Top 10 Best Baby Monitor Reviews

Do you want to be able to see every part of your nursery, and in as much detail as possible? Look no further than this high-end product from Infant Optics, which actually falls somewhere between a baby monitor and a full-blown CCTV installation.

This can be used for more than making sure Baby is dozing peacefully – it has the potential to be a whole-room surveillance system. You can add up to three more cameras and view all simultaneously using a split-screen mode on the adequately large 3.5-inch display. Alternatively, you can set the monitor to shuffle from one view to another automatically. Just remember that these extra cameras must be purchased separately – they do not come included. That being said, this is also true of all the other expandable baby monitors we’ve reviewed here, but the additional cost is something to keep in mind.

Not enough? Still want a better view? You can get it by changing out the lens on one or more of the maximum four cameras. Three different lenses (regular, wide view, and a special zoom lens) all add to the versatility of the overall package. You could, for instance, train one camera on the crib for a “close up” view, install another that covers the whole room, have another view the door or windows, and so forth.

Other Great Things

The selectable view angles (which is basically what changing the lens is for) and pan, zoom, tilt abilities are all things we really like. In addition to those qualities, this baby monitor also shares several functions and features with the other top choices on our page. Like many of these, it will measure the in-room temperature so you can be certain your baby won’t overheat on those scorching summer afternoons. It also includes two-way talk capabilities and night vision.

To top everything off, it has an unusually long battery life. It will run for 6 hours with the screen on all the time, and up to 10 hours if you turn it off now and then. Since you can put it on charge in your own room during nighttime hours, you shouldn’t run into any problems keeping the receiver active long enough for your baby to get a good rest. The cameras themselves have to remain plugged into the wall.

With a 5-inch monitor, wi-fi connectivity, a temperature sensor, and the ability to be controlled remotely (both on-screen as on your smartphone), this video baby monitor system really is top of the line.

Pan, zoom, and tilt the camera remotely so that you can see any part of the room without disrupting your baby’s sleep by trying to sneak in. This is the only camera on our list that can do all of that from a distance – others often require that you tilt them manually. Using the remote controls, you can move through a 360-degree panning (i.e. horizontal) angle as well as a vertical tilt angle.

Watching and Talking to your Baby

Using the night vision mode, you can watch your baby even when the lights are off and the curtains closed. With the two-way talk function, it’s possible to calm your baby when he or she wakes up with a fright without leaving your own bed. You can also play lullabies from the device itself so you can slip out of the room before baby falls asleep.

Unlike most of the others on this list, which need to be plugged in at all times, this baby monitor is fully portable. Set it up wherever is most convenient for you to watch your baby, even outside. Battery life, unfortunately, is only a few hours, so it’s not something to rely on as a permanent solution.

App Options

If you’ve ever fumbled around with a baby monitor and a smartphone at the same time, you may know the perils of trying to do so – dropping one or the other while trying to perform your day-to-day tasks as your baby sleeps.

The Motorola Connect40 makes this part of life a lot easier by incorporating scheduling features via Motorola’s Hubble app. Simply select the times you would like to remind yourself about naps, feedings, and more, and relax as the monitor does all the remembering for you. You can even watch data on the sleep patterns of your baby!

Pretty much unique in baby monitors, you can also make videos and save them in the cloud. Although not free, this cloud storage option may appeal to the modern digital parent.[/detailed_text]

Why carry a video baby monitor screen around with you when you’re already carrying your cell phone? It seems a little redundant, right? Apparently, iBaby agrees.

Instead of requiring you to buy a camera as well as a monitor, they’ll supply you with only their very modern-looking camera, which connects to your mobile device. Since you’ll typically use the monitor while trying to juggle other tasks in your home or relaxing with friends and family, it just makes sense to use your smartphone for as much as possible.

Another advantage to linking your cell phone to your baby monitor system is the incredible range you can get with it. Though we certainly do not recommend leaving your baby home alone while you venture off the to the store, we do understand that many people use their baby monitors for other things – as a security camera, or for monitoring the behavior of children who are old enough to stay by themselves, or keeping an eye on the babysitter.

For these people, the infinite range of this type of baby monitor will prove quite helpful, as will the ability to move the field of view even when they’re not home.

This works as follows: the camera hooks into your home Wi-Fi system, then sends the information to the internet where your phone receives the information. Unfortunately, this also means that you’ll probably incur data charges when your cell phone isn’t connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot.

A Full-Featured Baby Monitor

In addition to the functions discussed above, this monitor is also able to monitor the room’s atmosphere. A built-in thermometer allows you to track temperature to ensure that your baby doesn’t overheat as he or she sleeps, and a humidity and air quality sensor also help you ensure that your baby is as safe as possible.

