Infant Optics DXR-8 Video Baby Monitor, Non-WiFi Hack-Proof FHSS Connection, Interchangeable Lenses, Pan Tilt Zoom, LED Sound Bar, Night Vision, and Two-Way Talk

Product Information

I've been writing about computers, the internet, and technology professionally for over 30 years, more than half of that time with PCMag. I tested this one with my family as well and found it has a very small screen in comparison to the Infant Optics DXR-8.

We chose the infant optics monitor primarily because we did not want a monitor that could be hacked. Still, the first few times I left my daughter Ellie alone to sleep when she was a newborn were nerve-racking. This monitor has an easy-to-use parent unit, automatic pairing for devices, the best images for a dedicated monitor, and a long battery life. The rechargeable lithium-ion battery in the parental unit is rated for 10 hours in standby mode and 6.

From our experience with sleep training a baby or waking up in the middle of the night, it’s much easier to see the time on the monitor versus checking your phone or looking for a nearby clock. If he wanted to keep an eye on Calvin in his room, that meant the garage, back yard, and different sides of the house were all off limits. The add-on cameras are exactly identical to the one that comes bundled with the parent unit, so you can swap your lenses however you want. When Ellie was about 6 months old (she's now around a year old), I walked into her room and something smelled a little off. The DXR-8 PRO also makes an awful noise when the display is out of range or when the camera is off and the screen is still on.

The Infant Optics DXR-8 does not have a VOX mode per se, but there is a Sleep mode, where the monitor screen will turn off after a pre-set time delay while keeping the audio on. With the Infant Optics DXR-8 you get two parts: the camera and the handheld viewing screen (as seen in the photo above). The view on the 720p handheld montior is very crisp and clear in daylight hours; maybe not what you'd get on a sharp new OLED smartphone display, but remember, this setup doesn't need a phone at all.

Depending on your house’s layout, you might be able to sit outside and still receive the signal from your baby’s bedroom. Over the course of many nights and many naps, we examined the setup process, design, and how well the camera and monitor performed. Three separate lenses are available - normal, wide angle (sold separately) and zoom – allowing you to customize camera performance by switching between different lenses in just seconds. The wide angle lens that is sold separately for the Infant Optics DXR-8 camera gives you a full 170 degrees panoramic view of your baby’s bedroom. A good baby monitor permits a certain level of parental freedom to keep up with the domestic demands in the rest of the house after all, so a monitor which can’t handle the inevitable “obstructions” between parent and child fails at the most fundamental level.

To be fair, these instances are few and far between but it wasn’t really something we wanted to chance. On top of those features, the reviews made this monitor seem like the most reliable and secure baby monitor on the market. Night vision is a little darker than average, but the zoom feature helps make things clearer and more evenly lit. The award-winning Infant Optics DXR-8 Video Monitor is designed to help you stay easily connected to your baby anywhere at home. Unfortunately, the camera is relatively average in most ways, with disappointing clarity on daytime visuals and night images where the baby has no face.It wasn’t a big difference, but if temperature accuracy is important to you, you might want to get another baby monitor.

The letters on the eye chart are a bit fuzzy, but they tend to clear up when you zoom in, which also lets you see the baby's eyes and facial expression. However, it doesn't offer sound activation or sensitivity adjustment, so you need to set the volume on the parent unit at 1 or 2 to cut the background noise. This is especially convenient when the toddlers go mobile and you need to track their activity across the entire room.

She earned her master of arts degree in education from Michigan State University with concentrations in literacy and technology. The monitor is rated to have a battery life of about 10 hours on a full charge with the screen on standby, or six hours if you leave the video playing. Some of my favorite features are the convenience of moving the camera with the receiver, superior night vision, temperature monitor, and push-to-talk feature. That’s why all of our video baby monitors are non-WiFi meaning no hackers can access your camera over the internet. However, I was never able to use the monitor unplugged all night without it dying, and it’s rare that I get a full 8 hours of sleep.