Finally, we have a camera that is significantly different from the usual security cameras that we are used to. As the name implies, IMILAB EC6 Dual it has a pair of cameras with high, 2K resolution.
In our detailed review, we will take a detailed look at how such a camera works, what are its advantages and disadvantages. Since we use the camera every day, we will share our personal experiences with normal use.
Where to buy IMILAB EC6 Dual?
You can order the camera from our close partners Gshopper and Banggood. We recommend you to Gshopper use our discount coupon, which will reduce the final price even more. Plus, delivery is seamless with no hidden fees and usually takes 15-25 days.
IMILAB EC6 Dual is sold exclusively in the global version, which is intended for all markets. In the Xiaomi Home application, it will work under European regions without any problems.
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IMILAB EC6 Dual
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Technical specifications
Model | IMILAB EC6 Dual |
---|---|
dimensions | 178 x 107 x 165 mm |
Weight | 583 g |
power supply | 110-220 V AC (cable length 3 m) |
Resolution | 2K + 2K |
Rotating the top camera | manual – 10° vertical and 120° horizontal |
Bottom camera rotation | electronically – 360° horizontally and 100° vertically |
Zoom in | 3 fold |
Compression videa | H.265 |
The light | 4 x IR + 4 x LEDs |
Suitable for temperatures | -30 to 60 ° C |
WiFi | version 6 / 2.4 GHz |
Ethernet (LAN) | Yes |
Memory karta | yes (max 256 GB) |
Detection | persons / vehicles / movement in general |
Two-way audio | Yes |
Alarm | Yes |
The quality of the packaging and its contents
The IMILAB EC6 Dual exterior camera was brought to us by a courier in a relatively compact box. It was packed only in a silicone bag, but there was no damage or deformation of the box during transportation.
The camera is packaged inside in the same way as the standard version of the EC6, about which we have already published our review, that is, only in bubble wrap. The accessories in a small box consist of drilling templates, screws and dowels, a cover for the LAN connector and a user manual.
Thus, the manufacturer includes everything necessary for assembly, except tools, but the overall quality of the packaging is not at a very high level. We would prefer to see the camera inside the box in foam padding or hard cardboard instead of bubble wrap.
Design and quality of workmanship
As with the standard version of the EC6, the novelty with a pair of cameras is made of plastics that are not among the highest quality. The overall impression of the packaging and the camera is similar. It is not a premium camera, which is already indicated by its price.
The camera is relatively large and has the shape of an egg, which is divided in half into two parts. The mounting bracket is a fixed part of the camera structure and allows it to be attached to the ceiling or wall. There is also a LAN cable and a power cable, which are integrated in one.
At the bottom of the camera, behind the rubber cover, we find a slot for a microSD card and a reset button. There is a speaker on the back and a microphone next to the bottom lens.
Two cameras in one body
Of course, the most interesting part is the cameras themselves, of which we have two. Let's start with the top one. It has 2K resolution and a pair of LEDs for lighting. We cannot rotate this camera through the application. However, we can manually rotate it in the range of 120° horizontally and 10° vertically.
The lower camera also has a 2K resolution and a pair of LEDs, but it has electric rotation in the horizontal direction in the range of 360° and in the vertical direction 100°. A huge advantage of this camera is the simultaneous shooting of two different directions using the two lenses mentioned above.
Pairing with the application and assembly
IMILAB EC6 Dual works with the well-known and popular Xiaomi Home (Mi Home) application, which is available in the Google Play or AppStore. Pairing is very easy and fast. Just scan the QR code that you can find on the cable leading from the camera and follow the steps that the application guides you through.
It has one difference compared to the EC6 model. Since the dual camera also has a LAN port, in the first step of pairing, we choose whether we want to connect the camera to the Internet via cable or WiFi. We chose wireless connection.
So the next steps of pairing lead to choosing the WiFi network to which the camera should connect and the room to which we want to add it in the application. The whole process is completely simple and fast.
As for assembly, it is also simple and anyone can do it. The manufacturer also includes screws with dowels and, as we mentioned above, the package also includes a pair of drilling templates in the form of stickers. These serve to prepare holes for dowels.
We attached the camera to a wooden garden gazebo, so we didn't need dowels. We screwed the camera holder to the wooden structure of the gazebo using two screws. We can fasten it to the ceiling, not only to vertical structures.
Application environment with two views
Since the camera has two lenses, we were curious how the manufacturer solved the display of live video transmission in the application. The previews from both cameras are available nicely below, together with the controls we are used to from other cameras from Xiaomi and IMILAB.
There are several buttons available in both previews – sleep, take photo, record video, set resolution and switch to full screen mode.
With both cameras, we can choose between the highest resolution of 2K, automatic resolution depending on the quality of the connection or 480p. Below the camera views there are 5 more buttons - two-way audio transmission, alarm, sound on / off, LED light on / off and the display of directional buttons for rotating the bottom camera.
Below these buttons we also have quick links to go to recorded videos during monitoring, playback, storage management and AI functions. We will talk about those later, when we will focus on the monitoring of premises.
