Description
AMCREST MODEL: ASH21-W
CAMERA FEATURES:
Amazing real-time true-HD 1080P (1920x1080p) @ 30fps
Extra-Wide 93° viewing angle
Night Vision up to 33 feet with built-in IR LEDs and 1/2.7” 2.07MP image sensor
355° Pan, 80° Tilt and 16x Intelligent digital zoom
3.6mm Lens with IR LED Night Vision Up to 33 feet
This Camera Needs to be Connected to a Power Source in Order for it to be Powered
This is an Amcrest 2.4ghz WiFi Indoor Camera and Does Not Support 5ghz Network
MicroSD Storage up to 256GB (Class 10 or Higher, Not Included)
Baby Monitor Mode, Smart Tracking and Built in human detection algorithm to reduce false motion alarms and prevent unnecessary recordings
Dual H.265/H.264 Video Compression Technology
Operating Temperature: -14°F~113°F
This product may contain components which are not NDAA compliant
Dimensions (L*W*H): 4.17 x 3 x 3 inches
Weight: 0.528 lbs
PACKAGE INCLUDES:
1 x SmarHome 2-Megapixel WiFi Pan / Tilt Camera (ASH21-W)
1 x MicroUSB Power Adapter
1-Year Warranty from Amcrest and Lifetime Technical Support
BuyItOnce –
Budget cam that works with QNAP QVR
Easy setup with Amcrest home app with PTZ controls and clear picture. Motion detection can be a bit sensitive but good integrated experience with app overall. Have mine set up alongside floodlight and doorbell cameras in the app and continuous recording into my QNAP NAS as well via QVR, easy setup there as well however PTZ controls are not available in QVR.picture is clear and sharp with good night vision at 1080p resolution.My first cameras were 480P Foscam, and this camera has much improved specs, features, and app integrations for a lower price.Would buy this again if/when some of my other camera’s fail and need replacement.
Fastest111 –
Setup of the new Amcrest SmartHome AI Human Detection WiFi Camera was straightforward.
Amcrest SmartHome AI Human Detection WiFi CameraSetup using the Amcrest Smart Home application and the Quick Setup Guide that came inside the box is easy; however, downloading the more complete User Manual from the support.amcrest.com website is recommended because it contains information not available in the Quick Setup Guide. A QR code on the bottom of the new WiFi Camera contains the serial number which is used during set-up.The camera should be placed in a location close to a power outlet for the provided 5 volt power supply and within range of an available 2.4ghz WiFi network.A Micro SD card slot is located on the back of the moving body of the WiFi Camera so you’ll have to use the pan & tilt features to point the lens straight up to access the card slot or carefully manually point the lens straight up to gain access. The system will accept up to a 256Gb card.The card is installed to capture short motion activated clips or scheduled continuous recordings which are set up by user selected days & times; both are stored locally onboard the card. Be aware that the card has to be formatted in the Fat32 file system or the camera won’t accept use of that card. A free formatting program can be found on the web for large capacity cards as Win 10 won’t format large capacity cards to the Fat32 file system.The system Reset/Config button is located to the right of the card slot.It has a baby monitor feature. It can also be used to monitor pet activity or to monitor various activities occuring in other areas where direct visual or aural sensitivity is not possible. Along with the constant video monitor, the baby monitor feature allows setting a sound level and a squelch level which will activate delivery of an alert message/e-mail and the audio/video to a smart phone when that sound level and squelch level is reached or exceeded.It has Smart Tracking and Human Detection options which are set up in the Amcrest Smart Home app. The tracking feature pans and tilts the camera automatically to follow movement in view of the camera. The human detection feature will send an alert message or e-mail.The Amcrest Smart Home Cloud service is easy to set up and very easy to access anywhere you have WiFi or cell service. Amcrest does provide one free year of cloud service with purchase of this camera and an inexpensive monthly fee thereafter. Fee prices vary depending on the length of clips desired and how long the clip is stored.The iPhone version of Amcrest View Pro allows WiFi set up of this camera but the iPad version of Amcrest View Pro does not. To solve this issue, just use the iPhone version on the iPad. Follow instructions in the User Manual for installation.Adding the camera to the Amcrest NVR or Amcrest Blue Iris using a WiFi connection was not successful; Amcrest is aware of this and may include WiFi in the future. However, it can be added to the NVR using an Ethernet cable. The camera was designed