Product Review: Angelcare AC527 Baby Breathing Monitor

I am someone who is totally into technology and looking at products that can help make day-to-day life easier for people, especially parents.

Today, I take a look at Angelcare’s latest baby monitor, the Angelcare AC527 Baby Breathing Monitor and Video. A Baby Breathing monitor that also includes a Parent video unit so you can visually see what your baby is doing.

Angelcare offers products that can help give parents peace of mind when their newest family members are down for either the mid-day nap or bedtime in the night. Being able to remotely monitor the breathing and overall wellbeing of your sleeping baby allows you, as a parent, to hopefully gain some extra rest time yourself.

AC527 Baby Breathing Monitor

Previously, I took a look at the Angelcare AC017 breathing monitor. The AC017 removed the dreaded wires that were needed in previous models to connect the sensor pad to the nursery unit. The AC527 is not only wireless, but Angelcare has also made the sensor pad smaller! Did I mention there was video support too? That’s right, the parent unit has a video stream from the nursery unit, so you can peak into the room in which your darling little one is sleeping. It’s one thing to be able to monitor with audio but to be able to get visual confirmation of the baby sleeping can help put your mind at ease a bit more.

What’s In The Box?

All the pieces are neatly packed away in a fairly small box. I wasn’t expecting it to be smaller than the previous Angelcare unit I looked at but going smaller is nicer for making things feel less cluttered. Inside the box you receive the following:

• Angelcare AC527 Nursery/Camera Unit
• Parent Unit
• Breathing Sensor Pad
• 2x AC Adapters
• 1x CR2450 3V Battery
• Wall mounting kit

Look and Feel of the Angelcare AC527

Nursery Unit

Let’s take a look at the Nursery unit first. The video camera dominates the middle of the unit itself and surrounded by IR lights for night-time viewing. The front of the Nursery unit also displays the current temperature of the room it is in. This is also relayed back to the Parent unit. At the top of the Nursery unit is the microphone which also transmits the audio to the Parent unit.

The AC527 can be mounted to either the plastic stand or the via a magnet. It allows you to swivel the Nursery unit into the best camera viewing potion. Though in my experience, the camera does need to be placed at a fair distance away from the crib as the video capture is not very wide.

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Now the Nursery unit does require to be plugged in with one of the included AC adapters. The AC adapter has a USB Mini connector that allows it to charge via a wall outlet. There Parent unit charges with the same AC adapter. Your mounting options are limited to where you can plug in the Nursery unit though. Remember, if you mount it near the baby’s crib/bed, ensure that the baby cannot get tangled in the cable!

The top of the Nursery unit has the On/Off as well as the Hold button. The Hold button allows you to temporarily silence the alarm if it is going off. If you do turn off the Nursery unit while the Parent unit is on, the Parent unit’s alarm will go off and a warning will show saying the Nursery unit cannot be found.

Parent Unit

Next up the Parent unit. The Parent unit offers a 4.3-inch colour touchscreen that can be used wirelessly around the house or when it’s plugged in while being charged.

The Parent unit can stand up courtesy of the built in stand that can be opened and closed. The same AC adapter you use on the Nursery unit can be used to charge the Parent unit. Luckily there are two included AC adapters so that you don’t need to unplug the Nursery unit when you need to charge the Parent unit. Above the USB-type power port is the Volume control buttons.

The only item of note on the top of the AC527 is the power button. You can either touch the screen to activate or press the button on the top to turn on the display. If you long-press the button you can turn off/on the Parent unit as needed. The Nursery unit operators independently from the Parent unit though.

Along the top on the front of the unit are the status LEDs as well as the little microphone. Yes, the AC527 can be used as a two-way talk device. If you want to talk to your baby you can!

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The rear of the Angelcare AC527 Parent unit is where the removable and rechargeable battery is stored. You can remove the back cover and pop the old battery out and replace it with a new one if you ever need to. The speaker is also at the read of the Parental unit as well.

