About the VTech Baby Monitor System – BM4500-OWL
(I received a VTech Baby Monitor System – B3002 for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own.)
Cost: $289.00
Design: White rectangular parent screen and baby unit shaped like an Owl
Baby Unit Specifications: Owl-shaped camera; Options for pan (260 degrees) and tilt (55 degrees); infrared for night vision; digital zoom; temperature sensor. It has 2.4GHz FHSS technology for a secure connection without interference. Includes (polyphonic) lullabies with 5 level volume setting.
Parent Unit Specifications: 4.3” Colour LCD screen; MJPEG format with up to 20 frames per second. Includes talk back intercom, split screen capability for multiple cameras (up to 4 – also includes auto-scrolling). Rechargeable battery pack that last for 2.5 hours. Also has 7 volume levels and volume off option.
Features: Included lullabies; split screen function or multiple cameras, talk back intercom, pan, tilt and zoom options and temperature sensor. Camera unit is also wall mountable.
Where you can get it from: Baby Bunting and Big W
VTech Links: Visit the VTech Website, or Facebook
Our Review of the VTech BM4500-OWL Baby Monitor System:
Practicality:
The VTech BM4500-OWL baby monitor has a gorgeous owl design, making it a stunning décor item on top of a safety feature for your baby’s nursery. It was very easy to install, and extremely easy to use. To start using the monitor, all we needed to do was plug the baby monitor into the wall and the parent unit into the power point (to charge) and it was good to go.
We found the BM4500-OWL parent unit was very straightforward and easy to navigate. I loved that it came included with lullabies so that we could just press ‘play’ at 2am when our son was upset and it would help to calm him down. There is also a talk back intercom built into the parent unit and camera so you can communicate with your bub throughout the night – or to say hello in the morning as my hubby would do!
The VTech Baby Monitor camera was great for its pan and tilt options, as sometimes we’d knock the bookshelf it was on as we were leaving the room and it would skew the monitor – but this was easily adjustable with the pan option and we wouldn’t have to re-enter the room (like we would with some of the other monitors).
Technical Stuff:
The VTech BM4500-OWL is quite portable and easy to pack if you are going away or bub is sleeping somewhere else overnight. Despite having a couple of cords, these are easy to just plug in and start using, making it easy to hand over to other carers to use.
With the 4.3” Colour LCD screen, the parent unit is a reasonable size but the quality of the screen was a bit grainier compared to some of the other monitor systems. It also had a slight echo on some of the volume levels (especially since we have a loud son), so we needed to drop the volume down to cancel out the echo.
The battery life on the VTech wasn’t as long as a couple of the others, and I found myself having to recharge it frequently (as my son is now in the one, massive day sleep phase). This meant I was either moving the charging cord around the house, or I would be putting the parent unit in a different room (which would defeat the purpose if I was trying to monitor him during the day). What I DID love about the parent unit though was it came with its own in-built stand (rather than a “charging dock” like the other monitors had). This meant it was easy to just keep on my work desk next to me, or if I did need to bring the charging cord out I didn’t have the hassle of a charging dock as well.
Value:
While the VTECH BM4500-OWL is slightly more expensive than a couple of the other monitors, it really has a stunning design that makes it a beautiful décor piece as well as staple safety item for your baby. Even though the screen quality is slightly grainy (not overly obvious) and it echoes a bit, overall this baby monitor does everything you need it to do, with the added bonuses of temperature display, lullabies, a talk-back intercom, pan, tilt and zoom functions, and split screen options. Definitely good value if you’re wanting a baby monitor that does it all and is super cute too!
Standout Features:
- Its Owl design makes it the perfect nursery décor item as well as safety item for your baby!
- Pan, Tilt and Zoom options for the camera – some of the best coverage out of all of the cameras in the review!
- Includes lullabies, temperature display and talk-back intercom.
- Can display up to 4 cameras if you have multiple children.
- Easy to install and start using straight away.
Considerations:
- The parent unit screen is slightly grainy and the noise quality can echo depending on the volume level – this might involve a little playing until you work out what settings work best in your house.
