For one, I wish it displayed the time on its screen so that I don’t also have to check my phone whenever I hear a peep in the middle of the night. As mentioned, although the user guide notes the range is 700 feet, the Infant Optics monitor seems to have a smaller range than other non-WiFi monitors. Most of the changes that the Infant Optics DXR-8 Pro brings in are just things that are catching Infant Optics up with market standard. I always play white noise in Ellie's room while she's sleeping, so the volume indicator is continually green or orange, but it always turns red when she cries. The Infant Optics DXR-8 also has eight different volume settings, helpful when trying to get some sleep yourself while still keeping an ear on the monitor.

The face of Fathercraft and fearless father of two, John looks great in skinny jeans and knows 23 bedtime books by heart (world record? The marketing materials also claim the system is "hack-proof," which makes it a good alternative to smart baby monitors for security-minded folks. The letters on the eye chart are a bit fuzzy, but they tend to clear up when you zoom in, which also lets you see the baby's eyes and facial expression.Now it’s time to dive into the performance issues experienced with not one, but two of our DXR-8 baby monitors. But knowing I had a reliable monitor that would alert me very quickly if something were wrong eased my anxiety. I've been writing about computers, the internet, and technology professionally for over 30 years, more than half of that time with PCMag.

This is perfectly fine for mid-range coverage, enough to see your baby and their immediate surroundings.The video quality of the Infant Optics is clear, smooth and has almost no latency (nothing you would really notice) or issue with range. The camera on the Infant Optics DXR-8 offers infrared night vision so you clearly see your baby even in the dark or low light. In addition to not getting hacked, being off Wi-Fi also helps ensure that it will work all the time. It’s not necessarily fancy, but I didn’t want it to be; like many parents, I preferred a radio-frequency-enabled (or closed-loop) monitor over a smarter, Wi-Fi-enabled one because of security concerns. 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.