Tapo TP-Link 4MP 2K QHD (2560X1440) Outdoor CCTV Security Wi-Fi Smart Camera -Alexa Enabled -Weatherproof -Full Color Starlight Night Vision -2-Way Audio -Up to 256 GB SD Storage - C320Ws- White

C320WS Camera, ₹4199 (Jan 2023)Recommended to visit tapo FAQs webpage before you buy, all doubts, app screens, tutorials etc are answered / posted.Review (C320WS Camera, ₹4199 (Jan 2023)<< updates >>we settled to buy this IP camera and planning to buy this same model again for more cameras as we are satisfied with the purchase and could not find better options in terms of [quality, connectivity, features] as priced and [ease of use & satisfaction].• It requires TP Link ID to setup the device to actually start recording. TP Link ID can be created using email address only and no demographic details are required. If already registered, one TP Link ID can connect upto no limit of cameras. (FAQs webpage). However, at a time 32 cameras will be accessible.• records (micro SD Card needed) video in 2K resolution, captures and saves snapshots of detected activities in mSD Card without internet or any kind of connection to any other device except it needs to be powered on. Camera hardware is limited so can either use with NVR or with a MicroSD Card, NOT both.• minimum 8 GB to max 256 GB microSD card will be needed to utilise recording mechanism on this camera. Another alternate would be to feed the camera live feed to any NVR device or software. No internet required for any of these. The SD card once inserted, needs to be 'initialised' using Tapo App. Once initialised, mSD Card will be formatted (FAT32) with a number of 256 MB partitions in which video is feeded. One partition is used at a time unless the camera is turned off or the whole 256 MB storage of the partition is utilised. In these cases, next partion is utilised for recording. after all partions are utilised, the oldest partition is fed again and the previous video in it is replaced with new feed. About 6.75 GB will be used for an 8 GB card. 114.0 GB would be used for an 128 GB card.• records at 2560x1440 resolution, 2K resolution. used 256 MB for 3 hour 4 minutes for peaceful night light recording in a room with no movement no or minimal audio. 256 MB used for 40 minutes of activities video and audio in day light. An 8 GB SD Card can record at least about 12 hours at this 2K resolution.• One might want to keep camera always on power as whenever camera disconnects from power; one of the 256 MB partitions of SD Card, on which the recording was being stored, gets skipped and next partition is used after power gets back to camera. If there is break in power, the file size of 256 MB is maintained even for a recording of 20 seconds. This way if there are frequent power cuts, say 3 to 4 cuts in 5 or 10 min then 1 GB of previous stored video will be gone because new partions are required after power gap. this way all card recording can be replaced or vanished just by making the camera power ON and Off many number of times. Length of power cable is 3 metres. The 3 pin Power adaptor is not water proof.• motion detection, person detection, vehicle detection, area intrusion, line crossing activities are detected at the camera level as the camera records even when there is no internet access to Tapo or any server. These areas can be customised using the app without internet. Privacy zones can be selected from the camera view to block recording and a black patch will be there wherever the privacy zone is selected. monitoring of those areas would be blocked. (working without internet too). No subscription required for all these features. There is a feature of privacy mode, once turned on nothing is monitored. but camera is still accessible to control and turn it back into monitoring mode.• to access recorded video using Tapo app mobile device(s), tapo app can be used on simultaneously TWO (2) devices at max, for which WiFi connection is needed. The limit is due to limited hardware of the camera. (NVRs along with this IP Camera can be chosen.) No internet necessary here just the camera and tapo app need to be on same WiFi or same LAN. Camera needs wired or wireless connection to connect using tapo app, using any WiFi access point. usually sends video data at 4 to 5 Mbps (tapo app live feed shows speed). A reserved bandwidth of 8 Mbps would be safe to assume to get idea of LAN bandwidth usage to calculate what size NVR would be needed. Camera hardware is limited so can either use with NVR or with a MicroSD Card, not both.• No desktop computer software available from manufacturer. but third party NVR softwares (like VLC player, ispy) do work for this camera. On Desktop computer, recorded videos and snapshots can be accessed by directly inserting the micro SD card in the Card slot of the computer or a separate adaptor is to be bought. Update: This process is time consuming and later on, video drops sound. (issue also on FAQ page). The Camera formats the mSD Card with FAT32 file system which cannot handle more than 2GB of file at once. So inserting the card, opening the card videos takes a lot of time for any PC to actually load the recorded videos, after that loading time say 5 minutes, on PC, recorded videos played without sound after several minutes of playback from video file, even with VLC player. The FAQ page tells that this is truly the case with G.711 standard used but VLC on windows and on android; iOS on its own should play recorded video normally fine.• snapshots of detected activities cannot be accessed with the tapo app and can be accessed via SD Card only. [Paid subscription Tapo care utilises these snaps for 'Rich notifications' feature.]• Video or clip or any part of, once recorded cannot be deleted using the tapo app. To save storage 'detection recording' can be used with loop recording.• Video clips have no direct option to download or save to your device. One has to play a video from desired time, select playback speed ( 1/8 to 16x), tap recording icon to start recording, let the whole video play while you watch or wait till the desired timeline point and tap recording icon again to stop recording. This recording will be saved in memory tab of app. multiple files saved in this memory can then be downloaded. it is already there on device, just copies the file to DCIM --> Tapo folder.***The real pain is whenever there is lag due to camera connectivity or hardware processing limitation, the video recording is stopped in between whenever the camera allows and you cannot go on to save videos like this. better use it in limited cases only, stream directly otherwise. <<update>> the issue is no pain anymore as recording is smooth and as expected.• The camera, if connected to tapo server via internet, constantly sends live video to tapo server for the purpose of sending notifications of detected activities to tapo app device(s). Tapo app notifications are from server end. The detected activity clip is different than the clip stored by the Camera itself. If the notifications are turned off for a particular tapo app device, notifications can be accessed with message centre in the tapo app. Helpful when camera detects activity but couldn't record before being disconnected by some intruder. The notifications will not be sent when camera is not connected to internet. when connected back to internet, no old notification will be received, no previous recording will be sent to tapo servers. tapo server just works 'Live'.• No Notification is sent or stored for power cuts. when there is no internet, the camera after powering ON will get to previous 'time' of recording, meaning it will record live but time stamp would be old. In such case you will not realise any gap in video as seen in timeline of the camera in the tapo app. Whenever there is internet, time gets updated automatically from (guessed) tapo server. There will be a gap in timeline for the no power time duration.• Card (along with a reset button) is stored under screw tight and water tight sealed compartment. The screws are on bottom side and are visible. you may invert the camera ( and then invert image in app) but then corrosion is expected. It will be very difficult for some intruder to take out the Card and not disturbing the camera. Another camera along with this might help for better safety. Update: The camera can be reset using the app only by starting to add device, selecting this same camera and tapo detectes it as a preconfigured device, offers to reset network only or reset completely. You can then manually enter new network name and password without being physically near the WiFi network that camera would connect to.• about 8 seconds of video are not recorded before power off or power cut, someone comes near camera, acts and manages to cut power all within 7 to 8 seconds, that whole thing will not be recorded. may never know what happened. therefore another camera may be of need. it can continue recording upto 30 seconds AFTER power on. The notifications feature in Tapo message center would be helpful in such cases as it records and notifies detection activities.• with Tapo care, videos, along with rich notifications, of detected activities are also saved on tapo servers which can be accessed later without actually connecting to any camera. Optional 30 days Tapo Care free trial along with per camera unit. The clips that they save are very precise to save time and storage but sometimes the clips miss important details. We ended tapo care free trial before 30 days, and the only change for this camera is you don't get rich notifications and no cloud storage of videos. we do get notifications but not rich and every other feature is built in this camera model and doesn't require tapo care. ( like person detection, vehicle detection)***some other tapo cameras don't have these AI features and tapo just analyse their live feed on their server end for giving them person detection or AI detection notifications with 'tapo care'.• any camera is prone to attacks from attackers. with NVR you get the recording safe indoors. in this budget, any CCTV Camera hardware cannot work like a hardware packed NVR.

