Swann NVR-8580 4K Ultra HD 8 Channel Security System Review

Mike from TopDaddies demonstrates and reviews the Swann NVR-8580 4K Ultra HD 8 Channel Security System and cameras. Disclosure: TopDaddies received product for review, however was not financially compensated for this post. Links to other websites are provided for convenience and to find more information, and are not affiliate marketing links. TopDaddies does not receive compensation from these links.
ABOUT THE SWANN NVR-8580
This security system is packed with the latest CCTV tech, such as weatherproof IP security cameras, night vision, push notifications, audio, sensor lights, siren and integration with Dropbox and the Google Assistant. Get amazing detail with 4K Ultra HD which is 4x the resolution of 1080p Full HD. Zoom in closer with unprecedented clarity to essential evidence like license plates and faces. True Detect thermal motion sensing triggers recording & push notifications when it detects heat from moving objects, like people & cars. The super bright sensor spotlights also turn on upon heat detection and let you see in color at night. The 2-way audio & siren let you talk back & scare off intruders. Advanced 4K video analytics, such as Face Detection and others, recognize elements on the image to trigger recording & alerts, while the built-in microphone adds audio evidence.
See live or playback video on your phone from anywhere with the HomeSafe View app. Add up to 2 more cameras for a full 8 channel surveillance. The massive hard drive stores months of footage with no fees ever. Link your NVR to Dropbox and upload still images to the cloud for off-site storage. Power over Ethernet, PoE, transmits power, video and audio via a single Ethernet cable per camera. Everything is included in the box, including 60ft (18m) Ethernet cables per camera, HDMI cable, screws and security stickers. For more information visit the Swann website: www.swann.com/us/swnvk-885804...

[@Hunkalishis]

Great review . Thank you

[@sproket168]

Its amazing the reviews that this system gets when it's not paid for .

[@yeagsntoastable]

Did you buy this system.?

[@sproket168]

@@yeagsntoastable yip

[@yeagsntoastable]

@@sproket168 is it crap?

[@sproket168]

@@yeagsntoastable sure is mate

[@censorthis-uu6cc]

Can you add wireless cam's to the NVR? If so, are you still limited to 8 cam's total?

[@email2rahat]

Can you set a specific camera to trigger the alarm automatically. I only need alarm for backyard facing camera only.

[@mikefa5891]

Thanks for the informative review! Just a couple of quick questions: How loud is the siren, and how clear is the human voice coming out of the speaker?

[@charliehustle544]

I don't know how loud the siren is, but the quality and latency of the mic/speaker is not very good. That having been said, I'm pretty satisfied with the system overall.

[@yrvinfils-aime5635]

What is the longest distance the camera can be installed with distortion of the images. I have a Argentines property that requires long cable.

[@toehacker7146]

I for one do not recommend anyone buy this. 1. There are two types of cameras when buying. Don't get caught out. 5 megapixel and 8 megapixel but the 4k you expect is not true 4K. 4K is referring to the Monitor Screen aka TV not the cameras themselves. Reading license plates after 13m is NOT GOOD! Unless you have a very good line of sight 2. Video stream / playback is jittery. It's not a faulty unit just not smooth like others or what you would expect... 3. The app for android "Home Safe View" works great. Can zoom in etc but the streaming quality is really REALLY BAD! Find other apps. On a good note the spot lights are good to 10m. Each camera has a decent siren deterrent activated in settings not crazy loud but enough to say I see you. Night vision / color at night is EXCELLENT. Talking to or listening from the camera's is not possible. You have to buy a specific camera to do this but the NVR/DVR setup can do it. NVR is 48v power DVR is 12v power so good for Solar. Not going to run if the power is cut off on purpose is it.

[@KPSeth]

Can we have Swann cameras app on our I phone and see the working of cameras by sitting over here in USA

[@cpouk8285]

Nice video Dad lol. I need a best nvr for my home, which 1 do you recommend Mate?

[@anrivera1975]

This is the current system I have right now, I used to have Hikvision and Annke, so far this system is the best. They are two things that just concerns me, one is the night vision which is not too clear and if you use mainstream in the phone I will lag too much, the only way to have a smooth video is by using substream which is a lower resolution, but hey you are paying for a 4k system you want to be able to see your recordings in the phone as 4k right?. Lastly you may have the option to get push notifications in your phone, however if you select those alerts you are expecting to see what occurred in that particular moment, the application merely open the live stream. The competition in this aspect is better because as soon you click the alert the application opens and playback that alert/motion. I will give it 8 of a 10 scale

[@mariusexotic]

No. 4K is meant for local recording, monitoring and playback thru a 4K monitor/TV, not for mobile viewing. Your mobile phone does not even have a 4K resolution and even if it did, you do not have the massive internet upload bandwidth from your home ISP required to stream 4K. Configure and use Substream and Mobilstream for that!

