Sricam SP009 P2P HD IP Camera review

It's been a while since I used one of these mini IP cameras built around the Hi3518 chipset.


So what make this yet-another-cheaper-like-there's-so-many-out-there camera different?

***WARNING***

Many Sricam users reported that they can only get HD from the Sricam mobile app while they only get 640x360 through RTSP channel, and my tests gave different result
Therefore, it seems that the samples I reviewed do not correspond to production currently sold, despite showing the same model, firmware and hardware versions.

Unless you're only planning to use these IP cameras as Cloud devices, (i.e. with the Sricam mobile app only) I advise against buying these products.

****************

The Sricam SP009 is the cheapest IP camera of its kind compared with the previous model tested, Xiaomi  XiaoYi, and EyeSight ES-IP810W.


For the price, I was almost expecting to receive it wrapped in a plastic bag but the packaging is actually very professional, with the power adapter type suited for my region and a manual in proper English.
















It is impossible to miss the installation instructions: They are on the box, and in the printed manual, and repeated on the Sricam website(Nov.2016, no longer true, most links are dead now).
In addition, a setup video is available for those not willing to read at all!







The mobile app is simply called Sricam and is common to several other brands (like Sunluxy). Despite the below average user reviews found on Play store, I found it to work well once you format the SD card properly, bind an email to the alarm, and activate the surveillance mode.
It is also possible to access the camera through this page: http://download.sricam.com/rjxz.html

The video stream can be intercepted in VLC using the URL: rtsp://ipcam:554/onvif1 for HD (1280x720) [see warning above] and
rtsp://ipcam:554/onvif2 for lower resolution (320x180).

With the recent versions of Synology Surveillance Station, such RTSP stream can be configured under [User Define]
with H.264 Video Format, using the suffix (/onvif1, /onvif2) as Source Path.











The picture quality from the GM8135S chipset compares to Hi3518-based devices. Unfortunately this camera lacks the IR-Cut feature to properly render the colours under daylight (e.g.  green plants will look purple).

Also there's no manual control over the IR LED so
The camera could not be used behind a window at night without reflecting its own lights on the glass.

Two-way audio quality is adequate even if not exempt of faint internal camera noises in the background. The internal speaker here is loud enough which is rarely the case in these tiny devices.

Conclusion:
The Sricam SP009 is a good surprise. Not only for its very low price (~21€/23$ @ Gearbest), but also for the overall quality of the product from packaging to the camera itself, and not forgetting the complete setup instructions.
It's a quasi-clone of the ES-IP810W reviewed earlier but with a better speaker and HD streamed through RTSP.
My only grief is the lack of IR-Cut and LED control, but that's because the SP009 is the cheapest variant. IR-Cut is available, for ~4€ extra with the SP009B .


Nice:
● Sricam provide a complete documentation including a video guide.
● Easy to setup.
● Up to 128GB microSD card supported.
● HD (1280x720) stream available through RTSP (see warning above)
● ONVIF compliant

Not so nice:
● No LED mode control (Not suitable for use behind a window),
● No IR-Cut (consider SP009B if you need this)

Special thanks to David @ GearBest for providing the sample reviewed here.