We tested the original DXR-8 baby monitor back in 2014. In the time since, Infant Optics has released a couple of more affordable models, but seven years later, the popular baby monitor is finally seeing an upgrade in the form of the $199.99 DXR-8 Pro. Surprisingly, the company hasn’t decided to embrace the wave of app-based, smart streaming video monitors we usually test, like the $299 Nanit Plus (our Editors’ Choice) or the $229 Lumi by Pampers. Instead, the DXR-8 Pro is a basic audio and video monitor for a single home. What it lacks in smart features it makes up for in simplicity, making it a solid option if you’re looking for a low-tech way to monitor your little one.
A Throwback Design
The leap from the old DXR-8 to the DXR-8 Pro is nothing revolutionary, but it’s a decent upgrade across the board. The system consists of two main items, including the pan/tilt/zoom camera that stays in the nursery, and the portable, battery-powered video monitor upon which you watch, listen, and control the camera.
The camera looks almost identical to the original DXR-8 at 4 inches tall and 2.5 inches in diameter. It can tilt up 95 degrees or down 25 degrees, and pan left or right 135 degrees. It supports 720p video, up from the original’s basic VGA. There’s a small dongle hanging off of it that acts as a temperature sensor. The camera needs to be plugged in, as it doesn’t have a battery.
A basic lens is integrated, with a metal lens hood for some protection. Unscrew the hood to twist on the included 2x optical zoom lens—handy if you’re monitoring across a big room. With the digital zoom (which goes to 3x), you can achieve a full (and blurry) 6x magnification. There are 10 infrared LEDs studded around the lens to provide night vision.
The handheld display monitor measures 3.1 by 6.5 by 0.8 inches (HWD) and features a 5-inch screen with 1,280 by 720 resolution. It sports a much more intutive interface than the original DXR-8, which is important, since you’re accessing everything using four function buttons and a D-pad (which controls navigation and pan/tilt). Dedicated buttons for volume and brightness are on top.
The monitor is rated to have a battery life of about 10 hours on a full charge with the screen on standby, or six hours if you leave the video playing. It takes seven hours to fully charge, so expect to plug it in daily. Inside is a 2,800mAh lithium-ion battery, which is, surprisingly, replaceable. A new one costs $19.99 on Amazon.
Inside the box are two identical-looking power adapters, but they aren’t the same. Each is clearly marked, one for the camera (5.9V) and one for the monitor (5.0V). There’s an extra USB cable for charging the monitor from a USB port or a power bank. Missing from the Pro (but available in the old model) is an option to charge the monitor with a micro USB cable, so you’ll need to buy another proprietary charger if you lose one.
This a “non-Wi-Fi closed-loop system,” as it says on the box. The DXR-8 Pro, like its predecessor, isn’t using the internet at all, so there’s virtually no lag. Infant Optics claims the Pro has a 50% better signal range than the previous version; popping up the antenna on the monitor helps with that.
The marketing materials also claim the system is “hack-proof,” which makes it a good alternative to smart baby monitors for security-minded folks. That said, the radio utilizes 2.4GHz frequency-hopping spread-spectrum (FHSS), so it can still receive interference from other 2.4GHz tech like Wi-Fi routers (or microwave ovens or old cordless phones) depending on where you are in your home.
Active noise reduction (ANR) is a nice feature, one that Infant Optics is trying to patent. It means the noise in the room with the camera is ignored, aside from necessary commotion like movement or crying. This is useful as babies sometimes need noise to sleep, like a fan or an air purifier. However, the manual suggests not to use the ANR feature if you’re also using a white noise machine with non-repeating sound waves, as it can result in “a distorted warping sound in the background from the monitor unit.” ANR is easy to turn on and off by holding down the Zoom/ANR button on the monitor.
You can’t use a DXR-8 camera with the DXR-8 Pro monitor or vice versa, which is a bummer if you have the old system. You can buy an extra DXR-8 Pro camera for $99.99 on Amazon. It comes with a one-year warranty, but you can extend it to two years by registering the system immediately (within seven days of purchase) on infantoptics.com.
The original DXR-8 kit still sells for $165.99 at the time of this writing and includes a 170-degree field of view wide-angle lens. The Pro is $199.99, but only throws in the zoom lens. The wide-angle lens sells separately for $10.99 on Amazon, and it’s the same one used for the original DXR-8.
Monitor Testing
Installing the camera is easy: Either put it on a shelf or use the included screw and anchor to stick it to the wall or even the ceiling.
I placed it on a shelf in my son’s room, and the second I plugged in the camera, video appeared on the monitor. If it doesn’t, there’s a Pair button on bottom of the camera. You can pair up to four cameras with the monitor and set them to cycle through the views, or click the OK/Camera Function button to pick. Names for Cam 1, Cam 2, etc. show on the info bar at the top of the screen. That bar is also where you can see the temperature, the time (which you have to set manually), battery life, signal strength, digital zoom (1x to x3), and whether ANR is turned on.
The view on the 720p handheld montior is very crisp and clear in daylight hours; maybe not what you’d get on a sharp new OLED smartphone display, but remember, this setup doesn’t need a phone at all. The many infrared LEDs make for splendidly clear night vision as well. And two-way audio worked fine.
I use an Amazon Echo in my son’s room for playing music and for white noise (the brown noise skill has the perfect pitch), so I was nervous that it wouldn’t work with the DXR-8 Pro’s noise reduction feature. Thankfully, even with the volume turned up all the way monitor, it didn’t seem to be a problem. You may not have the same luck with a dedicated white noise machine, however.
If you have the screen off and the volume down, an LED bar will activate when noise is heard. The monitor’s built-in speakers are very tinny, but they’re more than sufficient for listening for important sounds like crying.
Simpler Than a Smart Monitor
My preference is for a smart baby monitor that does more than transmit video and audio, as products like the aforementioned Nanit Plus and the Owlet Smart Sock (a sock, not a baby monitor) are actively checking your little one for signs of life as they—and hopefully you—snooze. But for that peace of mind, you pay a higher upfront price and incur ongoing subscription costs. And those kinds of monitors aren’t for everyone.
For less tech-savvy parents and caregivers, a more traditional baby monitor like the Infant Optics DXR-8 Pro gets the job done just fine. It’s simple to set up and use, video is clear day and night, and noise reduction helps you keep an ear out only for the things that really matter. If you want to have it both ways, the Motorola Halo+ Over-the-Crib Baby Monitor comes with a handheld screen and works with a smartphone app, but it costs $100 more than the DXR-8 Pro.
