Xiaomi Mijia 1080P Smart IP Camera SXJ01ZM

Most official webpage I could find: https://www.mi.com/mj-camera-1080p/ don't be fooled, there are lots of Mi "fan" pages. Some are inaccurate. All try to sell you stuff.
A good review: http://www.jayceooi.com/mijia-1080p-ip-camera-review/

Ugh, Xiaomi, can you come up with unique names for your cameras? There must be like 5 cameras called "Mijia". How to distinguish this camera:

• Obviously the best is SXJ01ZM, but not many places call it this.
• Some places also refer to it as 130°, which is pretty unique, and distinguishes it from the 360° cameras that look the same.
• There are a couple of cameras that look like this - black circle in white oval frame. The 360° ones, more expensive, have the black part protrude out the front when viewed from the side. I think this is the only camera where the black part is removable, a feature I like (see below)

This is what it looks like. As is usual for this blog, I'm going to focus on things other blogs don't cover. Here are the features covered by every other review and reblog that I'm not going to repeat past this:

• 1080P full HD
• 2.4 and 5 GHz dual-band wifi
• Bluetooth (for setup and auto sleep)
• Night vision with IR LEDs and IR filter. You can hear the filter moving in and out.
• It's only 20 FPS?
• WDR (same as High Dynamic Range)
• microSD card slot
• 2-way audio

To me, the most interesting feature is you can take out the black part and hide it better. The white part is just a frame.

Other interesting features:

• Well the main selling point is the price, other brands' HD cameras are twice the price
• It runs off microUSB (power only, no data) so you can power it from a USB battery
• I'm not sure how common a moving infrared filter is on these cameras, but I always find it interesting
• Using Bluetooth, it can detect your Mi band or phone (which brand?) when you're nearby and stop recording

Summary:

• It does what it's meant to do very well. And coupled with the low price, this is a bargain - if it meets your requirements. Unfortunately I always seem to have unusual requirements, so it falls a little short for me.
• By "very well", I mean image quality is good, it's relatively easy to setup and use, 130° is super wide (compared to my cheap Dlink camera; don't know if it's wide for other cameras), and I think its strongest point is it's easy to immediately see what times motion was detected.
• My main concern, which I think applies to all users, is its heavy dependence on the Xiaomi servers. Its functionality is severely limited without them. This has 2 issues: 1. dependency - what if Xiaomi or your Internet access goes down etc. 2. security and privacy

Setup:

• It talks during setup! Fortunately, it doesn't seem to make uncontrolled noises at other times.
• You can set it up for wifi networks while you don't have access to that network. e.g. you can set it up at home for your office network.

Offline use:

• Does not seem to have standalone/AP/OTG mode: https://www.gearbest.com/blog/how-to/ap-mode-to-connect-xiaomi-1080p-smart-ip-camera-to-phone-1323
• It needs Internet access when first turned on, or it won't even start recording.
• I tried disconnecting it after that, and it continued recording for 5 minutes. Not sure how long it'll last.

There are basically 3 recording modes: continuous, motion detection and off. Motion detection lets you set areas and sensitivities. No sound activation. Sound recording can't be turned off.

You can also put the camera to sleep, during which the only thing you can do is turn it back on. i.e. you can't review files. So stopping recording (the top picture) is a better idea. Oh since the latest app update, the Chinese "stop recording" has been properly translated to English.

XiaoMi and SJCam, can you stop calling it "watermark"? It's a time and date stamp!

Storage

• You NEED a microSD card. Without a card, you're limited to live viewing (and maybe recording from the app)
• With a microSD card, you can also record to a NAS.
• Surprisingly, no email or FTP like on even the cheapest Dlink cameras

Main Issues

• Main issue, to me, is everything is plainly stored on the microSD card. So people can 1. destroy evidence 2. even get recordings of you. There's the option to make backup recordings on NAS so that could be a solution.
• 2nd biggest thing I don't like is its dependence on the server
• Oh and there could be privacy issues "spying activity detected. A couple times over last 2 months, detected canto conversations in background, def. not accidentally pressed by family members remotely. anyone else kena too?" although I think the background conversations here are unlikely to be from eavesdropping - it would be stupid to play and re-record the audio
• You know, I was going to say the software is good since it can playback while continuing to record (unlike most cameras), but IT HANGS CONSTANTLY. So no good. Hopefully updates can improve this.

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