78 T 3 JANUARY 2022Tested
TP-Link KasaSpot Pan Tilt£44.99
tp-link.comhile the TP-LinkKasa Spot Pan Tilt is
not the very best security camera you
can buy, it is very convincing given
how affordable it is. It can record HD
clips 24hours a day even inthe dark, it’ll store
the footage locally for free and it can even spin
and tilt so you’llbe able to seeeverything you
need tousing just one camera.
It’sa small white camera with a flat baseand a
ball-shaped head that allows it to move around.
e camera module itself isblack with a small
LED light to show whenit is connected to Wi-Fi
and when it isn’t. Best suited to wider living
spaces, the camera canpan 360 degrees
horizontally and 113 degrees vertically.
e camerashoots footagein 1080p HD
resolution – it’s good enough quality to pickup
details infaces, providing a bright clear image in
the light. When the evening comes, the Night
Vision can see up to 30ftahead althoughit will be
much harder to capture more intricate details
because it’llbe in black and white.
Available on bothiOS and Android, the Kasa
app is simply laid out and veryeasy to use. To see
the live view from the camera, you just tap the
corresponding icon from the top menubar in the
app. Youcan stream the liveview from the
camera to yourAlexa or Google Assistant smart
display, as well asto yourphone.
To managethe camera you just tap the box
with the liveview. On the next page, you can
adjust the camera position by moving the ball on
the screen up,down, left and right.It’s quiteWAn affordable indoor security camerathatcan pan andtilt as well as trackmotionTP-Link
Kasa Spot
Pan Tilt
SPOT ONWE’RE IMPRESSED Good
qualityfootage day and night;
motion tracking; can pan and tilt.
WE’D IMPROVE Sometimes
suffers from lag and loading
times; occasional false positives.
THE LAST WORD The TP-Link’s
spin and tilt mean youcan point
it towards any spot. It produces
clear 1080p footage andstores
it locally.It’snot as speedy asa
more expensive camera but it’ll
be reliable for the most part.VERDICTFind great deals on theTP-Link
Spot Pan Tilt at: bit.ly/t3tplpanresponsive,althoughthere is a slight delay
between you moving it on your phone and the
camera moving.
Youcan set fourviewpoints to save time on
moving the camera yourself.Viewpoints are
specific areas of the room that you want the
camera to point towards. For instance, you could
set the back door as one viewpointand your
kitchen area as another.You’lleven beable to set
the camera to ‘patrol’ themat set intervalswhere
the camera will move between each viewpoint
everyfew minutes.
Everytime it detectsmovement, you’llget a
notificationon yourphone and tapping itwill
takeyou straightto the action. e camerais also
able to track the source of movement, following it
and keeping it inthe frame.
Youcan set activity zones where the camera
will onlynotify you ifmovement happens within
the set area and not elsewherein the shot. One
thing you won’tget here ispeople detection so
the camera canbe triggered by any type of
movement, which means you will haveto deal
withthe occasional falsepositive.
You’llget decent quality footage, night vision
and reliable motion detection. Because this
camera can move around, you’llalso be able to
capture everyinch of the room it gets placed in.
What’s really great about it thoughis that it
stores your clips for free locally; that’s not
something all camerasoffer and it means you’ll
save money on the pricey subscription fees you
would haveto pay elsewhere.