INTRODUCTION

     This past decade crime rates all over the world have spiked and since there's not much we can do about that at least we should make sure the people we cherish and why not even our hard earned possessions are safeguarded as much as possible. To that end I've always advocated in favor of people installing either complete surveillance systems or just standalone IP cameras, not only as deterrents which is obviously their main functionality but also as evidence holders in case something does happen. Over the years TRENDnet has released numerous IP cameras in collaboration with manufacturers like Hikvision and today with me I have yet another such model, the TV-IP1515PI.

    TRENDnet is a global provider of award-winning networking and surveillance solutions to small and medium-sized businesses, as well as home office users. Building networking solutions since 1990, TRENDnet enables users to share broadband access, multimedia content, and networked peripherals for true anywhere connectivity. TRENDnet's diverse product portfolio includes PoE, switches, Industrial, IP cameras, NVRs, fiber, Powerline, wireless, KVM, USB, and more. To learn more about TRENDnet, please visit www.trendnet.com.

    The TV-IP1515PI is a fixed turret design (pan/tilt/rotate can be adjusted manually) indoor/outdoor IP camera model that features an IP66 certified (dust and water-proof with a temperature range from -30 and up to +50 degrees Celsius) enclosure inside which TRENDnet has placed an 5 megapixel, 1/2.7" CMOS sensor (3.6mm F1.6 focal length with an diagonal viewing angle of 106 degrees) which allows it to record fluid video with a resolution of up to 2592x1920p at up to 20fps. Needless to say the TV-IP1515PI comes ready with a built-in microphone, IR LEDs (98 feet/30 meters range, 850nm wavelength), 10/100Mbps PoE port (power over ethernet - 6w power consumption) and a microSD card slot (up to 256GB cards) and fully supports Η.265 video compression  (H.264 is also supported), DWDR (digital wide dynamic range), 3D NDR (3D noise reduction),  ONVIF-S, motion and tamper-proof detection, QoS, UPNP and privacy masks. Yes, on paper the TV-IP1515PI might not be the best IP camera released by TRENDnet, but it still is a feature-rich model regardless.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The company logo is placed at the front of the box right over a product pictures and the main product features.

On the right side we find the product features whereas on the left the serial number and barcode and the Sentinel app logo.

3 pictures at the rear are used to showcase some of the main features.

Along with the TV-IP1515PI inside the box you'll also find a positioning card, mounting screws, waterproof adapter and the quick installation guide.

THE TV-IP1515PI

The TV-IP1515PI measures 100mm in diameter and 90mm in height.

At the top we find the 3.6mm F1.6 lens, built-in microphone hole and the IR LEDs.

There's a good range of manual movement allowed by the base of the TV-IP1515PI as seen above (360 degrees pan, 80 degrees tilt).

A small secure compartment at the rear houses the microSD card slot and the reset button.

You can use the TV-IP1515PI either with a PoE (power over ethernet) switch or an power adapter (sold extra).

WEB INTERFACE

The web interface is changed compared to past models and so all settings are divided into 7 tabs.

From the system tab you can check the current firmware, name the camera, add/remove access for users, set the time, adjust the OSD and check logs.

As expected inside the video tab you can find anything related to that from resolution, bitrate, compression codec, fps, bit rate and stream mode for each of the 3 available streams to various image quality options, audio adjustments and private masks.

The controls tab includes the global counters for device triggers and virtual inputs (commands that can be used to trigger other devices).

Everything related to the local network (IP address, HTTPS access and others) are located inside the network tab.

Smartevent allows you to add specific triggers for events (another tab I didn't use during testing).

Recording related settings (FTP/HTTP/MicroSD card) are all placed inside the FTP service tab.

Finally, you can perform firmware updates from within the maintenance tab (notifications tab was self-explanatory).

VIDEO QUALITY

As usual in this section I’ll be covering the maximum resolution of the camera at hand (2592x1920p for this model) with optimized image settings (same as with previous TRENDnet models). All pictures are at full resolution.

Unfortunately, both without and with DWDR enabled the TV-IP1515PI lags behind many current models available by TRENDnet, both in terms of video quality and color reproduction. Did try many different combinations until I finally decided to upload this review but no matter what I just couldn't get what I wanted to see (sorry, my trees grew up quite a bit so they covered a bit of the area you can see in previous reviews).

What I did like was that with DWDR enabled night vision illuminates a very wide area but again, quality is not on par with what I was expecting from a 5MP IP camera model.

CONCLUSION

    The TRENDnet TV-IP1515PI is an entry-level 5MP turret IP camera model which is basically meant only for very short range surveillance and recording due to its not so great image quality (lens and other internal components also matter, it’s never just about MP). It also features a IP66 certified quality enclosure, wide range of motion for the lens, good audio recording capabilities, good IR coverage and of course PoE support for direct power via Ethernet. Finally, it has nothing to be jealous from its software features compared to other similar models meaning it should be more than enough for most consumers out there.

    Currently retailing for USD114.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 102.90Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) the TV-IP1515PI fixed turret IP camera by TRENDnet is priced just a tad higher than expected. Overall there's not much I can say about the TV-IP1515PI that you can't see for yourselves in this review. It may not produce the best image quality but it does very well in everything else so If you're looking for an IP camera for your front porch, apartment door or the interior of your home/office (limited range) then you should give it a chance, it might be just what you’ve been looking for.

PROS

- 5MP CMOS Sensor
- 2592x1920p Maximum Resolution
- Supported Features (H265/PoE/DWDR/3D NDR)
- Build Quality (IP66 Certified Enclosure)
- Audio Quality
- MicroSD Card Slot (256GB Max)
- 30 Meters Night Vision
- Available Software (PC / Android / iOS)

CONS

- Image Quality
- Price (For Some)