to function wirelessly with the new Amcrest Smart Home app and the Amcrest Smart Home Cloud service which it does well. Follow instructions in the User Manual for NVR installation using an Ethernet connection.Overall, the new Amcrest SmartHome AI Human Detection WiFi Camera is worth the money especially if cloud storage is desired. Its video is clear with 1080P resolution and its features include Baby Monitor, Smart Tracking, Human Detection, Smart Motion Alerts/e-mails and video storage in the Amcrest Cloud and/or the Micro SD card. It has a 93 degree horizontal view. Night vision is excellent. Lack of WiFi connection to the Amcrest NVR and no interface with Amcrest Blue Iris was a disappointment.Note: A promotional refund was received from AMCREST for testing this product. From AMCREST: “…any products given for testing are not in exchange for a review, however, if you do choose to leave your honest, unbiased feedback in the form of a review, this will be at your own free will and is not a requirement of the program.“
C. Okamuro –
Low price, but not what you want if you need ONVIF (see details)
Two stars. Normally, a product like the Amcrest 1080P FHD WiFi Camera (ASH21, White) would get a higher rating from me – but I just can’t do it. I’ve bought a lot of IP cameras over the years, including a few Amcrests. So, when I needed a few indoor cameras to keep an eye on the interior of a property while I was away, the ASH21s seemed to tick all of the right boxes. First (and foremost), they are SUPER inexpensive for pan and tilt cameras (with audio). Second, the video quality was reasonably good (even if it is limited to 1080p). Third, I’m not really much for billed services, so the ability to access the cameras through STUN _and_ the ability to hook it up to my Blue Iris setup clinched the deal.The cameras arrived in slick retail packaging, with the camera, a small USB power block, an ~6ft USB-A to MicroUSB power cable, a tiny Ethernet patch cable, a small plastic mount, and some hardware (screws, wall anchors, etc.). Setup consists of loading the app on your phone or tablet (from the Google Play store, for me), scanning the QR code on the bottom of the camera, changing your WiFi SSID on your device, setting a password, entering one of your home’s Internet-capable SSIDs, and setting the device name. The whole thing takes about 2 minutes, and about 20 seconds of that is the camera’s POST routine. So far, so good.Setting up the three cameras I purchased took less than 10 minutes. While the Amcrest app isn’t terrible, it certainly isn’t as polished as what you might get from Ring (or even D-Link). The app lets you group your devices, set the motion alerts, control the camera settings, and view video feeds. Actual camera control is pretty awful… you use an onscreen D-pad to control the pan and tilt… in 2021? Swiping should be pretty standard for that kind of action.Image quality, when set to HD (1920×1080), is decent. Image quality when dealing with high contrast lighting conditions isn’t bad. Low light performance is surprisingly good, with the camera not switching over to IR until extremely low ambient light. IR performance is ok within about 20-25 feet. Sound quality is awful, but that’s pretty typical for this type of device.Then there’s ONVIF… what a disaster. I followed the Amcrest instructions for configuring the ASH21 with Blue Iris. Current version? Check. Set the password? Check. Change the param string? Check. First of all, the screenshots/video don’t match the current Blue Iris config dialog (not that it’s that hard to figure out). Second, even if I DID manage to get it to work, apparently the only RTSP feed it puts out is 480P! Oh, that, and you don’t have the ability to control pan, tilt, the IR illuminator, or even just have the thing use numbered patrol points.And that leads me to my last gripe… there’s NO web configuration. I mean, I understand that the configuration of the camera through the app is going to be pretty basic. However, I figured when I got the IP address of the cameras, I’d be able to pop into the web config and fine tune things like the image and encoder settings. Nope. YOU CAN’T EVEN SET A STATIC IP ADDRESS! Considering that you can’t give the device a NetBIOS name, you are going to have to hand out DHCP reservations if you want to try to put the ASH21 on a NVR. It’s super frustrating, because you know the device probably has pretty much the same SoC as other IP cameras in their lineup that expose those features.So, yes… 2 stars. The cameras work pretty well. The app works, though it’s not very slick. The NVR compatibility is a joke – assuming you can even get it to work, it will look like an early 2000s webcam, and not be able to pan or tilt the camera.
