ANNKE 16CH 4K PoE Security Camera System, 12MP H.265+ NVR with 4TB HDD and 8X 4K/8MP IP Wired Cams, AI Human Vehicle Detection, Spotlight Color Night Vision, Built-in Mic, Compatible with Alexa

great upgrade from my previous Annke system
Let me start by saying that I wasn’t going to write this review, but I was showing off my new NVR surveillance system to a friend of mine and he had a lot of questions as he never had such a system so I decided to write a review so he can take advantage of it and I’m also hoping this will help other folks.This isn’t my first Annke product, this is actually my 3rd NVR that I purchased in the past ~10 years. I’m using cameras for my home to be able to see what is going on around my house(especially if I’m not there),keep an eye on kids and “for fun”. That being said I wired my entire exterior with cameras when I was making major renovations years ago, so I have CAT5 POE cabling already in place(more on that later). This simplified set-up.Annke has a lot of products, the one I’m writing a review for is AU-N46PCK-I91DM08-4TB system that comes with I91DM 8MP cameras.As I mentioned at the beginning, only after having a conversation with a friend that was also interested in purchasing a surveillance system, I realized I can help others by doing this review. My goal is to review this particular product but also give others some tips on what to look for when choosing a surveillance system for home use. By no means this is an exhaustive list but it’s a good start in my opinion.There are several things you should consider when buying a surveillance system:1. Camera resolution, image quality, sensor size – if the picture doesn’t look good, no one cares about the specs. Many people are confused with terms/keywords (4k, ultra HD, 5MP, 8MP etc) and how they relate to surveillance cameras.This particular camera model included in the package that I’m reviewing has 3840*2160(8MP), 4k resolution with 1/2.4″ Progressive Scan CMOS sensor. Camera model: I91DF4k term is borrowed from cinema industry and it simply implies the camera is of high resolution. Most modern higher end home-use cameras offer 4k. What you should really focus on are other things like image sensor size, quality of sensor etc. This particular model has 1/2.4″ Progressive Scan CMOS according to the specs, but what does it actually mean? It refers to physical dimensions of the image sensor in the camera(diagonal length of the sensor). You’re probably like, this means nothing to me, tell me more. You see, the larger the sensor more light gets to the camera and this can lead to better image quality. This is especially important at night when there is not a lot of light.So how do you decipher sensor size from 1/2.4 ? When comparing sensors smaller numbers after the “/” indicate larger sensors. Other common sensor sizes are 1/1.8, 1/2.8, 1/2.7, 1/2.5. A 1/2.4 sensor is larger than 1/2.5 sensor, A 1/2.5″ sensor is larger than a 1/2.7″ sensor, which in turn is larger than a 1/2.8″ sensor.Sometimes it’s not that easy to find the sensor size for the camera as some manufacturers only specify the resolution, for example: 4K+ Ultra HD 12MP CMOS (4640 x 2624).Resolution refers to the number of pixels a camera sensor can capture. It’s measured in megapixels (MP), where one megapixel equals one million pixels. Higher resolution means more pixels, which translates to more detailed images. More pixels mean you can capture finer details, which is particularly important for tasks like reading license plates in surveillanceSensor size is the physical dimension of the sensor itself, typically measured diagonally in inches (e.g., 1/2.3″, 1/1.7″, 1″, etc., where a smaller number means a larger sensor). Larger sensors have larger pixels (or can accommodate more pixels without making them too small), leading to better light gathering capabilities. This means better performance in low light, less noise, and a wider dynamic range.In security cameras, higher resolution might be prioritized for detail, but sensor size impacts how well that detail is captured, especially in varying light conditions.There’s a lot more to image quality than just resolution, image sensor. You would have to look at pixel quality, lens quality, or even image processing as software can significantly enhance image, but that goes beyond the scope of this review as many times you won’t be able to tell from product description, you just have to try it out and see if it’s “good for you”.Enough about “theory”. I’m very satisfied with the quality of the image of these cameras. There is a big difference between my previous Annke model that only supported IR(infrared). This system offers few modes of Night vision:Night vision with light – light in front of a camera stays constantly ONBlack&White – InfraredSmart light compensation – a mix of both above settings.If you have some minimal light(for example coming off of a street light), these cameras will make the image look amazing compared to the standard IR camera. You will be pleasantly surprised ! When I first hooked up the cameras and it was already dark outside, I literally looked out through the window, because when I was looking at the image coming from the camera it looked like it’s still not dark, so I was confused. That’s how big of a difference these cameras have – look at the picture attached to the review.Both pictures were taken at midnight. With the new cameras, you can clearly see the shadows coming from the tree in front of my house and even though this was midnight it looks like it’s not even that dark outside !Look at the shadows on a car and compare to the one from the older camera! Not to mention the reflections visible on the older cameras.I’m also including a picture from the back camera that doesn’t have any supplemental lighting and it only uses IR. Even so, you can see the details and the image is not as “washed out” as from the older camerasThe cameras also have a light in front of them that comes on when motion is detected. You can configure camera (on individual basis) to either use that light or use the smart feature that doesn’t rely on a light. I recommend playing around with settings and see what works best for you. Your setup will be heavily dependent on amount of light your cameras are getting. In my case there is just enough light from the street lights, so I use a different config for those cameras vs cameras facing back yard.2. Number of cameras – this is probably another thing us typical users look at. How many cameras am I getting. This NVR supports 16 cameras and comes with 8. 