Infant Optics DXR-8 Video Baby Monitor, Non-WiFi Hack-Proof FHSS Connection, Interchangeable Lenses, Pan Tilt Zoom, LED Sound Bar, Night Vision, and Two-Way Talk

Product Information

It checked all the boxes —no WiFi, the ability to pair more than one camera to one monitor unit, and advanced panning and zooming options. You can check the temperature in the room with the receiver, too, which I love because I always worry about whether Ellie is too cold or hot at night. When testing with John’s 4-year-old Oliver, whose bed was across the room from the camera, and it was difficult to tell if he was actually in the bed.

A lot has changed in the world of baby monitors– even since we first reviewed the Infant Optics DXR-8 Pro back in 2019.

According to Truly Mama Rachel, the camera on this monitor is so good that you can quite literally see your baby’s chest moving up and down. We chose the infant optics monitor primarily because we did not want a monitor that could be hacked. When charged properly before the first use, we were very impressed with how long the monitor kept a charge. It sports a much more intutive interface than the original DXR-8, which is important, since you're accessing everything using four function buttons and a D-pad (which controls navigation and pan/tilt). Our DXR-8 from 4 years ago is identical to the one we just purchased for further testing in December 2018.

That’s because every time I hear a noise from either the baby or the toddler’s room, I have to actually get up and get out of bed to look at the monitor. The monitor parent device has a rechargeable Li-ion battery that Infant Optics claims will run 10 hrs on standby mode and 6.As mentioned, the sound-activated LED lights are great for when you have the display on sleep or volume muted. Changing the lens is very easy, you just need to unscrew the one that’s currently on and swap it with another one. It’s impossible for someone to hack into the Infant Optics via your WiFi connection, they would need to be within signal range. The DXR-8 PRO is the most advanced non-WiFi video baby monitor system available, designed with state-of-the-art features to keep your baby and family safe. It does have an alarm if the temperature becomes too high or low in the room, which the Infant Optics lacks, but overall, this monitor doesn’t compare to the quality of the more full-featured DXR-8.

It comes with a one-year warranty, but you can extend it to two years by registering the system immediately (within seven days of purchase) on infantoptics. You won’t mistake the image quality with your 4K TV – but it is more than sufficient to see details you need. The sound clarity is better than most of the competition, and we did not experience any distortion, echo, or interference during testing. Keep in mind, though, that you have to be careful not to hold the monitor in front of the camera with sound on, or else you'll get some feedback, which is typical with any sound device. Performance of the DXR-8 is marginal at best, and just plain non-functional when the out of signal range issue surfaces out of nowhere.The angle is too wide to give you a good view of your baby sleeping, but it’s perfect if your child is a little older and you want to keep an eye on them playing in their bedroom, or anywhere else in the house really.

Like the earlier model, the new one has a thermometer, too, though I find it could be more accurate. I've been writing about computers, the internet, and technology professionally for over 30 years, more than half of that time with PCMag.Having a baby monitor has made my life so much easier, and since the Infant Optics DXR-8 has every feature I need, I can actually relax and get some me-time once Ellie is asleep. The packaging is attractive, minimalistic and proudly shows off its awards from The Bump and Wirecutter. That also means that if you have more than one child, you could get a camera for each one of their rooms and access them all with one monitor. The monitor has everything you need to check on a (hopefully) slumbering baby: a color screen with night vision; a camera that zooms, tilts, and pans; an LED sound bar that depicts sound levels so you can turn the screen off if you want to; a range of up to 700 feet. I also opened the plastic antenna casing, but it just didn't have enough cable for me to work with it.