Filip Brož Every parent these days appreciates a babysitter. It has been exactly seven months since our daughter Ema was born. I knew from the start that we would need some kind of multi-function camera for peace of mind. With our Apple ecosystem in mind, it was clear that it had to be compatible and fully controllable from an iPhone or iPad.
In the past, I tested a babysitter Amaryllo iBabi 360 HD, which I used at the time to babysit and monitor our two cats when we were away from home on the weekend and during work hours. However, I wanted something more sophisticated for my daughter. My attention was caught by the company iBaby, which offers several products in the field of baby monitors.
In the end, I decided to test two products: the iBaby Monitor M6S, which is a video baby monitor and air quality sensor in one, and the iBaby Air, which is a baby monitor and air ionizer for a change. I've been using both products for a few months, and below you can read what these relatively similar devices are actually good for and how they work.
iBaby Monitor M6S
The smart video baby monitor iBaby M6S is undoubtedly the best in its category. It is a multifunctional device that, in addition to a Full HD image, covering space in a range of 360 degrees, also includes a sensor for air quality, sound, movement or temperature. After unpacking from the box, I just had to figure out where to place the iBaby Monitor. For these cases, manufacturers have also invented a smart one Wall Mount Kit for installing baby monitors on the wall. However, I personally got by with the edge of the crib and the corner of the wall.
Positioning is important because the baby monitor must be placed on the charging base at all times. Once I had the location figured out, I got down to the actual installation, which takes a few minutes. All you had to do was download the free app from the App Store iBaby Care, where I selected the device type and then followed the instructions.
First of all, the iBaby Monitor M6S must be connected to the home Wi-Fi network, which you can easily do via iPhone, for example. You can connect both devices via USB and Lightning, and the baby monitor will already load all the necessary settings. It can connect to both the 2,4GHz and 5GHz bands, so it's up to you how you have your home network set up, but the connection should be trouble-free.
Then you only have to connect the iBaby Monitor to the mains, return it to the base and it works. As for consumption, the baby monitor uses only 2,5 W, so there shouldn't be a problem here either. Once everything was connected and set up, I immediately saw a picture of our daughter in the iBaby Care app.
In the settings, I then set degrees Celsius, renamed the camera and turned on Full HD resolution (1080p). With a poor connection, the camera can also live stream with poor image quality. If you decide to record your little ones while they are sleeping or doing other activities, you have to settle for 720p resolution.
Two-way audio transmission
I can also turn on the two-way microphone in the app, so you can not only listen, but also talk to your child, which is very useful. For example, when the daughter wakes up and starts crying. In addition, due to the motion and sound sensors, the iBaby Monitor M6S can quickly inform me about this. The sensitivity of the sensors can be set in three levels, and notifications will then arrive on your iPhone.
In some cases, for example when one of us couldn't just run to Emma and calm her down, I even used the pre-made lullabies that are available in the app. Of course, it doesn't always help, because there's no substitute for human contact and a face, but sometimes it works. Lullabies are also useful during bedtime.
We then had Emu under constant surveillance during the day and night, in a range of 360 degrees horizontally and 110 degrees vertically. In the application, you can also zoom or take a quick photo and video. These are then sent to a free cloud provided by the manufacturer for free. You can also share the photos taken on social networks directly from the application.
Brightness 2.0 helps image quality even in poor lighting conditions. But the baby monitor transmits a sharp image even at a lighting level of 0 lux, as it has night vision with active infrared diodes that can be turned off or on in the application. So we had our daughter under supervision even at night, which is definitely an advantage.
The application also allows you to connect multiple baby monitors and invite an unlimited number of users, such as grandparents or friends. At the same time, up to four different devices can watch the transmitted image, which will be appreciated most by grandmothers and grandfathers.
However, the iBaby Monitor M6S is not only about video. Temperature, humidity and, above all, air quality sensors are also useful. It monitors the concentration of the eight most frequently occurring substances that can represent a significant health risk (formaldehyde, benzene, carbon monoxide, ammonia, hydrogen, alcohol, cigarette smoke or unhealthy components of perfumes). The measured values will then show me clear graphs in the application, where I can have the individual parameters displayed in days, weeks or months.
