ANNKE 4K Security Camera System, 8CH 8MP AI DVR with Human & Vehicle Detection, 2TB HDD and 8 x 4K IP67 Bullet Home & Surveillance Cameras, Work with Alexa, Easy Remote View, Smart Color Night Vision

I bought and installed this system about 9 months ago; I wanted to have it a while before reviewing. I had my first problem a week ago when the camera feed went black for all cameras (6). I contacted tech support via email and they got right back to me, got some information, and suggested I replace the power supply for the cameras. I had an extra power supply because I purchased the 4 camera expansion set as well. It worked! Even though the cameras were getting power from the old power supply, once I swapped them everything was fine. The picture quality for these cameras is superb. The technical documentation is poorly written and hard to understand, but not really needed; the installation wizard guides you through without problem. For the price this is a very good system.

The DVR is super easy to set up and use. Running the wires to the cameras is the hardest part. I chose this over a wireless system because even with wireless you need to have a power outlet nearby. Living in a really old house, i don’t have enough power outlets to go around. With this system the power and video go through one cable, so you only need power in the same location you will have the DVR. There is another advantage because of this - since all the power comes from where the DVR is hooked up, you can buy a UPS and temporarily power the system (cameras and all) with the UPS in the event of a power outage. Linking your system to the iPhone app is easy to do. There is a QR code that shows up on the screen that you scan with your iPhone and it links to your system. There is a little more setup if you want it to work while you’re not on your home network, but it’s essentially just setting up a (free) dynamic dns account. Please note that to get the system connected to the internet, you will need to have a network cable running from the system to your router - unless there is a wireless option that I’m overlooking. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this to a friend.