The interactive app even allows you to track this information over time and notice fluctuations from one day to the next. This way, if it’s a continuous problem, you could consider air purifiers or humidifiers to get the room of you child healthy again.

Night vision allows you to see the baby even when the lights are out, which is perfect for fussy sleepers who have trouble napping with lights on or curtains open.

It also features two-way audio so you can communicate directly with your baby when he or she needs extra soothing.

As you would expect from the name of the company that created it, this monitor will allow you to say hello to your baby with two-way talk communication.

However, it is capable of much more than that. Like many of the others we’ve reviewed, this monitor will allow you to watch your baby on a relatively large 3.2-inch screen. In fact, this is the fourth-largest of all the screens we have here on this list, which makes it a little awkward to fit into most pockets.

Also like many others, this one is capable of measuring the ambient temperature. It plays lullabies, allows you to watch in night vision, and features a remote zoom so you can choose between wide-angle and close-up viewing.

Some others on our list have this many features as well, but they all charge more.

Excellent Range

Though this isn’t actually the option with the longest reach, it’s perfect for people who need a full-functioned, long-range baby monitor with a stable connection. With a range of 960 feet, it doesn’t rely on an internet connection the way that the iBaby does.

We should warn you, though, that the range figures manufacturers specify are
(a) measured outdoors and
(b) sometimes only nominal.

The latter doesn’t mean that companies actually lie in their advertising, but they do measure factors like these in different ways. Radio signals behave differently in different kinds of buildings, and they are sensitive to what is called “interference”.

If you experience problems like blurry video or sluggish movement controls, this might be the issue. All that might be needed is to move it to a location further from other electronic devices.

Looking to save some money by purchasing a rather basic audio-only monitor, without all the fancy bells and whistles that tend to push up prices? This option from VTech might be just what you want.

A two-way talk system allows you to not only hear your baby but to also respond to him or her in moments of distress. A vibrating sound alert allows you to turn the volume on the unit off – you will still be notified with a buzz when the sound reaches a level indicating a crying baby.

Easy Monitor to Hang and Carry

The flat base of both parts of the monitoring system allows you to set either of them atop any flat surface. If your baby’s room is too small to let you put it down out of reach, you can use the handy loop on the top of the unit to hang it from your baby’s mobile or any convenient hook. What’s even better is that this loop doubles as a nightlight. The LED lights inside the opaque plastic can be activated with the press of a button.

A similar loop (though this one does not light up) on the top of the handheld unit allows you to hook your end of the baby monitor onto your belt so you can carry it hands-free without worrying about it falling. There is also a strong, plastic alligator clip on the back to clip the monitor to clothing.

This monitor from Anmeate ditches a few over-the-top features and an oversized screen in favor of an affordable price and a compact design. Parents who are looking to save a few dollars, but who don’t want to sacrifice the quality of their bay monitor, are bound to be impressed with this little gadget.

The Anmeate has a very small receiver. Tiny enough to slip into your pocket, the monitor has only a 2.4-inch video display. Though this is smaller than that of most smartphones, the quality of the video is high enough to see clearly.

This monitor places itself above some other basic models by incorporating a temperature sensor. Since overheating has been cited as a possible cause of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), this type of environmental monitoring is certainly good to have.

Up to four cameras can be paired with the receiver. Finally, able to transmit over a 960-foot distance, it also has an above-average range.

Though the basic package comes only with a single camera and display screen, you can add on additional cameras without having to pay for extra screens. This may not seem like that big of a deal for parents with only one baby, but the ability to monitor multiple rooms (or one room from several angles) is often very convenient.

Other Notable Characteristics and Abilities

Though the multi-camera system and the size of the screen are both important, a couple of extra features added to the monitor will also be helpful to parents. LED lights light up across the top of the screen to alert you to your baby crying, meaning that you can monitor sounds even without having the volume turned up. The louder the noise, the further along the green, yellow, and red bar these lights progress.

If you’d like to save power when not watching the screen, you can turn it off without shutting down the entire monitor. In this case, you’ll use either the audio feed or the LED lights to keep track of sounds in the baby’s room. Helpful indicator alerts show your battery level and how close you are to the transmitter, so you’ll know when it is time to charge the unit or you’re wandering out of range.

Easy to Mount and Carry

Usefully, this baby monitor is equipped to be hung on the wall but can also sit on a tabletop. Mounting the camera on the wall is made simple by the hardware included in the box. It also comes with feet you can use to secure it to the tabletop so the cat can’t knock it over.