Image quality
Both cameras have 2K resolution, but they are not identical lenses. Although the manufacturer does not provide more detailed specifications, the picture from them is not the same. The top camera is a bit weaker than the bottom one.
The video from the top camera is a little less contrasty, the colors are cooler and duller, less expressive and generally feels weaker compared to the image from the bottom camera. It has a higher contrast, thanks to which the objects are more visible, the color presentation is richer and the image is overall more beautiful to look at.
Night mode
Night mode is also available from both cameras. There is a standard black-and-white image or a color one created by lighting with LEDs. The standard black and white image quality is quite decent. Even moving persons can be seen clearly and quite clearly. The quality is slightly worse for color images.
You can watch samples of the night video below:
Monitoring, alerts and video recording
One of the most important functions of security cameras is the ability to alert you to movement in the camera's field of view. Thanks to two lenses, IMILAB EC6 Dual monitors both views and also records video from both cameras on a memory card.
In the "playback" menu, you simply choose from which camera you want to view the recording. It will be displayed on the timeline with highlighted events from the monitoring. We used a 64 GB Kodak card, but since the camera stores footage from two lenses, a higher capacity would be needed. Only 64 and a half days of recording from both cameras can fit on a 2 GB card.
A minor issue is the smoothness of the video. It often happened to us that the recording was not quite smooth, or some seconds were skipped, which causes a choppy image during playback.
If the camera detects movement first in the field of view of one camera and then or simultaneously in the case of the other, it will send two notifications immediately. This functionality is perhaps one of the biggest advantages of the dual camera. Practically, this way we can monitor a much larger part of the monitored object, in our case the garden.
Each recorded video has a fixed length of 9 seconds with no customization option. For three months, we have free uploading of monitoring videos to the cloud. However, if we use a microSD card, this limitation need not bother us. Videos from the monitoring are subsequently saved on the card.
Lots of useless motion alerts
In the space monitoring settings, we can find several types of notifications. They are also among the AI functions, where there is specific recognition of persons, vehicles, non-motorized vehicles, screen changes or regional monitoring.
The camera should thus be able to distinguish when detecting movement, whether it is the movement of a person, a vehicle or just a general change in the image, where the algorithm evaluates that it was movement.
Unfortunately, as with other cameras from the IMILAB brand, we often received many alerts about the movement of people, even when there was no person in the recording. The camera even marked the cat as a vehicle several times, or various insects on the lens as people.
False alerts occur even at low sensitivity, not even at high sensitivity. Therefore, this camera is not the most suitable for real monitoring of movement. Hopefully, the manufacturer will at least partially improve this functionality through updates. However, from experience, we do not give it much chance.
The premises can be monitored by the camera 24 hours a day, or only during the day from 8:00 a.m. to 20:00 p.m., at night from 20:00 p.m. to 08:00 a.m., or we can also choose our own time interval. There is no weekend monitoring or selection of specific days combined with times.
settings
In addition to the mentioned space monitoring settings, the application offers several other customizations, which are divided into individual categories. In the image settings, we can turn on or off the time data in the video, the wide-angle shot correction, the higher dynamic range mode or the so-called smart frame. However, we did not notice any difference when turning on the last-named function, so we do not know what the role of the smart frame is.
The settings also include switching to sleep mode, tracking a person in the sense of turning the camera behind a moving person, or setting an alarm. It can be sound or light and can be started automatically when motion is detected.
We can also easily turn off the LED indicator here, adjust the volume or view information about the storage in the form of a microSD card, where we can also format it.
IMILAB EC6 Dual: Final evaluation
The IMILAB EC6 Dual outdoor security camera offers extremely interesting features, mainly thanks to two lenses, each of which has a 2K resolution. With one camera, we can monitor two different views. The camera also records videos from both cameras, or sends motion alerts equally from both.
It's a shame that only the bottom camera can be rotated using the selector in the application. We can only rotate the top camera manually. It is the bottom camera that, despite the same resolution, is of better quality with a better image.
Overall, the image quality is very good and basically the only disappointment is the number of false alerts. Unfortunately, it often happens that the camera identifies animals as vehicles or people, or sends notifications about movement even when the wind blows, or when an insect flashes in front of the camera lens, which is also evaluated as a person's movement.
It looks like an excellent camera for the price. I have those false alarms on all cameras, and I have a lot of them from different manufacturers.
I'll just add info after longer use... the volume of the alarm is low, also the volume of the speaker on the camera is very weak, which means that almost nothing can be understood from the camera. On the contrary, the microphone is quite cool, so you can hear the surroundings of the camera from your mobile phone.
Warnings exactly as in the article - pure nonsense. He tags a person in the video even though there was absolutely nothing there. A cat like a person, also daily.
The picture is nice, it must be said. I had no problem with tearing, or missing seconds in the video.
I don't have an SD card in the camera yet, but I don't like the 9-second option, why can't I choose e.g. 15? I guess they would like me to pay monthly, but I will definitely go to pam. cards.
Nowhere in the settings can I find an option to hard turn off the wifi connection when I connect the camera with a LAN cable, I don't want it to then step on my wifi. There should be a simple switch button in the settings, just switch the connection and you're done.
Overall, a good camera, it would rather be improved in software.