David Henrickson –
Nice little camera
The shipping was fast. Not really sure this is an Amcrest situation; rather, an Amazon, but I wanted it to be noted. That means they had it in stock and was prepped and ready to ship upon my order. upon opening it from the box, it was neatly packaged and seemed quite secure, so I know nothing could rattle around. This is REALLY good for electronics and especially a camera of any type. The power cord was neatly packed and seemed intuitive to me for installation. Boot up was fast. That I will emphasize. After that, things got a little more complicated.First off, I was using the same app I have for all of my other Amcrest cameras. I did not realize, this camera has a whole different app. Might I add how obnoxious this was?! I even contacted support thinking there was a physical issue with this new camera, as it just would not connect. I want to SERIOUSLY reiterate that this camera should use the same app as all of the others (should use Amcrest View Pro, instead uses AmcrestHome which is not as good as an app). There was a poor management decision in allowing this to have a different app all together. Cost especially. You already have a solid app for your other cameras, stick with what works great. So anyway, they tried to recreate the wheel with a new app and it is less intuitive like crazy compared to their normal, more powerful app. First off. The app always starts off with a still screen upon loading and you have to click on it in order for it to go to the LIVE ACTION. Yes, loading the camera into the app after I realized it NEEDED this app worked great. But the application definitely has some user interface issues. It seems to also always default to Standard Definition instead of the High Definition I leave the app on. I have tried to set the default even in the settings to HD and it still restarts into SD each opening. Horrible.Second, the motion and the actual image reproduction was amazing. I wouldn’t expect any less from Amcrest. HD is amazing, and so is SD, honestly. The Tracking feature was fun to play with, but to be honest, not really a feature I don’t think I would use a whole lot. The gimble it is on is silent when moving, so this is a great feature for a sleeping baby or for an actual security monitor to follow whomever the camera should be following without them knowing.Thirdly. There is a spot for image retention utilizing a Card up to 256Gb. I would have loved to try this feature; however, I just do not have one of those cards on the server I run storing everything I need on my other cameras a lot more securely.Overall, I do believe the camera has its ups and downs. For the price, I would say get it. 100%. Can’t beat the quality and support from this company. If the price goes up…then I would reconsider and actually buy one of their mainstream cameras that are 2k or 4k lens’ and only cost really $70. (Plus…those use the better application on your phone or tablet).Either way, I am going to keep the camera. It’s a good one and time will tell how it will stand up. So far, over the past few months, it has been great. Doesn’t get warm, stays silent, great quality and I’m hoping it’ll gain access to the other app with my other cameras and be a seamless system house-wide.
DP –
Overall good camera with room for improvement
I have owned a few different network IP cameras so reviewing the Amcrest 1080P Smart Home Wifi Camera came pretty easy to me. I also run homeassistant and have several home automation smart home devices in my house. In comparison to other cheaper IP cameras this one has some pros and cons.PROS:-Easy Setup – was able to get up and working relatively quickly-Good quality when you have HD switched on, for some reason it was SD by default, I think that Amcrest should change this to be HD by default. It does not have the best quality but overall is good for what you get.-Pan/Tilt 360 degree range is very good and you can go all the way around pretty well-Baby Monitor – seems to work for the most part – I do not have a baby yet but the audio piece I tested worked well-Motion detection – started sending me notifications upon setup. Overall works well, very impressed with the smart tracking feature. I like how it follows you around and goes back to org position afterwards.-Night vision – better than a few other cameras I have owned, it covers the entire room well-Home Assistant integration worked through Onvif – can view the cameraCONS:-Time/date text overlay in top right corner does not look very sharp and the text is a bit squished – could be improved upon-Camera looks a bit fisheyed – not too bad for the price though-I would like to see the ability to pan/tilt the camera using swipe controls in the app instead of the control. Right now swiping takes you to the next camera in which case I don’t have any other cameras making this control useless.-No pan/tilt controls in Onvif – this would be really nice. Onvif seemed to have issues in general. I would like to see full Onvif & RTSP supported with all features.-No web interface like some older Amcrest cameras have – seems to throw a 404 when you visit the camera on port 80. I would like to see the same full web interface with complete customization for this camera.-No ability to disable the cloud functionality – I would like to block outside cloud access for privacy reasons. You can do this on certain Amcrest cameras but could not find a way on this one and had to use my router’s firewall policies instead.-Doorbell tones is the wrong word in the app – should be called Notification Sounds instead-When the camera is loading it shows a percentage that does not mean anything. Remove the percentage and just show loading…-Double tapping the camera should make it fullscreen instead of multiview-On both day 5 and 6 of owning the camera, it went offline twice for no reason. I reset the camera and reconnected to WiFi and immediately started working again. Not sure what the issue is here.-I tried to set a static IP address on my router for this device and it did not seem to respect the device’s mac addressDisclaimer: I was paid to review this product after 7 days of use, this is my honest review.
