Customer Ratings & Reviews

I Love this product. Installation was horrible though. Almost wish I had paid for the installation. But after it was all said and done I’m glad I went with wired over Wifi camera’s. I’ve had Canary Wi-Fi camera’s for about 5 years. I’m over the monthly fee for the app. And it missed more stuff than it recorded. My biggest suggestion if your doing a self install, use “Fishing Sticks” (bought at harbor freight for $8) and start from the outside and then go in the attic and find the sticks with the wire. I started in my attic and tried to drill through the soffit from up there. It was a nightmare. Spent several hours on 2 cameras in the back corner of my house. Went and bought the “Fishing Sticks” and installed the other 6 cameras in about an hour. Wish I knew then what I know now. Over all I’m very pleased with the system.

So far so good. I'd actually give these 4.5 stars, but rounding up, it's 5. The cameras are great, clear and really discreet. Installed them myself over about three days. Took about 3 hours to get the wires out, but the power and the video feed are in the same cord, so one cord through per camera. After that, it's just a matter of routing and organizing the cords. The cameras install to the soffit in about 2 minutes per camera. The only slightly buggy thing is the app. You need to have a strong wi-fi or cellular connection or it won't work. It's not a huge deal at all, but it's worth mentioning. Also, if you close your phone, the app needs to be restarted in order to work again. Again, minor inconvenience, and all of these apps might be like that for all I know. I'd highly recommend them, but... I've only had them up for about two weeks, so I don't know about longevity. I DO know that once they're up, though, they are self-sufficient and because of where I placed them, they are not exposed to the elements. Because they self-powered, I can keep them out of the elements, and don't have to worry about sunlight or batteries. Very happy, so far.

Very good cameras. 100% recommend buying. Very easy to install as well

Very satisfied with the new product cameras worked better than the old ones. Really satisfied with night owl.

Love it, we have 3 systems and not problems at all

I’m so happy with the purchase I recommend this products I catch this person covering my cameras and I call the police great

Nice system all around. Easy to setup and love the images on my phone. Clear and you can zoom in.

Great quality, love using these to scare or spook my family, but 1 big flaw, ever sense the update, my cameras literally quick loading on the app.... i dont like it anymore, im at a loss for words! Sometimes they load and sometimes they dont now, if im not.on wifi at all, well its too bad, i get a wifi connection error... never had that happen before the update! It barely works at home nor when im at work! Im lucky to get it to work sometimes! Great camera and system, horrible app for yoir phone tho!

Verdict: I like these cameras a lot. The technology setup was remarkably easy and the system works well so far. The system includes lots of customizable feature that make it pretty powerful. BUT, the physical setup – with all the cables, drilling, and trying to make a pretty installation – was a big hurdle for me. First Impressions. The system is fairly compact. The cameras feel light. I think that for the price, the camera bundle is quite generous, with 8 cameras, 8 cables, a DVR, and other plugs and connectors. I was already thinking that the included cables would not be sufficient. Physical setup. Setting this up can be rough if installing at home because of the need to make everything look nice. It was a bit tricky to find exit points from inside the house to the exterior. I used the basement to run cables in the joists and then up the wall where the router is. So, my installation so far is clean inside the house, but some cables are visible in the exterior of the house as the cables run from the basement up to a camera. I will try to improve this a bit more in the future. I think these cameras would be ideal for a warehouse because the requirement to hide cables isn’t as high. Of note, the bundle includes 8 x 60ft of cable. I feel that this is not enough for most houses to do a proper esthetic setup. It certainly was not enough for us. I ordered extension cables to finish setting up four cameras. The box specifies that the maximum length of a single cable can only be 160ft, so consider this limitation in case you want to place a camera far from the DVR. Once the cables are in place, connecting to the DVR and getting the system working took just 5 minutes, including a 3-minute firmware update. Technology setup. Once the system turns-on, instructions encourage setup through an app. I didn’t like this feature because I have too many apps on my phone already. Nevertheless, I gave it a try and it worked well! In fact, I now think it’s a great idea for Night Owl to encourage setup through the app because that way users are fully setup for viewing from mobile devices (once you connect the DVR to the internet). I had no issues with the app. Camera comparison. I currently have a 10-camera wireless system, but growing frustrations have pushed me to try a wired system. While the cable installation is a major disadvantage of a wired system, I am very impressed with the snappy performance of the Night Owl package. My frustrations with wireless systems are (1) the 5-10 sec delay to activate a camera; (2) the lag in the “live feed” (usually 3 to 5 seconds lag); (3) the requirement for monthly battery recharge; and (4) an annual fee of $100. The Night Owl system delivers live feeds, all the time, without the need to charge cameras, and without any fees. The Night Owl system also seems to offer more features (notification, facial recognition, pre-recorded messages, etc.) than my current wireless system. Things I like. - Live feeds, no lag, and no recharge required for cameras - No fees - Local DVR storage - The spotlight on cameras works ok - Access from mobile devices through the app - The app is simple and works reasonably well - Live viewing from both a monitor and mobile devices provides great flexibility Things I don’t like. - The power plug-connector that provides power to the cameras feels a little flimsy - There is not enough cabling for most home installations. However, the box indicates that four wireless cameras can be added to the system - Resolution is not as great as I expected I am very impressed with this Night Owl camera bundle. It is much better than I expected, and I love the improvements from my wireless system. However, I would highly recommend potential buyers to consider the requirements of the cable installation before purchasing. If you are up to the task, then I highly recommend this system.

