I’ve always been a regular old, plug your camera and monitor screen into the wall type of mom. Wi-Fi cameras made me nervous (think, creepy old guy hacking into my kids’ monitor to watch them sleep…yikes) and I just assumed they would be pretty unreliable.
But, when Lollipop offered to collaborate I decided to give their Wi-Fi enabled baby monitor a chance. I had heard good things from other Insta Moms and Hank’s camera (previously the twins’) was on its last leg; so having a “backup” monitor was very appealing.
However, after receiving the Lollipop camera and trying it out for about a week, it won’t just be a backup monitor (and that’s not just because Hank dropped his monitor screen and shattered it). I have so many good things to say about the Lollipop baby camera! Read my full review below.
Packaging
The Lollipop camera packaging instantly reminded me of Apple iPhone packaging. A smooth and sturdy white box with various “layers” of components inside. The individual camera elements and installation hardware were packaged separately using cute pictorial labels. Everything was very easy to find and identify, and repackage until I was ready to install.
Design
If you haven’t seen the Lollipop camera before, it has a very unique design. Like its name; it looks like a Lollipop! While it might look a bit strange at first (we chose the Pistachio green color and it makes me think of Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc.) the design is what allows you to manipulate the camera for the various different setup options.
The camera is lightweight, sleek and smooth and comes in three different colors: pistachio, cotton candy and turquoise. While the pistachio matches my son’s nursery perfectly, I think offering a few more color options (maybe white, black and grey?) would make the camera more appealing.
Installation
Installing the Lollipop camera was pretty straight forward. I quick set of installation instructions was included in the packaging, and though I wish these instructions had been more detailed, I was able to find the answers to all of my questions within the Lollipop App and on the lollipop website, http://www.lollipop.camera.
I chose to install the camera right on Hank’s crib railing, but I think I may move it to his book case soon as he is becoming more “active” during nap time and I worry about him unplugging the camera.
Setting up the camera and syncing with the Lollipop app took less than five minutes total. Besides crib mounting, the Lollipop camera comes with a cute, branch-looking wall mount and screws and the Lollipop “stick” can be manipulated to also work as a free standing camera and placed on a shelf. Also included was a set of cord hiders that allow you to secure the camera cord to the wall/crib and help to hide it from view.
Connectivity
One tiny complaint that I have about this camera is that is requires a pretty strong Wi-Fi signal. Upon first setting up the camera, I noticed it would take a little bit of time to successfully connect to the live view and once connected, the the connection would go in and out.
However, I blame the majority of this on our home wireless network and not the camera/app itself. We have always had a weak Wi-Fi signal in our house. Since receiving the Lollipop camera the wireless connectivity issue was made even more apparent so we recently had a Wi-Fi booster installed in our home and the connectivity has been MUCH better.
Here is a helpful link to a bit more info on Lollipop network connectivity and specs.
The App
The Lollipop app is fantastic and includes so many features.
Security
To help put my mind at ease, the app allows the users to see and review all of the devices that have logged in and accessed the camera. So, if there is any unusual or suspicious activity
Live View
Live view allows you to watch your baby within the app in real time. The camera pans 180 degrees so the view is great, as is the picture quality. I can also hop on the app from work and check in on my little guy if I want!
Additional Cameras/Multi View
You can add as many additional cameras to your account as you want and switch back and forth between the them within the app. And you can even view up to four at once with the multi view feature. I only have one camera so I was unable to test this feature out.
Event Alerts
When the app is not open, it is configured to send push notifications alerting you if the volume in the room reaches over 80dB or if crying is detected. The alerts also come directly to my Apple watch, which I love. I don’t have to carry my phone around with me! You can go back and review alerts and activity for the past seven days, as well. After reviewing my sons activity I noticed he has been waking up between 4-4:30 a.m. the past few days; thus, I can anticipate another early wake-up call tomorrow.
Audio Monitor
Audio Monitor allows you to listen through the camera to your baby/nursery even when you are not in the app. It works like your typical audio monitor. I like to keep this on when I am multi-tasking and I know Hank hasn’t fallen asleep quite yet.
Baby Gallery
This feature allows you to snap quick pics of your baby through the monitor camera and save them to a gallery! How fun is that?
Event Playback
As I mentioned earlier, you can review events after they have occurred and playback the video to review what happened for up to seven days after the event. This is nice to see if anything specific caused your baby to cry or wake up.
Music/Sound Machine
The Lollipop camera allows you to play music for your baby right through the camera! It comes with 12 different music/sounds built in from Mozart to white noise.
Two-way Talk
You can also use the camera and app to talk directly to your baby to calm them down, tell them to behave, etc.
Privacy Mode
Privacy mode is another way to keep your feed secure. This only allows for live view when the camera AND the app are connected to the same Wi-Fi and video stream cannot be accessed from the cloud.
Standby Mode
Standby mode allows you to basically turn the camera off so that you do not receive notifications and video features are disabled.
Amazon Alexa Integration
Apparently the Lollipop camera can also integrate with Amazon Alexa! I have yet to try this feature out, but according to the Lollipop website you can use the following Alexa commands to communicate with the camera:
- “Alexa ask lollipop report status”
- “Alexa ask lollipop recent event”
- “Alexa ask lollipop play/stop music six(if no index play first)”
- “Alexa ask lollipop play/stop sound six(if no index play first)”
- “Alexa ask lollipop turn on/off privacy mode”
- “Alexa ask lollipop turn on/off standby mode”
What’s Missing?
The only thing that the camera is really missing is wider pan and remote tilt feature. I also with room temperature was built in but that can be purchased separately with a Lollipop Care subscription.
All in all, I would HIGHLY recommend the Lollipop baby camera to any parents in search of a new baby monitor. I can’t wait to keep using this and to also travel with it. Thank you Lollipop for gifting our family this monitor!
The Patient Mom 