Motorola are a well established company who make a huge range of communication products. They are best known for their mobile and smart phones. They have been around since the late 1920’s. Did you know that Neil Armstrong’s famous words “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” was said from the moon using a Motorola transceiver? The Motorola MBP36 digital video monitor is one of five baby monitors Motorola make. Of these five, it has the most features, the largest screen and full remote control of the video camera unit.
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Motorola MBP36 Review
As you would expect from a company like Motorola, this video baby monitor comes with a good range of features including a full-colour 3.5″ (9cm) LCD display. The picture is clear with 25 frames per second video playback. The infrared night vision mode lets you keep an eye on your baby at night. The camera unit doesn’t have any visible LEDs when it’s dark. A red LED light can be quite scary for a baby or toddler. The unit automatically switches to black and white night vision mode, when required.
This Motorola MBP36 digital video monitor comes with 2.4 GHz FHSS technology for good sound quality (as do most decent baby monitors). This way of sending and receiving sound signals means it’s much less open to interference, and difficult to intercept for snoopers.
Two-way talk facility
There are five LEDs on the Motorola MBP36 baby monitor. These indicate the level of sound activity in the baby’s room. For example a loud car outside your house or noise from neighbours may temporarily drown out any sound from the monitor temporarily. It is very useful to see if there is noise (if that makes sense) if you cannot hear the baby monitor for a few seconds.
The unit comes with two way talk communication facility so you can talk to your baby, or use it to speak with your partner (or play practical jokes if they don’t know the monitor is on and baby’s not there; not that I have ever done this).
Room temperature display
The Motorola MBP36’S baby monitor comes with a with a room temperature sensor. The temperature is displayed on the parent unit. This feature is extremely handy as the ideal room temperature for your baby is 18°C (anywhere between 16 to 20°C is fine). It’s good you know how hot or cold your baby’s room is, so they can have a good night’s sleep.
This unit has a good wireless signal range of up to 200 metres. So if you have a rather large home or a house with thick walls this baby monitor should encounter no connectivity problems. If you go out of range or there is no signal, you will hear an out of range warning signal. Piece of mind that the video baby monitor is linked to the parent unit.
Remote control camera
You can remotely control the MBP36’s camera to pan across your baby’s room, to tilt the camera up and down and zoom as required. Not all video baby monitors have this feature. Having this feature is very practical if your baby is a wriggler when they sleep. It can save you popping into their room and potentially waking them up.
If you need them, there are five polyphonic lullabies programmed into the baby monitor. Not really a reason to buy this product alone. But, another handy option that some other baby monitors don’t have.
Are there any downsides?
One of the few reported downsides for the Motorola digital video monitor MBP36 is the battery drains quite quickly in the parent unit. To be fair this is true of most video baby monitors. One thing to note is that when you use the parent unit in battery mode, to save battery life it revert to battery saving mode after two – three minutes of no activity. Unless you are frequently walking around your house, you could leave it plugged into the mains.
A few have said the video camera does not angle down enough when placed next to the cot, for example on a chest of drawers. You can wall mount the camera to get around this small issue.
If you zoom in when using the night vision mode, the picture gets slightly pixilated. Again, nothing too much to worry about. It’s fine when using the zoom function during the day.
Motorola MBP36 Digital Video Monitor Main Features
- 3.5 inch (9cm) colour LCD screen
- Audio technology – 2.4 GHz FHSS
- Up to 200m range with “out-of-range” warning
- Remote pan/tilt/zoom functions
- Visual noise level alert
- Five polyphonic lullabies
- Temperature display
- Two-way communication
- Infrared night vision
- Expandable up to 4 cameras
- Wall mount (baby unit)
Pros
The Motorola digital video monitor MBP36 has a large 3.5-inch (9cm) LCD colour display. The sound and video quality is crisp and clear, including the infrared night vision. It’s easy to set up and maintain. It incorporates room temperature sensor and display on the parent unit. The MBP36 has five built-in lullabies, an out of range alert and remote pan, tilt and zoom control for the video camera. The question here is what doesn’t it have!
Cons
It only has one worth mentioning – the parent unit, when used in battery mode, will drain fairly quickly (two to three hours). There is a built-in battery saver facility that will put the unit into saver mode when there is no activity for a few minutes.
Summary
The Motorola MBP36 digital video monitor is a high quality and well thought out product. The sound and video quality is second to none and the secure digital signal has an excellent range of up to 200 metres. It has great features such as a room temperature sensor and display, remote control for the video camera, night vision and two-way talk facility. Making this a video baby monitor that covers the basics and more.
The few issues I mentioned above, are really nitpicking. This baby monitor is highly recommended, and for the price, is a quality piece of kit. The Motorola MBP36 will give you piece of mind that your child is safely asleep.
