This time we bring you a detailed review of the wireless outdoor camera IMILAB EC2. It offers waterproofness, night vision, motion sensor, artificial intelligence support and a battery with very good endurance.
IMILAB is a company that focuses on the smart home. It is one of the first brands to be incorporated into the ecosystem Xiaomi. Thanks to the integration of artificial intelligence, the company offers home security products, such as security cameras.
Price and availability
We bought the IMILAB EC2 camera from a popular retailer Banggood. Currently, various packages are available, some also in the Czech warehouse. You can purchase the camera separately or together with the gateway. You can also choose from several sets, where there are more cameras in the package (2 to 4).
Imilab EC2 camera European version
Basic parameters
At the beginning we will list some parameters and properties specified by the manufacturer.
The camera has dimensions 47 x 73 x 140.4 mm and weighs 270 g. The video can shoot in FullHD resolution 1920 x 1080 px The sensor has an aperture number F2.6, the camera is waterproof with certification IP65.
Disponuje WiFi connection (2.4 GHz) and supports two-way audio transmission. Can save videos to microSD card with maximum capacity 64 GB. Memory card not included.
The integrated battery in the camera has capacity 5100 mAh. The manufacturer states the endurance per charge up to four months, which is a very attractive value. The camera has a front part under the lens PIR sensor, there is also no Night Vision.
The manufacturer is especially praised for its use artificial intelligence, which can distinguish animals from humans and send an alert only if it detects human movement in the field of vision.
In our review, we also tested this functionality. Come with us to see how the camera has survived IMILAB EC2 in an editorial test.
Package content, processing quality
For our test, we received a version that includes a gateway in the package. In addition to the camera and gateway itself, you will find it in the package holder for camera with joint, charging cable s EU adapter, a set of two screws and dowels and LAN cable.
As a gift, it was also included in the package self-adhesive ring for those who want to attach the camera to glass or other smooth surface without drilling.
The camera was packed very precisely. The first impression after unpacking was so great, the camera looks good and the package is everything you need.
Pairing with Mi Home
We first paired the camera with an Android smartphone, while also supporting the iPhone. An application is required for this We Home (Xiaomi Home), available in store Google Play.
We followed the enclosed instructions, where you can easily add a gateway to the application using the QR code provided. The second option is to manually search the application for available devices IMILAB EC2 Wireless Camera Gateway.
As it is a European version of the camera, the Mi Home application works on European servers and you can easily choose Slovakia, the Czech Republic or Germany when setting it up.
The gateway is powered by microUSB cable. You can use the one included in the package with the adapter, or any from a mobile phone.
For the first pairing, it is recommended to place the gateway near the WiFi router. Alternatively, if you do not have a WiFi connection, you can use the included LAN cable.
The pairing itself is very simple. Just reset the gateway by holding down the button on the back until the signal LED starts flashing orange. The application requests a password for the WiFi network and in a few seconds the gateway is paired and visible in the application.
After pairing, the application will automatically offer to add a camera. Pairing the camera is just as easy. But for the first time we did not succeed.
The application will prompt you to hold down the button on the camera for two seconds until the blue LED flashes. After holding the button for two seconds, however, the LED went out. On the second try, it glowed blue, not blinking. We had to reset the camera by holding down the button on the camera for 10 seconds.
You can name the gateway and the camera in the application with your own name, as well as the room in which you will see it in We Home.
Mounting the IMILAB EC2 camera
We first tested the camera in the garden with a cottage. Since this building is located outside the city in the gardening area, sometimes something has disappeared from there.
Therefore, this place is made for a security camera test. We've been considering some security for a long time.
As we mentioned in the introduction, the package contains two dowels with screws. We chose a suitable place in the cottage, at a sufficient height to have the largest possible area of the garden.
However, when attaching the bracket to the wall of the cottage, the first screw broke right. We recommend that you buy better quality screws with dowels in the hardware store.
After attaching the holder, the camera is simply screwed on. The distance between the gateway and the camera should be maximum 15 meters without obstacles (value given by the manufacturer in the instructions).
Installation is very simple. The advantage is that the camera is wireless, so we did not need to pull the cable to connect to the home network.
We placed the gateway in the cottage to the router. Even in the distance 30m we did not notice any problems between the gateway and the camera. It was not completely free space without obstacles, there were 2 walls between the camera and the gateway. The range is thus significantly higher than stated by the manufacturer, which we evaluate very positively.
Mi Home application and camera surveillance
Application We Home is clear and simple. You will find your smart devices, which you have paired with it, nicely divided into your own rooms.
Since the camera is connected to the gateway, not directly to the application, we had a gateway on the home screen. After clicking on its icon, the camera connected to it will be displayed. If we had more cameras, we would see them all on this screen, from where you can watch the live broadcast by pressing the playback icon in the middle of the preview.
Here, in addition to the image itself, you can also see the status of the battery and the signal. You can turn the sound on or off, switch to full screen mode, or switch to settings. The peculiarity is that in a small preview you see a slightly larger shot in all directions compared to the view switched to the full screen of the smartphone.
