TP-Link Tapo C420S2

Product information

Key specs

Usage location

Outdoors

Connection type

Battery

Subscription needed for full use

Storage options

Cloud, SD card

Smart home platform

Google Assistant, Google Home, IFTTT

Usage location	Outdoors
Connection type	Battery
Subscription needed for full use
Storage options	Cloud, SD card
Smart home platform	Google Assistant, Google Home, IFTTT
2-way audio

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View all specifications

Pros and cons

According to our IP camera expert

• Because of the high resolution, the camera records a sharper image than a camera with Full-HD resolution.
• With the SD card slot, you can store footage directly on this camera, so you don't need a subscription.
• The camera distinguishes people, animals, and vehicles which means you get fewer false notifications.
• You need a good WiFi connection in the place where you install the camera.
• The battery life decreases if you use the camera often.

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Description

In this IP camera pack of TP-Link you get 2 Tapo C420S2 cameras. With these cameras, you can easily keep an eye on 2 indoor or outdoor areas via the app. The cameras have 2K image quality, so that even when zooming in, you maintain relatively sharp images. Even at night, you can keep an eye on everything thanks to the night vision. The battery of these cameras lasts 180 days with about 10 film activities per day. Settings, temperature, and usage affect battery life. The smart camera recognizes people, animals, and cars. For example, your alarm won't go off from a bird flying by. The alarm works with sound and a light signal. You can connect the camera via WiFi and you can store the recordings on an SD card. This isn't included. For a fixed amount per month you can also choose cloud storage.

In this IP camera pack of TP-Link you get 2 Tapo C420S2 cameras. With these cameras, you can easily keep an eye on 2 indoor or outdoor areas via the app. The cameras have 2K image quality, so that even when zooming in, you maintain relatively sharp images. Even at night, you can keep an eye on everything thanks to the night vision. The battery of these cameras lasts 180 days with about 10 film activities per day. Settings, temperature, and usage affect battery life. The smart camera recognizes people, animals, and cars. For example, your alarm won't go off from a bird flying by. The alarm works with sound and a light signal. You can connect the camera via WiFi and you can store the recordings on an SD card. This isn't included. For a fixed amount per month you can also choose cloud storage.

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Tips for using this product

Tips for using this product

Read our tips and find out all about how to set up your product and use it the right way.

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Included by default

• Manual (278.93 KB)
• Mounting materials
• Charging cable

Included by default

• Manual (278.93 KB)
• Mounting materials
• Charging cable

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Key specs

Usage location

Outdoors

Connection type

Battery

Subscription needed for full use

Storage options

Cloud, SD card

Smart home platform

Google Assistant, Google Home, IFTTT

Usage location	Outdoors
Connection type	Battery
Subscription needed for full use
Storage options	Cloud, SD card
Smart home platform	Google Assistant, Google Home, IFTTT
2-way audio

View all specifications

View all specifications

Complete your purchase

Suitable accessories

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Reviews

51 reviews

8,6/10 (51 reviews)

Rating

26 reviews with 5 stars

5 stars 0 reviews

21 reviews with 4 stars

4 stars 0 reviews

4 reviews with 3 stars

3 stars 0 reviews

0 reviews with 2 stars

2 stars 0 reviews

0 reviews with 1 star

1 star 0 reviews

Most helpful reviews

10/10

Good quality and great price

• Support for microSD cards up to 256 GB
• 2 bracket placement options (horizontal and vertical)

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• Anna
• 21 November 2022
• Automatically translated from Dutch

6,0/10

Potential, but not recommended due to software.

• Good battery life
• Good image quality
• bad app

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• Jantinus
• 5 February 2023
• Automatically translated from Dutch

9,0/10

Top camera for a great price!

• Easy to install
• Bright and clear image

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• Corina de visser
• 22 January 2023
• Automatically translated from Dutch

9,0/10

I am extremely satisfied. Excellent price quality ratio.

• Easy and quick to install via the app
• Good image at night and day
• Battery drains faster when there is a lot of detection

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• Martin stam
• 19 January 2023
• Automatically translated from Dutch

9,0/10

Good quality camera that is easy to install

• easy installation
• good image quality both day and night
• LEDs always turn on when motion is detected with insufficient light

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• Wilgard van hannen
• 18 January 2023
• Automatically translated from Dutch

9,5/10

Great cameras for in and around the house

• Easy to install
• No cables required
• Registers vehicles even if this is not checked

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• Martin stam
• 16 January 2023
• Automatically translated from Dutch

9,5/10

Clear cameras

• Easy installation
• Clear picture
• Too bad they are not movable

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• Corina de visser
• 12 January 2023
• Automatically translated from Dutch

7,5/10

Great outdoor cameras, not suitable for behind glass.

