XEGA Solar 4G Security Camera Review

If you have an off-grid property or a large yard that needs security, check out the Xega 3G/4G LTE Cellular Security Camera! It's a wireless outdoor camera with built-in solar charging, remote controlled pan/tilt, PIR motion sensor, infrared night vision and white-light spotlight, 2-way audio, and push motion notifications.
I found that this camera sent good quality video, even at the lower SD mode. It was especially good at night. The infrared night vision and the spotlight mode were fantastic for a large outdoor area. This would easily cover a typical yard, or even a small farm field. It would be great for wildlife scouting, protecting a garden from pests, or watching for intruders.
Setup and installation were very easy. The app was pretty intuitive and the controls were simple.
As far as problems or issues, I did have the app lock up once, and sometimes the motion was laggy if I had a poor cell phone signal. Those seemed like minor problems to me and didn't really affect the usability.
This is a sponsored video and I received a demo unit for testing. However, I tried to be fair and honest with it, and I would say this is a good camera from everything I've seen. I intend to keep using mine, as soon as I figure out how to reload the SIM card (prepaid SIMs are a bit of a mystery to Americans, but I know they're available).
You can find this security camera on Amazon in the US or Europe:
US: www.amazon.com...
DE: www.amazon.de/...
FR: www.amazon.fr/...
UK: www.amazon.co....
ES: www.amazon.es/...
IT: www.amazon.it/...
You can also find it on the manufacturer's website here: xegatech.com/p...
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[@scottarmstrong5607]

Hey Gabe, I am able to get additional SIMs connected to my existing 5G plan on my phone for free or $5/mo. They just use data from my existing plan. Not sure what your carrier will do but if you tell them you have an extra data-only tablet they will often send you extra sims for such purposes.

[@saveitforparts]

I can look into that, I suspect my carrier isn't as generous though. US cell phone companies like to make everything as difficult and expensive as possible.

[@viscountorganswales5334]

Lots of Promise, but Iet seriously let down by the 30 sec to 4 min after motion detection!

[@zacharypatsula9218]

Can I watch on my tablet?

[@archmasterone]

Yes, if your tablet has cellular capabilities.

[@joejohnson4423]

I wanted to figure out how to setup the 4G aside from the trial, but you had the same problem

[@irombeach]

Pay attention to the OS upgrade, the camera needs to be hard resetted after upgraded. So don't upgrade the camera if you ar not near the camera!

[@LeadDennis]

Does it just have WiFi if you don't want to install in a remote location?

[@saveitforparts]

This one doesn't have WiFi, just 4G.

[@Falconer710]

Just bought the twin cameras there brilliant highly recommended quality product

[@jameskirk2579]

thanks for the video. It's important to mention the camera will stop charging under 40 F /4 degree Celsius like almost all cameras.........

[@saveitforparts]

It seems to still work in the winter, or at least I didn't notice any issues. I can log into it on cold days and still pan around, upload pics etc. Solar panels actually seem to work better when they're cold, and if the battery stopped charging I wouldn't expect it to operate at all.

[@TheWizardQ]

Bought 2 Xega XG-05 $G cameras but it's been 3 days now and still failing to get the cameras to show the blue light. Support says could be the SIMS but tried the SIM cards in a phone and they are connecting to the internet just fine.. Does Anyone know how to get around this issue?

[@nomadicfanatic]

Any way of knowing WHICH carrier it needs to work? I live in an area with no AT&T or Verizon, but T-Mobile works great.

[@saveitforparts]

The country code on my SIM was 852 (Hong Kong), and carrier appeared to be 2404 or 240. So I *think* it's T-mobile but hard to know for sure!

[@nomadicfanatic]

@@saveitforparts Ok, Thanks for the reply!

[@Hidrocalido2015]

Don't buy ANRAN brand I order a couple of them is just waste of money

[@xlgoldfish]

Sorry about that, which make later worked for you?

