Customer Ratings & Reviews

The first thing I noticed when I unboxed this system was the build quality of the cameras. The bases and swivels are cast metal and I believe the camera bodies are as well. They feel much better than my current plastic bullet cameras. I like that they use just a single cable per camera so only one cable to fish. The kit came with 60 ft of cable and a weather resistant cable connector cover for each camera. I see a small hole on the camera face that I assume is a mic and I have the audio set to max volume but I’m not getting audio yet. Must be another setting I need to adjust. The kit states that it has color night vision but I see that requires an external light source, like floodlights on your house. Without that, they only operate with the IR light that’s built in. The IR night vision is actually pretty good, the beam is a little wider than a spotlight and I believe the claimed 130 ft range is accurate. I initially took a camera out in my yard on a pitch black night to see how bright it was and uploaded the video to that large video site, if you search “Swann SONVK-876804D-US“ I think you should find it. That site compresses the video so I don’t think you can rate the image quality fairly but you can at least see the beam pattern. One thing that concerned me as I was searching reviews of this system before I got it was one reviewer that said you could not mask out certain areas of the view to block motion detection. We have a large plant by our front door that blows in the wind and will trigger a motion detector easily. I found that by navigating to setup/display/privacy zone I could add up to four boxes to exclude areas of the camera view to ignore motion detection. The shape of the zone is a square but you can click and drag it to make a rectangle of any size and combine up to four rectangles per camera to cover an irregular shaped object. I found connecting to the app to be easy. Just have to scan a QR code on the NVR. I have an existing Swann system so I already had the app and I was able to add this new system. Haven’t had any issues with accessing the system while I’m at home or away.

I’ve had many security camera systems and have reviewed at least 4 other Swann systems and this one just feels like they went backwards. First off, let me get some positives out of the way. I really like the new dome style cameras. They look less gawky than the bullet cameras, feel very solid and work really nice for compact areas like indoors or on your porch. They feel more secure with their mounting style, once you figure it out, as there are no directions anywhere on how to install them. The IR lights on these cameras are really bright, however, pointed to the center so it looks like a hot spot on night vision. The image is pretty sharp and the colors really pop during the day, but you can tell it is upscaled 4K. See attached images. Compared to previous systems, you can at least see 3 cameras on the mainstream at the same time or playback up to 3 at the same time. Like their other systems, there are not enough resources to view more, while the others could only display two. You can view them all on the substream, the lower resolution, on a single screen though. Now, the reason I feel they went backwards and question the label of “master”. Well, their other NVR systems allow for 2 way audio, this setup only allows for recording, once you enable it. These cameras have only 80 degrees field of view, compared to 90 on their bullet cameras. There is no white LED that could alert others of the camera or trip color night recording. Their other systems had the analytics ability to do face recognition or human & vehicle detection, this NVR has the menu option but states “Connected IPC does not support Intelligent Analytics”. It only records by default PIR motion and Alarm. So, you end up with a lot of general alerts for the flag waving in the wind or a car driving by, you have no idea which one it might be. As with their other systems, I do not like the reliability of their PIR motion detection. You might catch something as it will pre-record, or you might miss the most important part because it just decided there wasn’t enough motion. I prefer enabling the “normal” recording so that you catch all activity, 24/7, or you can do less on the schedule if you want. This way you won’t miss anything, but then playback becomes a bit harder on the mobile app and you will only have about 7 days worth of recording on the HDD. Speaking of the mobile app, I find it slow and only useful for viewing live video. The notifications, if you select them, take you to live view, which if you click on it the moment it pops up is good. However, with the amount of false notifications you are likely to get, you will probably go to check on it later and you have to go to playback and find which event it might have been. That is provided the events even load for you as it might take a few refreshes. Then, all the options in the application are pretty limited. The only one that gives more control is modes, where you can change motion sensitivity by editing each one. The rest are all just for information, like naming the channels, removing the device or getting device details. If the cameras supported it, then you could do 2 way audio through the live view as well, but these do not. They do offer Secure+ Plans which claim to give smarter alerts and rich notifications, but then the small print says “Swann Wireless or Wi-Fi Cameras”. So, essentially you would be subscribing for extended warranty and insurance on the device. You can, however, set up cloud storage through Dropbox, but the 2TB HDD should be plenty and you can always back up clips to an external drive. Overall, I don’t want to say this is a bad system, as it does a fair job in capturing decent video and personally I like NVR systems better than wireless or DVR as you can get continuous recording. However, besides the style of the camera, I don’t have anything that would make me recommend this system over others, even some of Swann’s previous models.

