If you are looking for a panoramic security camera that is easy to install and setup, the Zosi 360º panoramic camera is a good and affordable solution.
I purchased this camera to test it out and write a review, so if you want to learn more about this security camera just keep reading...
Zosi 360º Panoramic Camera Features
ZOSI 360° 3MP Wireless Panoramic Camera
With 3MP resolution, two-way audio communication, night vision, and motion detection, this camera allows you to monitor everything from a smartphone.
It's amazing how modern security cameras can have so many features and the Zosi 360º panoramic camera is not an exception since it brings interesting ones.
Take a look at the following picture to see such features.
Let's go over which one of these features...
3MP Resolution
When purchasing a security camera, is recommended to check which resolution is available in the device. The Zosi camera has 3MP which is enough for monitoring a room in your home or small office even with a 360º panoramic view.
Source: Zosi website
Yes, I've tested this camera myself and I can say that the 3MP resolution is enough to show you high-quality video in a smartphone.
360º Panoramic View
The camera can be mounted in the ceiling or wall for a 360º area coverage.
You can see everything in a room without missing any details...
Source: Zosi website
I've tested the Zosi 360º panoramic camera with both types of installation and I could see good results with the visualization of the entire room.
It's interesting to notice that there's no blind spot in the camera view, especially if the camera is installed in the center of a room's ceiling.
Motion Detection
This feature is very important to allow camera alert and event recording.
The Zozi 360º camera allows you to receive a notification every time somebody or something passes in front of it. It can also record the videos based on events.
Source: Zosi website
When testing the camera I notice that it's also possible to sound an alarm through the camera speaker every time there's some motion. That's interesting.
Just make sure you want to have such a feature (speaker sound) enabled, otherwise it can bother you and the people around it with so many alerts.
In my opinion that feature can be useful to let people know they are being observed in a store or something like that, I liked the way it works...
Night Vision
If you are using a security camera for monitoring and recording, it might have a good night vision and that's exactly what the Zosi 360º camera has.
Source: Zosi website
I just place the camera on a desk and later at night I was curious to see how the infrared LEDs would work, so I just used my smartphone to login and check.
As you can see in the picture below, the image is very impressive for such a small camera. Note how it's possible to see the entire room that is completely dark.
(This is a real screenshot from the Zosi camera in my apartment)
Usually, the security cameras with this price tag (less than $70) are not that impressive. I must say the Zosi camera is very good for this type of scenario.
Two-way audio
I like audio and I get excited every time a device has such a feature available.
The Zosi 360º panoramic camera has a mic and a speaker to allow two-way audio communication. Using a smartphone it's possible to talk to somebody that is close to the camera, you just need to press a button to enable or disable this feature.
Source: Zosi website
From my bedroom I tested the camera two-way communication just by talking to my wife that was in the next room close to the Zosi camera...
The feature is very easy to use. On my smartphone I just opened the Zosi Pano app, pressed a button and the camera turned into an intercom.
Local audio communication
Standing 10 feet away from the camera, my wife could hear me speaking but she couldn't clearly understand me. She got curious about the sound coming from that small device (I didn't warn her that I was testing it) and got closer to it.
At around 3 feet away from the camera she could understand me and talk back.
After some extra audio tests, I could say that you can communicate with somebody that is around 3 to 5 feet away from the camera if there are no others loud sounds such as a TV, or your kids playing some songs around the house 🙂
Remote audio communication
I also tested the two-way audio communication remotely from my smartphone and it works pretty fine. I went to my daughter's school to pick her up and she could talk to her mom (my wife), using the camera two-way communication.
The conversation was pretty good and they could understand each other and discuss what was available for lunch 🙂
Micro SD card slot
To record the videos, the Zosi 360º panoramic camera uses a micro SD card.
You need to buy a memory card for CCTV yourself since the camera just comes with a slot that allows you to insert such a card. So I recommend you to choose a fast card that can handle the video stream.
During the tests, I installed a class 10 micro SD card and everything worked fine.
The camera was able to record the video for several days without any sort of issue.
2.4 GHz Wi-Fi
The camera connects to a Wi-Fi router to communicate with your smartphone and uses a standard 2.4GHz frequency that is available on all home routers.
This means you can easily connect the Zosi 360º camera to your router as long as the camera is within the distance range.
Remote monitoring
You can use a 3G/4G network to connect to the camera from your smartphone when you are not at home. This is very useful for remote monitoring.
Source: Zosi website
It's not necessary to configure your router for port forwarding since the Zosi cloud allows you to have an easy and fast setup.
I tested this feature and it works pretty fine as long as the smartphone signal is good enough to handle the data traffic that comes from the camera.
The Zosi Pano app pops up an alert to let you know you are connecting to the camera using your mobile data and it also alerts when the data traffic is not good.
360º Cruising
If you install the camera on a desk pointing up or in the ceiling point down, it's possible to use the different views available in the Zosi Pano app.
The picture below shows the buttons you can click to choose the view mode.
You can choose one of these modes such as the 2x 180º panoramic view or divide the screen into four different parts as shown in the pictures below...
You can also navigate the image by just using your fingers in the Zosi Pano App.
It's pretty interesting to move the image around and pinch to zoom in and out.
Adaptive viewing direction
This feature is awesome and allows the camera to adjust the view automatically.
Just imagine you have the camera on a desk and you don't know exactly what is the correct camera position to let the viewing in the correct horizontal position.
The camera adjusts the image in your app so it's possible to view it correctly.
I found this feature very useful since sometimes we can misplace the camera.
Zosi 360º Panoramic Camera Recording
After testing the camera for some time, I started playing with the recordings and I noticed that it's very easy to look for recorded videos.
It's just a question of pressing the "Playback" button and choosing the date and time you want to look for the recorded footage.
As you can see, the playback interface is very intuitive, you just need to click the blue bar, choose the time you want to play and press the play button.
The camera is on the top of a desk and can record video of the entire room using the 180º view since it's close to a wall.
Manual recording
I've tested the manual recording feature available in the Zosi Pano app. It's very simple to use, you just need to press the button to start recording.
The Zosi camera can generate .mp4 video files that can be played on your computer.
Video backup
After recording the footage in the camera micro SD card, you can choose what to export. Just input the date and time in the Zozi Pano App as shown below.
As you can see the app shows all the available files that can be downloaded to your smartphone. Just click the "Download" button to transfer the files to the phone.
Zosi 360º Panoramic Camera Pros and Cons
Pros
Cons
Conclusion:
I must say that the Zosi 360º panoramic camera worth the investment since it brings the necessary quality for a consumer panoramic camera.
I've tested this device from the point of view of a regular consumer, not considering the experience that I have in the area and I think the setup is very easy and intuitive, you can have the camera up and running very fast with no issues.
I recommend this camera for small offices and home applications...
You can purchase it directly in the Amazon store, just click the button below:
Extra information
If you need more information about the Zosi 360º Panoramic Camera, just visit the official Zosi Website at: https://www.zositech.com/