Merkury Smart WiFi Photographic camera Review

We review the Merkury Smart WiFi Camera to see how it compares to the likes of Wyze, Blink, and Arlo.

Merkury Smart WiFi Camera

3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5

  • Pros

    Good option for the price

  • Pros

    Supports multiple vocalization assistants

  • Pros

    Easy to prepare

Info electric current every bit of post appointment. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to modify.

John Carlsen

Staff Writer, Security & Smart Home

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The Merkury Smart WiFi Camera is a pleasant surprise equally far equally cheap security cameras go. It won't turn heads with features but is a decent security camera that fits into a respectable smart dwelling ecosystem. Merkury Smart WiFi Camera doesn't take cloud video storage, which is probably a deal-breaker for most folks. Nonetheless, it's not bad for a abode security photographic camera that costs less than $twoscore.

What'due south in the box

Merkury Smart WiFi Camera box

  • Merkury Smart WiFi Camera
  • USB cable
  • Power adapter
  • Mounting agglutinative
  • User manual

How Merkury compares with other cameras under $xl

This Merkury photographic camera is a nice camera for the price bespeak—and its price is pretty unbeatable. It's not going upward against heavyweights like Reolink or Arlo, but you tin get several of these WiFi cameras for the cost of a unmarried photographic camera with upgrades.

†Amazon.com listing cost as of postal service date. Read full disclaimer.

Average video quality

As far equally engineering science goes, the Merkury Smart WiFi Camera isn't too complicated compared with other cameras nether $forty. Information technology boasts 1080p video resolution, which provides enough item for most folks without chewing through storage space and internet bandwidth too quickly.

The resolution works well with Merkury's 115º field of view, which shows a clear view of a room, especially if you lot install the camera in a corner. The infrared night vision on this wireless security camera works well and almost matches daytime videos' clarity—like to competitors like Wyze and Eufy.

Plentiful smart abode options

We didn't have much experience with Merkury Innovations earlier this review, but it was surprising how much smart home equipment the brand sells.

At that place are xix smart dwelling devices in the lineup (16 cost less than $40), including smart lighting, smart plugs, video doorbells, security cameras, and entry sensors.

In general, nosotros found favorable customer reviews for these products—they're cheap enough to try out in your smart home but like shooting fish in a barrel to render if yous don't similar the results.

Each smart device (including the Merkury Smart Camera) connects to Wi-Fi and uses the Geeni camera app. They even work with vox administration like Amazon Alexa, Google Banana,* and Microsoft Cortana.

While we like the Cortana compatibility since at that place aren't many smart home devices that support it, it's not every bit useful as Alexa and Google Banana.

Weak recording storage

The biggest weakness of the Merkury Smart WiFi Photographic camera is that information technology doesn't offer cloud storage. Instead, you have the option to accept screenshots and download brusk clips from alive video feeds. For all other video storage needs, you must have a microSD card.

The proficient news is that this IP camera supports cards up to 128GB, which can terminal for months before information technology starts to overwrite one-time recordings. Merkury says the camera generally uses about 1GB per day, then even a smaller bill of fare is sufficient for long-term storage when the camera records with motion detection.

The bad news is that it doesn't come with a microSD card in the box. So y'all'll need to spend an extra $10–$25 on a carte du jour for your camera, diluting its affordability. Near competitors don't include microSD cards either, so this is more of a general gripe than a real drawback.

Merkury camera setup and installation

Easy Wi-Fi setup

Like most security cameras, this unit of measurement connects to your home Wi-Fi network, so you lot can control it from your smartphone using the Geeni app (Geeni is a sibling make to Merkury Innovations).

The app has a straightforward layout that's easy to use for live viewing your camera feed, watching recordings, or talking with people using the Merkury Smart WiFi Camera's ii-style audio.

How do I set up my Merkury Smart WiFi Camera?

  1. Connect the camera, USB cable, and power adapter before plugging it in.
  2. Use the Geeni app (iOS and Google Play) to connect the camera to your Wi-Fi network.
  3. Accommodate the settings, link to a phonation assistant, and insert a memory card every bit needed.

Y'all tin place the camera on any flat surface or attach information technology to a wall with the included agglutinative pad. We like that the camera's bendable stand allows yous to point the lens at a detail vista similar an entrance or pricey habitation theater setup.

Unfortunately, this camera doesn't support 5GHz Wi-Fi networks, and so yous may demand to adjust your telephone's settings to two.4GHz during the setup process if you're struggling to connect to the photographic camera.

We also found some user reviews that note occasional Wi-Fi problems like dropped connections and laggy video. But these issues don't seem to affect most folks.

Customer service & back up

On the surface, Merkury Innovations doesn't offering a ton in terms of customer service. The manual lists a phone number, and the master website has an email form for getting assistance, merely you take to dig deeper for additional back up options.

For instance, the manual directs users to the support site for Geeni cameras, which adds live chat support to the listing. But this is more helpful for the Geeni app than this specific smart security camera. Yous can also admission bones support through the Geeni app.

As we read critical user reviews on retail sites like Walmart and Geeni's social media pages, we oftentimes saw the company following up to offer more than assist. So we're hopeful that the company pays attention to customer feedback and works to fix issues.

Overall, Merkury Innovations' customer service isn't equally seamless as interacting with Wyze, Arlo, and Ring—but information technology'due south notwithstanding very responsive and helpful.

Terminal give-and-take

We were skeptical when we started researching the Merkury Smart WiFi Camera for this review, merely we were pleasantly surprised by this dandy little photographic camera.

While its specs are generally average and won't outshine Wyze, Merkury's biggest strength is its posse of affordable smart home devices. Check out our guide to cheap security cameras for our peak picks to watch over your home on a budget.

Merkury Smart WiFi Camera FAQ

Merkury Smart WiFi Camera records to a microSD card (sold separately)—it supports cards upward to 128GB.

Based on our research, we recollect that Merkury Innovations puts a lot of effort into its products and customer service, making it fairly reliable. Though it'southward not at the same level as meridian brands like Arlo and Wyze, it holds its own.

How we reviewed the Merkury WiFi Camera

Nosotros have years of feel reviewing security cameras, so we approached the Merkury Smart WiFi Camera with several goals. Specifically, nosotros researched the camera's technology, installation, and customer support options. We besides looked at customer reviews to residue our perspective with real-globe performance.

Learn more than about our review procedure in our methodology.

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Disclaimers

*Google, Google Assistant, and other related marks are trademarks of Google LLC.

†Amazon.com list price as of post date. Production prices and availability are authentic as of the date/fourth dimension indicated and are subject to alter. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of buy will apply to the purchase of this product. Safewise.com utilizes paid Amazon links.

Certain content that appears on this site comes from Amazon. This content is provided "every bit is" and is subject to alter or removal at whatever time.

John Carlsen

Written past

John Carlsen

John is a technology journalist specializing in smart home devices, security cameras, and dwelling house security systems. He has over nine years of experience researching, testing, and reviewing the latest tech—he was the Smart Home Editor for Top Ten Reviews and wrote for ASecureLife before joining SafeWise as a Staff Writer in 2020. John holds a Bachelor's caste in Communications, Journalism emphasis from Utah Valley University. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, photography, cooking, and starting countless DIY projects he has yet to complete.

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