The Swann - Master Series 8-Channel, 4-Dome Camera, Indoor/Outdoor PoE Wired 4K UHD 2TB HDD NVR Security System is a complete security system with night time clarity. It is a quick and simple setup using the Swann Wizard. It walks you through the process of setting up your security system. Downloading the Swann Security app makes it handy to view your cameras, BUT it really helps on setting the camera views! Really the hardest part of the setup is actually fishing the lines from your security junction to where camera wires run through the attic to the camera locations. It's nice to have fish line poles for running wires and fishing for wires. Once the wires are ran, mounting the cameras and setting the angles are pretty easy, although the camera angle only covers about 80 degrees, I believe. The dome cameras do look more subtle and higher end than the standard bullet style. What impressed me was the night time videos. I watched events that were recorded at night, and at first I was wondering what it was recording, but a second later, you see headlights or shadows and it records the motion. So, basically you see the whole video of the event. Not just seeing the middle or the end of said recording event. That was impressive to me. Although it is called the Master Series Swann security system, it is not intimidating to set up and install. Very impressed at the night time video quality and more so during the day.

SETUP: Setup, was easy on the NVR system itself. Walks you through it. If you choose to use the phone app, that is also extremely easy, you download it, sign in/up for a profile, then you scan the top of the device via your phone camera, and you are all setup. The cameras themselves are powered through ethernet. Setting up those cords originally can be a long process as they all have to plug directly into the NVR system and are not wireless. This is what took the longest by far for me. Then the cameras themselves are relatively easy. My biggest complaints is figuring out that you unscrew them took me a while as they just simply wouldn’t do it until all the sudden they did (which sounds crazy). The instructions in the box didn’t cover this and were for a different style camera. Also, when you are mounting them, you need to feed the wire through the separated screw base which can be a bit challenging when you are up on a ladder as it is a balancing act, making it the second hardest and time-consuming part. Then you just make slight adjustments as these cameras are NOT powered where you can move them remotely even though they look like it. It is all done manually. I also found that the view is rather limited (80 degrees) compared to some other security systems I’ve tried. Which is a bit of a bummer as you don’t get as wide of view. But the trade here is that the picture quality is better. I was actually able to read a license plate that was probably 50ish feet away on the street. But it was quite fuzzy at that point. But my previous 4K wired cameras that had a wider viewing angle I couldn’t even if it was closer. Also, colors and everything are a bit smoother with a lot less sharpness added to the image. But more on that in the picture quality section. Overall, setup is always the worst part, but this was straight forward, easy, but time consuming. PICTURE QUALITY: Picture quality is one of the best I’ve seen and I’d classify as good/great. I don’t notice a lot of shimmering (from overblown sharpness), I can zoom in and actually retain some detail from 50ish yards away, colors are punchy, playback and live view are smooth and load up reasonably fast. Good latency. I’m not the biggest fan of the night vision. As they have an infared light that highlights the very center of the image where you can pretty clearly see things. However, the edges are hard to see anything. I’d worry that if I were looking for detail at night that I wouldn’t be able to retrieve much. Going into the recordings you have a ton of options just like in the app. However, I found it frustrating that you couldn’t zoom in on a paused picture on the NVR itself but could on the app. Which is super weird to me. Making it so you need to rewind, zoom into where you know the thing you are zooming in on is going to be and then press play until it comes into view. As I couldn’t figure out a way to zoom when paused (as the option on the bar at the bottom was greyed out and scroll wheel wasn’t doing anything which is how you do it when video is playing). NVR SETTINGS/OPTIONS: It comes stock setup so only movement captures are recorded. Finding