If you’ve been following Samsung’s SmartCam line of IP cameras, you’ll be happy to hear that we’ve finally got a Pan & Tilt version from the SmartCam line.
The newest addition to the family is a sleek black-colored Pan & Tilt capable camera (shown below). I wanted to show you the size of the camera as well as a fun background so please excuse the penguins in the picture.
As you can tell, the camera itself is not that big. It still maintains a small body while recording and showing in 1080p. Compared to the older SmartCams, this camera is missing the neck portion that would normally allow for the swivel option that we all like so much. It does come with a base that will be nice for mounting procedures; however, it is not necessary as it works just fine right on top of a flat surface like the desk.
It’s definitely not bulky, in my opinion. It’s no bigger than your 12 oz coffee cup in diameter making it nice to hide. As I mentioned before the SNH-V6410BN comes with Pan & Tilt functionality. This is a big game changer for Samsung’s IP camera line because it would be one of the first to be released with Pan & Tilt (this will now be referred to as PT). Gone is the whole need to make sure the camera is aimed at the correct spot and angle because now you can do that from your desk. As I go further into this review, I will cover these parts specifically; however, I wanted you, the reader, to know that this is one of the cooler functions that comes with this new camera.
SO, this will be a more in-depth review of this new release rather than a fancy picture only release party so please do stick around and take a read.
Features
The SNH-V6410PN comes with all the same features as our old friend the SNH-P6410. Here’s a short list of those similarities:
- WDR
- Night Vision
- 1080p Full HD streaming
- MicroSD storage
- Sound/motion detection
- Wi-Fi Connectivity
However, you cannot release a new camera with a completely different design without some new cool features. These new updates are listed below:
- Pan & Tilt (350˚ [175˚ to 175˚] Pan & 155˚ [80˚ to 75˚] tilt)
- Object Tracking
- Privacy Mode
- Increased MicroSD capacity at 128 GB
These new additional features really make the SNH-V6410PN a powerful and fun IP camera. Now we don’t have to worry about our dogs or cats running out of the screen because the PT should take care of that annoying issue. Object Tracking is one of the more intuitive features that come with this camera. The camera’s motion sensors will pick up movement and move accordingly with the object that is moving. Aside from being able to control the position of the lens, it is now possible to actually allow the camera to do the work for us. That’s pretty sweet in my book.
Privacy mode is an interesting factor and I’m starting to notice it more and more on many cameras. Essentially, when you want to avoid having the camera record or be functional, you turn on Privacy mode to have it tilt all the way down making it completely obsolete. This is usually useful when you normally have alerts on for movement and sound and would like some peace and quiet when you know you don’t need the camera’s security functions.
Generally, these new features make it very useful for people looking to use it as a baby monitor or a pet monitor since I think the biggest drawback of the older SmartCams was that once the object was out of sight, it was pretty much useless in situations where constant observation would be necessary.
Size and Setup
The size of the actual camera unit is pretty small. It fits and sits nicely on the palm of your hand and also does so on table tops or flat surfaces.
The detailed dimensions image shows you exactly how much in millimeters what the size is, but I prefer to compare it to items that we use daily. So aside from the dimensions image, I’ve also attached an image of the camera next to my iPhone 6S plus.
As you can see from the picture, you’ll notice as I mentioned before that this unit doesn’t have the long neck or adjustable neck that we saw in other SmartCams. It seems that the intended use for this particular camera was for desktops or some flat surface. The platform/dock that comes with the unit is mainly meant for wall installations where if you don’t want to put the camera flat on a wall. Now you kind of have to use your imagination to see what that would look like because we have two different situations here:
- Putting the camera flat on a side wall – with a PT camera like this installed on the side of the wall, you end up not being able to utilize the camera to the fullest degree as far as coverage. Because it’s end destination in both ends is the ceiling, I personally think that the range itself is wasted on blank space. The one clear upside is that if you have stuff on the floor, you’ll be be able to see it clearly despite the fact that the default image may be sideways.
- Putting the camera flat standing upright on the dock – with the camera’s panning range, you’ll be able to cover a room from side to side and also cover a pretty good range from top to bottom. The only downside is that the lower end of the floor will not be visible since it’s the camera is no longer able to go lower in it’s tilt. the actual dock is depicted below:
As you can tell, the dock itself is designed to jut out from the side walls. To screw the camera on to the dock, you’ll simply use the black knob that keeps the camera fixed in its original packaging. You’ll actually have to unscrew this portion when you first receive the camera to take it off from the packaging.
The setup portion is no different from your other SmartCam setups so I will simply link you over to one of our other setup tutorials for that. The website and app are all still the same and all you’ll have to make sure of is that there is good internet/wifi connection wherever you’re looking to install/setup the camera. But since everything is in black, it can be a nice stylish addition to your security camera groups.
Functionality
Of course, this is what everyone’s been waiting for. We haven’t been known to lie in any of our reviews so you can definitely rest assured that we’ll give you some realistic reviews on the functionality. There are a few things that should be covered here and those are : Camera Quality, PT functionality, and Object Tracking. The reason why I’m choosing these specifically is because they’re the only new functions that we’re seeing in this new release. Despite the fact that it’s only two features, I believe that they’re the biggest changes that could potentially make this camera a real fan favorite.
