ANNKE 3K Lite Wired Security Camera System Outdoor with AI Human/Vehicle Detection, 8CH H.265+ DVR and 8 x 1920TVL 2MP IP67 Home CCTV Cameras with Smart Dual Light, Color Night Vision, 1TB Hard Drive

I bought this system to replace the Blink system that’s owned by Amazon because i was sick of paying the subscription and the crappy service. Install was simple if you have the know how and the tools. I absolutely love the picture quality even the IR/night vision is INSANE and clear. This system can be local view only and/or the ANNKE Vision app, which is very simple to use once you get your settings tuned in on how you want them. Each camera you can draw a zone to which you can also set a particular sensitivity for each camera. The notifications are very quick and no lag time to view which was the selling point. Now. The reasons for the 3 stars, about a month ago, we had a power outage, which dropped the WiFi, which you need for the app, i have gone through each trouble shooting step to gain back my app viewing, keep in mind my system still works but its local view only at this time. I have followed the steps precisely and even involved support. I’m still waiting to hear back about what else we can do to get my app back online. Just sucks that customer support isn’t as quick as it was. But all in all, a great system and very responsive for identifications. And VERY customizable. EDITED 1/30/26 After weeks of trouble shooting and doing EXACTLY what they say and still no results. They ended up sending me a whole new DVR. I’m back online for local and REMOTE. They were very helpful, the reason the issue took forever was due to time differences and availability on my side. I’m glad i stuck it out.

This system will not break the bank and still offers a sense of security that will allow you to sleep well at night or not worry while you're gone. One thing to note: the motion detection will not provide you with video; however it will provide you with snapshots. You can set the system; however, to continuous recording if you choose, and this is what I do while I'm away or asleep. The installation is very simple; however, you will be crawling around in your attic a lot if you want to install it without wires being exposed. That should be no surprise. The instructions are very simple to follow, but the printed booklet is small, so use the online owners manual that can be found on the product page here on amazon. The one thing that I was having issues with is the wired mouse that comes with the unit - it's just not a good solution unless you plan to use a monitor at a desk. I wanted to use it with my flatscreen tv, which worked just fine, but the wired mouse created a major issue. In this case, I would suggest using a wireless IR mouse, and I found the perfect one, which I will provide the link to below: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R66QQNS?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details Overall I am extremely happy and very surprised how much you get for the price! UPDATE: I previously stated that this system would not record video using motion detection; however, I was mistaken and finally figured out how to do it, which makes this system even better! I suppose this details the learning curve of the software, which isn't bad at all, but I was a little confused when it came to the events and recordings section of the settings. The events can be set for continuous use and then enabled and the recording can be set for continuous, event, and then none. By default the system comes with the recording set to continuous, so all you have to do is set it to event for each camera so when an event alarm is set, a recording will start, which will save you a lot of space on your hard drive. I really hope this helps in case anyone else out there was scratching their head about the same feature. The only other things during setup that had me wondering is when I setup the networking. There will be a section on screen from the dvr that calls for a varification code when trying to connects your mobile device to the network. I thought it was a verification number that was located within my system's paperwork; however, it's just a code that you need to create (like a password). Well, good luck with your new system, if you choose to purchase. I enjoy mine tremendously, and like I said before - for the price, this system has all the bells and whistles! Thank you, Annke!

Good quality. Nice picture. A lot of recording time. Pretty easy to set up. Don't have to use the cloud. If you hook it to the internet you can use it on your phone. They can't Jam your cameras because they're wired.