Movement Sensor Pad

Now the Movement Sensor Pad is even smaller than the previous one we looked at. Angelcare has made the pad smaller which allows the battery to perform longer than previous models. The AC017 had a battery life of about 4 months, the AC527 can last up to 8 months before it needs to be replaced. I would definitely say that is an improvement.

When I said that the AC527 Movement Sensor Pad was smaller, the above images shows how much smaller it is over the AC017 Movement Sensor Pad. Below the two pads are on top of two tiles I use to ensure that the sensor is on a flat level surface.

Yes, that is my iPhone 7 next to the AC527 Movement Sensor Pad to give you a rough idea how big (or small) the sensor pad really is. Great for travel if you wanted to take it with you along with the Nursery Unit.

Performance of the Angelcare AC527 Baby Breathing Monitor

So how well does the Angelcare AC527 Baby Breathing Monitor operate? We have been using it since I received it and it has been great when we need to monitor our newest while she naps or sleeps in her crib. It has fully replaced the Angelcare AC401 we have had since our oldest was a little baby.

Your mileage may vary, but finding an optimal place to put the Nursery unit was a bit of a hassle for me. I had to keep moving it further away to get a decent video capture of the crib and where it currently sits is still not showing the entire crib. The wall mount for us also did not work in terms of being able to position it to view the crib. Perhaps Angelcare could offer an extension arm to bring the Nursery unit out away from the wall for better positioning. Currently, it sits on a dresser and mounted on the table stand with some 3M double-sided sticky tape. It is nice you can move the Nursery unit around on its magnetic mount to position it a bit better though. I would like to see a slightly wider image as well.

The video quality is good for a device of this price. The IR (or night-vision) is good and you can easily see what’s happening in the room that it is placed. You can digitally zoom into the image if you need to get “closer” and you can actually have the camera, well technically the image, pan a little bit too.

The Parent unit can support 2 cameras in total as well. If you had twins in the same room or a child in another room and had an extra Nursery unit, both video feeds can be seen on the single Parent unit which can be super handy too! The battery life on the Parent unit is great too! We can unplug it and have it in our bedroom for at least 9 hours before it may need to be plugged in to charge again.

The audio can be adjusted and can be loud if needed. So if you do place the Parent unit in your bedroom, you will be woken up if the baby cries or if the alarm goes off. The microphone on the Nursery unit can pick up fairly quiet sounds too.

Setting up the Movement Sensor Pad is similar to the others. You place it in the middle of the sleeping area below the mattress. You can adjust the sensitivity of it to help eliminate any false-positives when it cannot sense breathing as well.

Final Thoughts

We use the Angelcare AC527 every day. When our littlest goes down for either of her daytime naps or when it is time for bed.

Setup was relatively easy too. The only issue I had was trying to find a place to mount the Nursery unit to the wall so that I could look into the crib, but I had to settle for putting it on a dresser nearby and point it through the crib bars.

The battery life of the Parent unit has been good too. I’ve taken it with me into my office to do work or play a game while the kids are asleep. Take it upstairs with me to bed and in the morning it still has life to it. I just make sure in the morning I plug it in. We keep it plugged in during the day. It has a good range too as I can take it outside into the backyard during nap-time and I can still peak into the baby’s bedroom or hear her crying if she wakes up.

If you are looking for a Baby Monitor, the Angelcare AC527 Baby Breathing Monitor is a great solution. Not only can you hear what is going on in the baby’s room, but you can also see them without having to go into the room. The Movement Sensor Pad helps give you peace of mind while your little one sleeps too. Angelcare is not designed to prevent SIDS (or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) but it can help notify you if there is no movement within a certain period of time so you can go and check.

Pros

• Wireless Parent Unit and Movement Sensor Pad
• Long-lasting Movement Sensor battery life
• Easy-to-use

Cons

• Wall mounting could be improved
• Camera angle is not very wide