A baby monitor enable you to listen or see your baby remotely from another location within the radio or WIFI range. It gives parents the peace of mind because it can alert them whenever their infants wake up, cry or making irregular sounds. In general, there are 2 types of baby monitor, audio monitor and video monitor. In this article, we will talk about few best-selling audio baby monitors we reviewed and 4 major factors we used in ranking them.
We compare baby monitors and came up with specific write-up for them including their features, what their advantages are and where they fall short of. We will include our observation on the top list, customer opinions and our overall recommendations. However, if you just want to check out the best in our selection, we recommend you to read our review on the VTech DM221 Digital Audio Baby Monitor. It is our FIRST choice because it meets all key requirements below and is BEST VALUE for money as compared to similar product.
(I) Clear Sound within range inside a house
Sound clarify is the most important determination in our reviews because we believe the main objective of having an audio baby monitor is to ensure we can listen to our baby sound, and only their sound. This means the monitor has to be able to filter background noises either automatically or through microphone sensitivity adjustment on the base unit. It should have good coverage at least within normal range of typical house up to 3 floors, and it should emit some sort of alerts whenever out of coverage. It should not have frequent intermittent connection loss between child and parent unit because that will make parents worry and nervous.
(II) Portable on the parent unit
Baby monitoring is needed not only at night, it includes day time as well when parents are busy doing house works. Hence, we think a parent unit should be able to run on battery and easily carried around. Ideally the battery life should last at least 12-16 hours after a full charge. If it is running low on battery, we expect it to be able to alert the users. Visual sound indication feature will be an added advantage as it enables the parent to monitor their baby’s sound visually in a noisy environment.
(III) Basic alerts feature
There are a few alerts feature that we feel a good infant audio monitor should have in order to make the parent feel that they are always connected and listening to their baby. Low battery, out of coverage and pairing loss alert are crucial because nobody would like to find out after the fact that they didn’t hear their baby’s voice because of these. Baby’s cry sound activated vibrating or indication alert will be extra plus points.
(IV) Option for extra parent unit
Though this is not as important as the above, personally I would still prefer a model that offer option for additional parent unit. It is more convenience to have two parent units for different person (one each for husband and wife) or different area (one for use in living hall, another one in bedroom).
Top 4 Audio Baby Monitors Comparison:
| Features |
VTECH DM221 |
GRACO 2M19 | MOTOROLA MBP8 |
Philip DC560 |
| Baby unit on battery |
x |
x |
||
| Parent unit on battery |
x |
x |
x |
|
| Sound Technology |
DECT 6.0 |
900 MHz | DECT |
DECT |
| Sound Clarity |
Excellent |
Good | Excellent |
Excellent |
| 2-way communication |
x |
x |
||
| Support Range |
1,000 feet |
2,000 feet | 1,000 feet |
1,000 feet |
| Night Light |
x |
x |
x |
|
| Sound activated vibrating alert |
x |
x |
x |
|
| mobility on parent unit |
Belt clip |
Belt clip |
Neck strap |
|
| Sound level indication |
x |
x | x |
x |
| Low battery indication |
x |
x |
x |
|
| Out of range indication |
x |
x | x |
x |
| 2 parent unit option |
x |
x | ||
| Lullabies |
x |
|||
| Temperature sensor |
x |
Digital Audio Baby Monitor Reviews:
Our first review is the VTech DM221 Digital Audio Baby Monitor
This is our top selection because it provides clear sound without white noises and has all the important features being measured. On top of that, it has additional features like talk-back, night light and etc. With such a low price tag but lots of extra features, it is really a winner.
Philips Avent Baby Monitor with Temperature Sensor – SCD560/10
Our second choice is a high quality and comprehensive audio monitor with additional features like temperature sensor, talk-back and lullabies. The only reason why we didn’t rank it first is due to its’ price tag (3x of our first choice) and lack of option to get the additional parent unit.
Motorola MBP8 Digital Audio Baby Monitor
Our third choice is from the motorola baby monitors. Both units are for wall plug, it is super easy to setup and deliver crystal clear sound. It is the most budget friendly monitor for those who do not like the hassle of setup.
Graco Secure Coverage Digital Baby Monitor
Our fourth choice is able to support 2x of the range of the normal unit, hence it is very useful for those who stayed in larger house with three floors or above. Both the base and parent units can run on battery, and this offer additional flexibility when your baby is placed in area that does not have a nearby power socket.