kaimanson –
***Amcrest ASH21 Smart Camera with great features at an affordable price***
Unboxing:The new Amcrest ASH21 is a beautiful made little camera comparable with those low budget indoor cameras such as Wyse, smartthings, nest cam indoor, EZVIZ, Ring cam indoor. It feels well made and comes with: power adapter, 78” power cable (micro usb), screw mount, and a small bracket that I believe is a wall mount that attach to the bottom of the camera, really weird location for a wall bracket; especially if it is design to swing to the sides, mine didn’t lock all the way in. Camera has an Ethernet connection for faster connection.Setup:Instructions to setup the camera via app are simple and well explained. More subjects can be found on the Amcrest support site. One thing that I couldn’t find anywhere was how to insert the SD card, even on the site there is not any instructions on how to do it. The only way I found to do it without manually forcing the lent is to tilt the lent all the way up via the app then you would see the access to the SD card slot and reset button.Amcrest Home App:The app overall has been working fine and the setup process was simple, you can setup motion schedule, human detection and smart tracking (feature that I was really impress). I had to format my 64sd card on my computer to FAT32, just make sure the whole SD card is on FAT32. I had it formatted a few times under FAT32 and it was not found by the camera. I realize 46mb of the SD card were still under NFTS. I had to remove that partition and reformatted under FAT32 and the camera was able to find it.Motion detection is great an even better with the Human detection option in that way my dog won’t trigger the camera. Tracking is really cool especially if you have it setup in a hallway with low traffic. My only biggest complaint with the whole Amcrest Home App is that you cannot download the footage via the app, make it really inconvenience that every time you want to share a footage you have to physically remove the SD card and put it in the computer.Compared to Wyze (WYZEC2) – Kasa Cam – Ring Indoor cam – Nest Cam.After testing the camera for 31 one days I can come to the conclusion that the Amcrest Ash21 is an amazing deal for the cost, has basically the same features as the more expensive cameras but for a lower cost. The more expensive cameras have for sure a better OS and more smart features, such as the face recognition on the nest. The 2 way communication is loud enough and clear to hear and speak to. This would be my to go camera for any indoor use. Smart enough to track people and move the lens around to follow the person, clear image during the day and night.At the end everything comes down also to you ecosystem, if you have an all Ring or Nest setup maybe it could be better for you go with the same brand because you can setup automation within, instead if you bring an Amcrest it won’t do anything to trigger your Ring’s lights. Wyze can be a cheaper choice if you only indoor cameras and that’s it. On the other hand if you have and Amcrest NVR you can add this cameras and even the Amcrest doorbell to it for constant recording. YMMV.
