Tapo Wire-Free MagCam Review - Is this a GOOD Buy?

Today, we are going to review the Tapo Wire-Free MagCam TC85. This is a wireless, battery powered outdoor WIFI security camera from Tapo, the smart home brand of TP-Link. We will check out its features, do a quick unboxing, setup and install and check out its video quality in daytime and at night and lastly test how it performs and see if this Tapo MagCam Wireless Camera is a good option for your home.
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➡️Tapo Wire-Free MagCam - geni.us/tapo-magcam
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00:00 Introduction
00:18 Features
01:35 Unboxing
02:45 Setup
03:08 Installation
03:31 Settings
05:37 Video Quality
07:01 Testing
10:25 Thoughts
#lifehackster #TPLinkTapo #tapomagcam
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[@ChrisFredriksson]

Your reviews are really consistent and great! You're doing a great job with your videos! The audio was really choppy and bad, but I guess it "works" decently ok.. I still think Reolink gives better image quality all around. Any chance of any new Reolink videos? 😃

[@ronm6585]

Thanks for the review L.H.

[@LifeHackster]

@ronm6585...Thanks for watching!

[@Jhoran1314]

Could you do a review of the Lorex fusion system with doorbell vs the reolink?

[@lexlopez15]

can you do loop recording on this so that it can overwrite old video instead of having to pull out the sd card to format it?...or can you format it straight from the app? that would be convenient instead of having to pull out the sd card every few weeks or buy new ones every few months.

[@knuton79]

I need to renew all my cameras now. 1ptz, 1-2 bullets, 1-2 solar/battery powered cameras. What (budget) camera eco system is the best at the moment? Im living in Thailand and I will chose between Ezviz, Imou or Tapo? And does any of those PTZ cameras have automatic scheduled patrolling?

[@guitarhero9592]

Thanks for another great video. I recently bought the Tapo TC85 and finding it glitchy. How has yours held up? Motion is great better than my Eufys 2C Pros. When I check Live View it always records the live view that I’m watching and it loads pretty slow and the playback is even worse at times getting a “network unavailable” error message. Rebooting doesn’t help. The spotlights don’t turn off at night if I press the bulb icon which it’s supposed to. My home network wifi is great. The support hasn’t been too helpful. Just wondering if anyone is having these issues. Thank you

[@giostefaneli]

Hello. What is the range that the hub can cover?

[@rmak87]

@LifeHackster Does this camera require internet to record on the MicroSD? I want a camera to monitor my rental property when it’s vacant but internet is usually disconnected.

[@MusicByDiverse]

Saw another video with a bit different view, so I ended up getting them before I saw your vid 😂.. it’s ok I think we will be fine.

[@rogerathome6980]

This camera looks somewhat similar to the new Philips Hue security camera, it would be really helpful if you could do a test of these new cameras. Thanks again for another great video

[@manofsesame3024]

I haven’t seen the HUE camera anywhere in the market yet

[@combat_fighter1]

i’ve almost 10 tapocams providing surveillance at my home in Batam, Indonesia including my apartment in Singapore. They’re reliable, faster to live view & i can even live view 4 tapocams all on my iphone screen. i can simply swipe on my iphone screen to view another set of 4 other tapocams. The only thing i’m not impressed is that same question “when is tapo going to put a 4K cam on the market?

[@LifeHackster]

I know, they have to keep up with other brands releasing 4K models.

[@combat_fighter1]

@@LifeHackster tapocams are a lot cheaper than other well known brands, so we get what we paid for, i really don’t mind forking out a little more if they finally put their 4K models on the market hahaha

[@YOKokob]

Bro sounds like he works with tapocams, pushing an generic camera brand if it’s good then no need to push it out like this It’ll eventually catch on just like reolink

[@memycellsandi-eu5zq]

Does it allow activity zone and continuous recording in battery mode?

[@PatrickC139]

Black and White night vision is pretty good even the color night vision is lacking. And at least the camera is actual 2K resolution. You would be surprised at how many off-brands will advertise 2K resolution and they're actually not. Not that tapo is an off brand.

[@obedboateng8392]

Will it override the storage when it's full?

[@GameHEADtime]

Hey my friend can you review the psync chat gpt camera $35 and it’s super advanced ai software suite it helps the software future for all cameras I think someone like you would make a great video! It attracts a lot of view and attention! Thanks!

