Review of D-Link IP Camera DCS-2630L -

This is a review of the D-Link WiFi Camera DCS-2630L. This is D-Link’s latest flagship WiFi or IP Camera released earlier in 2016. Although this is not a Pan and Tilt IP Camera, its wide angle HD coverage may potentially outshine a lot of the mid and high end Pan and Tilt WiFi Cameras in the market now. More details will be shared in the later part of this review.

The D-Link WiFi Camera DCS-2630L is a Full HD, 180 degree Wide-Angled WiFi Camera. The camera or the head of the WiFi Camera can also be rotated 360 degrees which means the camera can be mounted in any position, yet maintaining the camera’s upright posture. The key features include,

Full HD Clarity (1080p HD quality video)
180 degrees Wide Eye Lens
AC Wireless connectivity
Motion and Sound Detection
Day and Night Vision (Infra-red)
MicroSD Slot (Supporting up to 128GB)
Two-way Audio (Speakers and Microphone)

The technical specifications of the D-Link WiFi Camera DCS-2630L as defined by D-Link are as follows,

The D-Link WiFi Camera DCS-2630L comes in petite sized box compared to those from the D-Link DCS-5222L HD Pan & Tilt WiFi Camera which I’ve been using since 2014. The rear and sides of the box provide some descriptions and insights to the key capabilities and how easy the D-Link WiFi Camera DCS-2630L can be setup and used .

Opening up the box, I was caught off-guard by the size of the D-Link WiFi Camera DCS-2630L. I was expecting something that is smaller and refined like the Xiao Yi Smart IP Camera. However, the glossy black device looks really elegant and sleek even when it’s lying there in its box.

D-Link product designers have put in much efforts in designing how the D-Link WiFi Camera DCS-2630L is nicely securely in its box with the black high density sponge. I thought the circular piece with the cutout that helps to hold the base of the camera set was pretty unique.

Below the camera, there is a white box containing accessories and instruction notes. Besides the power adapter, D-Link also include accessories and screws for wall mounting and also an instruction card to guide the downloading the mydlink Lite app which will be required to setup the D-Link WiFi Camera DCS-2630L.

I prefer D-Link to provide a standard 3-pin adapter instead of the 2-pin one. The D-Link WiFi Camera DCS-2630L is using a micro USB connector as power supply but the adapter provide is capable of a 2A output. Hence, I suspect not all USB adapter will be able to power up the D-Link WiFi Camera DCS-2630L.

Let’s take a closer look at the D-Link WiFi Camera DCS-2630L itself. It’s a pretty dense device given it’s size. The main camera body itself can be rotated 360 degrees freely. There are about 6 infra-red LEDs around the main lens body while the main light sensor sit just above the main lens but below the microphone.

At the rear of the D-Link WiFi Camera DCS-2630L, the power and status LED is next to the WPS button.

The microSD slot is by the right side while the power connector is at the bottom of the device. Do note that the microSD slot of the D-Link WiFi Camera DCS-2630L is one of the few devices that is able to take a 128GB microSD card for longer hours of recording.

Comparing the size of the D-Link WiFi Camera DCS-2630L, I placed it next to the Xiao Yi Smart IP Camera and the D-Link DCS-5222L HD Pan & Tilt WiFi Camera. Now you can really see that the D-Link WiFi Camera DCS-2630L is not very much smaller than a Pan and Tilt WiFi Camera from the front profile.

From the side, the D-Link WiFi Camera DCS-2630L is also much thicker than a typical WiFi Camera such as the Xiao Yi Smart IP Camera.