Swann’s SwannEye HD Indoor and Outdoor Wi-Fi All Weather Camera ($180, aka ADS-460) is another contender for your dollar when it comes to iOS-enabled security cameras. Unlike some models that are plastic and light, this is a solid, metal-bodied unit. Designed to be mounted, it has a base, an adjustable neck, and then the camera itself, with a movable hood.
Once connected to your Wi-Fi network, the images are broadcast from the camera to an iPhone-only app. It shoots 720p video, promising up to 30FPS recording, and can be used day or night.
It’s not very often that we simply give up on a product during the review process, but SwannEye HD brought us to that point.
After going through an incredibly frustrating, extremely time-consuming setup process following a factory restore—thanks to a combination of poor documentation, multiple setting menus, and just unclear design all around—we couldn’t even get the camera to join a Wi-Fi network properly, after multiple attempts and reading the instructions. And this was all on a Mac, as Swann’s iOS app can’t add the camera to your wireless network without computer assistance.
Compared to other iOS-compatible security cameras we’ve tested, the SwannEye is so user-unfriendly we had to walk away.
