As a father myself, I know how stressful is can be having a newborn baby in the house, especially when you are a new parent. Baby monitors have been the must have purchase for new parents and they have evolved amazingly over the years.

We were therefore delighted to be given what can only be described as the ‘leading edge’ of baby monitors from BT, we are of course talking about the BT Video Baby Monitor 7500 Lightshow.

 

The Lightshow comes (as do all baby monitors) as a two piece setup, the Camera/Microphone/Lightshow unit and the remote viewing station.

The main monitor unit comprises of a audio monitor, pan and tilt camera, starfield lightshow and music/sound player. It also allows the parent to communicate with the child via microphone should the child need comforting.

The remote viewing unit allows the parent to monitor the child via video feed both normally and using infrared at night. The picture quality is excellent and clear and night vision is very good also with good range. The parent can control the camera via pan and title which allows for almost 360 degree rotation horizontally and vertically. The motor driving the the pan and tilt is quiet enough so as not to disturb the child.

Parents can choose to remotely trigger the monitor to play music or sound effects comprising classical music, nursery rhymes to whale song, womb sounds or hairdryer or vacuum cleaner sounds (BT have certainly done their homework here!). A night light can be triggered at three brightness levels and a remote lightshow displaying the colourful starfield can also be projected onto the ceiling above the unit.

The unit has various timers to assist with feeding the child and also a room temperature monitor which warns the parent if the room is become too cold or hot. There is also a ‘Cry’ alarm which will warn the parent if the child is crying, this will vibrate the device and sound an alarm if the volume has been set to mute. Again very useful.

Both units are powered by standing micro usb chargers and both come with extremely long leads which is an excellent idea as all too often the leads are long enough. This is not the case here though.

The parent unit can be charged up and then used unplugged for a number of house (6 is quoted). It can also be charged directly or via a cradle unit. Again BT seem to have thought of everything again.

We tested the unit for a few days with my son and I found the unit both very useful and easy to use. The pan/tilt camera is control by a touch controlled screen which is also used to control and program the monitor. It’s good to see your children are comfortable and safe at night and you can pre-empt problems by keeping an eye on the camera. If a child kicks their bed clothes off, you can quickly nip up and make them comfortable before they might wake up.

The baby monitor is priced at around £179 in the UK which is at the top end of the market, but you are getting an awful lot for your money. The only thing I might have included was a micro SD slot to enable me to play my son’s favourite music if he wakes up, but thats about all I would change.

The camera does NOT connect to your wireless network, so there should be no fears or concerns about remote viewing other than using the supplied hardware, something people have become worried about lately.

A very good product from BT, we heartily recommend it.

Thanks to Laura Gale at Kazoo for providing us with the demo unit.