This product provides user-friendly configuration and installation, incorporating two-way audio and a wide-angle lens. Its weatherproof construction guarantees reliable performance. Operational performance over the past two weeks has been satisfactory.PS: A significant limitation of this system is the inability to download footage outside the local network. This is a considerable drawback, as a primary function of remotely installed cameras is remote monitoring and operation, necessitating remote download capability. This should be addressed.

I recently purchased the TP-Link Tapo C320WS 4MP 2K QHD Outdoor CCTV Security Wi-Fi Smart Camera, and I'm thoroughly impressed with its performance.Pros:Robust Build Quality: The camera feels sturdy and well-constructed, suitable for outdoor conditions.High-Quality Imaging: The 4MP 2K QHD resolution delivers crisp and clear video footage, making it easy to identify details.User-Friendly App Interface: The Tapo app is intuitive and offers seamless integration, allowing for easy setup and real-time monitoring.Advanced Features: Features like full-color starlight night vision, motion detection, and two-way audio enhance the overall security experience.Cons:None observed so far; the camera meets all my expectations.Overall, the TP-Link Tapo C320WS is a reliable and feature-rich security camera that offers excellent value for its price. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to enhance their home or office security.

Value of money go for it without wasting of time

Storage card support: Absolutely pathetic. It seems the camera deliberately stops detecting external storage card after working for few days. If you are lucky, rebooting remotely will detect card again and will work for few days and then it just stops detecting again, other times you will have to manually re-insert the storage device in order for camera to detect it again. No warnings are given when it stops detecting internal storage unless you check it manually, so you lose critical recordings without even you being aware of it. I had to manually go and re-insert card to reset it. (JFYI: there was no issue with storage card as I had tested it with other devices and it worked flawlessly). I think its the framework that does it to frustate customer and force them to switch to their cloud storage services so they can make money even after selling device.Night vision: Only works when there is external light source. In pitch black when you turn on camera lights, it actually makes vision blurry and can't see anything clearly. Also in such cases the vision is limited to small distance. Even with external light source, the vision is still average. The color vision during night is good but I would still prefer clarity over better colors. I would rather advice to get a camera with IR in case the area you are targetting has little or no light source.Motion detection: Average. Sure it detects motion but sometimes it just generalize particular events (person, animals) into a fast motion. Unless you manually go to that timeline and watch the feed, you might miss on important events as it doesn't detect them properly. Other cheaper alternatives available on market provides similar motion/object detection AI capabilities, so not worth spending this amount of money.Overall quality: It's average. Zoom quality is good, but only during day time, during nights is limited to certain distance and that too if there is no motion. Other cheaper alternatives does provide same or better quality of clarity during night with fewer issues. I would suggest to get a better IP camera with NVR storage rather than getting trapped with these kind of products.

Good quality pictures. Satisfied with the product. Value for money.