During my career, I have tested quite a few baby monitors. The timing of these tests overlapped – by design, of course – with the years when our household actually needed a baby monitor, having young children here, and it’s bittersweet to realize that those years touch at their end. It’s because our youngest is now more than old enough to just get out of bed and go to our room when needed, whether it’s serious, like a help needed with potty training, or more like a requirement of extra hugs. Which can also be serious business.
But since we’re still going to be using a monitor for at least a few more months, if not another year or so, I’m glad I got to try the Motorola PIP 1510 Video Baby Monitor, which may well be the last one we use. And that would have been my go-to choice for baby monitors had it been on the market years ago.
Why? Because this monitor just ticks all the boxes, and more. It has a high definition camera that gives you a crystal clear picture in daytime or night vision mode. It also plays pre-recorded lullabies and soothing sounds to help your little one stay asleep through the night. It offers two-way talk functionality and shares real-time data on things like room temperature and sound levels.
Motorola PIP 1510 video baby monitor
But a lot of monitors do all of that, of course. And many do it while costing a lot less than this one, frankly. But this monitor has two other features that really stand it out in my book. The first notable feature is that you can connect to the camera unit in your child’s room via an included parent unit or via a smartphone app. This means you can quickly and easily check in to the nursery when you’re nearby (or up to 1,000 feet, in fact) without even needing Wi-Fi, or you can check in from anywhere. on land you have a signal through the paired app. I’ve had a lot of frustration with many baby monitors that only work through the parent unit or through a phone or tablet, so the option to use either is a big relief.
But nowadays, several monitors offer this flexibility, even some very good ones that I have personally tested, like the ChillaxBaby Daily Baby DM640a comparable unit to the PIP 1510 in many ways.
ChillaxBaby Daily Baby DM640 Baby monitor with camera
So what is the second feature that defines this Motorola video monitor a part? Something I never worried much about when the kids were small enough to be confined to cribs: movement. Not only does this monitor have all the basic features like night vision and temperature monitoring etc., and not only can it be accessed via local hardware or smart device from anywhere, but its camera can perform pan, tilt and zoom at your command. This means you can still monitor a child even if they move from one end of the bed to the other or roll out of bed completely. The variable field of view allows for much closer tabs on the child without us having to invade her space (AKA wakes her up) and it’s a comfort for all of us, albeit in different ways.
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