I STRONGLY suggest reading this ENTIRE review if you want to know tips to protecting you and your loved ones and your property regardless of which brand you choose. I ordered 100' Annke cables separately, come to find out they're not as thick or durable as the stock 60' cables. Night vision was better on my Annke 3MP PIR dome system. Plenty of settings to tweak but not enough instructions. DVR fan can be heard 25' away when in same quiet room but I'd prefer to have a fan than not to. Came with remote control! Nice surprise! Also this system allows wireless mouse whereas my last Annke system didn't. Wish cameras had microphones. Wish would allow higher than 6MP POE cameras (6MP maximum POE) but 8MP analog which only one company via Amazon sells Annke 4K Analog cams but it's a 4 pack for $279. I only want one or two at most. Not many aftermarket cameras will work with Annke DVR as far as I've read. Doesn't have PIR unfortunately but does have 265+ which is important nowadays! I upgraded my HDD. Sign up online for free extended warranty via Annke website. Remote viewing from both PC and phone works well but PC has no zoom. Instructions need to be written by someone who speaks English as their first language! Funny some of the stuff they say in manual and customer support. My DVR has been glitchy at times but not often. Same with app. Definitely was worth the $210 I paid for "used" via Amazon. UPDATE: Wish I would've chosen POE instead of Analog because AND I REALLY WISH I WOULD'VE chosen a DVR/Cam set-up that provides 30 FPS a.k.a. Real-time viewing because this system is 12 fps with 4K/8MP cams which is terrible! I need to be able to catch license plates from 100' away and at night. I added a 4K Annke camera to this system and it allows only 8 fps and only 264+, not 265 therefore it's eating away at my storage! This DVR occasionally glitches, keeps replaying same few second clip. Also, the app NEEDS WORK! App doesn't allow to speed up playback and most times the app won't even playback specified times. Can never get the Upload To Cloud to work either. I believe there are only one or two microphone connections (mics sold separately) which is disappointing. All in all, it would be fine for the average home owner/user but where I live, 3rd story apt complex, I need 30 FPS at 4K/8MP color night vision, PIR, 265+ on all cams, dual DVR bays, an app that works well by providing most of the same features as with DVR. I suggest Amcrest for better security cam setups. And if you need very clear quality to capture movement such as vehicles than go with POE with 30 FPS, NOT Analog/BNC!! Wish someone would've told me this. =/ Makes sure you test test and test for a month to make sure the cams are capturing what you would need if for real. I suggest keeping one wide field cam recording 24/7 in case other cans miss something. Always overlap field of views too. No dead zones. And you can add a separate microphone as I did but requires running separate RCA wire to DVR. Or buy cams with built in mic. Remember, the quality decreases immensely at night so best to go with 4K cams. I use 1080P for indoors, 5MP for most of my perimeter cams, and a few 4Ks for the long distance cams and those to capture license plates and faces near my vehicle. Use anti vandal domes with outdoor cams that can be reached. Take your time learning and installing well. Install the accessible cams to withstand abuse but not budge. Become familiar with every setting. Set your motion cams to record a low bitrate when no motion, but higher bitrate for events with motion so you're not eating up HD on nothing. I suggest connecting your email or cloud to it as backup in case thief steals your DVR. I also use a PC backup battery surge protector (via Amazon) so my cams still record with power outage (intentional or unintentional). Pointless to have your security cams stop working if someone turns off your power. I use a 256GB thumb drive I keep plugged into the DVR to save recordings to then occasionally transfer to my PC and Cloud storage. Every entrance door into your residence needs recorded and set up so it records 5 seconds before the motion and try to use PIR cams (picks up body heat and engine heat instead of recording bugs, leaves, snow, etc). Make sure your DVR can breathe!! Turn on alerts for errors! Expect your HDD to quit in a few years. I like how Amcrest allows 2 HDDs in their one NVR. Again, I suggest POE and NVRs instead of BNC DVRs. You can use wireless but only if they use micro SD cards such as my Amcrest cams do. Called IP cams which don't even require an NVR or DVR. Yes I have 6 different types of cams (at least a dozen in use at any given time). Lastly, cams aren't perfect. They can't tell you who someone is who's running by, wearing a mask, or keeps looking down. And if no license plate captured (requires high fps and 4K), so don't rely solely on cameras to catch criminals. You'll need deterrents, use 1,500+ lumun daylight LED security lighting motion activated or on at nightfall, security cam signs warning people they are being recorded, reinforced metal door frames and solid doors, dead bolts with reinforced door frame, alarm on every window and door, 360° dashcam that records 24/7 motion detection with a large micro SD card so it doesn't record over itself after 6 hours. Need enough space to record 3 days worth but upgrade your vehicles battery too to an XS Power battery (www.4XSPower.com) so the dashcam and alarm system doesn't drain your battery in 48 hours. Tint your vehicles windows as dark as your state permits to prevent thieves from seeing what's in your car, put car alarm warning stickers on your car, place smart tags in your valuable belongings to track them if lost or stolen, use device finding apps on your electronic devices that give off a digital flare right before battery dies or is turned off, make sure no one can see your movement thru your homes windows at night when lights are on inside (most people put too much faith into blinds and thin drapes without putting them to the test from all angles), and add a home security system with batt backup, panic button, motion, direct connect to authorities if they can't reach you first for safe word, and go get pepper spray and your CCW whether your state requires one or not so you know how to defend your life with a 9mm such as S&W Shield with laser and strobe/light on it and please don't keep one in the chamber, especially if your gun has no safety such as my self defense weapon doesn't. Never draw your gun unless you need to legally shoot it otherwise by showing a gun may give someone else a reason to shoot you! (Keep in mind not everyone will know who's the good guy and who's the bad guy). Seek professional training and know your carry laws!

There was a review about these dvrs and someone found after connecting to internet there was data being sent to china, about 32mb worth. Im not sure what the data was that was sent, but thats not acceptable. If you want access to your cameras via your phone, just spend the money for a primary computer and a paid security application. Its called blue something, cant remember the full name, but its based in US. Or just google one thats based in US. These chinese dvrs are good enough for cctv but i highly recommend NOT connecting to internet. After about 2 and a half years, this dvr just stopped working. It started beeping about every 60 seconds. It would turn itself off and then back on in a loop. I turned it off and let it rest with no power connected for about 15 mins. Reconnect the power and turned back on and it would just blip on for a couple seconds and turn off, looping. Replaced dvr with newer version. We'll see how long this one lasts.