- Camera Quality:
- The camera itself broadcasts on three different resolutions just like the other cameras. The default starts at 360 which is the lowest resolution. Then you have 720p and then 1080p. So depending on your internet speed or connection, you can decide how good of a resolution you need. The 1080p resolution is pretty good but definitely seeing a bit of lag and delay between the actual and streamed footage; however, this lag is pretty much unnoticeable when you’re seeing it from a remote location. Additionally, the lag isn’t so much that it would make monitoring difficult so no worries there.
- One of the biggest issues used to be the actual recorded video footage. Now you’ve also got the option to record in 1080p instead of the default 720p recording of the past. The recordings are smooth and clear so you should have no problem viewing the footage at a later time.
- New Menu
- The menu for the website as well as the app has been updated to include the new PT functionality. I would’ve thought that any type of implementation or integration of this function would make things cluttered and annoying; however, the application has been adjusted fairly well. There is nothing confusing about the layout and the menus that come with it so it should be more than easy as far as usage is concerned.
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Video footage capture of mobile menu Above is a screen capture of the mobile view of video footage taken from the SNH-V6410. You have the transparent arrows for camera PT control and the additional presets on the left side. The icon that looks like a target toggles the object tracking on and off while the house icon puts the camera back into its default position. When you’re not using the Object tracking function, I think the most useful option would be to have a few presets. The gear icon will take you into a screen that allows you to set 3 additional presets aside from the Home preset. This is useful because you may have zones you want to keep an eye on but normally a fixed camera would never be able to cover all three areas. So for example you could have the camera sitting in the middle of the room and have presets to look into the kitchen, the hallway, and doorway. This allows you to save time since you won’t have to fidget with the arrow keys to get the camera to where you want it to be.
- PT Functionality
- The PT is as you would expect it. I’ve stopped really expecting a lot from PT units when it comes to IP cameras if you think about how the actual commands are sent. Take this scenario for instance: if you’re accessing the camera from a remote location on your phone or computer, your actual command goes from your phone or computer to a server handling all the cameras and then to the camera itself. So we can definitely expect a delay between the actual PT function on the camera and the command given. Despite that expectation, the camera responds fairly quickly since you’re logged onto the server already when viewing the camera feed. The camera moves almost instantly; however, the video feed does show a bit of more than acceptable delay.
- As you can imagine, the camera itself is motorized for the PT function. In many other PT cameras that I’ve used, the noise from the actual panning motion is noticeable so being discrete is out of the question; however, the SNH-V6410PN is extremely quiet from what I can tell. The only time I really hear anything is when I hit the end of PT range but anything between that is actually quite silent which is a big plus.
- Object Tracking
- This is definitely a risky move in my opinion. Why? Because I believe this has the highest chance of not performing the way it should. I’ve tested it with our office people as well as my own dog at home. The camera itself is very responsive to movement so motion detection is not a problem. Can it keep up with a dog that runs back and forth a cross a room all the time? Definitely not. Can it keep up with people sneaking around and walking around? Most definitely. The object tracking is actually nicely tuned into the motion detection software making it move along with motion fairly accurately. You won’t see the camera pan and tilt smoothly with someone walking across, but it will move more in segments to keep up with the moving object.
Design
This one will be extremely brief because I’m not quite sure how important the design itself is. I’ve always personally been a fan of the black color. Never really liked the white cameras all too much because they were too well hidden. I feel like a black camera gives off a more sleek design while still being visible to those who are being recorded. I think sometimes the best way to avoid any kind of situation where a camera would be handy is to prevent it from ever happening. That being said, sometimes knowing that there is a camera is enough to deter someone from doing something they’ll probably regret. Of course this doesn’t hold true for everything, but that just happens to be my opinion on the matter.
Here you see Samsung’s newest release (SNH-V6410PN) and the camera that was released before it (SNH-V6414). Being that they’re the same color, pairing the two isn’t a bad idea. I believe both are part of the newer network of cameras within the SmartCam series so any kind of update will probably have a better chance of applying to these two instead of the older ones.
Overall Opinion
Overall, the SNH-V6410PN is a pretty good camera. I’ve had it linked and registered for a few days with no issues such as drops or disconnects. The PT function works well and the other new features are fun to use. The only other expectation that I had was to see this camera fall under a newly developed app that would allow for smoother functions as well as usage as it’s no secret that the SmartCam App is a bit clunky. Aside from that I had no real complaints about the product. The new dome shaped design is a nice change and with the object tracking feature actually working, the SNH-V6410PN actually makes a decent buy for a makeshift security system.
Compared to the SNH-P6410BN, SNH-E6440BN, and SNH-E6413, the SNH-V6410PN is actually quite the upgrade due to its new features. One of the worst parts about buying an IP camera was that it was fixed and you needed multiple to monitor several spots. Now, it’s somewhat of a money saver as well as a space saver since this one unit can be used to monitor an entire room with the PT function.
It’s currently available at Amazon as well as our main website. It’s priced at $229 for now. It is a bit more on the pricier side of things but is not a bad investment for a camera that can truly work as a small portable security camera system. The link below will take you directly to the product page.
Soltech Security 