When I bought my house, I was pretty confident I was buying into a safe neighbourhood. We live in a tiny house but we have great neighbours and generally feel very safe. However, we recently had an incident where someone wielding a weapon was picked up by police in our driveway. We’ve also joined a neighbourhood social media group and have been alerted to a not insubstantial range of criminal activities in our area. All our neighbours have cameras and have posted a few suspicious videos. I’ve been feeling pressure to keep up with the Jones’. Also, my wife and I have just welcomed our second child into the world and it’s come to the point where I probably need to take home security a little more seriously. 

In response to my incessant whining, the editors at DRN offered me an opportunity to review the Baseus S1 Lite Outdoor Camera. I have bought plenty of phone accessories and audio gear from Baseus in the past but didn’t even know that they had a security range. It turns out that they have a pretty solid range of security options that are both versatile and budget friendly. They appear to have the necessary features to satisfy the needs of most households and some pretty clever and innovative features. To be honest, the price seemed so reasonable I wasn’t sure how the product could be adequately functional. But overall, I was pleasantly surprised.

First Impressions: Sleek Design, Built-in Solar

According to their website, the original standard S1 Outdoor camera (last generation) costs about $350 AUD. The S1 Lite will cost less than half of that and looks pretty comparable in terms of look and functionality. It is an all in one white box with a solar panel attached to the top and has slots in the bottom for a physical charger and an SD card. It has a nice sleek look and can be easily and securely adjusted to a wide range of angles.

 

Unlike the standard S1, the solar panel is fixed in place and doesn’t move to optimise sunlight collection. However, the 5,200mAh battery charges within a few hours and can apparently last for 150 days on a single charge, so this doesn’t seem like a huge loss. The camera also doesn’t feature built-in storage but can support a 512 GB SD card which is far more storage than I would ever use. Beyond that it seems to have great functionality. 

 

The S1 Lite comes with four very basic screws and anchors that appear to be strong enough for masonry. I was a bit nervous about them as there’s no clear information about where and how they can be used. Eventually I got them lodged into the bricks at the front of my house and it looks very secure there. It’s surprisingly lightweight so I’m not too concerned about it staying put.

To compensate for the fact that the solar panel on the top needs to be permanently exposed to the elements, the S1 has apparently been weatherized to handle a wide range of inclement weather conditions. It has an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance and can operate in temperatures from around -20 to 50 degrees Celsius.

 

Easy Setup and Smart App Control

There are a few steps to setting up the S1 Lite beyond screwing it into a wall. Firstly, you need to charge it from a wall socket. You also need to download the Baseus app and use a QR code from the app to connect it to your chosen WiFi source. The S1 Lite can only access 2.4GHz WiFi which is understandable in terms of maintaining stable connections through brick walls but it does limit connection speeds. For smart-home users, the S1 Lite can also be tied into the Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant ecosystems.

Once the camera is registered on the app and connected to WiFi you can access a pretty wide range of controls through the app. The camera’s default setting is to notify you and start recording when there is a modest amount of movement in front of it. However, it has an AI human movement detection function that is pretty good at distinguishing human movement from other forms of movement. There is also a sliding scale of sensitivity so that you can ensure all important movement is recorded without being bombarded by false alarms. You can also designate areas on the camera’s screen as privacy zones that can be blanked out. Alternatively you can designate particular areas as ‘activity zones’ that will better focus the camera’s motion detection. The camera has a choice of two different low light options – black and white night vision or movement activated lighting with a pretty strong light. Both worked quite well for me in testing. Every other function of the camera, power, lights and two way audio can be operated remotely through the app. You can also format the SD card’s storage remotely and test or boost the Wi-Fi signal.

 

Putting the S1 Lite to the Test: 2K Video, AI Detection, and Battery Life

The camera is designed to record in 2K HD quality with a 135 degree field of view. You can choose to record at SD resolution to save storage space and battery life but, given that it only records human movement, this seems like a wasted opportunity for capturing important details. The camera features an 8x zoom function which allows you to pick up very fine details and record at a pretty impressive distance, up to 8 metres. The video quality is very good, certainly far better than I was expecting and I feel confident that it could be used effectively to identify ruffians. 

In early testing, I found that there was a really substantial delay between the time I requested access to the live feed and it being sent to my phone. However, after removing, resetting and reconnecting the device, this delay was drastically reduced. The WiFi signal boost made a big difference as well. 

I needed to do a reset because I discovered in use that the camera wasn’t drawing sufficient power from its solar panel. There are icons on the display screen that tell you if the S1 isn’t receiving sufficient light but those aren’t explained in any manual and weren’t overly clear to me. After the reset, the camera was perfect and I was very pleased with the quality of the recordings and its overall functionality.

The SD card storage function is a double ended sword. On the one hand the recordings are stored locally with AES and RSA encryption which makes me feel really safe in terms of my privacy and that of my neighbours. It is a relief not to have to pay any subscription fees or ongoing costs. However, the fact that the SD card is stored in the camera itself is perhaps a security concern as it can be damaged or removed as part of a criminal act and you would be left without evidence. 

Ultimately, this camera captures excellent footage and has a surprising amount of range and versatility.

 

Minor Gripes That Don’t Break the Bank

I do have a few gripes about this product, but none that ultimately detract from its overall quality. 

Having the solar panel actually attached to the device means that there aren’t many places for it to be placed where it can receive enough sunlight. I would have really appreciated more substantial screws or some more information about the quality of the screws for peace of mind as I had to attach it directly to the brickwork and masonry at the front of my house. I also would have loved clarity about the meaning of the different icons and signals on the display screen and some support in identifying locations that were adequate sources for sunlight.

The process for connecting the camera to the house WiFi is a bit clunky and required a few restarts from me. I also didn’t like having to initially charge it by a cable given that it is a solar powered device. 

I know that more expensive models have a hub that stays inside the house and serves as a more secure location for data storage. The fact that the footage is stored in the camera itself is not a big problem for me but might concern other potential purchasers.

Finally, I do wonder if enabling access to 5Ghz WiFi frequencies would improve the connection speed and enable faster access to the live feed.

 

Conclusion: Excellent Value in a Wireless Security Camera

Overall, the S1 Lite is great bang for your buck. The recording quality is very good, the app is easy to navigate and very user friendly. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of other cameras but the functions it does have are easy to locate and simple to adjust and personalise. If you have a location you can put this that receives lots of light, while still providing a clear view, this is an excellent device and well worth the cost.

It is available from Amazon for A$163.35.

DRN would like to thank Baseus for providing the review unit.