I bought these cameras based on the good reviews but im really dissapointed. The face detection is really bad, even when the cameras are not far from the person, the image is extremely blurry. Also the one way audio feature is just a very poorly precorded message (scratchy sounding) that can be activated by the app that says "smile your on camera". I wish I could return them but my return window closed, so we are stuck. Would not recommend these cameras to anyone.

Having had several security systems now, I absolutely prefer a wired system over wireless. However, the issue is the installation and finding the point where you run the wires from inside to outside. It certainly requires more planning and consideration, but with the right settings you will catch everything and not have to worry about down time in charging cameras. This Night Owl DVR is simple to set up. It is easier to have it hooked to a monitor/TV, but they made it now where it will go through setup with just a Bluetooth capable phone. Once you download the Night Owl Protect app, create an account and have Bluetooth enabled, it will eventually pop up asking if this is your device. You can do most of the settings through the app without ever having to log directly into the device. For remote viewing, you have to have a wired ethernet connection to your network. For a 1080p DVR system, the picture is fairly sharp, but fine details are lost the further you are from the camera. See the example of the camera on the front porch and a person in shot. The field of view and frames per second of DVR systems are also lower than NVR systems and sometimes makes it hard to catch the full scene without multiple cameras. At least with this system you get 8 of them, so at 80 degrees each you can just about catch an entire corner. As you can see in the picture on the porch, I preferred the camera sideways to get the most coverage. However, you can’t rotate the footage through the device. By default continuous coverage is not enabled. However, the default motion sensing seems to need some fine tuning. Motion is based on pixel change, so even shadows moving caused that to trigger. Human recognition was hit or miss with several false notifications of humans when all it was was shadows or nothing but motion even though a person is clearly there. The face and vehicle notifications do fairly well. However, we have some fairy lights on the porch and any wind motion in those triggers it as a vehicle and the face requires that the person looks in the general direction of the camera. Personally, I prefer having continuous coverage as there are times that the camera may not trigger recording or it cuts off the recording a few seconds too early because the motion moved too far away. Most DVR systems only offer a single alert sound, like a siren, along with the LED light. However, this one allows you to change to two other preset voice options that say “Smile, you’re being recorded” or “Hi! We will be notified you stopped by.” I feel like they missed an opportunity to allow us to record our own options though. Regardless, you can set one of those two or the siren per camera. It can be set to trigger on motion, which can get out of hand, or just when you press the alert button on the camera. The extra creepy thing is when you press the alert button and the alert comes out of all the cameras at slightly different times. Overall, the system is fairly easy to set up, the app is simple to use and you can have the added feeling of security without extra monthly fees. It will take some tweaking to get the right settings for your location to avoid the constant notifications and you can narrow the notifications down to just human or face if you prefer. Personally I would go for a 4K NVR system, but those can be nearly double the price of this system that will cover nearly every corner you need.