how to do continuous recording took me a bit but then once I figured it out worked well. On my previous NVR system it would give me more information on how it is deleting old information for new information once the HDD was filled up. I didn’t see any of that with this one. So, unsure what will happen once it is full. I found the NVR system itself to be relatively easy to navigate. The part that I liked the best is that you could click a specific camera and then do a quick replay. Also, navigating to your recordings was easy. But I found that options of recordings (zones), sensitivity, continuous recording, all the be hard to find. I accidentally came across zones when I first set it up to make sure everything worked, but then couldn’t find it again. I was even able to get two cameras that were from a different company to work on this system which was a happy accident. I obviously can’t guarantee that all of them will work. But found it nice that two of the cameras that were left over from my previous NVR were able to continue to be used and they even worked with motion capture. I did find some of the recordings would cut off a bit early preventing me from seeing the whole thing. But accuracy of what it captured seemed to be pretty good. Where often when I checked there was something that I could see set it off. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t get a lot of false notifications as well. Which again could be adjusted but I left it on stock as I’d rather have too much than too little. APP SETTINGS/OPTIONS: The app itself is very limited. It is originally setup to send you a notification for every camera whenever it picks anything up. When going into those recordings you have a timestamp bar, sound, take a picture, and an HD/SD toggle. Along with a several playback speed options. Playback assuming you have a good connection is quick. However, if you have a shotty connection it will be a bit slow but still give you a clear picture. You can also select the date, time period, type of events, and camera in the playback options. There is a user manual within the app itself that I didn’t spend a lot of time going through. But wish I would have seen this before I set everything up and may behoove you to look at beforehand. I did find a place inside the app to change the sensitivity of each camera, along with if you want to receive push notifications. You also have different modes (home, night, away, and schedules). But all the infrared, package, face detection, etc. options I was never able to find. Nor did my recordings ever specify if it was a package, face, etc. It was nice that I lost connection to the internet and got a notification that my system was down. I didn’t get an alert when it was back up though. Additionally, I enjoy that it will show you how many alerts have occurred each day. Due to needing to be hardwired into the NVR my internet connection isn’t super great out in my garage. So starting up a live view takes a solid minute or two. But once it is up tends to be quite responsive and I have no issues. During this time the app itself is completely frozen. Once I had a better connection to my NVR the live view and recordings started up pretty quickly. CONCLUSION: I didn’t get a lot of time to test it out. However, the first impression is quite good. It isn’t the perfect system; I still find CCTV systems to be quite archaic compared to modern tech (when it comes to how you access it and navigate). But this one is a bit ahead of the competition. It has everything I want but is still limited in what it can do (face detection, package, animals, etc. all seem to be behind a paywall of monthly subscription, even though they say face detection and vehicle detection is free but I never got those alerts, and couldn’t find a place to toggle them). But the things it can do it does well. But the main gripes of a lot of systems (too sensitive or not sensitive enough recordings, picture quality depending on time of day, etc.) continue to be an issue here. However, I would say to a lot lesser degree than any of the three or four other systems I’ve tried, easily making this my favorite and one that I would actually recommend for most people. The main three things I look for is 1. Picture quality, 2. Responsiveness, 3. Relatively easy to navigate. It checks all three of those boxes for me. Settings, fine tuning, etc. are limited or not there. So if you looking for a feature packed device, this likely isn’t it. Or isn’t intuitive enough from their software to make it so it was easily found by myself.

