Tenda CP3 - a functional surveillance camera for home and office use

Tenda CP3 is the latest model of IP cameras from the Chinese manufacturer. This small elliptical wonder can operate 24 hours a day and monitor what is happening in its "eye". How does it work in everyday use? I checked it!

Tenda is a producer of network solutions and gadgets for Smart Home. The company has been on the market since 1999 and for some time its products have also been available on the Polish market.

Inconspicuous but powerful

Today we will look at a small, inconspicuous device that can see quite a lot. The Tenda IP CP3 camera is a device for monitoring a room in an office or at home. Small, because it fits in the hand, the camera is a bit "egg-shaped". Its housing is white. A huge "eye" is simply a lens that can rotate 360 ​​degrees along with the top of the housing.

The camera itself transmits the image only after connecting to Wi-Fi and configuring it with the smartphone application, which the manufacturer has posted on the App Store and Google Play Store. Configuration takes literally a few minutes - all thanks to the QR codes located in the manual and on the bottom of the camera. Thanks to these facilities, we can immediately move on to getting to know CP3.

Video quality

Tenda CP3, when connected to a smartphone, transmits a live image in Full HD or lower quality. After connecting the camera to the phone, we can watch what the camera is currently seeing at any time. This works great because the image can be displayed regardless of whether we are connected to the same network as the device.

Remote viewing of current events is especially fun when there are cats in the house. However, this was just an environment in which we had the opportunity to test the equipment. You can easily imagine using the Tenda camera in an office or even a small shop. The camera also allows you to take pictures of the current frame. If there is not enough space to store all photos and videos in the device's memory, we can use the mini SD card slot.

Controls and additional functions

We can also control CP3 using a smartphone. The lens and the entire camera will rotate when, with the use of arrows, we change the direction of the camera's "eye". As the manufacturer assures, the rotating structure of the camera covers 360 ° horizontally and 155 ° vertically (90 ° up, 65 ° down), thus leaving no blind zones. As you can see in the photo above, sometimes it is surprisingly extremely interesting view 😉

In addition to constantly sending the image to the application, where we can see what is currently happening in the monitored room, the camera also sends notifications when it notices motion using AI. This feature, of course, will not work in all conditions. Certainly, detecting movement where it is everyday life will not make much sense.

However, when we notice that someone or something is putting their sticky hands on our property, we can, for example ... shout at the person being monitored through the camera! The application on the phone includes an intercom option. All you have to do is turn on this function and start speaking into the phone's microphone. The camera will transmit this sound and maybe we can even scare a potential thief 😉 For better results, there are also light alarms, which are to additionally scare the intruder. The function will also work well, for example, in the case of monitoring unruly animals left at home.

Tenda CP3 - specification and security

In the box of the tiny Tenda CP3 camera we will find the necessary equipment and a few accessories. Of course, the manufacturer adds a power cable to the monitoring device and an optional washer with screws that allow the camera to be screwed to a selected surface.

The camera transmits the image via a connection encrypted with AES128 bit key. Thanks to this, we do not have to worry about the fact that someone is watching what is happening in the observed room, apart from ourselves. What if we want to turn off the camera for a while? It is enough to "close" her "eye". With the help of the application, with one click, we put the camera to sleep, which turns the lens down, specifically - towards you. Thanks to this, she cannot see anything that is happening around her. So we are dealing here with physical protection.

Who is Tenda CP3 for?

The CP3 IP camera can be a great, budget solution for everyone who needs to have a given area of ​​the office or home under control. CP3 will vigilantly observe the surroundings wherever we need it.

Attractive price, good image quality and rich additional functions mean that if you are considering a basic online monitoring set, you cannot pass by the Tenda CP3 webcam indifferently. Unless we are looking for a specialized and ultra-professional solution, the described device should successfully meet the requirements that are most often placed on such sets.