SUNLUXY SL-C702 IP Camera Review

With a design inspired from the Dericam H502W, the Sunluxy SL-C702 seems to offer a similar set of features, but it's worth a closer look...

Beside the Quick Start leaflet, a mini CD contains
all you need in the "Enlish" folder.

The Sunluxy C702 is sold around 43€ on eBay  with a price in line with the old H502W.

The camera comes with the usual accessories: a start-up guide, a power adapter, a mini-CD, but no network cable. 

The Mini CD contains a more complete documentation, some client software for PC, Android and iOS, plus a search.exe tool to locate your camera on the network.

All this can be also downloaded from the main web site: http://cd.365cam.net/index_en.html

While not identical, the SL-C702 is a look-alike of Dericam H502W with a larger head. Another visible difference is the RS485 alarm interface at the back.  

ONVIF 2.0? 
This camera is mistakenly advertised as ONVIF 2.0 compliant, but its implementation is way too incomplete to work with Synology Surveillance Station.
The Onvif Device Manager detects the camera but fails to read the complete profile. So it seems there's been some (aborted) efforts in that direction at least.

It is possible to use a http url in Surveillance Station:
http://192.168.1.xxx/videostream.cgi?user=user&pwd=password
Alternatively, selecting a compatible product in the list, like Foscam FI8919W seems to work.

RTSP stream uses the following url: rtsp://user:password@192.168.1.xxx:10554/tcp/av0_0
More here: http://www.ispyconnect.com/man.aspx?n=Sunluxy

The bad news is that using the videostream.cgi crashes the video server after a while and there is no picture streamed any more through the web interface or the rtsp channel!

General Impressions
The main page gives the usual access to various kinds of browser, including the "mobile" static page and a SD Card access.

Neither nice or ugly, the user interface is complete with IR lights controls and position presets.
The firmware version reads as Device 30.5.1.0.62 and WebUI 1.0.0.10. There's room for improvement and you can see by the messy page sources that it is still a work in progress.
The most annoying bug is that the first page does not retain the languages choice and always defaults back to Chinese.

Audio quality: The microphone provides good sound but is very sensitive to interference from nearby electrical devices.

Picture quality: Despite the widely used Hi3518E chipset (Foscam, Amovision, ...), the picture was partially blurred , but it turned out that a bit of grease (used for the lens thread) got on the inside of the lens. Once cleaned, the picture was perfectly neat...
The IR light is strong enough, but it's not automatic and does not remain activated.

Conclusion: avoid...go for alternatives
Despite being build on a good hardware base, the C702 is completely let down by the software part.
The unstable video streaming, IR light not automatic, and Onvif non-compliance are significant show stoppers for me. There's little hope that Sunluxy wil provide any support with their unattended email address (reports "Mailbox full"), so don't expect a well-needed firmware update. 

The "clones" I found afterwards have an activity LED on the front as only visual difference, but use more finished firmware, so consider these alternatives:
- Zoneway ZW-NC638MW-P (support site)
- EyeSight ES-IP909IW using a different firmware line. I obtained a firmware from them and it cannot be used on the Sunluxy.
- Owlvision O-E6811, sold by Gearbest uses a better firmware, similar to the E6830. I could upload this one on the Sunluxy but lost the PTZ function, so possibly a slightly revised hardware in those 'clones'.
- Finally don't forget the Dericam H502W (aka EyeSight ES-IP902W, CyberNova CN-WIP604MW ) or its successor H503W.

Good:

Easy to setup 

Position presets

RS485 Alarm interface 

Not good:

Unstable video streaming 

IR light not automatic and defaults to off

Home page defaults to Chinese,  English needs to be re-selected each time.

Audio subject to interferences

No ONVIF compatibility

Equivalent models:

Zoneway ZW-NC638MW-P

Rocam NC-300

Owlvision O-E6811, sold by Gearbest uses a better firmware, similar to the E6830.

Look-alike but not the same firmware line: EyeSight ES-IP909IW (aka PhonesCam PC-IP909IW)