[@mikefa5891]

@Anibal Rivera - what is the competitor model that you would recommend?

[@serfer]

Anibal Rivera what about lorex (costco ) is better or worst ?

[@email2rahat]

Is this better than dahua starlight or hkvision darkfighter? Can you set only selected camera to trigger alarm rather than all at the same time. I don't need alarm for the front facing cameras.

[@williadawilliams]

Mike, what website did you buy the 8 ch with six cameras and got two free?

[@KPSeth]

Can we have Swann wired cameras operating in India on our I phone while in USA please reply

[@PatHaskell]

Does anyone know if you can get notifications and view cameras on different phone numbers?

[@djexclusivee]

Will my old 1080p dvr view in 4k with 4k cams bought separate?

[@Waltwizzle]

My 2way talk isn't reliable why is this ? It only works well with the app if I reboot the system the after a few minutes or hrs it doesn't work right and I have gigabyte speed internet with 40 Mbps upload

[@jungleviper]

Is the swan model 876808 any good?

[@FM-Patriot]

Is it still working good??

[@vinnyqua]

Are you having trouble viewing the system on a hdtv through HDMI? I try to view 2 channels through main stream/HD on my hdtv then one channel goes off and says not enough resources.

[@Toliman.]

need more info, but here's some background which might help on IP cameras, The NVR unit has bandwidth processing limits. Some of the cheap 4/5 camera NVR units might not be able to handle 90mbit, so you need to share the bandwidth (drop some cameras to 4k - 8MP 15fps or 5MP modes at 30fps) or set up H265 compression on each camera to share the peak bandwidth. Each camera might be pushing 20mbit+ in 4k modes, but the install setup should let you know this and explain why. If you are seeing bandwidth limits, you will have to adjust the Main Stream or the recording quality of the cameras for the position you need it to be in. i.e. 4k/8mp for open areas, 5mp for night vision or hallways, etc. ONVIF cameras (IP cameras like the Swann, Tiandy, Reolink, Dahua, Hikvision, etc. ) usually have 2 connection options, main and sub stream, main stream is the full bandwidth used to record footage, sub-stream is used in previews and when streaming over wifi / internet. sub-stream is better for watching on a phone, or previewing cameras 24/7 on a 2x2 grid screen, and it's adjustable to 1080p or 720p instead of 4k. You can also get faster frame-rate previews to see 'what's happening' faster with sub-streams on the app/alerts/notifications. When you connect to the NVR over WiFi, you are asking for the "screen", but it's not sent out that way. It will connect you to the preview/sub stream. which 4x 4k streams worth of video over WiFi, but it can send this over ethernet/cabled to the NVR on a PC, Most of the time. Your Desktop PC might not have enough power to watch 4x 4k video unless it has hardware acceleration, so you should preview with the sub-streams. Intel CPU's can watch multiple 4k streams, as long as it's not HEVC / H265, if it is, you'll probably need an Nvidia GPU to accelerate the decoding and watching of multiple 4k HEVC videos. It really depends how the NVR is converting the video, or it's relaying from the cameras. Probably the latter.

[@gevansmd]

According to the Swann website, at 4K resolution the cameras only have a framerate of 1-8 FPS. The captured images in this video are significantly better than that, suggesting they were not captured on Swann cameras. Also, the audio latency when using the two way audio is noticeable enough to key a thief that you're away and not in the house.

[@mysty0]

Yes, the fps is far better than 8fps demontrating the reviewer is a little more than disingenuous and his review isnt worth crap. Infact I will probably add this worthless SOB to my list of never suggest again

[@mroxt72]

How many megapixels is it?

[@rosalieromero3289]

I have 4 camera with lights and camera, I bought one more single camera with infra read, this one stops live recording..I have to log off and log on again to get recording to start.. I get one live recording then stops again..

[@RolandSilk]

Has anyone tried to add a wide-angle camera to a swan 8580 system maybe a camera from Rio link or another manufacturer

[@Phill_Ashley]

My system just runs 24/7 and overwrites after about 16 days.

[@nono-yb1po]

are you using the system in the video?

[@jesseltine]

If u have the recording set to continus how long will the 2tb harddrive last

[@derfskittlers6125]

I believe he continues to record and then older stuuf gets deleted. Maybe up to a week or more.