8 is plenty for my use ! But if you need more you can buy more or re-use cameras from your older model as many times they will work, but may not give you same image quality.I like how each camera is individually packed, it comes with drill template, sticker, mounting bracket, mounting screws, waterproof sleeves for the connectors and a manual. My previous camera didn’t require mounting bracket. You attach mounting bracket to your wall with screws, connect the cable and then attach a camera. After that I recommend that you connect all cameras, set up a system to the point that can you see the video from cameras on your phone, go outside and adjust the cameras video angle to suit your needs.3. Remote viewing.Let’s face it – we live in a world when 99% of users will be using their mobile application for accessing either live view or playback from the NVR.Annke offers application called “Annke Vision”. When you first turn on your NVR one of the steps in the setup wizards walks you through setting up an application.Live viewing:While live viewing the image you can switch from HD to basic mode (use basic only if your mobile connectivity is slow, otherwise stick to HD). You can listen to audio and audio is also being recorded.While viewing the video live you can also take a picture or record the video to your phone.Multiple cameras can be viewed live at the same time, you can pick how many cameras you would like to view(1,4,9,12,16).You can also configure compensation light or as they call it supplement light, you would do it mostly at night. I have mine set to “smart light compensation”, but you can also choose black and white night vision(in other words Infrared) or colorful night vision(the light on the front of the camera will turn on to illuminate viewing space.Playback:You can view video stored on the NVR. There is a calendar that will show a dot next to each date that has a video. I hooked up mine on 12/29 and it’s a month later and I still can view that video, while I have all cameras set up to record highest quality, full frame, H265 compression.Once you select a date you want to view, you can either select to see video from the very specific time or if you’re looking for more granularity you have the option of selecting: event, person or vehicle. What this means is that you will see lines on the timeline that will indicate camera detected that specific activity and you can quickly scroll to it. You can also switch to “timeline playback”, this view will show you tiles(shortcuts) to those events which are even easier to use and focus on that specific activity ! The timeline view is useful if you then want to view video leading to that event. You can then download that activity to your phone(videos up to 5min), so if the video is longer just trim it. Video is then downloaded directly from your NVR to your mobile phone. Downloaded 5 min video took 120MB of space and it was in 3840×2160 UHD quality. Downloaded video also includes audio!Pictures attached to this review show the playback functionality capabilities to filter on events (all, human,vehicle) – you get to pick if you want to look at them using tile view or schedule view. I find the tiles easier to use, but that’s more of a personal preference.4. Configuration featuresMotion zones.If you’re familiar with Ring video doorbell this will make sense to you. You can define “zones”(areas that camera should disregard) when marking the motion on the timeline. In other words if you have some plants like I do in front of the house that would move when it’s windy outside you can exclude those plants from the motion trigger. The video will still be recorded, the only thing that won’t be “marked” on the timeline is that motion occurred. Otherwise your timeline will be cluttered. Motion zones are defined for each camera on NVR itself. You can define sensitivity threshold and specify if you want to detect humans and/or vehicles.Privacy maskAlthough I’m not using it this feature is good for someone that doesn’t want camera to capture specific viewable area(maybe a license plate, house number etc)Other features:Video tampering detection, video loss detection5. Storage. You need to store videos, images somewhere. This unit comes with one 4TB Seagate SkyHawk surveillance hard drive, but NVR is expandable up to 2 drives.I pulled my 3TB WD Purple drive from previous unit and connected to this system. So now I have 7TB of storage for local recording. If you’re thinking about adding 2nd hard drive just keep in mind, there are special surveillance hard drives designed to be on 24/7, unlike your computer hard drive that is powered off when the computer is sleeping/off. SATA connector (cable for connecting a 2nd hard drive) is included as well as hard drive mounting screws!On top of that this system supports variety of video compressions as listed on amazon product description: H.264+/H.264/H.265/H.265+H.265+ drastically reduce storage required so 4TB drive will be plenty of storage!6. Camera connectivity. This one is important as well. For cameras to work, they need a power source, that power either comes from NVR or through a separate cable. As I mentioned I already had ethernet cables wired. POE means Power Over Ethernet, this means that camera is getting power from NVR. This is important when you’re looking for cameras because this means a single cable can supply power to your camera and transfer video.There are four sets of 100 ft cables and four 60 ft cables that you get with this unit. I ended up replacing one of my older cables with the new ones but ended up leaving the rest.7. What’s included and packagingMouse, HDMI cable for hooking up NVR to your TV/receiver, ethernet cable for connecting NVR to your local network, NVR manual, 16 cameras. Each camera is individually and securely packed.Hope this review helps someone.