This is an overall great camera system! It works great and has really good camera quality. The installation process was pretty straight forward. Although it wouldn't hurt to order longer cables if you do order this camera system. We ordered 4 100 ft cables extra so we could put the cameras farther out. It comes with 8 60 ft cables. They pick up well even far away. I would strap the wires down pretty good too to where the wind doesn't blow them a whole lot so they don't break as easily. Or you could bury them indergeound. We did also have to buy a longer Ethernet cable that worked good with the system because the one it came with was super short! We got a 25 foot Cat 6 Ethernet cord. We thought Cat 5 wouldnt be as good for quality and Cat 7 is more for businesses. Cat 6 is perfect for home uses. However, my biggest issue with this system was after installation, I went to set up the software and it was very difficult!!! I about got so frustrated that I almost sent them back. It took almost 2 days for us to get the cameras to detect motion. And we had everything set to the right settings. We had camera 2 and 3 set up but not 1 yet. So we decided to set up camera 1 and then everything started to work right. So just for your information make sure camera 1 is set up first!! We have the sensitivity turned up all the way right now and it is picking up great now. It even triggers when it rains! It can be kind of annoying actually. But you can adjust it to whatever setting is right for you. After we finally got the cameras working good... they have been great!!. It has AI that detects human and vehicles but I do wish that the camera could have advanced AI settings so it would know my face and not record me all the time..lol Night detection is pretty clear as well. I love that it sends me a notification every time it senses movement. It does detect animals as well but it categorizes them as humans. The notifications work through internet from the Ethernet cord. If you lose Internet you won't get notifications sent to your phone but the hard drive will still manually record on the DVR. And one thing that I love is that if the memory is full, it will start to overwrite itself so you don't have to delete anything or worry about the memory! Overall these cameras are a great home security option.

For the price, you get more than what you pay for. You can use this camera system with or without WiFi. If you use it without WiFi, you don’t have the option of viewing the videos and play back on your phone but if you decide to connect it to the WiFi and download the app, it work even better then those monthly camera subscription out there that you have to pay just to view playbacks. This camera does a great job recording video when someone or a car goes by it and mark those event in the timeline if you wanted to go back and review it. The only downside to a wired camera is that you have to find a way to loop all the wires through your house but once you done that, it’s one of the best camera system you could ask for. At night, the camera system light turn on whenever there is a movement near it which it record in great quality. And you can go a significant amount of days to view the playback.

I absolutely love these cameras, There is enough cameras that I have my whole house surrounded and the quality is astonishing. They have helped me in many instances of theft and property damage, and they are really good at deterring fees. The DVR holds about two or three weeks worth of footage and you’re able to clip and save videos and photos. You’re also able to access your cameras from anywhere via your phone as long as your DVR is connected to your Wi-Fi router using an ethernet cable. It was easy to mount all of the cameras, although I do wish that the cameras were capable of being positioned in different ways. The night vision works amazing and I can see nearly all the way down my driveway.

