Today we will be taking a look at the Tapo C310 Wifi Security Camera, which is one of the most popular options in the UK when looking to secure your home for a good price with ease.
Known mainly for their high quality networking products, TP-Link’s mini brand Tapo has been making some fantastic security cameras for a while now, and the Tapo C310 is one of their most popular offerings – but is it worth the money, or are there better alternatives?
Unlike some of the other popular alternatives like the ieGeek ZS-GQ1, the C310 is not a completely wireless security camera, as it doesn’t have a built in battery. Also, Tapo doesn’t run on a subscription model for cloud storage to supplement their income unlike a lot of it’s competitors like Ring.
- Tapo C310 Review – Key Specs And Features
- Tapo C310 Recording Quality
- Night Vision On The Tapo C310
- What’s In The Box?
- Tapo C310 Setup And Mounting
- Tapo App Mini Review
- FAQs
- Does Tapo C310 pan and tilt?
- Does The Tapo C310 Work Without Internet?
- Is The Tapo C310 Completely Wireless?
- Can I Use Ethernet With The Tapo C310?
- Which App Does The Tapo C310 Use?
- Do I Need A Subscription To Use This Camera?
- Does Tapo Offer Cloud Storage For Security Footage?
- What Size SD Card Does The Tapo C310 Support?
- Verdict – The Tapo C310 Is A Fantastic Camera, Especially At Night.
If you need a straight forward, well though out outdoor wireless camera which you can connect to through Wi-FI, the Tapo C310 is definitely up there with the best, but what makes it so good?
Tapo C310 Review – Key Specs And Features
At around the £50 mark, the C310 is right at the sweet spot between price and performance in my opinion. It’s worth keeping an eye on the price on Amazon, because sometimes it’s being sold for a good bit less if you’re lucky.
It’s waterproof, so you don’t need to worry about mounting the camera under a dry place such at the porch, which gives you a lot more freedom to get the best coverage possible. It’s also got a siren feature, which works in a similar way to the ieGeek ZS-GQ1. It can be configured to automatically sound an alarm to scare away would-be trespassers.
The Tapo C310 has a competitive recording quality for the price, being able to film at a resolution of up to 2304px × 1296px, through its 3 Megapixel HD camera. It’s good enough quality for what you need it for, but I probably wouldn’t use it for taking selfies.
The camera has a pretty great field of view, with the ability to record 104 degrees, but the main perk that really makes the C310 stand out is it’s fantastic night vision capabilities. With a claimed range of up to 98 feet, it is absolutely perfect for poorly lit areas, such as the back garden or even a garage/outbuilding.
Tapo C310 Recording Quality
In terms of quality, the detail in recording on the C310 is pretty outstanding for the price, especially at night. There are three quality options to choose from, with 720p being the lower end and the full 3 Megapixel HD being the top end. If your internet speed is on the worse end, it may be worth turning the camera quality down a little because you may experience a bit of lag on the higher resolution settings. The alternative of course is to record directly onto the camera itself by putting a micro SD card in. The Tapo C310 supports cards with capacities of up to 128GB, which is enough for a majority of people.
Night Vision On The Tapo C310
The night vision capabilities of this camera are genuinely very impressive. Although it’s in black and white as opposed to full colour, the night vision range is more than enough for a vast majority of cases, with up to 98 feet or about 30 metres of range. Compared to the competition, this camera is a head and shoulders above the rest in terms of its night vision abilities. 5 stars in this field!
What’s In The Box?
Included in the box is the camera itself, the power cable, manual and mounting accessories. It’s worth bearing in mind that if you want to record to a micro SD, you will need to buy one separately. The power cable is 3 metres long, so if you’re planning out putting it up a tree it’s definitely worth considering if you will need to buy an extension cable as well.
The power cable connects to a 3 pin plug, so you can easily hook it up to the mains as long as you have a free socket.
Tapo C310 Setup And Mounting
Setting the C310 up is a breeze, since TP-Link have a great team of developers to deal with the app side of things. Install the Tapo app on your smartphone and login.
Connecting the camera to the Tapo app is easy, as there are clear instructions to follow once the camera is plugged in and powered on. Luckily, Tapo decided to design the camera without the need for any sort of hub, so just your smartphone and the camera itself is needed to get it working.
It’s definitely worth configuring it inside your home before mounting the camera. You can set the camera up for the first time using two options – either through plugging an ethernet cable into the camera, or opting to use Wi-Fi instead which is very convenient as not everyone has a spare ethernet cable lying around these days. Props to Tapo for this one!
Once the camera has been set up, the mounting template will probably need finning in most cases. There are 3 drill holes to which the template is screwed on through. Drill the 3 screw holes to match up with the template.
Now that the holes for the template have been drilled, the anchors on the camera gear can be fitted to hold the camera in place. once lined up, the whole assembly can be screwed on making a nice secure fit.
If you need further details to help with setting up and mounting your C310, TP-Link have made a helpful walkthrough video here:
The C310 also comes with a rubber seal which is great for if the wiring connection is outside and needs waterproofing.
Tapo App Mini Review
The Tapo app is how you will interact with the camera, so I thought it would be worth giving the app a quick review. The app is very intuitive and configuring your camera through the app is easy. The Tapo app let’s you adjust a fair bit, like the sensitivity of the motion detection on the camera, as well as whether you would like the alarm to sound or not when motion is detected.
The app can send you notifications when motion is detected which is very handy, and is now a standard on almost every decent smart camera on the market these days. I have no complaints in this department as it does what it’s supposed to, but you will need to go into the app itself to view the camera feed because the notifications don’t currently come with an image attached yet.
FAQs
In this section of the article, I will aim to cover the most common questions about the Tapo C310, and how it’s one of the best wireless outdoor security cameras.
Does Tapo C310 pan and tilt?
The Tapo C310 does not physically pan and tilt – it’s a stationary outdoor camera.
Does The Tapo C310 Work Without Internet?
It Does! As long as it’s connected to the same wireless network, you can connect to your camera.
Is The Tapo C310 Completely Wireless?
It isn’t – you can connect to the camera wirelessly but it does still use a power cable, which in my opinion is great because it saves you the hassle of needing to recharge the battery.
Can I Use Ethernet With The Tapo C310?
Yes! The C310 has an ethernet port, so you can use a wired or wireless network connection depending on which you prefer.
Which App Does The Tapo C310 Use?
Tapo have developed their own app, which is available on Google Play and the App Store.
Do I Need A Subscription To Use This Camera?
This camera works without a subscription – It is completely free to use without a subscription.
Does Tapo Offer Cloud Storage For Security Footage?
At the moment, Tapo doesn’t offer cloud storage – the two options are to either download it via your internet connection or store it on the camera locally using a micro SD card.
What Size SD Card Does The Tapo C310 Support?
The C310 supports micro SD cards with up to 128GB capacity, which should be more than enough for most people.
Verdict – The Tapo C310 Is A Fantastic Camera, Especially At Night.
The Tapo is a solid camera all round – although it might not have all of the bells and whistles that some of the other competitors offer, if you want a no nonsense camera that simply does the job then this is it. The night vision is superb and it has a great field of view.
The fact that it’s an outdoor camera with no subscription is also a big advantage, as most of the market these days tries to charge you for all sorts of software extras even after you’ve bought the camera.
at around £50, the C310 is well priced enough that you can easily manage to create whole home coverage to secure your property and protect your family on a budget. 5 Stars.