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The TP-Link Tapo C100 is the latest affordable smart home device from the new Tapo product range.
Currently, it is just £19.99 on Amazon but has an RRP of £29.99, this makes it the cheapest branded indoor camera I am aware of.
| Preview | Product | Rating | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tapo Mini Smart Security Camera, Indoor CCTV, Works with... |
£20.99 | Buy on Amazon |
Kasa vs Tapo what’s the difference?
Tapo is the latest product range from TP-Link offering smart home solutions at incredibly affordable prices. Great you say, but there is a catch.
While TP-Link makes both Kasa and Tap products, they use different Apps; the Tapo C100 will not integrate with my existing Kasa products at all.
So, whole these are both TP-Link, it is best to view them as entirely separate brands.
From a consumer point of view, this is annoying. Still, it is understandable from a business perspective, TP-Link obviously doesn’t want to cannibalise sales of their more premium-priced products.
Features
At £19.99 this is a very basic indoor camera, but it ticks most of the boxes you will likely need:
- High Definition Video – Records every image in crystal-clear 1080p definition
- Advanced Night Vision – Provides a visual distance of up to 30 ft
- Motion Detection and Notifications – Notifies you when the camera detects movement
- Sound and Light Alarm – Trigger light and sound effects to frighten away unwanted visitors
- Two-Way Audio – Enables communication through a built-in microphone and speaker
- Safe Storage – Locally stores up to 128 GB on a microSD card, equal to 384 hours (16 days) of footage (based on laboratory conditions)
- Easy Setup and Management – Manage everything with Tapo app
Setup
Set up is quick and simple, you will need the Tapo app to get things working, but it uses the same login as all other TP-Link products if you already have a Kasa device.
The app auto-detected my camera; then I had to select the Wi-Fi I wanted to use. Everything was set up in a couple of minutes.
You will need a microSD card for storage, and this is set up within the camera settings. From here, you can also set up the motion alerts and sensitivity. You can set up motion zones to limit the alerts to specific areas within the cameras field of view.
NVR/ONVIF
One surprise feature was the ability to integrate this within an NVR, or in my case BlueIris. The camera has ONVIF so it should be possible to integrate it on a wide range of recording devices with ease. You will need to assign a username and password within the 3rd party account settings, and this is what you will use for the login via ONVIF.
Performance
Overall performance has been good, especially when you take the price into account.
With a moderate amount of light, the quality of the recorded video is good, more than enough for monitoring things indoors.
Nighttime performance is also OK, I initially placed the camera that was partially obstructed by a chimney breast, and this appeared to affect the IR illumination, so parts of the kitchen were very dark. Moving it to a spot with a clear view gave good black and white footage. In comparison. Some more expensive cameras have started to offer colour recordings in low light environments.
I found motion alerts a little eager to trigger, light changes will set it off quite quickly, but using the motion zones and sensitivity should help you dial in the notifications.
Like many indoor cameras, this offers two-way audio, as you might expect, the quality is not amazing but it works perfectly well.
Price and Competition
Tapo C100 vs Kasa KC100
TP-Link Kasa is the obvious alternative, notably the KC100 looks striking similar to the C100 and currently sells for £34.99 whereas the C100 is £19.99.
The Tapo has a 1/3.2 “sensor with 1080p Full HD and 130 degrees view while the Kasa K100 uses 1/2.7 “but also 1080P and 120 degrees.
The Kasa has audio detection as well as motion detection. Both have two-way audio and activity zones. I can’t find any reference to the KC100 being compatible with ONVIF.
| Preview | Product | Rating | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TP-Link KC100 Kasa Smart Security Camera, Baby Monitor,... | Buy on Amazon |
Others
Competition is extensive with options at many different price points; there are dozens of random brand on Amazon, but ignoring them you have:
- Ezviz CS-C1C – £29.99
- Reolink E1 Pro – £49.99 – PTZ camera
- Blurams Home Pro – £50, cloud recording required, but AI person detection.
- Netatmo Welcome – £160 – expensive but has facial detection, local storage and is probably the smartest indoor camera I have used
- Yale Indoor Wi-Fi Camera – £49
- Ring Indoor – £49
- Arlo Q – £124.99
Overall
This is the cheapest branded indoor camera I am aware of, so even though I find it annoying you can’t integrate it with Kasa, I can understand why, and it doesn’t make this a bad camera. If you don’t mind using multiple apps, there is no reason to avoid this camera, however some people like all there stuff in one place. I personally have Kasa, Ezviz, Netatmo, Ring, Eufy, BlueIris, Hue, SmartThings all installed on my phone with smart home apps attached to them, and it is getting a little excessive.
If you are happy to use the Tapo app, this is a perfectly good camera for the money. There is no AI object detection, night time performance is only OK, and motion alerts are a bit over-eager, but nothing comes close to the price. Local storage also helps keeps the cost down compared to competitors (blurams, Ring, Arlo)
This is the Wi-Fi camera that I have easily managed to integrate with BlueIris via ONVIF, and the inclusion of this just seems odd on such a cheap camera. I am not complaining though, 20-quid for an indoor camera that can work with an NVR is amazing value and I thoroughly recommend it for such a system.
Overall, the camera is good, and the Tapo ecosystem looks like a decent, affordable alternative to Kasa, myDlink and others.
| Preview | Product | Rating | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Tapo Mini Smart Security Camera, Indoor CCTV, Works with... |
£20.99 | Buy on Amazon |
TP-Link Tapo C100 Review Rating
Summary
Taking into account the ultra-low price, there is not much you can complain about here. Just be aware it won’t integrated with TP-Link Kasa
Overall
90%-
Overall - 90%90%
I am James, a UK-based tech enthusiast and the Editor and Owner of Mighty Gadget, which I’ve proudly run since 2007. Passionate about all things technology, my expertise spans from computers and networking to mobile, wearables, and smart home devices.
As a fitness fanatic who loves running and cycling, I also have a keen interest in fitness-related technology, and I take every opportunity to cover this niche on my blog. My diverse interests allow me to bring a unique perspective to tech blogging, merging lifestyle, fitness, and the latest tech trends.
In my academic pursuits, I earned a BSc in Information Systems Design from UCLAN, before advancing my learning with a Master’s Degree in Computing. This advanced study also included Cisco CCNA accreditation, further demonstrating my commitment to understanding and staying ahead of the technology curve.
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Last update on 2024-04-26 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
buy cheap buy twice, anyone who owns any of these Tapo cameras will tell you that connection to wifi is problematic at best, I have a C100 five feet from my router which is putting out 70mbps and the camera will not stay connected to it, now it won’t connect at all, when I try to connect it says go to settings and connect via TAPOXXX so I do, then it says connect to your wifi, now here is the catch, the phone automatically connects to the TAPOXXX wifi signal so the camera and phone can’t be on the same wifi network as my router,, waste of time and money, buying a google camera next.