YI Dome Camera X Review: Night Surveillance Technologies

Do you want a stylish and silent camera for home or office video surveillance? So as not to bother with

settings, but connect to Wi-Fi and watchat everything from a smartphone? For this there is the YI Dome Camera X, which we will be studying today. You can buy the camera on Aliexpress for $55. Thus, this is one of the most expensive cameras in the YI line, and therefore it has many competitors. First of all, their own relatives like the same YI Dome Guard. YI Dome Camera X stands out primarily for its spectacular appearance, as well as a truly silent rotation drive and a wide viewing angle. Otherwise, its functionality is not much different from similar solutions. So decide for yourself whether these chips are worth the extra tens of dollars. To understand in more detail, read on, there are pictures and impressions.

YI Dome Camera X

IP camera with night mode and motion sensor

This is arguably the most stylish camera in the familyYI. Designed for organizing video surveillance at home or in the office. Equipped with pan and tilt function, night IR illumination, and microphone and speaker for two-way audio communication. The video is written to a MicroSD card or to the YI Cloud. It is powered by a network via a microUSB cable, connects to the Internet via Wi-Fi and is controlled from the YI Home app. Knows how to detect motion in the frame and send notifications, and also records time lapses.

Buy on Aliexpress

night watchman

5 reasons to buy YI Dome Camera X

  • spectacular appearance;
  • the ability to almost silently turn and tilt;
  • motion detector in the frame with the definition of a person;
  • good Full-HD picture even in night mode;
  • the ability to record video both to a memory card and to the YI Cloud cloud service.

3 reasons not to buy YI Dome Camera X

  • inability to write to a network drive or cloud other than YI Cloud;
  • lack of Ethernet connection;
  • the presence of strong competitors at significantly lower prices.

What is in the box?

The set is traditional for YI cameras.The Dome X camera itself is fixed in the box with a foam seal with a cutout in the shape of the device. In addition to it, there is a USB cable, a power supply unit from the network with a USB connector and fasteners: a round mount and a couple of screws with dowels. Paper instructions and printed booklets were not forgotten either.


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What does it look like?

Minimalistic.The main part of the surface is matte white plastic. In the recess of the main body there is a glossy black hemisphere with a lens eye in the center. Below it is the status LED and the YI logo. There are several speaker slots on the back.


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The camera base is black.On its side, which is stationary relative to the fastening, there is a microUSB power connector, and on the bottom there is a rubberized round stand and grooves for fastening. The slot for a MicroSD card and the reset button are hidden at the end of the main part of the case. In general, the camera makes a good impression with its build quality; it feels very reliable and solid.


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How to install and connect

We start with installation.The camera can be placed on any horizontal surface; it is quite stable. An alternative option is to mount it on the wall or under the ceiling. YI Dome Camera X is not waterproof and is intended for indoor installation only. To mount the camera somewhere, you need to screw the base plate included in the kit, and then insert the camera into the grooves on it. If the camera finds itself upside down, you will need to use the standard image flip function to get an adequate picture. Now all that remains is to connect power via the MicroUSB cable and make sure that the camera is within range of your Wi-Fi network (only the 2.4 GHz band is supported).


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To work with the camera, you need a mobileYI Home app for Android or iOS (there is also a desktop version for Windows and Mac). The procedure for adding a camera is no different from our fellow product lines that we have already described many times. We launch the wizard for adding a device, enter the password for Wi-Fi, scan the QR code on the camera through the application, then scan the code generated by the application with the camera. Let me remind you that to work with YI Home, you need a YI account (aka Kami account). Despite the fact that the device is produced under the auspices of Xiaomi, a regular Mi-account will not work here, and this camera will not be able to be added to Mi Home. You can specify in which room this camera is located and give it a personal name. This is useful if you have added several rooms in the application and different cameras in them.

What can?

By selecting the camera in the YI Home application, we geton the screen with real-time video broadcast. The camera motion control panel occupies a prominent place on the screen, because the YI Dome Camera X can turn and tilt. The entire body rotates relative to the base, and the round “eyeball” tilts, allowing you to look up and down.


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In online monitoring mode you can in realtime to look at the picture from the camera and use the application to control the position of the camera, turning it in the desired direction. At any time, you can start recording video or capturing photos (they will be saved directly to the smartphone’s memory). There is a “bookmarks” function, these are essentially the same screenshots, only saved directly in the application interface for quick access. You can not only see what is happening in the frame, but also hear it. Moreover, you can immediately react to what you see: what you say into your smartphone’s microphone will be reproduced through the camera’s speaker. The device correctly takes pictures in different lighting conditions and switches to night mode in a timely manner. This action is accompanied by a click, as in other cameras.


