TP-Link NC450
An affordable new pan and tilt.
The new NC450 has added affordable motorised pan and tilt to TP-Links roster, although some of the shortcomings of the software we identified in the NC250 review are still present here.
Let’s start with the good stuff: the hardware. A smooth pan and tilt engine can point the lens through a wide range of positions and the base is well designed for mounting on any surface. There’s an SD Card slot for local storage, night vision that extends to 8m (3m more than most) and a two-way audio system that lets you talk through the camera, so you can communicate with your kids as you watch them.
The camera captured some very good images, too. Not quite up there with the Swann cameras (thanks to what we think is a little too much compression), but definitely good enough for most applications. The night vision capture was perfectly solid as well, with the camera quickly adjusting to a good saturation.
But the software is a little off. We like the design of the web interface — it’s logical and well ordered, providing easy access to common options — but some of the features found in other cameras just aren’t there. The mobile app is useful mostly for setup, live streaming and two-way chat. It does support local capture and recording on the mobile, but event management and configuration is pretty much left out.
Aside from some mostly minor quibbles with the software, we think this is a pretty nice camera, available at an affordable price.