Great picture. Only one is set up so far inside and picture is great and wide angle!

So far everything works great. Compared with my old SD cameras, this ones are very clear. I setup the cameras in Florida and I love to sit on a bench on the NY Central Park and watch my home. Not too difficult setup, the only problem was to see the menu, at least on my HDTV it looks tiny and a little confusing at the beginning. Once I finished the DVR setup, I have not problem at all, works like a charm. I can easy play back and watch any video in real time motion. I tested watching two different videos on two different phones and still working without any delay. I do recommend this system.

I already have Cantek DVR/NVR but it is 1080p only, so I started looking for UHD DVD/NVR. Because there are affordable 5MP and 8MP cameras on the market, I purchased couple of them; Honic Clear Night Vision 5MP. They are nice looking cameras and offer good night vision. After couple of months using them I decided to buy 4k DVR/NVR and replace my old one to get advantage of higher resolution cameras. I have chosen Annke D961BB. It is 16 channel 4K Security AI DVR/NVR Before purchasing it, I downloaded manual to learn as much as possible about this DVR before purchasing it. I also asked on Amazon if this DVR offers dual output; HDMI 4k on one monitor and 1080p VGA on another one in the same time, because manual wasn’t clear about it? Seller answered “Yes, this DVR supports dual output. It supports HDMI 4k on one monitor and 1080p VGA on another one at the same time.” so I purchased this DVR/NVR. The answer is false. I was very disappointed when I found it, but I decided to continue testing. Another small glitch is loud chassis fan. No problem for me, I can install couple of silent fans and get even better air flow without a noise. I was testing this DVR for several days without recording and I liked it how easy it found network cameras and combined with analog cameras and App. Then I installed HDD and setup DVR to record video only when there is motion detected in front of the cameras. (Default is continuous recording!). I found another glitch. The shortest time after event is 30 second. It makes no sense. Why waste so much time and HDD space? (Picture-1) Five or ten second is enough. BTW manual shows 5 sec. Because I was testing 5MP analog cameras (set to 2560x1440p to keep aspect ratio 16/9) and 8MP network camera set to 3840x2160p, I switched HDMI output on DVR to 2160p and received message on the screen that this resolution is in conflict with motion detection on analog camera. (Picture-2). I accepted it then I got another message that VGA output can not exceed 1080p. (Picture-3) There is NO separate output resolution for HDMI and VGA! Seller lied to me. I accepted it and found immediately that there is no recording from analog cameras (as per warning) however video from network cameras was recorded. Very, very weird. What is a relation between output resolution and motion recording on analog cameras? It doesn’t make sense to me at all. When I went to recording tab and tried to enable recording from analog camera I received message that I have to disable 2160p output to enable recording from 4Mp camera triggered by motion. (Picture-4). What is a point to have UHD DVR if I can not see UHD picture from cameras while recording? In this situation this DVR is useless to me and to anyone who wants to record UHD video (2160p) and the same time watch it on UHD monitor or TV in full resolution (2160p). This is a deal killer! Annke manufacturer: Can this defect be solved by firmware or software? If these defects can not be solved by software or firmware and new hardware is required, I am sending this DVR back to Amazon. Sorry but you messed up, Annke.

I am still in the process of setting up my system. It is a nice looking system that isn't big and bulky. The cameras are a nice size as well, as to not draw unwanted attention to them. The directions leave a lot to be desired. They are printed small and don't explain setup well. "Tech support" is only available by email, but, they are very persistent and knowledgeable about fixing any problems you may have. The "night vision" is spectacular, and the field of view is much larger than expected. Picture quality is overall outstanding. As far as the system is concerned, I am extremely pleased and would definitely recommend it to anyone.