The large 5-inch monitor can be carried in one hand or clipped to your belt with a special attachment. Though it might be a little large and heavy to carry in this way for long periods of time, this is helpful when your hands are full and you want to keep the monitor nearby. When you aren’t moving around, just flip out the kickstand and set up the screen on any tabletop or flat surface so you can observe as you cook, clean, work out, or relax.

When most people think about audio-only baby monitors they think about relics of the past which can do only one thing: transmit audio. The truth is, though, that a lot of newer audio monitors have some of the same advanced functions as video monitors, just minus the actual video. For the parent who doesn’t feel the need to watch over their children remotely, but who does want a little extra peace of mind, the Philips Avent has some pretty neat functionality packed inside its tiny, audio-only package.

It has a rather long range of use, out to about 900 feet away from the transmitter. Of course, the actual distance you can travel will be affected by things such as concrete walls, so it’s always a good idea to buy a monitor with a higher distance rating than you think you need.

Unlike the simple one-way communication of past audio-only monitors, this one allows you to communicate back and forth with your baby – an especially helpful feature when your little one wakes up upset.

To further comfort and lull your baby to sleep, Philips programmed five lullaby songs into the monitor so you can sneak out of the room while your baby falls into dreamland. A softly glowing nightlight will also set the mood for comfortable, safe sleep.

More than Just an Audio Baby Monitor

Something that really helps this baby monitor stand apart from the other audio-only options on the market is that it has a built-in temperature detector. For the most part, this special function is reserved for more expensive video-style baby monitors, so parents who prefer audio-only but who also want to monitor temperature will be thrilled with the Avent. The temperature in the room is continually checked and this information relayed to the parent receiver.

You can see an accurate reading in either Celsius or Fahrenheit on the digital display. For quick reference, a small thermometer symbol appears beside the reading with bars indicating whether the temperature is cool, medium, warm, or hot. The display also uses icons to indicate whether the night light is on in the baby’s room, as well as the battery and connection signal level.

Though many of the video baby monitors we’ve come across claim to have pan, tilt, and zoom functionality, few of them allow you to access all of these controls at a distance.

Most require you to manually tilt the camera upward or downward and claim to have tilt ability just because the base has a hinge. The same can be said for “panning” abilities claimed by many of the others on the market today.

In other cases, they offer “digital” versions of these functions that don’t actually cause the camera head to move – except for digital zoom (with a high-definition camera), this doesn’t work nearly as well as the real thing.

This monitor, however, can be completely controlled from the receiver so that you can adjust the tilt, pan across the room, and zoom in or out – all from the palm of your hand without ever having to enter the room as your baby sleeps. Just use the soft-push buttons on either side of the display to control the angle and zoom of the camera like you would drive a remote-control car.

Good Screen and Video Capability

A handy kickstand allows you to prop up the screen as you watch so that you can complete other tasks with your hands without struggling to see what’s going on in your baby’s room. A full-color 5-inch screen with a high-quality digital picture shows your baby in full and partial light, while an infrared night vision option lets you watch your little one in the dark.

If multiple angles are necessary to get a good view of what’s going on in your baby’s room, or if you have more than one crib or even more than one room to monitor, you will be happy to hear that you can add up to three more cameras to this system.

Want to use the lovely lullaby feature to play songs for your baby but have absolutely no interest in listening to those songs yourself? Don’t worry, you can turn the volume off and choose to use only the video portion of the baby monitor.

A special bar of lights along the top of the receiver will indicate whether your baby is crying even when the parent receiver is muted. This is perfect for those moments when you are trying to carry on a conversation or watch a movie and cannot do so to the sound of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”

Our absolute favorite thing about this particular baby monitor is its price. At less than $20, this is by far the least expensive option on our list.

Unlike most of the others on this list, the DM111 does not support video monitoring – this is strictly an audio monitor, like the Philips Avent.

Long Range

So what is nice about it besides its price?

For one thing, its range. Holding its own with the best of them, this monitor’s receiver is able to travel up to 1,000 feet from its base before losing connectivity.

Another thing that makes this monitor unusually useful is its size. Video monitoring systems require you to carry around receivers with large screens that can fit in few pockets. Manufacturers have tried hard to create kickstands and belt clips to make using them more ergonomic, but these baby monitors can still be very difficult to deal with when you’re trying to catch up on your housework as baby naps.

Even most audio-only monitors are clunky and difficult to carry in your pocket. Thankfully, the slim design of this VTech allows you to pop it into your front or back pocket and carry on with your day.