As someone who has gone through multiple iterations of security camera solutions for home defense, this 4k Swann kit is a solidly engineered piece of tech. The first thing that stood out to me was that the cameras utilized power over ethernet (PoE) for power and communication, which reduced the number of cables needed for installation. This made it much easier to set up and gave me peace of mind knowing that I wouldn't have to deal with a bunch of tangled wires. My past systems had utilized batteries or solar panels for power, and being able to rely on a hardwired connection for power has greatly reduced the headache of monitoring battery levels across multiple cameras. Moving to this ethernet solution from my previous wi-fi systems has improved stability of the camera connections to the app and cloud storage. I would occasionally get drop outs in live coverage or motion events with my old system, but not anymore with this Swann. I appreciated the small footprint of the main controller box. It is about the size of a cable box, and is compact enough to sit next to my router on my shelf for an easy connection. I was particularly impressed with the hefty 2TB of onboard storage, which provided me with plenty of space to store video footage without having to worry about space management issues. Mounting the cameras was a breeze, and the easy-to-use app made it simple to monitor the cameras from my phone or tablet. I also appreciated the open ethernet ports, which would allow me to expand the system to up to 8 cameras in the future if I ever had the need to. As someone who lives in the Midwest, I was also pleased with the robust weatherproof design of the cameras. After observing the build quality of these cameras, I have no reservations about having them outside in the brutal weather extremes here. The detail and picture quality when connecting to a 4K TV via the HDMI cable was impressive. The night vision feature also worked really well, providing me with clear and detailed footage even in low light conditions. The Android app was also easy to setup and use. As a whole, the system has everything you need to have a high resolution, robustly designed, multi-cam security system with motion-detection. While I wish this unit had some additional nice-to-have features/upgrades (color night vision, spotlight, two-way talk), this product has all the essentials to make it a compelling product for the price.

The Swann Master Camera set is a premium camera setup. For those who want to step up their game. I would say this can be as complicated as you want it to be. Or it can be as simple as you want it to be. I selected the simple. Typically, I just need a security camera to record when I need it to. This does that plus more. The setup is focused on the app which needs to be installed. Very simple and you can't mess that up. You follow the step-by-step guide. Eventually, you will see your camera setup. The image is clear and can be seen on any tv and device with the app. The main device is where you do all the magic. There is a ton of things you can do. Motion Detection and Censoring all work well. I had to turn the notifications off for a while. Everything worked. The Night mode I thought was the best. You get a good image and clarity within the video. My two negatives are that there were no directions on setting up the cameras. I had to go online and watch a video posted by someone else. There was so much on the app setup nothing for the camera setup. Second, this setup may be more advanced for someone who is not into security setups. Once you see all the things you can do. I'm happy to have this as security for myself and my home. This is a strong upgrade!

Reviewed is the Swann - Master Series 8-Channel, 4-Dome Camera, Indoor/Outdoor PoE Wired 4K UHD 2TB HDD NVR Security System. The system comes with four cameras and leaves the option of adding another four. The Network Video Recorder (NVR) comes installed with a 2 terabyte hard drive for storing video recordings -- Swann claims that's enough to store free local recordings for up to 180 days+. Installation can be a bit time-consuming as you will need to make cable runs from the camera to the NVR. Power is supplied over the included cable, which despite the label is not an actual Cat 5e cable. The cables are pretty flimsy with very thin casing and only contain 2 wire pairs (4 wires total), whereas standard Cat 5 cables come with 4 pairs (8 wires). While the cables work, if you use an ethernet cable tester to make sure the wiring is good, it will fail as the tester will see two open pairs, or 4 wires that are not working. The bundled wires work, but do not inspire much confidence for me in terms of longevity. I was also disappointed that the cable doesn't simply plug into an interface on the camera, but rather a cable dangling from the camera with an inline connector, making a simple, clean cable connection unavailable. While the system is promoted as a 4k system, small print comes with the disclaimer that the image is upscaled, or digitally enhanced to 4k. While the resulting overall image is noticeably superior to standard HD, details can be problematic as the source image is of lower resolution. Recording alerts are triggered by motion and heat, and the cameras all include bright LEDs. With the sensor lights illuminated, you can see what’s happening in color or up to 40m (130ft) in black & white during total darkness. The cameras can be accessed quickly using Google Assistant, Chromecast, Alexa, and iOS apps. Something to be aware of is that the 80˚ field of view of the dome camera is at the lower end, do judicious positioning, or adding more cameras may be required to get the coverage you're looking for. That the system is set up to easily accept four more cameras is convenient. One thing I really like is that Swann’s system doesn’t force you into a subscription service. It does offer some extra cost cloud service features should off-site video storage be a priority, but it's completely optional. Once set up, the system should adequately serve the needs of most people looking for a security system.

