Aosu SolarCam P1 SE System review: A budget-priced winner

Price When Reviewed

$299.99

Best Prices Today: Aosu SolarCam P1 SE System (2 cameras plus Homebase hub)

Aosu is a camera-centric good dwelling safety model that seemingly got here out of nowhere (truly: China) a while final yr. We kicked off our protection with a have a look at Aosu’s Video Doorbell Ultra. With this second spherical with the corporate’s product line, we practice our eye on one in all its extra general-purpose outside digicam kits, the SolarCam P1 S1 system.

The “system” designation stems from the truth that the package consists of two wi-fi, battery-powered, 2K cameras (every with video decision of 2304 x 1296 pixels) and a Homebase hub (with 32GB of onboard reminiscence) that should be plugged into energy and hardwired to your own home community (a 4-camera package can be obtainable, nevertheless it comes with the identical 32GB hub). The cameras and the hub function over a 2.4GHz radio frequency, and also you work together with the system with a smartphone app and your own home Wi-Fi community.

Specifications

As we’ve seen with some latest Eufy Security cameras, the whole prime floor of every of the squat cameras consists of an embedded 1.5-watt photo voltaic panel to maintain its 5,000mAh battery topped off. Aous says this requires simply two hours of daylight per day. Each digicam measures 2 x 4 x 5 inches (HxWxL) and weighs 0.9 kilos.

Christopher Null/Foundry

The two-camera system reviewed right here was priced at $299.99 (MSRP) at press time, however we discovered it on Amazon with a $60 low cost coupon that slashed its avenue value to $240. You can add as much as two extra cameras at $120 every, or you should buy a four-camera system for $460.

Since 4 cameras is the utmost quantity supported by a single hub, you’ll lower your expenses shopping for a 4-camera system within the first place in comparison with paying for a pair of add-on cameras later. In truth, we noticed a deal on Amazon that bundled the 4-camera system with an Aosu video doorbell for $400–$60 lower than the 4-camera system by itself.

Setup and set up

Each digicam can (and may) be charged by plugging a USB-C cable into the ports secreted behind a rubber flap (a brief cable is included). You’ll then plug the Homebase into an AC outlet or surge protector and join it to your router (or an ethernet switched plugged into the identical) with an ethernet cable. Adding the cameras to the system then entails a barely convoluted collection of button presses on all gadgets, all of which should be linked concurrently.

This evaluation is a part of TechHive’s in-depth protection of the best home security cameras.

Each digicam is hooked up to a ball-and-socket joint, which is in flip hooked up to a mounting bracket with 4 screw holes drilled into it. Just take away the bracket, connect it to the wall or ceiling (or any floor for that matter, because of the versatile joint) and re-attach the digicam. All the required {hardware} is included.

The cameras carry an IP65 weatherization score, which—in accordance with our IP code decoder—signifies they’re impervious to mud ingress and able to withstanding water jets sprayed from any course (although it’s unlikely they’d stand as much as a stress washer at shut quarters).

Christopher Null/Foundry

I discovered the the standard of the cameras’ video recordings—once more, with decision of 2304 x 1296-pixels—to be prime notch, and their lenses’ 130-degree discipline of view exhibited minimal picture distortion. The cameras are absolutely featured, together with movement detection, two-way discuss (with an built-in voice-changing function), and a really loud siren that may be set to go off when movement is detected, optionally at solely sure occasions of the day.

Two night-vision modes can be found, together with customary infrared and a full-color mode made doable by a surprisingly vivid LED highlight on the entrance of the digicam physique. (This solely activates in case you have coloration night time imaginative and prescient energetic and movement is detected.) Both modes look good—arguably higher than I see on most safety cameras—and have longer-than-average working ranges.

While you possibly can view dwell video on demand, recording happens solely when movement is detected—there isn’t a steady recording choice obtainable—and may be restricted to report solely on human movement if desired. A detection zone function can be included. As nicely, the digicam features a “scheduled sleep” setting that permits you to flip off recording altogether throughout sure occasions, which is perhaps helpful when you discover you have to preserve battery life or when you don’t have robust entry to the solar. Lastly, there’s help for each Alexa and Google Assistant good shows.

Day-to-day use

When I examined the product within the winter of 2025, daylight was at a premium. But Aosu’s claims of having the ability to maintain the battery topped off panned out nicely over a couple of week of testing; and actually, I by no means noticed the battery degree on both digicam dip beneath 100 p.c, although most of my testing days have been fairly overcast. Unless you’re working in winter above the Arctic circle or are recording a topic that’s consistently in movement, I think most customers won’t ever have to recharge the cameras through wall energy.

Christopher Null/Foundry

Live photographs may be considered one digicam at a time or with each cameras side-by-side (or in a 4-way panel in case you have a quartet of cameras). Recorded video, then again, should be reviewed on a per-camera foundation, and it looks like an actual missed alternative to not have a canonical view that places all recording historical past throughout all of your cameras on a single web page.

The one exception to that is if a number of cameras choose up exercise both on the similar time or one after the opposite in direct sequence. When this occurs, the recording is tagged with “Cross-camera tracking,” and tapping an icon within the app takes you to a secondary web page that permits you to flip by way of every digicam’s recording, providing you with a have a look at a recorded exercise from a number of angles.

These clips are performed in sequence, not stitched collectively right into a single video, so the impact isn’t as spectacular because it might be, nevertheless it’s nonetheless an important function to have, portray a extra complete image of exercise round your property than most opponents offers you. If you’ve gotten 4 cameras positioned correctly, you possibly can theoretically watch somebody stroll completely round your home and by no means be out of view.

Christopher Null/Foundry

Aosu doesn’t state a most clip size, however all clips topped out at a minute or shorter throughout my testing. By default, every recording is saved on 32GB of solid-state storage constructed into the Homebase hub. This storage can’t be eliminated or expanded; it’s hardwired to the bottom. Storage rolls over when it’s full and the system deletes clips after 60 days even when it’s not. Some different digicam/hub programs—together with Eufy’s—allow you to increase the hub’s storage by including a bodily drive.

Aosu’s cloud storage choice

Aosu provides a cloud subscription service that provides “unlimited storage space,” however just for 30 days, with costs starting from $6.99/month to $26.99/month (with per-year reductions obtainable), relying on the variety of gadgets you’ve gotten. For two cameras, the fee is $11.99/month or $119.99/yr. A less expensive 14-day storage plan can be obtainable nevertheless it solely works with a single gadget.

The solely actual options you get with a subscription are video storage that doesn’t robotically delete recordsdata as storage fills up, and the truth that the video is saved and encrypted within the cloud, so it will probably’t simply be stolen the best way a bodily hub in your home may be. Given that and the slightly steep pricing, it received’t make lots of monetary sense for most individuals to purchase a subscription.

Should you purchase an Aosu SolarCam P1 SE System?

All instructed, I actually loved working with this bundle, a lot as I did with Aosu’s doorbell camera. Aosu’s app is simple to navigate, movement detection is correct, clips load rapidly, and nothing ever crashed or hung throughout my time with it. There are sure issues it can’t do—comparable to steady recording—and the ethernet-connected hub is a bummer, however these most likely received’t be dealbreakers for many customers.

A $230 avenue value for a two-camera system with a central hub for storage makes this bundle a compelling worth. For some, nevertheless, two limitations will detract from its enchantment: First, you possibly can’t increase the system past 4 cameras; second, you possibly can’t increase the central hub’s 32GB of inner storage, which is perhaps problematic when you add twice as many cameras..