Review: Foscam R4M 2K camera with face recognition

Ease of use

By default, this R4M comes with a free one-year cloud subscription. During this trial subscription you can use most of the features of this R4M and you can view up to eight hours of video history in the cloud. If you want more recording history, more functionality or use cloud storage for more than one year, the cloud account needs to be upgraded. The price of this upgrade is a few tenners.

The app for iOS or Android gives you unlimited freedom of movement and if you have access to a (mobile) data network you can monitor your home environment, anywhere in the world, in a few moments. If the camera is not quite as focused as you would like it to be, you can easily adjust it anywhere in the world. If necessary, you can also adjust the detection settings remotely. This is useful if you receive too many empty messages. If something does happen, you can take a quick snapshot. If the subscription allows it, you can download a video of an event that you can share quickly and effectively from your holiday address.

If you want to keep the storage in-house, you can choose to purchase a Foscam network video recorder, or NVR. Multiple cameras can be connected to this and you can keep the camera network safely separated from your home or company network. If you prefer to use a laptop or PC, you can install the Foscam Video Management System. This allows you to view live streams, review camera images stored on the hard disk and, as previously indicated, adjust the settings of the IP camera.

If you have a Foscam NVR, you can also easily view the images via this VMS. You can even view multiple cameras at the same time. Here you can choose to display a matrix of small images or a larger image in combination with smaller images at the edge of the screen. The Foscam VMS software has been running for a few years now and Foscam has already indicated that the current VMS software will soon be replaced by a completely new version with even greater ease of use – which is perfect.

You can also choose to use free surveillance software from a NAS. The brands Synology and QNAP deliver the best propositions, in our opinion. Finally, you can also store the video footage on a very affordable micro-SD card. This card is easily inserted into the camera and in most cases you don’t have to worry about it anymore.