[@JoshBoyne-s6b]

Loraine Mission

[@flolou8496]

? Does anyone know if you can lock the 4X magnification feature in combination with the motion sensor capabilities? (I've never owned one of these, sorry if my quetion does not make any sense to some of you)

[@karencoe5555]

Did you figure out how to add more data? I bought one to install about 3 hrs from my home.

[@saveitforparts]

I did eventually manage to renew the SIM card with Google Pay linked to Paypal. The camera is still working great even after some stormy weather!

[@gravey07]

Can you run these from mains power? Id be concerned the panel wouldn’t support enough. Thanks.

[@saveitforparts]

The panel has been working great for me, no issues since I installed it, works great both winter and summer. I think it's just a regular barrel plug so you could use a 3rd-party power adapter if you wanted.

[@gravey07]

@@saveitforparts thanks for the reply 👍🏼

[@m.j.jromero8240]

How do get mine to reset. The red light just stays on and will not turn off even after holding down the reset button. I can not get it to connect. It tells me no smart device was found. Can someone help me?

[@hospitaldebicis]

Thanks for the video. I wanna use two of them. Do you know if I need to buy two sim cards or one of them can create a wifi network and connect the other one?

[@saveitforparts]

I don't think this particular one can do a Wifi network, so you'd need a SIM for each one.

[@carolnhari8599]

Can l use this camera in another country like kenya and uk

[@kwel514]

whenever iconnect it the live footage refuses to load, could it be the batterY?

[@4doorSi]

Just installed three of these for a customer less than 6 months ago and I regret it totally. One of the cameras isn’t working despite active SIM and solar panel providing power as well. Tech support is flimsy and said they had to “escalate the issue with engineering”… located in China in a completely different time zone so email is the only way they’ll respond. This probably means it’ll take more than one visit to fix this camera and having to cross my fingers and any other possible body parts that the other cameras don’t prove themselves crappy either. 👎

[@saveitforparts]

Dang! Mine is still working after 8 months outside, but I did notice the elevation motor is starting to make a noise. I also don't re-aim it every day so it doesn't get heavy use.

[@darrencrosby1898]

My camera worked for a day now the light stays red ..How long does the original SIM card last, I've never owned a security camera with sim card..

[@saveitforparts]

The starter SIM that it comes with only has a small amount of data for testing. Mine included a little credit-card-size thing with instructions on how to reload it. There was a website where you could enter the code from the SIM to see how much data is has left, and reload it. My bank thought the website was too sketchy, but I could put money on it via Paypal or Google Pay.

[@FSXgta]

Black design and solar? Will this camera survive the baking sun heat all day...

[@saveitforparts]

I put it in a pretty exposed place, and this week it's seen highs in the 90s and a pretty big rainstorm. It's still working so far!

[@amigodawn1728]

Doesnt record everything?

[@ryanfernoughty1899]

Can you connect the camera to your phone without cell service? If you within range with your phone and the camera can you use the app to connect to the camera and download the recorded videos?

[@saveitforparts]

Unfortunately it has to have cell service, this model doesn't have wifi.

[@Przemek-t7d]

Hello Thanks for nice review. One question about charging. Did you charge this camera before using ? What charger did you use ? How long the battery lasts after charging and using solar panel ? Thx

[@saveitforparts]

I can't remember if I charged it from the wall, if it's not shown in the video then I don't remember! The solar panel and battery seem to last a long time. It's still working right now, 8 months after I installed it. All I've done is put a new SIM card in and clean some bird poop off the solar panel.

[@latonyalawrence850]

Can't. Figure out how. To arm the system. There no am or pm. Options just times

[@saveitforparts]

The app uses 24hr / "military time", so 1pm is 13:00 and midnight is 24:00

[@dossphosmedia]

Is this app accessible only? I would like something like this but would prefer a web UI that could be viewed on a PC.

[@saveitforparts]

It does seem to be app-only, sorry! I'd also like something online / shareable via website.

