipped it by mistake (like I did), you can access it again from the main menu. There are A LOT of features, and even after going through the tutorial and playing around with them, it’s easy to get lost or forget what function is “hidden” behind another icon menu. That said, all the functions and features seem to work exactly as they should.I did find the tracking feature a bit quirky at first, but this was my fault and not an inherent issue with the device. When I first tried tracking with the camera, it kept wanting to pan up to my ceiling fan (which was on at the time). Even when waving to the camera and walking around, it would start to follow me, then immediately go back to the fan. As soon as I turned the blades off, it tracked me perfectly. There’s also an option to set the tracking sensitivity, but the standard settings worked well once the fan was off, so I didn’t play around with them.Another thing I really like is HD mode. I attached pictures to my review of Standard Definition “SD” and High Definition “HD.” I only pictured a small section of the room the camera captured for privacy reasons, but there is still a big difference.Accessing, operating, and recoding the camera from the phone app works really well, even if the menu options themselves are a bit clunky. The privacy mode is also nice to have when it’s just my wife and I at home and we don’t want to feel like we’re being watched or recorded. I did not test desktop access because I don’t plan to use it.If there’s one negative I could give the device itself, it’s that it’s pretty big and conspicuous. I didn’t purchase this to be a hidden camera or anything, but it would be nice if it was a bit smaller, or was at least all white and didn’t have the black “Amcrest” logo printed across the front.tldr; I am very impressed with this camera, both from a function standpoint and the price point. Having mobile access and control, as well as the ability to record, were must haves for me, and this device delivers. The camera could be a bit more discreet, and navigating the app can be a bit unintuitive in some instances, but this thing is packed with features and everything works exactly as advertised. Overall, this was a great purchase for an indoor security camera.

I have a bunch of these spread across multiple properties. The hardware is reasonably reliable, particularly for consumer-grade Pan/Tilt/Zoom (PTZ) cameras.My biggest challenge is the user interface (UI). If I recall correctly, the most recent update is several years old now (August of 2023). I suspect that the lack of recent patches leaves these cameras may result in vulnerabilities. Therefore, I recommend against having these devices directly accessible from the Internet, password-protected or otherwise.The remote storage functionality of these devices is tricky to get setup. I was unsuccessful at getting FTP access (not SFTP / SCP -- that's not supported) but I was able to get NFS/NAS connectivity setup.There is no ACME support (e.g., LetsEncrypt), nor is there remote management via an API, so you've to manually install SSL/TLS certificates and keys. Therefore, certificate management is one of the least-fun aspects of managing these devices. Moreover, if you're trying to consolidate multiple camera feeds (e.g., with Home Assistant), beware when using self-signed certificates unless you can configure the library calls not to verify SSL certificates. There are security-related consequences to making that choice.If you're using wireless to connect the cameras to a network, be sure the connection to the access point is strong and stable and the access point is reliable. If the access point is flaky, these cameras tend to get weird and randomly reboot, disconnect, etc. resulting in the camera rotating and tilting as if someone else was controlling it. It can be disquieting.If you use the cameras inside on a window (e.g., sitting on a window sill pointing outside), the IR / nightvision functionality can be suboptimal, especially if you've a film / tint on the windows as the light tends to reflect back in on the camera resulting in very poor image quality. This isn't a problem with the device -- just be aware of how / where you deploy them.Lastly, these devices do NOT support PoE. It may be possible to use a PoE splitter (the camera has a USB-C connector) but I haven't tried it.My workaround to the management interface was to pull RTSP feeds from the cameras and consolidate them in one place (e.g., via MotionEye) where motion detection, storage, feed proxying, etc. is simplified. Each camera gets its own subnet on a physical (i.e., Ethernet) infrastructure network that has no direct access to the Internet.All of that said, I'm pleased with the way the cameras work and with their price-point.