Decent
Overall I think this system is pretty good, and certainly way better than the 4ch wifi system it replaced. Time will tell but setup and initial impressions are good. The picture quality is amazing, and I like that each camera only needs one cable. Its very nice that a POE switch can be used to greatly reduce the total number of cat5 cable runs that need to go to the NVR (this in particular was a big one for me as I was able to send just one cat5 across my attic/vaulted ceiling to support 7 cameras instead of having to do 7 individual runs, which would have been back breaking work)My chief complaint with this system is an issue encountered with both the desktop client and the app… I have found that the only effective way to accurately adjust settings of the cameras is through the NVR itself. If I try to use the “web configuration” function via the app or client, I run into issues…big time. For instance, if I try to use the app or client to set the motion detection area of the camera on my driveway, no actual image of the video feed shows up inside the box where you “draw” the detection area making it impossible to see what the detection zone is covering, and if I had previously set a detection area via the NVR it gets randomly changed to a large rectangle as soon as I even go into the motion detection settings regardless of how it was set previously. If i try to use the client or app to change the OSD settings, such as the name or time that appears on the video stream, again its nothing but issues. The brand name “annke” becomes persistent no matter how many times I select and apply the setting to remove it, and the positions of the time and camera name do not follow the highlighted boxes that are supposed to set where they SHOULD show up.The inability to make camera configuration changes via the app or client is not a deal breaker for me, its just mildly inconvenient. Any camera configuration changes I make locally through the NVR are successful, so overall the system is still very much usable to me, I just need to remind myself to never try to adjust camera settings through the app or client.

Had these for around nearly 2yrs now.. running non-stop.I’m very tech-wise and don’t generally even take the instruction manuals out the box for anything and that was also the case here, but they really are just a plug and play CCTV kit.With mine I’ve also routed all the wires through the attic so nothing trailing and very neat.Great quality videos and playback (depending on what recording setting you have it on).The instructions say that you should only have 1 camera on full max resolution, but I have run all 4 before without an issue but I do find the recording and playback can be a bit sluggish so I’ve reduced 3 down a bit to help with this. May try swapping the HDD out for a fresh SSD at some point to see if this helps recording/ playback speed but not needed.Caught many things on them from wildlife to annoying neighbours do completely stupid ignorant stuff, so defiantly worth it just for the laughs/ piece of mind!Motion detection can be a bit naff to setup as can be either to sensitive or not enough but you can use the grid to mark out areas pretty well. I don’t use the alerts option either as where some are they would be going off all the time.Cameras are also heated so “shouldn’t” and haven’t frozen over in winter time.App works great, but doesn’t do very recent playback well, found must be around 20min+ for app to playback.Only thing I couldn’t and still can’t get working is the colour night vision.. no idea if it’s even an option but it’s advertised but not in settings.Also wish these recorded sound, that would have been great.Would buy again, or would like to purchase/ obtain a more expensive CCTV set to compare quality!

I did the typical male thing and checked and checked the reviews for different systems. This one seemed to be a good one. It was all well packaged. The toughest part of installing this system was routing the Ethernet cables from different parts of the house to the DVR. This is harder if you are wanting to hide the cables. Once this is done the set up process was very very easy. I plugged all the the cameras into the DVR and then the DVR into the WiFi router. Worked straight away. Setting up the app on your phone was easy and I didn’t need to refer to the instruction booklet. The footage when switched to 4K is very good. For anyone willing to put a little work in then this is a good system so far. The DVR does get a bit warm but it is constantly working. The night vision is clear although not colour.