Excellent product. Everything as described. Great cam resolution

REVIEW NIGHT OWL - 8 CHANNEL BLUETOOTH DVR W/ 8 WIRED 1080P HD AUDIO CAMERAS - WHITE MODEL:BTD2-81-8LSA Best Buy Tech Insider Network GOOD ENTRY LEVEL - 1080p DVR SECURITY CAMERA SYSTEM OWL SUMMARY: I’ve deployed about 8 security systems over the past several years (work, home, homeowner’s association, etc). The NIGHT OWL - 8 CHANNEL is compact, well built and easy to use. The image quality is good for both day and night (see pics). You can run everything through your phone, you don’t need a PC or even a monitor to set it up. Everything is color coded, so it hard to make a mistake installing it. While everything is good, there is not much to make the NIGHT OWL - 8 CHANNEL stand apart from others in this class. That is not to say there is anything wrong, it works very well and has all the features you would expect. I was just not blown away with anything. Pictures are OK. Frame rate is pretty slow (guessing below 10 fps), motion is blurry (like a moving car for example). The UI is OK, but not the best, especially for advanced settings. That being said you can control everything from the phone and this is the first system I’ve used that can boast that. Setting Motion Zones, Face Recognition, Alerts, everything you would ever need is available on the phone app if you look hard enough. The focal point is pretty shallow with the best focus area about 5 feet from the camera (see pics). This means it is very good at capturing close up images such as someone coming to the door. But anything over 20 feet lacks some detail. You won’t be capturing license plates as cars roll by, unless the camera is only a few feet from the car. But, you can easily see a “red station wagon” for example or a “person in a blue coat”. But probably not much more. PRO’s - 100% setup via the phone (no PC or screen needed) - All included Cables and Cameras, nothing else to buy - All features can be controlled by the phone - Very sensitive motion detection - Sturdy seeming Construction on the DVR Case SETUP The Bluetooth setup did not work for me, it would never find and pair my Android 11 phone with the DVR. I’m honestly not sure there is any value to Bluetooth anyway as that is much too slow for image transfers. That is perfectly fine as there is a button on the app something like “Scan my Network” in which case it worked just fine. I also found that I had to reboot my phone and the DVR at least one time after everything was installed in order to get the advanced features like “motion detection area” to work properly from the phone. With any wired system, you have to pay close attention to how long your runs are to the DVR and Cameras. You also have to make sure you have the cable polarity correct for power. There is a female power end and male power end. Make sure you run the cables so they mate properly with the camera so you don’t have to rerun the cable (as I’ve done many times in the past). OTHER TOPICS The alerts work fine, and the cameras are very good at detecting motion. But, I found the “event recordings” are too short in duration. For example, as a car passed my house, often I would only see the front headlights then the event recording stopped. I tried all the sensitivity settings with the same results. Instead, I just changed the schedule to “always record”. The wires are well constructed, but they are the thinnest I have used in 20 years. Maybe that is OK, maybe not, time will tell. The cameras weigh almost nothing (honestly, they feel cheap). On one hand that will make them easy to mount without a lot of reinforcement needed. Still, I worry a little about the longevity. There is a cute feature where you can add audio alerts to each camera such a snarky greeting “Smile you’re on Camera” or “I’m not Available” or just a loud screeching siren. But the sound quality is pretty bad and you can’t really understand what it is saying anyway, and trust me you don’t want these things screeching all the time. We had one neighbor some years ago that went away for 2 weeks, and their alarms were going off the entire time. There is a small floodlight (about 5 feet of illumination) and a single small InfraRed Light for about 10 feet of night vision illumination. SUMMARY / RECOMMENDATIONS I think the NIGHT OWL - 8 CHANNEL BLUETOOTH DVR is best suited for close up or interior work. What I mean is that if you put one outside all your doors, maybe over the garage, and by important 1st floor windows it will perform the best for motion and picture quality. If you need higher quality images you will probable need to invest more for 4K cameras.

For what is included, this is a great option for those wanting great coverage of their home or business. 8 cameras with integrated light and speakers make this a great option for a decent price. The DVR with Bluetooth integration and ability to record at 1080p onto the 1TB storage is a nice feature. The Bluetooth feature is great to be able to setup your security cams. Although, I will dock one star because we did have issues during initial installation. Even while following start up directions, it took 3 attempts and had to restart the DVR in order to properly connect. A few things to consider, if you are getting a professional to install they may be busy. Our guy has been extremely busy and is weeks ahead to schedule us in. I resorted to drawing out the plans on where I wanted it in the house. It helps to have a basement in order to hide wires down and under the drywall. Also if you are installing outside, the included cables are 60 feet long so depending on where you have the DVR located you may need to get some extensions to accommodate. Just plan where you are mounting the cameras before you start your cable runs. Once installed, it's easy to navigate on the app and if you have it connected to a monitor or TV. Notification setup is manageable for whatever you may want to be notified for on any of the cameras. The included mouse was trash though. The scroll wheel was stiff and squeaky but we know we aren't looking for a quality mouse. Overall with the simple enough install, app control, Google Assistant control, simple settings, auto firmware updates, this seems well worth it. Only cons are connectivity issues, quality of plastic cameras is questionable, may need extension cables that are not included in this set.

By far the best cameras I've ever had. The quality is great and the picture is clear. Making it easy to identify faces and monitors body movement. There are many customizable features that comes with the system. Only downside is that the cameras use IR and goes gray in low light conditions. Other than that, I would purchase again. Cant beat the price for a known home name product with some great faetures.

We are having some difficulty with signing in to our tv even though we use the same login for the app so we cannot access recordings but this may be some type of user error. Picture is very clear and installation was easy.

Excellent cameras. Picture is good. I wish they had sound but oh well.

I had 5 of these cameras installed. Enough to cover the entire exterior of my home. The cameras give a clear, sharp picture and provide a video when they detect movement and send it directly to my iPad,phone, and lap top in addition to being backed up on the hard drive and the cloud. I must say it was a great experience to have the Geek Squad installers do their thing with this installation. They were on time, quick, clean and knew everything they needed to know to do the job right. Not something you see all the time these days.

Easy installation, no issue hook up, clear day view, night view ok but motion light not active. other wise works great.

Good cameras druing the night and day. The only flaw is that there is no audio and if one camera is on the others dont record.