It was the same on another phone, another brand. After downloading the video to the phone, the image is fine, uncropped.
Live broadcast monitoring
After selecting the IMILAB EC2 camera in the application We Home two tabs will appear - Monitoring a Live. Let's look at the second tab first, Live.
As the name implies, it is possible to watch camera images in real time. Here, too, full-screen mode is available, but again it offers a slightly cropped shot. There are choices 3 levels video quality - Speed, fluent a HD. The image is quite good even in the lowest quality (Speed). However, in HD mode, the picture may not be completely smooth, depending on the Internet connection.
In quality Speed is data transfer around 72-80 KB / s. In quality fluent it's around 130 KB / s and at the highest HD quality around 170 KB / s.
The sound is muted by default during live watching. However, it can be turned on simply by clicking on the sound icon.
In this mode, the application allows you to take photos and start recording a video. The photos created in this way are stored directly on the smartphone and on the microSD card, if available.
The last option in Live mode is two - way audio transmission through the camera. Because IMILAB EC2 has a built-in speaker at the back, so you can talk remotely with a person near the camera. We will discuss sound quality later.
Video monitoring and recording
Menu monitoring used to record videos. If more than one camera is connected to the application, you can choose here whether you want to see recordings from all cameras or just some. You can also filter by individual days. You can play or save videos to your phone in this menu.
Motion detection and alerts
Probably the most interesting feature of security cameras is the ability to detect movement and send a notification to the owner of the camera. IMILAB in addition, it is presented at the forefront AI technology that should be able to distinguish whether human movement is recorded or only animal movement, or any other movement.
But here came a slight disappointment. Of course, the camera can detect movement, but it is not always able to distinguish whether it is a human. We have two helpers in the garden, thanks to which we thoroughly tested this function.
These are two dogs which, unfortunately, were identified by the camera as individuals several times. What's worse, we were alerted to human movement even in stronger winds and leaf movement in front of the camera. Fortunately, it didn't happen very often.
Here you can see a video that the camera recorded probably based on the dog's movement.
Artificial intelligence from IMILAB is not completely perfect and is not always able to recognize whether it is the movement of people, animals or objects. Interestingly, however, on some windy days we received notifications and on other windy days we did not receive any movement notifications. There is still room for improvement in this direction.
However, this is not the only problem. When visiting the garden, we expected an immediate notification. But sometimes it happened that the camera did not detect us until a few seconds later, after our arrival. We will address this issue in more detail in the next section.
Motion detection issues
We also tested the IMILAB EC2 camera in other areas. We installed it in the garden of the family house so that the gate with a staircase, which serves as the back entrance to the land, is in view.
We first uploaded the video manually to show you how the testing went. The person moved along the fence of the property, opened the gate, went up the stairs and walked in front of the camera.
In the second video, you can see what the camera shot on its own, based on motion detection. We expected to see in the video how this person opened the gate and went up the stairs. Unfortunately, this movement was not recorded.
Since the camera detected movement so late, we tried what would happen if we just ran quickly in front of the camera.
We repeated the same test as before with the only difference - the person went running. Here is the result. The camera detected motion, but started recording late. The running person was not captured in the video by the camera.
After several different tests, we can clearly say that there is a significant delay between motion detection and the start of recording. The camera also cannot detect movement at the edges of the image.
How do notifications appear?
Notifications are traditionally displayed in the notification bar of the smartphone. Such a notification will display the time when the movement was recorded and information on whether the camera has detected human movement.
It happened to us several times that we received the notification to the smartphone with a long delay. For example, a motion alert that the camera detected at 11:16 we got o 11:22.
We noticed the biggest delay when the camera identified the movement of 11:12, but the notification from the application was not displayed until 13:02. However, we only noticed such a big delay once every few days of testing.
Clicking on the notification will open the Mi Home application, which will play the motion video.
Monitoring settings
When it comes to monitoring settings, there are not many options. After turning on the space monitoring assistant, there are only a few settings that you can customize. The first is to set the time when the space is to be monitored.
There is a choice 24-hour monitoring, daily (from 8:00 to 20:00), night (from 20:00 to 8:00) and in the last option you can set own time, when the days are to be monitored.
It is also possible to set the interval after which the monitoring is to be restarted after the previous motion detection. There are only 2 options: 1 or 2 minutes. The default setting is 1 minute. This setting warns you that if you reduce this interval, the endurance per charge will be shortened.
The last two options concern the type of notifications. The first allows alerts if the camera detects movement, the second option should send notifications only if the camera recognizes a person.
During our test, the Mi Home application offered us update firmware for gateway. This update provided the ability to set the length of the video to record when motion is detected. Video length was before update 10 seconds, without the possibility of customization.
After the update, you can set the video length to 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 seconds. We evaluate this step very positively, as many people complained about the absence of this setting.
Additional settings
In other settings it is possible to switch between night mode modes. It can be activated automatically or it can always be switched on or off.
There is also a gallery in the camera settings. Here are the photos and videos that were shot through live camera surveillance.
