If you're looking to keep a closer eye on your newborn, this camera and sensor combo will provide loads of data, timely alerts, and the notifications you need to stay on top of your nervousness. Not that you're nervous, of course.
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Features
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Design
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Ease of setup
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Value
Parents, especially modern-day, first-time parents, are often overwhelmed by the sheer amount of baby products available on the market. Obviously, you want just the best for your little one. But often that’s not as simple as buying the first product in a Google search.
I recently became a parent. For the first time, mind you. And being a techy, I almost immediately started researching baby tech when I found out I was pregnant. There are lists of baby monitors available in the market, and finding one that suited our needs was… a long and tedious process.
Now I’m a parent of a newborn, and the R14,000 Owlet Baby Monitor Duo 2 caught my attention due to its intriguing combination of video monitoring and wearable tech. The setup is almost like an Apple Watch for your infant (from birth up to 18 months), paired with a camera monitor to ensure your little one’s stats are good.
The full kit
The Owlet Baby Monitor Duo 2 arrives in two separate boxes — one for the Cam 2 and another for the Smart Sock 3. The packaging is well-designed and includes all the necessary components for installation.
Setting up the Cam 2 is relatively straightforward, whether you choose to mount it on a wall or position it on a flat surface. The magnetic base offers flexibility, but opting for the wall mount option requires a bit more effort. The pairing process, while generally smooth, may encounter occasional hiccups, especially during the QR code scanning step.
I should note here that you’ll need a WiFi network in your home, and that the system won’t work sans power. So if you’re opting for a WiFi baby monitor, you’ll need backup power of some sort, as well as continuous internet connectivity.
Owlet emphasises the devices’ security and privacy, assuring users of a secure, encrypted WiFi connection. It’s still a good idea to ensure security on your home WiFi network as an additional layer of defence. You don’t want creeps poking around in your baby’s room via the baby monitor.
Constant check-in
Equipped with 1080p HD video, night vision, and a wide-angle lens, the Cam 2 promises crisp and clear visuals. In practise, the video quality is impressive, capturing every detail with clarity.
However, we did experience a decrease in video quality during real-time use, particularly when streaming over WiFi. This issue could be attributed to transmission limitations rather than inherent camera capabilities. But it happened more than a few times in our testing.
It is nice to have the live feed on your phone though. Most people will have their smartphones with them at all times, so it’s super convenient.
That happens in the Owlet app, which serves as the central hub for monitoring your baby’s activities. It’s user-friendly and provides access to nursery streams, temperature/humidity readings, and two-way audio communication. Despite occasional lags in loading times and video quality fluctuations during motion or sound detection, the app offers essential features for remote monitoring and gives you peace of mind.
One notable feature of the Owlet app is its customisable notification settings. Users can tailor alerts based on sound, motion, or room comfort preferences. This is a very good idea. We found the default notification settings overwhelming as they’ll notify you of every movement and sound (newborns can be pretty active when they sleep).
We suggest fine-tuning the notification parameters to strike a balance between staying informed and avoiding unnecessary interruptions.
Baby’s first Fitbit
The Smart Sock 3 adds an extra layer of monitoring by tracking vital signs such as heart rate, oxygen levels, and sleep.
Setting up the Sock is straightforward, guided by the app’s instructions. The soft fabric and sensor design offer a comfortable fit for your baby – it shouldn’t be uncomfortable for long-ish sessions on their foot during sleep.
It gives you real-time sleep quality indicators which offer valuable insight into your baby’s sleep patterns. From heart rate variations to oxygen level fluctuations, the app supplies a comprehensive overview of the baby’s sleep quality and metrics.
The app will alert you if the baby’s oxygen drops below a healthy range, transmitting the data via the base station which doubles as the sock’s charging port. This base station is essential for communication between the sock and the app.
And even when the app goes offline or WiFi disconnects, the base station still receives readings from the sock and alerts if anything goes wrong. You just won’t have real-time access to stats or the video feed in the app.
Owlet Smart Sock 3 and Cam 2 Verdict
The Owlet Baby Monitor Duo 2 presents a compelling proposition for parents looking to monitor their baby’s vitals and physical health. While the Cam 2 offers standard features found in its competitors, the addition of the Sock 3 sets it apart as a pretty solid sleep-tracking option.
As the technology evolves and user feedback offers improvements, the Owlet system has the potential to become a staple in modern parenting. The only serious consideration is the price. Almost R15,000 for a baby-compatible tracking system might seem like an overspend but that’s only a thought you have if it’s not your newborn being watched over.