[@James-nv1wf]

Can you use these cameras if you're on another wifi network out of the country?

[@dangoras9152]

Hey brother. Will the reolink cameras work with a elan smart home controller... Keep it up brother

[@LifeHackster]

I'm not really sure.

[@abc123fhdi]

warranty coverage may be limited to replacement only if you don't buy directly from them. they have a paywall for rich notifications which are delayed like reolink, though reolink doesn't seem to be delayed. I've found with reolink it has to be lower quality mode to be reliable but still records to the sd card in high quality when watching previous recorded video vs live or in the cloud. I get multiple 30 day free trials so it may be possible to extend the free trial beyond 30 days. Would be nice if it had optional PoE and 5 ghz wifi and better image quality at night.

[@TwoFeatherChannel]

I like the magnet mount feature but that limited distance detecting wouldn't be useful for me.

[@ial6658]

Could you do a review of the Ezviz C6N? I just got one and I need to know if it's good

[@LifeHackster]

I have to check on that. Thanks for watching!

[@dankelley9361]

Nice review, could you include what they charge for subscription service, as often this makes or breaks a purchase, thx!

[@LifeHackster]

Oh yeah I forgot to check on this one.

[@LifeHackster]

Thanks for the pricing info.

[@MB-xh3tv]

How do you protect it from being stolen easely?

[@haigrak9497]

Install Camera at least 10 feet above ground or else easily stolen.

[@nelsonmatias]

I have been watching your reviews, and I want to congratulate you on your work. I want to buy 3 cameras for my home, but more I read, more confused I am. I was thinking on reolink, lot of people doesn't recommand. I have seen the TP-LINK Vigi but I don't find a lot of info. The best options will be POE but cables is not simple. Battery cameras would be must simplier, but camera with good duration are not cheap. I would like to avoid subscritpions, have AI detection anda rich notifications (for reolink I find Pushover solution that can may be remediate this) and may be in the future add an NVR (in some brands the price is very high). So as you can see, I have a lot of doubt. I already had an house alarm system, but want to have "eyes" in some entry point. What brand do you advice? Thanks a lot!

[@simplisafesecurityandcameras]

Very very nice looking cameras and love the way they perform on this video. To me i would have these in a heartbeat compared to the dumb eufy cameras. Hope nothing but good for this company and there cameras.

[@andrec.136]

Are you kidding? Eufy is better in almost every way. Video quality, sound quality, no subscription needed, built in solar panels on some of the cameras...

I would appreciate it if you include connectivity test with 3rd party camera apps like Blue Iris or similar. Using an app is simply not an option if you have different brands and multiple cameras.

[@LifeHackster]

WIFI cameras especially battery powered ones normally don't integrate with 3rd party apps.

[@mmitchum3826]

I've been trying to get mine to work with VLC and iSpy, via RTSP. It is rather spotty. Since it is battery powered, it only puts out RTSP stream when motion is detected, so it usually shows up as disconnected. It does reconnect when motion is detected, but only about 1/3 of the time. :-( Today is my last day for return to Amazon, and trying to make a final decision on it... really like the magnetic mount and happy with the battery life (I am losing ~1%/day.) but with RTSP missing so much of the time it may not be worth it for me.

[@faciolgaming1504]

TC85 works in philippines?

[@luyzqint3760]

Can you please do a review on Tapo C325WB.

[@LifeHackster]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/baTNd6ODpK2Kfdk

[@dennis_nguyen]

Can I use this behind a window?

[@snazzychazzy]

I just bought these cameras but can't figure out the spotlights. I only want them to come on when there is motion detected, but it looks like they stay on all the time if it's night time?

[@Passions]

Yes that's correct, 5:20 there's no option for AUTO. It's all or nothing.

[@user-rd9kb6ox1v]

The night vision capability isn't that good but the video quality during the day is nice. Great review and thanks for all the information. 👍

[@jeanie68]

When you get notification you can’t review it without subscription?

[@nemesishacking]

No constant recording?..

[@giftedfingers2580]

How would the magnet hold up against thunderstorm wind gust

[@JozefDelMundo]

It is somewhat a similar design like the google nest cam outdoor battery. Too.

