Customer Ratings & Reviews

The dvr, cameras, wiring, and overall feel of this system as a whole, from a hardware perspective, is above average for the money, in my opinion. Where this system falls short, as others have stated, is with the remote app and software. It only works about 50% of the time when I try to open it on my phone. When it doesn't work, I have to force-stop the app in my phone's settings before it will work. This doesn't make it useful if, or example, my house alarm gets tripped and the alarm company calls to see if I need the police. With our old system, I would put the alarm company on speaker and open the camera app. If everything at the house looked ok, then i'd tell them to cancel the police, etc. The system that this one replaced was a 7 year old 960h Swann dvr based system and it did not have this issue; it would open every time and many times per day if I so desired. If you aren't going to use the remote app much, and instead have the dvr hooked up to a monitor or television at all times, and solely use and utilize the system in that manner, then i'd say that it should be a very solid system and should serve you well. The resolution and clarity of the cameras is very good. Of course the hardest part is running the wires. Once that is done, the rest is easy and straightforward. Would I recommend this system? Because of the mentioned issues with the app, I absolutely cannot recommend this system.

After looking at several other options, I decided to buy three Swann DVR systems for my rental properties. They were all easy to install and use. Good picture quality and the app works well for viewing when I need to check in on my tenants. Highly recommended.

After my last Swann quit working after 7 yrs, time for an update. With price just under $300, i am pretty happy with this system, very sharp, clear image during day and night. Also, camera itself has spot light as well as siren function. But comparatively, i like the older cam which made with aluminum, new one made with plastic. App is very easy to use. So far so good. Hopefully will last a long time.

First before anything, the fact my DVR came configured to only record on motion detection out of the box is very unhelpful. Changing it to continuously record wasn't easy either. Not because it was hard to find where to change the settings but the fact the English used for each section in the menu is very bad & not intuitive. For example, instead of saying "update", it says "auto upgrade". Who writes this stuff? The recordings have motion stutter. That means, it doesn't have smooth motion recording so what you see is moving object stutter as they move. The image recording is overly contrasted so the dark areas of the screen like shadows in any object or area is almost blacked out to the point you can't distinguish what's in the shadow or make out the object. The app has a very strange way of showing you the recordings. It categorizes the recordings by each hour of the day & each hour will have clips mixed up with both motion detection and continuous recoding with the name of camera in each clip back to back with no particular fashion or way of sorting them other than the progress of times within that hour. When you select the clip, it has a scrubber that doesn't work, so you can't scrub thought the video. You have to watch the entire clip. There is no way of filtering only the cameras you'd like to view for the recordings. The LED light is useless as it's too weak to illuminate anything. Even at night when the cameras go into black & white, when you turn on the LED light, it's still in black & white, even though, the advertising claims it illuminates any scene and I'm just talking about a small backyard . Despite all this, it at least records in high resolution & allows you to access content through the app. Swann, if you're reading this, please take note & change your app to resemble the way wireless camera apps work.

(this is my second purchase of one since my first was fried accidentally) So let me start out by saying this security system is amazing. The picture is HD, smooth, has tons of settings. For example you can choose which parts of the view (the camera has) you want it to ignore (such as a tree that's always rustling in the wind). You can also set stuff like when to record, constant recording or recording when there is motion and so on. It also has night vision. You can even plug in a USB drive (or email) yourself clips you need to save for whatever reason. Which actually helped us catch a porch pirate since the image was HD enough that the officer knew who the person was. The big problem, and I can't stress this enough... HAVE Best Buy install and set it up. The software on the DVR is super com-plicated. And it doesn't come with a guide really for most of what anything does. Especially if you want to watch your cameras from your phone, PC...anything outside of the DVR itself. Even with a background in PC/IT stuff, I found some of it very complex. And while there is some support online, its not a ton. And if you call in for help, they are very nice people, they aren't always able to fix things past whatever scripts they have to read from. Once you learn the basics, its easy to remember. If you don't need the ultra complex stuff then thats ok, it isn't needed. I should say installing the cameras with the cords and all that isn't hard really. Unless you are like me and don't know how to wire up a house, drill holes in walls, ceiling...etc. Even with that big issue I mentioned, this system is well worth it. The cameras have been through winter and hot summers and still work. And replacing them is a breeze since you simply unplug and plug in a new one. If it helps, for awhile I had mine record for a few months non stop, all six cameras. It can hold about a months worth of videos from each camera. After that it writes over old videos. Side note, there is no audio, on the higher end ones there is though. This is used for home use so audio didn't matter.

Swann software has come a long way. It is no longer a "total DIY" setup, but that is not a complaint. Along with the more intuitive software, comes the highest class of home security available. This unit sells itself. I put a couple up at friend's houses and ended up buying one for my own house. The remote app runs great and the picture is crystal clear. Professional quality. The alarm/spotlight option is great for homes. Eliminated the need for motion lights in my front and back yard.

I’m upgrading from a previous Swann security system. The video quality, wide-angle lens, and added security features which include a light and alarm which can be enabled remotely, are very nice features. I like the new SwannSecurity app that comes with the system as well. Much better than the other app for the older system. The one issue I had was that the camera housings are now plastic and not metal. However, I am hoping the added features will make up for that difference.