Scott D –
Great replacement for my Wyze cameras
Setup/InstallI did 2 different setups. One using the Amcrest smarthome app and one on my Synology 1019+ using Surveillance station.My first go around on setting up this camera with the WiFi settings was extremely difficult. The camera connected to the smarthome app just fine but for some reason the camera couldn’t be found from Surveillance Station even with the camera having onvif compatibility.After I got ahold of the right person at Amcrest support we determined that I needed to reset the camera and then use WiFi setup only. From there I was able to connect to Surveillance Station. One thing that is disappointing is I can not control the PTZ from Surveillance Station like I can with other Amcrest cameras.Human detectionI tested this for a few weeks and it worked great! I don’t think I had any false positives the entire time I had it enabled. Another awesome feature is that you can set the camera to pan with the human motion. That’s a great feature to have when paired with Synology Surveillance station since you can’t control the PTZ from it.Visual/Size of cameraI love the size of this camera. I just switched to this from a Wyze v2 and even though this is a little bigger, I gain better picture quality and PTZ! The infrared light isn’t obtrusive and the status light can be easily turned off. I love this little camera.Smarthome appSetting up the camera has to be done via this app. There is no web interface to interact with it which is different from other Amcrest cameras. I wish that this wasn’t the case but it is what it is. The app does work very well once you figure out what you need to do. Working inside the app isn’t the most intuitive once you get in there but it has all of the functions that you would need. The baby monitor feature is actually pretty neat. I previously had a cloud solution that I used for a baby monitor but being able to use this has made going over to the neighbors and easier task when the kid is sleeping. After the camera is setup via the Smarthome app you can then set the camera up with the Amcrest pro view if that is what you want or any other nvr solution that you use.Video QualityThe overall quality of the picture is great. My biggest fear is not being able to see whatever it is that is being recorded when an event takes place. Being an indoor camera I have found the picture quality to be good enough to view faces anywhere in my homesite to the short distances.Overall the camera is working as expected and I love it for the simple indoor purposes that I need.
JOSHUA G. –
Excellent Camera but…
This was purchased/provided for review. This camera is definitely worth the money when you use the provided app. The overall camera image and audio quality is really crisp and shows details relatively well.The Setup:So to begin, the camera comes with all the necessary cables and mounting hardware needed to start setting up the device whether you are using WiFi or Wired. Setup is done though the Amcrest Smart Home app. All I had to do was scan the QR code and off I was to setting up the WiFi connection and naming of the device. Once you have it setup, the camera will do a quick check for firmware updates and install accordingly. From there you can immediately start viewing the camera feed and using the 2-way audio and PTZ features as you would expect. The on screen joystick for the PTZ feature works nicely but the camera does take a few moments to start moving. I was unable to get it to move smoothly with the phone app but after setting up the Home surveillance pro software I was able to move it as one would expect, smoothly and almost instantly.DVR/NVR Setup:This is where things got confusing and a bit frustrating until a handful of google searches later I was able to piece together the setup. According to the Amcrest website, you should be able to setup the camera on any of the Amcrest NVR/DVR software or hardware as well as BlueIris with very little configuration. This is about 70% true. They fail to tell you that the only way for the camera to show up on these options is by using the ethernet connection rather than WiFi. Once I connected the unit with the included ethernet (You want to buy or make your own. It’s super short) I was able to get it to show up in the Amcrest Surveillance Pro software and also tested it with Motioneye hosted on docker. Both options show it perfectly with RTSP configuration. With a cheap $11 PoE adapter I was able to supply power and ethernet so I only needed one cable running to it.Final thoughts:I would definitely suggest this camera to anyone that wants a really quick setup and little to no knowledge of networking or configurations. If you are a little more advanced and want to use it with any NVR software you’ll need to do a little digging for the correct configuration and will have to use an ethernet connection for it to work. I don’t have any kids so I wasn’t able to test the baby monitor/tracker feature of this camera.
Tori McNeal –
Helps me sleep better at night.
As a first time parent when we moved our toddler into his own room I had a lot of concerns about how he would so and this product helps me sleep easier knowing I can check on him in the middle of the night without risking waking him up.
Michael Bieber –
It’s good, not great.
I’ve had the camera for 2 months, and it works mostly as expected. Two things that I don’t like are 1) it’s automatic tracking moves at whiplash speeds, and will often overshoot what it’s tracking, and lose it. 2) it’s movements are LOUD! When viewing live footage or playback, the panning is ridiculously loud. Plastic is rubbing and gears are grinding.