The Swann Master Series package is a great way of getting a reliable single-wire way of monitoring what you need to monitor. The NVR is the size of a cable box that comes with 2 TB of storage space. That should be able to record enough significant important events. The installation of the cameras to the NVR is as simple as plugging a network cable from one end to another. There is no need to find additional power supply for the cameras as this NVR provides Power over Ethernet (PoE). Coming from wireless cameras, this system has been solid signal wise and provides clear views of the outside yard during the day and night. Setup was surprisingly super easy. Since this system connects to the internet via wired connection, all you must do is plug it into your router and you are done. No Wi-Fi settings to mess around with. No worries about whether your Wi-Fi signal is strong enough. You just plug it into your router, and you are up and running. The TV interface via HDMI is super easy and that is where you will set up the system. The setup walks you through setting up a new password and naming your cameras. One annoyance is the time setup does not give you an option for Arizona, which does not observe Daylight Savings Time, so you will have to choose between Pacific or Mountain time and play with the Daylight Savings options. Another thing that I noticed was that the included cables were not full network cables. It only has 2 twisted pairs not the full 4 twisted pairs. I am not entirely sure if this will affect camera upgrades down the road but will do the job for the included cameras. The Swann app is super easy also. You just scan the QR code during setup with your app and boom you are connected to your NVR. You can easily look at your cameras live. The nice thing with this whole setup is there is no subscription costs to use the basic features of live view, looking at recorded clips, and saving your recordings from your NVR. If you are interested in cloud storage, there is a subscription fee, but if you are just interested in a contained at home system, this is all you need.

Great product with awesome features! I would not recommend installing this yourself and just paying a professional to install it for you. There is a lot of wiring and you have to install it in the ceiling if you want it to look nice. It is a hassle to install but it is worth it once installed and working. The cameras look great once installed and blend in the environment once hooked up. This kit came with 4 cameras and all the hookups came in the box ready to go with the main console. It works great and the cameras provide a nice clear picture with high quality video. I installed this in my business as the features were exactly what i need with a small business. I was able to catch 2 people stealing already in less than a week of it being installed with undeniable proof they were stealing from different angles. This has already paid for the installation itself with preventing people from stealing again. The app is seamless and has great features to rewatch footage and download it whenever you want. 5/5 would recommend.

excellent product does a very good job of recording sound as well as video. Easy to use the app much better than trying to use on the tv.

Pretty easy to set up for the most part. I cinnected it to my TV and its a pain using the mouse to type in passwords and such- This is my first time istalling a wired secuirty system as a female and using 24/7 recordkng at all so there's some learning curves to the settings and such.

We felt we we did not get enough explanation after it was installed. Went back to Best Buy only to talk to a Geek person who had little knowledge of our new Swan System. Installer fell through dining room ceiling causing us a lot of frustration.