Baby monitor and air ionizer iBaby Air
It is here that the iBaby Monitor M6S partially overlaps with the second tested monitor, the iBaby Air, which does not have a camera, but adds an ionizer to air quality measurements, thanks to which it can clean harmful air. You can also use iBaby Air as a two-way communicator, only you won't see your little one, and this device can also serve as a night light.
Plugging in and connecting to the home Wi-Fi network is just as easy with the iBaby Air as with the MS6 Monitor, and everything is also controlled via the iBaby Care application. Shortly after installation, I could immediately see how the air in our bedroom was doing. Since we don't live in Prague or any other big city, during several months of testing I never once discovered any dangerous substance in the room. Nevertheless, I cleaned the air several times as a precaution before going to bed so that we could fall asleep better.
If the baby monitor iBaby Air detects any dangerous substances, it can immediately take care of them by activating the ionizer and releasing negative ions. The good thing is that there are no filters needed for cleaning, which you have to wash or otherwise clean. Just press the Clean button in the application and the device will take care of everything.
As with the M6S Monitor, you can have the measured values displayed in clear graphs. You can also see the current weather forecast and other meteorological data in the application. If any substances appear in the air of the room, iBaby Air will alert you not only with a notification and sound warning, but also by changing the color of the inner LED ring. The colors for the different levels of alerts can be customized if you are not satisfied with the ones preset by the manufacturer. Finally, the iBaby Air can also be used as an ordinary night light. In the application, you can choose the light according to your mood and taste on the color scale, including the lighting intensity.
As for the baby monitor itself, the iBaby Air also alerts you as soon as Ema wakes up and starts screaming. Again, I could calm her down with my voice or play a song from the app. Even in the case of iBaby Air, you can invite an unlimited number of users to the control application, who will have access to data and can receive air quality alerts. The application also allows you to add an unlimited number of these monitors.
The iBaby Care mobile application is very simple and graphically illustrated, but there is certainly room for improvement. The graphs and detailed data could use a little more care, but what I find the biggest issue is its battery drain. I let iBaby Care run in the background several times and I couldn't believe my eyes how quickly it can eat up almost the entire capacity of the iPhone 7 Plus. It took up to 80% in usage, so I definitely recommend closing the app completely after each use. Hopefully the developers will fix this soon.
On the contrary, I have to praise the audio and video transmission, which is absolutely perfect with the iBaby device. Everything works as it should. In the end, it only depends on you what you need. When deciding between the two mentioned products, the camera will probably be a key factor. If you want it, iBaby Monitor M6S it will cost 6 crowns at EasyStore.cz. Simpler iBaby Air with air ionizer it costs 4 crowns.
I ended up choosing the Monitor M6S myself, which offers more and the camera was important. iBaby Air makes sense especially if you have a problem with air quality in the room, then the ionizer is priceless. In addition, it is not a problem to have both devices at the same time, but most functions then overlap unnecessarily.
Hello,
thanks for the review, iBaby Air arrived today, but I have to say that I'm quite disappointed.
The air quality measurements and the ionizer are fine and work well, mostly. Although I expected that, given that we live in Prague, the air quality would be worse than the device indicates.
Anyway, one of the main functions for which I bought the iBaby, the earplug, basically doesn't work at all. They scream at us like when they take it on the leg and no notification comes! Only when I tap directly on the microphone does the notification come. Adjust the sensitivity to see if there is any noticeable effect.
What is your experience with this please?
I can only compare it to the simple application for a couple of crowns, Annie Baby Monitor, which is able to record even the smallest sounds in the room. The downside is that the iPad has to stay in the children's room and sometimes it seems to be connected to Annie's servers.
Thanks
Hello,
personally, the notifications worked for me, I just set the notification method - i.e. either sound, photo...and intensity, then I received a notification on my iPhone.
What I would try:
Go through the settings again to see if everything is fine
He glanced at whether the chuvicka was located within reach of the branch, whether the sensors had anything to pick up at all...
If nothing helps, I would try to delete and reinstall the application and also look in the iPhone settings to see if I have disabled notifications and alerts across the board, or enabled everything...
It is possible that it is some kind of system error, the next updates can fix it, but try to go through it again and then the inscription will be fine ;-))
Filip
Hello, we bought an ibaby M2C and I want to ask if it is possible to connect the baby monitor to more iPhone devices than just one phone. Thank you very much. Peter