• Easy to install.
• Clear app
• The overview says "Suitable for placement behind glass". However, this does not work with HR+++ glass. Too bad because I had chosen the camera for this. Now looking for a place outside.

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• Anoniem
• 31 August 2024
• Automatically translated from Dutch

10/10

Great camera set.

• Beautiful image even when it is dark
• No subscription required
• Battery lasts less long than described, but still at least 6 weeks, depending on the settings

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• Don
• 1 February 2024
• Automatically translated from Dutch

9,5/10

easy to install good camera kit

• good camera image, day and night
• wireless
• not zoom in

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• Klaasm
• 2 February 2023
• Automatically translated from Dutch

10/10

Good quality and great price

• Support for microSD cards up to 256 GB
• 2 bracket placement options (horizontal and vertical)
• Possible to charge with the complete camera or only with the battery

As soon as I received the product I couldn't wait to install it. This is really the product I have been looking forward to for a long time. Satisfied so far!
Very easy to set up for the first time. First connect the Hub to your home network and the Tapo App tells you step by step. Due to the hub, the delay between the two cameras is very short. Mounting the camera is simple too, with horizontal or vertical orientation options making it easy to decide which wall to mount it on. After placing the camera, you can set the detection sensitivity and range as you wish. This way I can see from the balcony when my cat is outside. It also has an AI detection function, which can distinguish whether it is a person, a pet or a car, and notify me. It is also possible to set when you want to receive notifications, so that it doesn't always warn me when I'm home during the day. When prompted for an alert, both the hub and the camera can do so. The battery also exceeded my expectations. A battery of 5200 mAh, after a full charge, about 2% -5% electricity per day. Based on about 10 triggers per day. The highest image quality is 2K, which is very clear during the day. And there are two lights on the camera, so the image is also very clear at night.

• Anna
• 21 November 2022
• Automatically translated from Dutch

6,0/10

Potential, but not recommended due to software.

• Good battery life
• Good image quality
• Good night vision, also in color
• bad app

Introduction
I have received these cameras to review. The cameras have a beautiful image quality. The images are recorded in 2k and you can clearly distinguish details on the images. They end up on the SD card as recognizable video files, so you can also remove them from your card if necessary. Still, I am not very satisfied with these cameras. You can read why below.

Ease of installation
Mounting the cameras is quite simple. There are feet with recesses for three screws. The camera is attached to this with a ball joint that gives you room to aim the camera precisely. You can then connect the base station to your network via a UTP cable, which is quite easy. When you install the app, it is actually self-explanatory. After this it becomes a bit less clear. You can't make recordings straight out of the box. The app pushes hard to purchase an expensive cloud subscription. I didn't do this because I don't want images from my cameras to end up in the cloud. How you can make recordings only became clear to me later, you have to find out for yourself. You do this by inserting an SD card that has never been used. A pre-formatted card is not accepted, the app does not report this and does not offer the option to format the card correctly.

Image quality (color night vision + video clarity)
The image quality of the cameras is very good. Thanks to the 2k resolution, you can see clear details and the wide-angle lens ensures that you have a good overview of most situations, without immediately having a fish-eye effect. The cameras also stand their ground at night. In my situation I do not need night vision, the cameras are so sensitive to light that the color night vision works well (city garden, without direct lighting).

AI detection and notifications
So far, you could say that I am very satisfied with the properties described above. Now two things that I am less satisfied with, first the (AI) detection. The camera has the option to warn you via a notification on your phone when motion is detected. It can also distinguish between people and other objects (AI detection). In my opinion, this is a crucial functionality for a set like this. Here, however, he drops quite a few stitches. The detection is usually too late to record, even if you set the sensitivity to maximum. On a recording I regularly see the parcel deliverer getting back into his van as soon as the recording starts. Notifications are often 5 to 10 seconds after there is movement, then I open the app on my super fast Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and then I finally have a real image after another 10 to 20 seconds. So you are guaranteed to be too late to use any form of interaction with the person who is at your door. Furthermore, the sound on the camera is not practically usable for having a conversation. One of the cameras is now being tested in our (silent) kitchen, but when I use the speaker at maximum volume to say something, the only response you get is: "huh, did you hear something?". But more often than not, someone doesn't respond at all.

