Boasting all of the features we look for in a video baby monitor and a nice selection of extras besides, we selected the Levana Safe n'See Digital Video Baby Monitor to be our TopTenREVIEWS Silver Award winner.
For starters, this unit has a very respectable wireless range. Your camera and receiver can be up to 450 feet apart and still work fine. That gives you a nice amount of room to complete tasks around the house or even a bit beyond while still keeping a digital eye on your baby.
One unique feature we think parents will appreciate is the temperature-monitoring system. This is something we did not find on most units. New parents especially are prone to keeping a baby's room very toasty, but experts recommend keeping the temperature around 61–68 degrees Fahrenheit. With this video baby monitor, you will know for sure how to adjust your baby's surroundings for optimal comfort.
The lullabies option is also fairly rare and is a great idea. Parents can choose from five soothing lullabies to calm babies for bedtime. You can even control all of this from the Safe n'See parent unit. Choose from "Blue Danube," "Silent Night," "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," "Minuet in G Major" and "Londonderry Air."
The Talk-to-Baby intercom allows you to talk to your baby from another room, to help you calm crying while you are en route or making sure your child stays asleep for a full naptime.
With this system, you can monitor your baby even if you don't have the sound on high. Just keep an eye on the LED noise-level lights at the top of the unit. They will let you know if your baby is making noise. Another LED light, along with an audible beeping noise, will alert you if you go out of range of the monitoring system. The unit also has a vibrate function so you can set it to alert you that way to any noises in the baby's room. That will allow you to do a number of other tasks while still keeping tabs on your baby at all times.
In VOX mode, you save energy while still monitoring your baby. Your screen will be off until the unit senses sound. Then it will begin a video transmission. You can adjust the sensitivity of the VOX function so it comes on with very little activity, and you can hit one button on the video baby monitor that will start a screen transmission instantly at any time.
The Levana Safe n'See has a high-quality LCD display screen that offers an impressive resolution. The view of your baby is not crystal clear, but it is very good – definitely clear enough to offer peace of mind.
The night-vision feature extends your peace of mind with a view of your baby in complete darkness from up to 10 feet away. The system adjusts to light levels automatically too, so there is nothing to switch on or off to get the night view.
The battery life on this unit is not the most impressive we saw, and that is one possible drawback to this system. You will get about four hours of continuous audio and video monitoring before you need to recharge the receiver unit. That number will vary based on different types of usage, of course, but we saw units with much longer battery life.
There are some excellent features that make this unit adaptable to any situation, including a combination table stand and belt clip. You can park the video baby monitor on the table stand or take it with you anywhere on the belt clip. The belt clip means you can have both hands free for any number of tasks – an invaluable benefit for busy parents. This video baby monitor is really easy to mount to the wall too. That may offer the best view of your baby in many situations.
Another extra is the nightlight. It makes so much sense to combine a nightlight with a video baby monitor, and this one is designed to emit a soft light that will help the baby calm down and get to sleep. You can even control it from the handheld unit so you don't have to sneak into your baby's room to turn it off.
It's nice to have the option to use a wall plug adapter or AAA batteries in the camera part of the unit. It's always safer to have as few cords as possible in a baby's room, of course, but there are ways to configure the camera cord out of a baby's reach so you do not need to constantly drain and replace the batteries. If you prefer to use batteries, though, you still have the option.
While there have been some complaints about the volume levels on this unit, overall its reputation for sound quality is good. Sometimes it might be difficult to hear this baby video monitor if there are other activities going on in the same room as the receiver, even with the volume up, but in the vast majority of settings it will work just fine.
We think the vast majority of customers will marvel at the picture quality on this unit, especially those that are used to the older, sound-only monitors. No, you will not be getting the clarity you get from the latest television models but the image is in full color and very impressive. Also, even in the darkest lighting you will be able to see a clear, though black and white, image of your baby.
Levana offers excellent customer support options. Most of the time, representatives greet you with a live chat window the minute you enter the website. Responses are fast and friendly. That alone gives a great impression, but Levana also offers a well-organized website that helps you find easy answers to any question. We love how easy it is to find and download product manuals. If you don't prefer to use live chat, you can call the company directly or send an email. This video baby monitor also comes with a one-year warranty that covers manufacturing defects.
We like the collection of awards this product has received, which includes stamps of approval from the National Parenting Center, Mom's Best Award, National Parenting Publications Awards and Parent Tested Parent Approved. None of those guarantees a great product, but it is nice to know that this video baby monitor has a good reputation overall.
This unit is not perfect. It has a relatively short battery life and lacks a few features we like, including zoom and remote panning and scanning. Overall, it is excellent, though. We think parents will enjoy features like a built-in nightlight, lullabies player and VOX mode. Levana Safe n'See Digital Video Baby Monitor will allow parents to complete a number of tasks during their baby's naptime and nighttime, all with the peace of mind they prize.