UPDATE: at least half the cameras from both systems have failed now. They've all failed after getting rain water inside them. They are not watertight. Once damaged the image appears purple. You think you can live with that until a crime has been committed and you go to look at the video and the motion record was never activated after the cameras got wet. UPDATE: I guess I should have returned the unit immediately to Amazon. The display output is degrading and there's nothing I can do about it. I wish tech support was non-existent because it's just incompetent. they are incapable of troubleshooting something that's not user error. I bought an additional unit. The new unit is upgraded from the old one. I just wanted to comment on how dificult the technical support it is. It's only email based and they don't speak English and they appear to use Google Translate. there's a problem with the HDMI output on my unit if I do not push sideways on the HDMI cable connected to the back of the DVR I will get a green and red static over everything on the display. But I can't explain that to somebody speaking a foreign language over email. So I guess I'm just going to have to live with the problem. Also this unit does not come with instructions whatsoever! UPDATE: I've grown fond of the system, even though it is ridiculously hard to watch the playback. If you have motion activated recording to view the recording you have to click on this 1 pixel wide sliver that represents that 10-second recording. I can't do it. I've tried dozens of times. I usually have to back up and watch an hour or two a video to get to the spot I wanted to look at. but I'm writing this update today because we had a brown out last week during the night and it fried the hard drive in the security system. my Swann security system, still going strong. also there are no instructions to this! I contacted technical support through email and ask them if there was a link to any online help and all they can ever give me is a link to a very specific question. Is completely unhelpful! when you're using the software on the security system there's a menu item that's titled manual. It seems like it would have some information, but it has absolutely none! when you click that menu item it's simply shows you one of those square barcodes. I almost wish I was a computer, but alas I have no ability to read that. I assume there's not much information encoded in it anyway. well that's my update. initially when I purchased this system it would not work whatsoever with the Emerson 720 P television that I bought just for this. which is caused by the DVR being set to a higher resolution. so you're going to need to get a computer monitor and hope that has a high enough resolution to get this thing working. that's no guarantee that it will work however. When I first got the system it wouldn't work with the monitor I had to unplug it several times and plug it back in and that didn't work the first day but the second day I did that, it started to work. the picture was very purple and it worked like that flawlessly for 5 days and then one day it went back to having an incompatible resolution. mind you however I had never changed the resolution. That's what I found with the system is it might stop working and you'll have to be patient and scream at it and unplug it a bunch and maybe it'll start working again. but it's been working for me for a couple weeks now. and I like several things about this DVR but it's certainly not for everybody. if you need to review the footage that you record you probably do not want this DVR. It is ridiculously difficult to watch the recorded footage. Number one with the motion sensor set to the least sensitive setting it's still continuously activated even when there's no shadows moving or nothing at all that I can see changing in the frame. but what I find absurd about the playback is that you can only watch a maximum of two of the 8 channels at a time and you have to select which two channels up front and you cannot change them during playback. Also playback is a maximum of 4 X. That means if you wanted to watch 24 hours worth of footage from two cameras it would take you, at full fast forward, 6 hours to do that. but there are 8 cameras. At 6 hours per pair you're going to spend 24 hours to review 24 hours worth of footage from all cameras. Not only that but the cameras do not play back in sync. if you don't have a security system then maybe that doesn't make sense to you. But on my Swan when I watch the video all of my cameras are showing me what happened at the exact same moment. with this system when I'm playing it back one camera is showing me leaving in the morning while the other camera is showing me backing into the driveway in the afternoon. it is very confusing to watch. if you don't ever need to playback recorded footage though this might be a really good system for you. The LEDs seem rather bright. the picture is good but not great. according to the product specifications this thing is recording At a way higher resolution then my first system which is a swann. also the cameras on this are supposed to be 800 line where is my Swan is probably under 600 but I cannot tell a difference at all in the quality. In night mode the extra bright LEDs on these cameras light up all sorts of dust just floating around in the air at all times. that you can't see and it triggers the motion recording continuously at night. in fact it always looks like it's snowing at night. With all the white dust floating around and in black and white and with the intensity of the LEDs my grass looks white. they claim to have the world's best technical support. They do not have a phone number available you're going to have to email them. most of the time they respond. It takes them anywhere from an hour to a couple days to respond. they obviously do not speak English and a lot of the messages on the DVR are not properly translated into English. I wanted to change a setting and it gave me something that I think was intended to be a warning that I might not be able to use the DVR if I change that setting. but technically it wasn't a warning it was just poor English. so I didn't feel confident changing anything. when I purchased this system I could not find another 8 camera system anywhere near this price. If you can I would recommend trying another system.I do like this system for monitoring what's going on. also I would discount the high resolution of the system says it works at when you are comparing it to other systems. I feel that either the resolution is a lie or just a waste of resources as it absolutely never looks better than my lower resolution Swan system.

For the price the system is not the worst but setup and initial impressions leave quite a few things to be desired. Packaging is packaging. Not exciting or horrible just holds the items in different boxes to determine parts easier. It helps. It’s when we get to running the cables and setting up the mounts for each respective camera that is where corners were cut it seems. Mounts for each camera have no screw points for the top and bottom, just the awful back integrated mount that has absolutely limited points of articulation. Feels awfully flimsy with using screws to adjust the correct angle icing on the cake. It’s awful to adjust when you don’t have friction lock so you have to not only hold the camera in place, but also screw the little screw to tighten it. Like ball joints were a thing in the old security system and man, you don’t appreciate it until it’s gone. Garbage mount you have to fiddle with more than you need to. Cables are tangly and fiddly with split for video and power. The power splitters are power bricks and will take up a power strip (one that has plugs facing out will save headache). One could definitely work through the issues, but it makes one feel like corners were evidently cut. At least though, the DVR unit works with okay boot times and usable UI to access playback. It’s nothing to write home about but it’s not bad either. Once the cameras are plugged in the video quality isn’t horrible and you can see details acceptable for a camera systems. So all in all, not the worst thing ever, you just have to hassle with some things before you get it working. Time will tell though if it can stand the rigorous demands of a security system, or if it’ll burn out.