App and ease of use
The second point that is disappointing is the (android) app that comes with the cameras. This is the Tapo app. With this app you can connect various home automation solutions such as cameras, vacuum cleaners and other things. The app is cluttered, slow and the cloud functionality is pushed at least once on every page. You have to redo all the settings you make for each camera, there is no option to make overarching settings. Many things do not feel logical either, so the app is not user-friendly. The cameras are equipped with batteries that last a very long time. In my two week test period I used about 20%. Unfortunately, because the cameras work on battery, they cannot record continuously. This also probably means that it is not possible to stream the cameras via the network to, for example, a Synology or Home Assistant server.

Conclusion
Although the image quality of the cameras is very good, in my opinion they are completely unusable for any realistic scenario such as security or use as front door communication. I do not recommend purchasing these cameras.

• Jantinus
• 5 February 2023
• Automatically translated from Dutch

9,0/10

Top camera for a great price!

• Easy to install
• Bright and clear image
• User friendly

In use for a few weeks now. We are allowed to test these cameras. Out of the box, charge the battery first, then install the app and hang cameras wherever you want.
Then set the range. We had given the camera too wide a range, so all the cars passing by were recorded. So the battery was dead in a week. Then adjusted the angle and now the camera only turns on when someone is walking. It is also ideal that they are wireless. Don't run any cords anywhere.
You can put an md card in it. Up to 256GB. The first month you get a free trial period free tapocloud storage and all recordings are stored in the cloud. You can also close it per camera.
But we just store it on the SDMD card.
We are very satisfied. So definitely recommended for a nice price!

• Corina de visser
• 22 January 2023
• Automatically translated from Dutch

View all 51 reviews

Insure your IP camera

You can select one of the Backup Plans below in your shopping cart. It will protect your brand new IP camera against damage and/or theft.

• 2-year Backup Plan Damage
  18,99 one-time payment
• 2-year Backup Plan Complete
  23,99 one-time payment
• 3-year Backup Plan Damage
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• 3-year Backup Plan Complete
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Specifications

Product

Product number

915493

Manufacturer code

Tapo C420S2

Brand

TP-Link

Warranty

2 years

Processing of your defect

Via Coolblue

Old product returned for free

Image properties

Type of image definition support

QHD (1440p)

Video resolution width

2560 pixels

Video resolution height

1440 pixels

Horizontal viewing angle

120 °

Vertical viewing angle

67 °

Image quality according to customers

Very good

Pan

Tilt

Zoom (IPcam)

Digital zoom

12

Fisheye

Frames per second

20 fps

Camera options

Number of cameras

2

IP camera type

HD camera, Night camera, Outdoor camera, WiFi camera

Usage location

Outdoors

Alarm system needed for use

Subscription needed for full use

Motion detection sensor

Infrared lighting

Infrared light range

15 m

Infrared motion sensor

Suitable for placement behind glass

Dynamic DNS client

2-way audio

Built-in microphone

Review event

Number of seconds to review event

30 seconds

Streaming

Other properties

Power supply type

Rechargeable battery

Battery (power source)

Maximum battery life

180 days

Storage options

Cloud, SD card

SD card slot

Type of SD card

microSD

Installation ease according to customers

Simple

Built-in WiFi

PoE support

UPnP AV support

ONVIF certified

PSIA certified

Physical properties

Height

6,4 cm

Width

6,4 cm

Depth

11,1 cm

Color

White

Weight

330 g

Mounting possible

Water-resistant

Water resistance

Splash proof

Waterproofness certification

IP certification

IP certification

IP65

Smart Home options

Controls via app

Controlled via Android app

Controlled via Apple app

Smart home platform

Google Assistant, Google Home, IFTTT

Cybersecurity

Internet connection required

Manufacturer account required

Multi-factor authentication

Log in with fingerprint on your phone

Log in with Face ID on your phone

Usage possible without cloud environment manufacturer

Support for future updates

Personal information required

Type of information required

Personal information

Introduction year and updates

Guaranteed support with updates

48 months after release date

Year introduced

2023

Introduction month

March