day, we are going to talk about the Bosma capsule cam. Thank You Bosma for sending me your camera to review. This is an indoor WiFi security camera that features the Starlight vision which lets you see color in low light conditions.
Let’s check out features:
It has a 1080p resolution
and has a 162° field of view
It uses the Starvis sensor by Sony to deliver full color footage in lowlight environments.
It also has traditional black and white night vision with 1 IR LED.
It has 2 way audio
It records to a micro SD card up to 32 GB and can record when it detects motion or you can set it to record 24/7.
You setup, access and watch the camera through your smartphone or tablet.
Now, let’s open up the box.
We have the camera itself…which literally looks like an egg and it is pretty cute and small camera.
It has the camera lens in the front, light sensor on the right of it and the IR LED on the left.
On the side, we have the micro SD card slot.
At the back, we have the speaker and the micro USB slot for power supply.
The bottom base is magnetic.
You can pull up the camera from its base so that it can be adjusted. You can now tilt the camera up or down. Up if you are installing it in a wall and at the exposed bottom of the camera, there is the reset button and the mic. We also have the status LED light at the base.
What else is inside the box, we have the metal plate, screws and anchors and also a reset tool.
We have the power adapter..
then the USB power cable.
Lastly, we have the Quick Start Guide which basically states, download the app, sign up, add the camera, setup the WiFi connection and your are done.
A tip to install the micro SD card. If you don’t have long fingernails like me, you need to use the push tool that came with the camera to push the card in.
Let’s plug in the camera to set it up.
Download the Bosma app.
Click allow for notifications.
Log in or sign up for a new account if this is your first time installing the camera.
Click on the plus sign on the upper right corner to add the camera.
Plug in the camera if you haven’t done it yet and click next.
Click ok to allow the app to access your camera then scan the QR code located at the bottom of the base.
Choose the option that has the same light status as your camera. Which for me is the slow blinking blue light.
Click next.
Go to your WiFi settings and click on the network that has Bosma on it.
Then, go back to the Bosma app.
Type in your WiFi password and click connect.
Give your camera a name and click Finish.
Click on the picture to go to live view.
Also update the firmware when this message shows up.
On the main camera view, you can go to the settings by clicking the gear icon on the upper right corner. We have the device name and sharing then we have the recording schedule.
You can toggle the recording on or off.
You also have a choice if you want to record during motion events only or you can choose to record 24/7.
Then, we have rotate image if you want rotate or flip the image which is necessary if you are installing the camera to the ceiling.
Next, we have the resolution low for 360; medium 720p and high for 1080p.
Then the night vision which we can select the Starlight sensor but with one caveat though. If you turn it on, the camera will record in full color even in low light…the keyword here is lowlight…if there is barely any light at all which is usually the case inside the house, then the footage be too dark even with the Starlight Vision. I’ll show you sample footages later on. If it is off, then it will record in traditional black and white and this camera has one infrared LED.
Then, we have the motion alerts. If you want to have push notifications sent to your phone. This is the only way to alert you if there is motion. No email alerts.
Then we have the SD card, which shows your total, available and used storage. There is also an option to format the SD card.
There is the WiFi network and time zone.
Going back to the main camera view, on the left of the gear icon is the share icon where you can share the camera’s view to your family and friends.
Then, on the bottom is the camera icon if you want to take a snapshot of the footage.
Then, we have the record button to record the footage and saved directly to your phone.
Theres the mic icon for 2 way communication,
and the Speaker icon to listen.
You can also adjust the brightness and contrast.
And lastly you can view the camera in full screen.
Tapping it once, the menu will pop up at the bottom.
You can also use pinch gesture to zoom in or out and pan around.
Now, let’s check out some footage.
Daytime footage.
2 way audio doesn’t work with this camera. First, the camera’s mic barely picks up any sound and you need to be very close to the camera even then, it is barely audible. Secondly, the speaker of the camera which is located at the back is barely loud enough to hear.
Now, how about night vision. We will test out how good the starlight vision is and I’ll be comparing it to the Argus 2 which also has starlight vision and see how they compare. Starlight sensors are more sensitive to light and will record in color. (17)
As you can see, lights are off except for some bedroom lights which you can see in the background. This is a typical scenario at home, which most lights if not all are off.
The footage is too dark to be useful.
Now, compare this with the Argus 2, which has the same Starlight sensor. The footage is darker than the Boma’s and also unuseable. So, the starlight sensor being used inside the house is not going to be of benefit because it does need some light to have usable footage.
Now, moving the Argus 2 which is an outdoor camera to the outside, then thats when the starlight vision can shine. BTW, I’ll link in the description down below my video comparing the Argus 2’s starlight vision versus the Argus Pro’s standard sensor without night vision and you will see the difference especially if there is some ambient lighting and not totally dark.
Now, let’s test out the alert notification speed and the cool off period.
The Bosma will notify you of motion within 10 seconds and has a cool off period of at least 2 minutes which is pretty decent. There is an issue though….
The detection range is somewhat limited. During testing, I need to be within 5 feet for the camera to detect me. This is around 12 feet and no notification. When I came in closer, that is the only time it notified me.
As you can see on the recorded footage, the camera just started recording when I was walking towards the camera.
I also notice some freezing and lag on the recording.
And while we are talking about recordings. There are no options for it to be downloaded or shared. It just has a play, pause and full screen options. So, I guess the only way to download the footage is to remove the micro SD card and upload it to your computer.
And another thing…the camera is suppose to record when it detects motion even when the alert notification is off. But, it doesn’t. The only way it will record motion detected events is you have to turn on motion alerts.
The full time or 24/7 recording works though.
The Bosma Capsule Cam is currently only available at indiegogo which they are trying to fund the camera so they can release and sell it to the public. Right now, it is priced at 79 dollars plus shipping which is on the higher end for indoor WiFi security cameras.
It is in the prototype stage which is why there are still a lot of tweaking that needs to be done to refine this product. I forwarded all the issues that I noticed which are mostly software and app related except for the mic issue which I’m hoping it is software related too.
Bosma CapsuleCam – bit.ly/2LEQpiH
Reolink Argus 2 – amzn.to/2JnpodJ shrsl.com/xtz8