[@JonBOY26]

Are there any differences/benefits between the Swann 4K cams that use power-over-ethernet versus the Swann 4K cams that use BNC cables? Aside from ease of installation, is PoE better than BNC, or vice versa? Cheers.

[@crosspalalas86]

I've never cared for entire systems that run through ethernet because if the internet goes down (which is the frequent) then they are useless. I love the Defender 4K Wired Security System!

[@mikefa5891]

@@crosspalalas86 Defender 4K Wired Security System have 2-way audio feature?

[@Toliman.]

​@@crosspalalas86 The power on most PoE cameras comes from the NVR. It saves time, since the cabling can stay in place if you change or upgrade cameras, where the BNC cables are harder to route through walls, and limit the choice of cameras. There are distance changes with PoE and BNC too, but I'd never opt-in with BNC unless you know what you're going to upgrade to in 5-10 years. You can attach a battery backup UPS to the NVR for security in blackouts, each camera uses 7w on the system, the Monitor would use 60w, and the NVR might use 50w, so you can get 50minutes to an hour of recording on a 1500 VA UPS for an extra $200 or so. Cyberpower is a good UPS that fits the bill, but you can get cheaper/expensive/higher grade models. a 650VA unit might be able to keep the NVR and internet going for 1 hour, but separate UPSs are useful if the power goes out frequently and you need the internet going to make phone calls, etc. or if the NVR is in a different room to the router/Internet.

[@Geebax2]

@@crosspalalas86 It is using Internet cable thats all, it does not rely on the Internet itself. If you internet feed goes dowen, it does not affect the cameras.

[@christopherleonge1833]

@@crosspalalas86 lol what? you dont need internet for POE systems. the ethernet cable is just for power. You don't need internet for these systems.

[@teresacapraro6805]

What is code 2 ??

[@pauln8984]

Can you zoom in on live feed on the phone app?

[@miguelsalazar3239]

Yes

[@josephcaruso3077]

It's useless at night,the cars lights blurs all images

[@hughgray6773]

yes

[@fellovercliff4525]

Purchased this system couple weeks back and honestly'' I've had lessor quality camera systems that produce better pictures than these so called 4K cameras. If you need to place these cameras facing along an outside wall, the wall interferes with the night vision sensors and the wall looks bright and everything else is dark. I have made extension brackets to move the cameras out from the wall around ten inches and has made no difference at all. Have never had this problem with other camera systems. Also the home view app that is free to use on smart phones is totally useless.

[@danielhughes5250]

me too

[@theflyerpr40d]

Hi, Some questions. 1-So it would not let you download clips to the phone using the app? 2-do you get a lot of false alerts? Thanks.

[@garrynutter860]

Interesting questions, Wonder what the answer is.

[@Mr-nn8uv]

theflyerpr40d Yes, lots of false alerts. Trees moving will set it off and sometimes just the sun shining will set it off no matter how sensitive you set it. No way to download clips on iPhone. I recall being able to on android but it’s been a while so I’m not 100% certain. 2 of my swann cameras failed and I replaced them with better ones from other manufacturers and they work well. Overall it is a nice system but if I were to do it again I’d piece together my own.

[@mikefa5891]

@@Mr-nn8uv i am shopping around for a new system to replace my older Nigh Owl system that does not have audio - What system would you recommed?

[@Mr-nn8uv]

Mike Fa Sorry, I have no recommendation at the moment. I'm still using the Swann NVR. The software has been updated recently and it is working well with three Swann cameras, two amcrest and one cheapo camera from Amazon. The non Swann cameras work for basic recording but you have to use an app or login to them to access any extra features they have. I'm thinking about using a PC and open source software when it's time to upgrade.

[@toehacker7146]

@@mikefa5891 Do some research on Hikvision

[@YingHuiThe1958]

Question. The IR Cameras, at night, does the camera glow Red ? That would give away the camera location. YH

[@suzKawasaki]

Yes, it does. If you leave a light source on and switch the camera to color night mode, then you won't have the red IR lights come on.

[@Geebax2]

@luis garcia I fully agree, you want them to know the camera is there, and you even want them to try and cover the camera up, because in doing that, the dumb bastards will look into rthe camera and provide a perfect mug shot. I have a mix of Swann cameras and dummy ones as well around my house, and the whole system runs off a UPS in case they try to shut off the power.

[@icsheeple]

does the phone app have a monthly fee?

[@adventureescape1929]

no

[@fellovercliff4525]

Good luck with the app lol its utterly useless.

[@thcxlowlife9043]

Do you need a computer to use this or can you hook it up to a tv?