Swann - Master Series 8-Channel, 4-Dome Camera, Indoor/Outdoor PoE Wired 4K UHD 2TB HDD NVR Security System This is true 4K and hooked to a 4k TV you can get very good pictures, real-time and zoom in very closely ( that you can read text) up to the limitation of the lens – I would say at about 20-30ft dependent on the text size and reasonable on facial. Initial setup is easy since this is a POE ethernet CAT 5e -to CAT 6 product. I used both the supplied cable which is kind of MEH and my own flat CAT6E making running the wire and concealing them so much easier. No need for extra wires and no delay for the NVR since it is a direct connect. Now as far as the Phone / Tablet App, one has to expect a delay because of the path the connection has to take and the speed of your network plus the speed of the WiFi and the latency of the Cell phone connection. Also, the limitation of the screen resolution of the device you are using. A lot of the setup must be done on the NVR as the app does not have the abilities. The quality of the cameras and NVR are good and the cameras are metal feeling very solid. The 4K picture is a good improvement over their 1080p cousins. Though not as good as 12MP cameras (12MP resolution has around 50% more pixels than 4K) they allow for a decent zoom in on the videos and capture some good detail. All in all a better solution than the 1080p style units.They both get a little warm during use. There is no microphone hook-up on the NVR, so you will have to use the app and remember there is a delay. The dome cameras are a nice clean, compact design and give a high degree of adjustments but be aware they are not motorized. They are about half the size of the bullet style cameras. They have a mounting ring that gives you good versatility for mounting. You can also flip the picture view if needed. Night vision is acceptable in the 30ft range. Be aware of splashback from surfaces when placing your cameras. In certain instances I put the IR emitter over the lens and some under the lens dependent on what worked best in the area I set them up. And there are aftermarket IR emitters available if you want some larger area clear B&W video. But the cameras are good enough in B&W that I can see clearly 100 ft away so adding an extra emitter would not make a lot of sense. Color night vision is acceptable. I am still playing with the heat, motion detection and AI settings but for something in this price range, it is impressive. You will need the manual to help figure this stuff out and the AI needs some time to learn and be trained. Even with the manual, this requires some experimentation. Sometimes the AI miss identifies things, but I am hoping I can fix that over time. The manuals in the box are generic for their line of camera systems and you need to go to their website to get the good stuff to help you with setups. They will answer questions with their email. Setting up Zones, deterrent areas, perimeter intrusion regions are nice features and you can set up privacy zones in case some non-public areas are in the view of your camera. And there are tons of rules and sensitivities that can be set up and changed. I haven’t worked with face detection as yet. One can pump off vids from the NVR to a USB thumb drive and play them on a computer system but you will probably have to download a player with a proper CODEC to view the video. Swann’s website has a link for a free player that works. The unit can also send videos to dropbox. (high-quality videos can get quite big. A added nice feature is that if you have other Swann camera systems you can add them to your app for a great mix and match dependent on your need. The PC Windows app is kind of clunky and not as good as the NVR of phone app. I installed my own wireless keyboard and mouse that uses a communication dongle. It would be nice if that was an option you could get from Swann. A nice improvement to the NVR software is that you can keep a session logged in so you don’t have to log in with a password every couple of minutes. Options I would like: • a wireless mouse /keyboard for the NVR • a microphone option for the NVR ( wireless would be ideal so you don’t have to be right on top of the NVR to use it) • cleaner interface that was intuitive • Flat CAT6 cable instead of the non descript CAT cable that is included and severely crushed.

It was okay, the only problem for me was that it had limited coverage to the point that it would require me to add more cameras. I'm going back to Lorex system.

This security system is the best wired system I've tried so far and it is all to do with POE or power over ethernet. With that possible, security systems really shouldn't use anything else at this point in my mind unless you are stepping up into an extremely professional system that uses fiber. I don't understand why the cameras have a separate power port but they do if you would like to buy the power adapter separately I guess. For me they are just an annoyance and an extra step to cap off and stow. With the prices of 4k monitors it is definetly worth the time to get a monitor or TV that has the allows you to take advantage of the camera quality. For the quality was excellent day or night it was easy enough to mount, besides it being a wired system which is always harder to mount as you have to run wires around to where you want the camera, but once you run the wire you never have to worry about the camera batteries dying ever again. Talking about wires, I am not thrilled with the category cable that was sent with it for each camera, they get the job done but they aren't the highest quality. I used shielded category 6 cable (probably overkill except the shielded part) but I know I wont have issues in the future especially as the cable had kinks out of the box, with these cameras power requirements it didn't seem to be a problem with when I tested the cameras with the cables the came in the box but I'd rather install better infrastructure that doesn't need to be replaced for a very long time and is resistent to interference being shielded as a I live near power lines. Once you get the box set up the app is extremely easy to set up and then you have access no matter where you go. If you aren't tech savvy with getting access to your security system remotely but want it the app is awesome, and doesn't cost anything extra. I love that the storage is mine and local and I'm not asked to pay for cloud storage every time I open the app. Another feature I really like is the privacy filter. You can black out areas, I live really close to my neighbor and I don't want the camera to activate every time he walks out his front door. I was able to create a privacy spot (you can have a couple different ones on each camera) and resize it to an elengated rectangle that covered his front porch enabling him to have his privacy and me to have my security. Overall, I am happy with how easy the setup was and how well it works. For me four cameras is more than enough to cover everything I need but there is room for 8 cameras if you need to expand the system. If you do have patch panel system as long as the backbone isn't cat 3 or makes the run more than 300ish feet you shouldn't have an issue passing your camera through those, I tested it with my patch panel and it worked great. Pros: local non cloud storage owned by you Power over Ethernet (PoE) 4k App for remote viewing Customizable Privacy filters on each camera Cons: Included ethernet cables aren't high quality useless power port on each camera