[@j.benjamin1785]

Temps dropped to -30°F a few weeks ago over here by Chicago. Lots of wind/hail the other day (small tornado landed somewhere in Gary) and the magcams did well. No issues.

[@YukonHawk1]

Nice camera. But the audio was clipping.

[@jhguygih]

How if they steal the camera? Lost records and the camera?

[@shelbygall1406]

Any suggestion for on a budget wireless outdoor camera

[@Gravage]

You mean like the one in the video?

[@kevindd992002]

Pilipinong pilipino bro!

[@jTempVids]

Such a same. They were so close to having a great camera. I absolutely love the physical design of this camera and it's mount. It's a shame the camera quality isn't a little better and it's missing the "Rich Notifications" without a subscription. 20' PIR distance is too short as well. I'm now leaning towards a eufyCam S221 (eufyCam 2 Pro). I want a battery camera I don't need to charge every month preferably without needing a subscription. I guess if push comes to shove I'll have to run power in the attic and just hardwire a camera.

[@garysumlin8355]

How about 24/7 view

[@scottohms2799]

Cx-410 kills this one

[@M3FortiZay]

I bought a few cx-410 cameras and they’re nice. Only thing they need to do now is make them 4k.

[@jcm9698]

@@M3FortiZay they are, coming soon, like in the next 30 days or so.

[@LifeHackster]

CX410 is on another level. I might make another video on the CX410 because I'm really contemplating replacing my remaining 4K Reolinks with them. Less load in your network, more recording space in your hard drive and a low light sensor camera is better than a regular sensor with spotlights especially with Reolinks because they tend to have ghosting at night when there is not enough light.

[@netstar5950]

@@LifeHackster After watching your review on the CX410 cameras, I decided to purchase (7) CX410 cameras and you are correct that they are on another level. I' am extremely pleased with the performance of these cameras. You don't really need 4K for the reasons you had mentioned. I would also like to add that Reolink did a fantastic job with their AI on these cameras. I rarely get false alerts and the AI is very accurate when it detects a pet, vehicle, and people. I was amazed that the cameras can pick up a squirrel 75 feet away at night. I really appreciate all of your time and effort in creating these reviews. Thanks!

[@LifeHackster]

@@netstar5950Thank you. I appreciate it.

[@yoda55555]

Customer support is shitty, it is not 2k, and does not cover the full range of motion of wake up. The first day it was recording when a car would pass in front my house. Then all the sudden it started waking up only for motions in close range. I am a tech savy person and tried all of the settings and contacted the support and they dont know their ars from a hole in the ground. It also did not recognize five reputable SD cards just to force me to subscribe to their cloud service. Unfortunately I bought two of this crappy product.

[@TroutWest]

Night recording looks really bad

[@EE-mo8wy]

Sper choppy sound. Just like my wyze cams

[@kevindd992002]

Alex-A? Lol.

[@Michael-cs2fh]

2023 and micro usb? Red flag for me.

[@shane_pacheco]

Others have this as well like Simplisafe cameras charge their batteries with micro usb

[@Whateva67]

Oh gawd, so 2021 ,how horrible, may as well record to a VHS tape too eh?😂

[@Passions]

Agree 100%. It's almost 2024 and any company using micro usb deserves to go out of business.

[@emypena]

Tapo camera is not recommended since it cannot have static ip address.

[@hmbv1591]

Absolutely garbage 😅

[@lawdocs717]

these cams are 4g so unless you have 4g they will not work, did he tell you that? on top of the bullshit they load with the app is crazy days, DO NOT BUY THESE CAMS just my take after no one revealing they are 4g crap

[@LifeHackster]

Well, somebody is confused...what 4G are you talking about? This is a WIFI cam and connects to your 2.4 GHz WiFi. Tapo doesn't even sell 4G LTE connected cameras.

[@lawdocs717]

customer service told me they were 4g, so guess they lied to me

[@lawdocs717]

@@LifeHackster cannot get these cams to work, they will not stay connected, they will connect then shut off, they have been a pain in the but and provided me with nothing but problems, and they sit here unable to provide me with cams, i do not know why they told me i needed a 4g phone to use them, tc85

[@lawdocs717]

and lets also add that customer service is in the Philippines, so you can hardly get what they are talking about, very disappointed with he cams