[@toehacker7146]

Literally any screen that has VGA or HDMI inputs.

[@jenneferbelonio112]

Do you need to pay subscription? To live stream the video.

[@adventureescape1929]

no

[@toehacker7146]

Hell no

[@teresacapraro6805]

Code 2 ???

[@jonayodtv8801]

I need explanation on how to recover my password

[@charliehustle544]

I've had this system, 'cept I have 16 channels with 8 cameras, two of the kind with lights and mics. It's causing my router to go off-line. I'm having to reboot my router. Any ideas on that?

[@XxOgXsnipZxX]

I was thinking of buying them cuz my home is being vandalized. Are these cameras any good

[@toehacker7146]

Are you using the app to view the cameras through wifi? If so your router wifi is over heating causing it to temporarily go offline. Check router's temperature.

[@charliehustle544]

@@toehacker7146 It's 84°F, barely warm to the touch. I know it's a traffic problem, but it's happening now overnight when there's very little movement. This was happening multiple times per day until I dialed back the video quality on the substream.

[@charliehustle544]

@@toehacker7146 With some observation and noodling around, I decided it was a traffic issue. I was wrong. I returned to technical support, with persistence, I got to Level 2 support. They had me do some resetting of my NW settings and it turns out that my software (that was really dated when I bought the unit 2 mos ago and updated on my second trip to technical support) needed updating again. I took this update and the problem has not come up again. Up now for 72 hours, fingers crossed.

[@toehacker7146]

@@charliehustle544 That's good news. Sometimes the simplest solution is one we tend to overlook. 👍

[@IRISHBLOKE2007]

Which is better? Hikvision or Swann ?

[@anthonymorrison2167]

digitech

[@reelman4299]

If you need help from swann customer service or the technical support department, god help you!

[@anthonymorrison2167]

yes they hire people off the street that know nothing that speak bad english.

[@gman243]

Same with Lorex

[@chrispritchett4522]

Same in Australia they don't give a shit about after sales they have your money don't buy .

[@santosasmita]

problems occurs after few months.

[@coobye]

Sounds like a Swann add. Surely there's something to criticize about it.

[@efrainnoyola8288]

can i used the camera system with out the internet??

[@adventureescape1929]

yes

[@realtalkrealtalkrealtalk]

I just bought a 4k dvr swann kit and i am completely unsatisfied with how you have to purchase a separate external microphone that requires ANOTHER cable just to record audio?! Even my little 20 dollar cams have a built in mic and speaker for 2 way audio... Such bs

[@doctorboy5892]

That's it. Dvr cables, know as bnc, can't transmit audio. That is why everyone is switching from dvr to nvr. The ethernet cable can transmit images, sound, and power. The guy who sold it to you, take the dvr back, get him to bend over, put some ky jelly over the dvr, and insert it in his rectum.

[@hohner7134]

I have this system and it is terrible. The system frequently loses power and starts up again. Some days this will occur up to 9 times with the worst occurrence being 23 times in one week. Swann support are extremely unhelpful, every time I call them they blame it on something different. No matter how many "fixes" I try that swann recommends, nothing has resolved the issue. They're just biding their time until my warranty expires so they don't need to bear the cost

[@serfer]

Do u know about lorex (costco) is better ??

[@toehacker7146]

Check the temperature of the unit. It might be shutting down to protect itself from being damaged. Another possibility maybe the power supply maybe faulty and overheating as well.

[@kit0415]

Is this clear enought to read a license number from 20-30 feet away?

[@josephcaruso3077]

Don't bother with this ,it won't do that and swan won't acknowledge the fact

[@mikefa5891]

@luis garcia Seems like you are very knowledgeable or experienced in the security camera market - which Ring model do you recommend?... i am shopping for a new security cam system with audio-video feature to replace my older Night Owl system that does not have the audio feature... Any suggestions you provide will be greatly appreciated!

[@mikefa5891]

@luis garcia yeah but which Ring Model that does not require a monthly subscription fee for video storage??

[@Mr-nn8uv]

Mike Fa they all require the monthly or yearly subscription to store and view saved video , ring cameras are pretty good though. I use one on my front door.

[@mikefa5891]

@@Mr-nn8uv IF there is a monthly subscription fee - the cameras should be FREE!

[@Keepingthefaith72]

No point in showing us 4k video . When the youtube video is in 1080 ....

[@dgb5820]

You told me jack shit

[@mikefa5891]

Thanks for the informative review! Just a couple of quick questions: How loud is the siren, and how clear is the human voice coming out of the speaker?

[@violetjackson5027]

The siren is not loud at all.