As a renter, I've been stuck using cheaper stand alone wireless security cameras, but having recently purchased my first home, I was looking to upgrade to a more reliable system, and this camera security system fits the bill perfectly. Right out of the box the product has an obviously better build quality. I live in the south and we have terrible storm that move through. So far, these cameras have held up to torrential rain and even some smaller hail. They seem like they will last a good while. The best park is that these are connected to the box through an ethernet connection so I'm not concerned about internet connectivity issues or dropped wifi connections. I'm able to monitor on my TV with the small control box, but I'm also able to check in remotely on my phone or laptop. As someone who travels frequently, this gives me a lot of peace of mind. The night vision is clear, but at times I will will receive a motion alert when I'm not able to see what set it off, especially at night. Installation was super easy. The app and Swann Wizard makes it easy to set up the system. A wireless system is definitely easier to set up, as this hard wired system requires running cables to the NVR box, but I've found the reliability to be worth the extra effort. Overall, I'm happy with this system. It's definitely worth the upgrade from standalone wireless cameras. The system comes with four cameras

These are great quality cameras and I also found them really easy to setup. I was able to unbox them and do the initial setup in about 30 minutes. The NVR found the cameras within 30 seconds or so after each one was plugged in and I was easily able to setup the app access and see the cameras. The audio quality is also really great just from my testing so far. They also have a really decent field of view and are all weather rated. I live in a climate that ranges from extremely cold in the winter and extremely hot in the summer, and I feel confident these cameras will be up the task. They are heavy and feel sturdily made as well. Response time from the app is very quick and the motion detection settings have worked really great so far. The NVR also has 2TB of storage space, which even if you expand this to 8 cameras (which I did), you get a lot of local storage. You can also backup to Dropbox automatically or purchase a subscription for cloud storage access. Overall, I am very impressed with these cameras and I'm glad I upgraded my old system.