[@undiaalavez440]

What kind of service company did you use for the som card?

[@saveitforparts]

I'm not actually sure what provider it uses. The SIM is registered to some Hong Kong carrier and appears to be a generic one sold on Amazon. I was able to top it off with the QR code they provided, and Google Pay.

[@gregory9740]

How is the digital zoom quality?

[@saveitforparts]

About like any digital zoom, it's just blowing up the picture without any real improvement.

[@simplelifesimplicity8911]

Hey, do you know if the internal batteries are replaceable and how long before they degrade?

[@saveitforparts]

I'm not sure, I didn't try opening up the battery compartment.

[@archmasterone]

Oe one of my cameras the batteries were good for five years, I replaced them myself.

[@jmm1000]

Im unclear how the customer gets billed for the 4g service / how do you choose the carrier, etc?....and do you need to have AC, or does the solar panel supply enough power?

[@saveitforparts]

I'm kind of unclear on 4G SIM cards as well, they seem to be an Asia / Europe thing that Americans just don't really understand. Basically this comes with a prepaid Hong Kong SIM that you can reload via a website (I had to transfer money through Paypal and then Google Pay since my credit card thought the site was too sketchy).

[@saveitforparts]

Regarding the solar panel, it's been providing enough power so far. Even after 2ft of snow last week and then subzero weather, the camera is still working! The pan motor did get a little sluggish or iced up but still works. I have it mounted up high enough that I think the wind can clear some of the snow off the solar panel.

[@saveitforparts]

The prepaid SIM it comes with is about $10/mo or $100/year for 2GB of data / month, which is enough for basic use (can't live stream all month, but can get motion alerts and check in on it a few times a day). You might be able to get a device-only or IOT SIM if you have a competent cell carrier. I have Verizon, their tech support and store people don't know how to do anything, so I haven't tried.

[@jmm1000]

@@saveitforparts Thanks Gabe!

[@jmm1000]

@@saveitforparts Heres another for you: Im wanting to put this on a pole at the community dock our neighborhood has. Can it be viewed (or controlled?) by others if I share it with them? ( I imagine they would need the app)? Would love to be able to allow the 30 or so people in the neighborhood to be able to see their dock/boat from their phone.....even better: could they view it on their smart TV?

[@JohnWilson-greytyphoon]

Does not work well in cold climate

[@saveitforparts]

I've had no problems with mine so far this winter. It's seen temperatures down to -12°F and about 2ft of snow in the last month. The pan motor got a little sluggish in subzero temps, but it's back to normal now. I think I have it mounted high enough that the wind helps clear snow off the solar panel.

[@JohnWilson-greytyphoon]

@@saveitforparts the tech service for Vega has determined that the battery is not holding a charge so they will replace the camera. Camera is installed 10 feet in air on pole with no obstructions to solar panel. We shall see when new panel is installed.

[@saveitforparts]

That's cool that they'll replace it for you! A lot of batteries can have issues in the cold. I have another trail cam with a solar panel and old fashioned lead-acid battery that needs to be replaced every year or so.

[@JohnWilson-greytyphoon]

@@saveitforparts yes they were very responsive. The property is off grid so solar recharge is important to me. So we shall see once I get the replacement. During the summer months it held a pretty good charge but once it got cold it barely keeps 1% charge.

[@chrisstromberg6527]

Gabe, can you keep us updated on the performance of this unit? The price tag of $229 seems pretty cheap for what this camera is offering!?

[@saveitforparts]

It's been working fine so far, I managed to get some more time onto the SIM card via Paypal. I log into it occasionally and pan around to look for deer. It's gone through a few wind / rain storms with no issues, we'll see how it does through the winter!

[@Dudi12311]

Hi, i am not sure to understand how it work : if someone break the camera or steal it, can i still have acces to the footage ?

[@saveitforparts]

You can set up a cloud account for the video to be stored online. I think it's $4/mo to keep motion event recordings from the last 30 days.