Videos shot on the basis of motion detection in space can be found in the section "play back", where they are clearly divided in the calendar according to the days and hours when they were recorded. Clicking on a specific hour will display the videos that were saved at that time.
In the settings, it is also possible to change the name of the camera and monitor the battery status in percent. After six days of intensive use, the battery has discharged by 15%.
Our test lasted only a few days, so we do not currently have a manufacturer-certified endurance per charge (3-4 months). However, we will charge the camera 100% and continue to use it to monitor the garden. After the first discharge, we will add real battery life to the review.
Night Vision
The quality of the video recorded during the dark is not among the best. Most of course, see the objects that are located directly in front of the camera. Distant objects can be seen worse.
For the night vision test, we first pointed the camera at the garden. See the person coming in the video below.
In the second test, we pointed the camera directly at the entrance door to the cottage, from where the test person came out.
As you can see from the attached videos, you would hardly know who it is. However, it is necessary to take into account the purchase price of the camera. Those that offer high-quality images even in night video mode cost significantly more.
Sound and its quality
IMILAB EC2 offers two-way audio transmission, thanks to the built-in microphone and speaker. But what is the sound quality? In the videos that the camera records, the sound is good and clear. You can clearly hear the rumble of dogs, the voices of people and the spoken word near the camera.
Worse is the speaker built into the camera. It is very quiet and no settings allow you to add volume. We tried to talk through the camera. We heard the sound very well on the phone, but the sound from the camera itself is very muffled.
We had to be very close to the camera to hear the person talking on the phone. In a noisier environment, it is very difficult to understand the spoken word.
Many people use such cameras as a baby crying monitor. The camera would serve well for this purpose. But if you want to talk to your child through the camera, it can be a problem.
When transmitting sound in this way, we noticed a delay of sound of about 2 seconds. Also, videos that record when motion is detected have no audio for the last 1 to 2 seconds.
Sharing a camera between multiple users
The Mi Home application offers the possibility to share the device or even the whole room. To share, just enter the credentials of the person who must have a Mi account and the Mi Home application.
Subsequently, the person you want to share the device with will be notified. After receiving the share, your device or room will appear in the application.
We shared the camera on several mobile phones, from where we could watch the recording or live broadcast. We were pleased with this feature.
Conclusion
Camera IMILAB EC2 is more suitable for less demanding. However, due to its price, it offers quite good video quality during the day, usable two-way audio transmission and motion detection.
However, we found several shortcomings such as delayed recording start after motion detection, poorer sound output from the camera and poorer night vision.
Due to these shortcomings, we do not recommend the camera for more demanding users who want to secure their land or other object. More investment is needed for serious security.
Battery life also remains questionable during cold winter days, when the temperature stays below freezing for a long time. As you probably know, such temperatures do not benefit batteries.
Imilab EC2 camera European version
The advantage in the form of an integrated battery, thanks to which you do not need to pull the cables to the camera, can turn into a disadvantage if you need to charge the camera often. If you place it in a less accessible place, charging can be a problem, as you have to disassemble the camera or bring an electrical source to it.
Good day,
I wonder how you connected the camera to the Internet in the garden. Do you need to have any WiFi in the garden with a connection? Or can a SIM data card be inserted in the camera / gateway?
What is a good gateway for? Doesn't it work without it? Can't connect camera directly to WiFi?
well thank you
Hello, yes you need a WiFi connection, we have it in the cottage. The SIM card cannot be inserted into the gateway and the camera without the gateway does not work, as it is fully wireless and the main unit is the gateway. For this reason too, a gateway is connected to the application and not a camera directly.
I bought two of these cameras.
The quality is good but the only problem is that the time intervals between recordings is one (1) minute which is far TOO long and the recording clips are only 30 SECONDS which is far too short.
I have one at my front door and it takes approx. 10 seconds from the gate to my door, but an intruder can be invisible and at my door partially blocked by the time the camera activates.
I understand this might be a trade off between battery savings but I bought the cameras for security of my property and this could be addressed by a firmware update as this aspect fails my needs in this respect.
Human detection in Xiaomi cameras is very poor thing. It can't be used for surveillance.
a long delay in notification.
good battery live.
the long delay in notification is annoying, not recommended.
Another issue I find is that the camera cannot zoom. Since I already have a home security camera that can zoom this is quite a disappointing issue.
Hello, I have the monitoring with 4 cameras, and I have a problem. All cameras are well-equipped, but when they are on my Home App, the gateway and the gateway show this sea just before the first camera. How can you be ?? How do you get to the window where all the cameras are? Info: landing system is available in China and language in German, it is a multidisciplinary,? For a rat, I can thank you very much
Hello, try this https://xiaomi.eu/community/threads/connect-2-imilab-ec2-cameras-on-the-same-gateway.56796/
Hello, please, I'm looking for a camera to be placed in the alarm clock bay. According to the description, this would not be appropriate for NATO. Can you advise me another one. Well thank you.
Hello, what exactly do you need there? What are the conditions there?