First of all, I have to say that if this is your first indoor/outdoor wired local storage network setup that you have looked at, you have come to the right place. As you do your research, you are going to find that what Swann is offering here with this Master Series Security system is practically all inclusive and that these cameras are some of the lowest profile yet highest image quality examples currently on the market. As a matter of fact, these might be one of the first ones that I would highly recommend for the inside or outside of a retail or small business environment! The reason behind this is yes, you are reading it here, NO SUBSCRIPTION FEES required! The way a lot of the competitors on the market get you is that even when they have a local recording storage solution available, that still want to pester and nag you about signing up for their cloud storage solutions or try to get you to upgrade to higher-end security plans; playing on your fear and feelings of insecurity to try to make a buck. That is not what you will find here. With the pre-installed 2TB hard disk drive for storage, you can select 24/7 continuous recording or go with Swann’s True Detect heat/motion triggered recordings. They advertise up to 180 days and beyond of recording storage and truly I can believe it! They also offer a 1-year limited warranty so that if you get a lemon and you are beyond they typical Best Buy 14-45 day return window, you don’t have to have anxiety about being stuck with a defective item; Swann backs this up and will replace it within one year of purchase if you have problems. As a family man who has finite resources and discretionary funds to spend on a security system, that is precisely the assurance I need to make sure I feel good about this purchase. If you are looking for cloud style recordings storage, they do offer a subscription plan and/or allow you to connect your DropBox cloud storage account with this security system! That is some excellent flexibility in my book! The 4K footage looks amazing on my 4K TV I have the network video recorder (NVR) hooked up too. I also love that I can monitor my camera system with my smart phone since I don’t always want to have to belly up to the TV and use the NVR system to look through footage. I also appreciate that this has a method for saving video clips with your Alexa or Google Assistant set up! One of the crucial things that must be mentioned is that, yes, this is a hard-wired set up, but the only cable you will be running to each camera back to the NVR is an ethernet cable! These cameras have PoE otherwise known as Power of Ethernet! That is so fantastic as opposed to some of the setups that require you to run video cable back to the NVR AND figure out an AC plug in power source for each individual camera! For ease of setup for a hard-wired camera, this is about as good as it gets as it goes for ease of set up and reliability. Part of this is that it is relatively easy to run ethernet cable through attics, walls, etc. with simple installation tools. You can look this up on YouTube or find a local security installer to walk you through this if need be. Just note that this has a temperature lower limit of -22F for reliable functioning, so you might want to skip this if you live in those colder climates. The cameras are good up to 131 degrees F, so if you are in a hotter climate just try to keep your mounting positions out of the way of direct sunlight for those scorchers of days: your recorded video quality will thank you too! Overall, this is truly an amazing deal for a local data NVR style hardwired security system. Hope this review has helped bring forward some good thoughts and aided your purchasing decision!

I recently had the opportunity to try out the Swann Master Series 8-Channel, 4-Dome Camera system, and I must say it offers an impressive set of features. Video Quality: The video quality is exceptional. The 4 dome cameras capture clear and sharp footage with high-resolution capabilities. Whether it's day or night, the cameras produce crisp images, ensuring that you can easily identify details in both well-lit and low-light environments. Coverage and Viewing Angle: With four dome cameras included with the system, you can achieve extensive coverage of your property. The wide-angle lenses provide a broad field of view, allowing you to monitor a larger area with fewer blind spots. This is particularly useful for surveillance purposes and maximizing the security of your premises. Night Vision: The cameras are equipped with impressive night vision capabilities. The clarity during night vision was still clear in low lighting as well as flood lights. The range of the night vision is quite good, ensuring that your property remains protected around the clock. Ease of Installation: Installation was performed by our electrician. The cameras come with the necessary mounting hardware. The system can be expanded if you need additional cameras, please make sure its compatibility. Remote Access and App Integration: You can download app and review 24/7 live feed of all cameras installed. Storage and Playback: The system has a 2TB hard drive and can continuously record and you can back up footage you want to save. Durability and Weather Resistance: Designed for indoor/outdoor conditions. They are weatherproof and rated for outdoor use. Overall, the Swann Master Series 8-Channel, 4-Dome Camera system offers impressive video quality, extensive coverage, and convenient features for monitoring your house while not home. With excellent night vision, professional installation, remote access capabilities, and durable construction, this system provides peace of mind and reliable surveillance. If you're in the market for a reliable security camera system, this is worth a look. I rated it 4 stars because

I wish I could give this 5 stars. For the price it's not terrible either, making it about $150 per camera and that doesn't include the 2TB of storage interlinked to them all. But really, in my opinion, nothing master about this set. I've reviewed and tested quite a few Swann models now, and for this price point, I think they can do better. On sale this would be more than worth the value. I personally like the dome cameras--they have a nice aesthetic to them that don't look cheap and fake. They have a nice build quality and heft to them. Setting them up is pretty straight forward as well, where based on how they're shaped, it's easy to see how they should be set up. Camera quality is where I think Swann needs to work on things. Yes it's 4K wired, but 8MP, so only 8 mega pixels but 4K quality, meaning it's likely upscaling to reach 4K and isn't as clear as if it was 16MP for example. 2TB is more than sufficient storage, and it is a nice convenience not having to pay a monthly fee for storage. This is truly really easy to install yourself with proper planning. Overall, it works and does what it should do, but it's not the greatest, and definitely not worthy of being called master series.