We like it and trust the quality. However, some of our camera images are slighty fogged from the onset. Make sure you inspect every camera and image prior to installing the product, and purchase the 4 year geek squad replacement plan. The images of some cameras are still usable but there is a noticeable difference in the image quality. Our install requires scaffolding and a contractor so we will need to schedule our return/exchange.

This is a great security camera system. Easy set up except for running the cables. Works great! I feel protected now. No issues yet. Plenty of peace of mind. Need to provide at least one 100 foot cable. Had to buy another cable to finish the install.

This review is for the DVR-5580 16-Channel 4K 2TB Security Camera System with Eight 4K Wired Bullet Cameras Model # SWDVK-1655808WL The Swann Home Security Camera System, 8 Channel 8 Bullet Cameras, 4K Ultra HD DVR, Indoor/Outdoor Wired Surveillance CCTV, Night Vision, Motion Sensor Lights, Alexa + Google, 2TB Hard Drive, SWDVK-855808 is very similar. This might be useful for other Swann products as well. Also, I hope Swann customer service is listening, as they never returned an email I sent asking a technical question before purchase. These are my thoughts on this particular Swann security camera system. Model # SWDVK-1655808WL Qualifying information: I am an electrical engineer with extensive electronics, computer networking and technical experience. First impressions from unboxing. The cameras felt cheap, are all plastic and the mounting system is sub-par. Plastic ratcheting to move and hold cameras are used. My older QSEE camera system utilized a far better and easier way to position cameras. Cables to hook up cameras are of thin gauge wiring. No shielding on cables. (I would replace and use a thicker gauge wire for long runs…shielded if you can find some.) The 16 channel DVR box model DVR-5580 felt solid. This DVR also had two fans mounted on the side to dissipate heat buildup. This was a very nice feature. I am not sure if the 8 channel DVR-5580 has any fans. Also, the 8 channel DVR-5580 is physically different in appearance. Hook up and testing. I would always advise to hook up and test any new security system before installing and running wires. Test all phone apps, computer software and output from HDMI or VGA to your monitor or TV first. This will help you get acquainted with all hardware, PC software, cell phone apps and general set-up and system feel. Set up was straight forward to initiate the main DVR box. However, the Swann Security phone app HomeSafe View kept on disconnecting from the DVR at various times. When disconnected, the Swann Security HomeSafe View app could not find my DVR at times and I had to clear the cache in the app for it to work again. This was totally unsatisfactory and inexcusable for the year 2020. The PC computer software from Swann called Swannview Link for Windows never did work. I could not get the software to find the DVR-5580 on my home system. I tried numerous ways, but to no avail. And yes….I know all about port forwarding, firewall etc. However, this should have not been needed. Using the unique ID from the DVR-5580 should have brought my system up and running on my PC, but it did not work. Once again, this was totally unacceptable. I have to say that my older QSEE security system worked right out the box. No issue with the QSEE computer PC software and the QSEE phone app has been working for many years with no disconnects, period. The instructions with the Swann Security system offers no help if you run into problems or issues. Good luck with customer service. Camera video quality was not good for a supposedly 4K camera. Zooming in on a close image produced graininess in the image. Movement with a live view directly connected from the DVR box to my 4K TV was blurry. There was also a slight delay from real time movement to what you see on the TV. Bottom Line. I packaged it all up and returned the Swann DVR-5580 16-Channel 4K 2TB Security Camera System with Eight 4K Wired Bullet Cameras. The Model SWDVK-1655808WL was disappointing and somewhat frustrating to try to get PC software working. The 4K cameras did not seem any better than my old 700 TVL (Television Lines) security cameras. My search goes on for a new security camera system that will live up to its manufacturing hype.

My espouse and I did the installation following the instructions,was easy, still learning how to manage the app and the review of the videos overall was a good buy

I love this Swann surveillance system It serves my residential security needs. Clear vivid videos easy to follow directions. A quality product at a fair price.

These cameras are great! Crisp picture and my husband was able to install in a few hours. Would definitely recommend.

This is my second Swann DVR system, my first was the 4575 1080P DVR with HD cameras. The 4575 ran flawlessly for 3 years but I realized that I wanted a 4K system after seeing the clarity and enhanced night vision. So far, the SWDVK-455804WL has been awesome! It was easy to install and easy to get up an running. The settings are very easy to understand and the apps have been flawless. The colors are vibrant and super clear...I do not foresee using the light or alarm function. My only complaint is that Swann has not come up with a more stable program for Windows PCs. A new program needs to be developed!

So far we're really liking these Cameras. Pretty easy to use & great picture

I brought this 4k UHD surveillance system as a deal of the day item. It was an easy setup for me and the video quality is outstanding. I previously had a wireless system that I had to keep replacing the batteries and it would always go offline. So I went back to a wired system and I love it.

Terrible Phone Apps. Night Vision is Not Good. Doesn't detect motion all the time. If i hadn't paid to get it installed i would of returned. Stay away from these

The image quality is good, the problem is more about software issues, not easy to use I couldn't be able to change the time on the camera display, so the cvr program has a different time that the one is display on the recording, I also have some problems with my android app, at the beginning I couldn't see any video, so I think the software needs a lot of work.

Excelent and easy to view. The software is very easy to install

Protecting your family and home are a must. These cameras help us to keep an eye on our home, and it is a good deterrent for evil doers who might try to break into our home. And when it happens, the cameras deliver 4K footage is identify the perpetrators. It is easy to use and the set up is simple. Give it a try.