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Of course, YI Dome Camera X has the functiondetecting movement in the frame. When something moving is detected, the camera activates recording and a notification is sent to the application. Moreover, the camera is able to distinguish people caught in the lens from everything else and clarify what exactly was detected: just movement or just a person.

Video automatically recorded when detectedmovement, can be stored either on a memory card or in the YI Cloud cloud storage, there are no other options. To fully use YI Cloud, you need to buy a subscription (from $6.67 per month), but even without it, the camera can write videos to the cloud when detecting movement. However, in free mode their duration is limited to only six seconds. Thanks to the built-in microphone, the video is recorded with sound. With a memory card installed, it becomes possible to scroll back “time” by watching longer videos recorded using a motion sensor in your absence. There is a function for accelerated viewing of recordings; in addition, you can zoom in on the picture on the smartphone screen with a familiar gesture to see the details of the image. Separately, there is an interval shooting function for lovers of time-lapses.

What settings are there?

We no longer use the YI Home app and its capabilities.This has been described time and time again in other reviews of YI cameras, so, repeating myself, I’ll go over the description of the settings, but as briefly as possible. In the settings of the camera itself, you can turn on or off the LED indicator, microphone, IR night illuminator and motion sensor. The picture rotation by 180 degrees and the audio communication mode (selector or speakerphone) can be configured.


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A special feature is autocruise cruise control.It allows the camera to regularly “patrol” the room entrusted to it, and not just look at one point until you rotate it manually. You can schedule the camera to turn on and off according to a schedule. A separate settings section is dedicated to intelligent (!) detection options. You can turn it on or off altogether, activate the person detection option, and select the sensitivity level of the detector. It is immediately suggested to activate notifications for loud sounds and select a volume threshold. As for the alerts themselves, you can choose their frequency and schedule. Don't get confused: the settings you select here automatically change when you switch between "home" and "away" modes. If you have these modes configured in the YI Home app (that is, your camera is added to this switch in the app's global settings), then they will control all notifications. When you select the “home” mode, you automatically turn off the motion detector and related notifications. And when leaving home, set “out of office” and receive notifications on your smartphone when the motion sensor is triggered. In practice everything is simple. We configure all the parameters once, and then simply turn the security parameters on or off using two buttons.

How is she doing?

YI Dome Camera X is not only unusualdesign, but also the very quiet operation of the turning mechanism. Given the presence of a two-way voice communication function, this big-eyed “minion” is quite suitable for the role of a baby monitor, although in the YI model range there is a completely children’s Baby Camera specifically for such purposes.

Like the YI Dome Guard, this model cannotspin in one direction more than one turn. That is, it turns “all the way”, after which you need to turn it back to look at another area of ​​the room. And the upward rotation (or downward if she is hanging upside down) is possible so high that the camera seems to “roll its eyes.” In general, there are no complaints about maneuverability.

Video is traditionally recorded on a memory cardwith three tracks at once: 1920x1080 with 20 fps and two tracks with a resolution of 640x360, at 20 and 5 fps. This strange implementation is explained by the “cloud nature” of the cameras. With an active paid subscription to the YI Cloud service, all videos are recorded in cloud storage, and from there one of its versions (tracks) is displayed in viewing mode, depending on the speed of the current connection. When you're watching a video from a memory card inserted into a laptop's card reader, this breakdown doesn't make sense, but it's still there to unify the user experience. 1 GB of such video corresponds to approximately an hour of recording.

I've seen reviews complaining about high heat.this camera. According to my observations, the case in the area of ​​the speaker heats up a little during operation, but it is not at all critical, we are not talking about real overheating and violation of stability.

In the dry residue

Three things to remember about the YI Dome Camera X:

  • the camera connects to the Internet via Wi-Fi and is controlled via the YI Home app;
  • turns very quietly in all directions and is able to follow moving objects;
  • can save FullHD video to a smartphone, memory card or to the YI Cloud;

Our most attentive and regular readersYou probably noticed that YI cameras are similar, and their “dry residues” are not much different. A special bonus for you: a “family portrait” of three different YI cameras and brief characteristics of each of these devices.


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All three cameras shown in the picturessupport Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz only), YI Home application, YI Cloud and microSD memory cards, all can detect movement (and distinguish a person), equipped with speakers, microphones and night IR illumination. The differences can be described briefly.

Three Things to Know About YI Home Security Cameras

  • YI Home Camera 1080p (from $18) - non-rotating, widest viewing angle, compact, recommended for everyone;
  • YI Dome Guard (from $27) - rotatable(buzzes, but not very loudly), has the narrowest viewing angle (but you can see details better), has Ethernet, a tripod socket and time-lapse shooting, well equipped for the money;
  • YI Dome Camera X (from $54) - with the abilityrotation (very quiet motor operation), quite a wide viewing angle, time-lapse shooting and photo bookmarking function, looks cool, but compared to its neighbors it is a little expensive.