VTech DM221 Audio Baby Monitor with up to 1,000 ft of Range, Vibrating Sound-Alert, Talk Back Intercom & Night Light Loop, White/Silver

Weve had 2 sets the Sony Baby Call (NTM-910) analog monitor (not this monitor) for the life of all of our children (7 years). The analog monitors could be turned up to be crazy loud, where even a low voice comes through to the parent monitor as a very loud voice. We bought this VTech digital monitor for the range, as our analog monitors would loose connection and beep often when we were in our back yard. This monitor holds the link great - weve never seen it lost, but ... the volume pales in comparison to the analog monitors. A crying baby would be picked up, no problem, but a 2 year old that is potty training and calls for us with her normal voice comes through, even at the highest sensitivity and volume, comes through to the parent unit as a tiny 2 year old voice. If we are watching a loud movie, or in a deep sleep, we are not going to hear our daughter call for us, and that is a problem. Im going to try to carve out the plastic around the mic hole to increase sensitivity - I will update this review to let you know how it goes. Until then, its back to the Sony analog monitors, which I recommend if you have a small to medium sized house and dont mind re-positioning the monitor occasionally to get back the link. For what its worth, we also purchased the Philips Avent (SCD510) digital monitor and it has the same volume problem. I gave a 4-star rating because it is a great monitor, aside from not able to increase to mega volume level. Perhaps there is a technical reason that digital monitors cannot increase the volume that loud, I dont know, but these dont work for us. *** Update: As mentioned above, I tried to carve out the plastic around the mic hole to increase sensitivity. No luck. Still not loud enough for us.

No bells and whistles but its affordable and I can hear clearly through it. Im pleased that I used it for more than two years, stuck it in a closet for five months then pulled it out again and it still works well. I also lost it in a small snow drift (dont ask) and after I paged it and dug it out it was unaffected.

I feel like a lot of the new baby monitors they’ve come out with now days are amazing…. but also enabling all your new parental fears. Don’t you want to watch your baby to know they’re safe? Don’t you want to know their O2 levels so you can ensure they’re breathing? Don’t you want thermal detection to see if it’s the right temp in their crib? Don’t you want the ability to check on them while you’re at work? Etc etc etc. I understand the fear. And the desire to feel comforted and that your baby is safe. But I also don’t want to obsess and perpetually freak myself out based on readings from the monitors. It’s always tough! Keeping track of another app is too much for me. I needed a simple but reliable monitor to use and this is it. It’s speaker/hearing sensitivity levels are variant enough to give options. The talk button is quiet and super nice when I need to communicate with my hubby. The shape and size are great. My only 2 complaints are that 1) the baby unit needs to be plugged in to work, while the parent unit can be unplugged—it would’ve been nice if they were both wireless. And 2) it would’ve been nice to have a talk button on the baby unit as well as the parent unit. Still, I’d highly recommend.

The Vox (mic gain) on the highest setting is very sensitive, so I use the next to highest setting for mic gain. The night light is a nice feature. The sound quality of the monitor unit is good, but not hi fidelity. I dont use vibrating alert and I have not had to use the backup battery, so I cant rate those features. Works very well to monitor a room on the main floor when my room is on the 2nd floor.

I wrote a very long and angry review about the loud BEEPING you might see others complain about on here, but I fixed it by using the manual- I had the sound mute feature on without realizing it; I could still hear my baby on the device so it’s not like it was actually muted. However, that feature was on so whenever it picked up noise from her room, it would loudly beep. I turned off that feature, and I’m back to loving this monitor. We already have a camera in her room, so I just wanted something to be able to constantly hear her room during the night, and this does the trick.

This monitor is so good because it alerts you in different ways. From sound, to beeps when the volume is off, vibrate and lights. There is no way that you can miss a sound. Range, sensitivity and clarity are great. You can use it as a Walkie talkie.

This is a great, crystal clear, trusted monitor. We have a 3 bedroom apartment, my babys crib is in our room so I just needed one parent unit to leave in the living room when she needed rest by herself. I really wasnt looking for anything with all the bells and whistles, just something where I could hear my child when she cries. This product definitely did that and more. The child unit stays plugged into the wall, we leave it in the corner of the crib, out of her reach from the wire. The parent unit can be recharged and unplugged if needed but we always leave it plugged in, with the exception of going to the kitchen.. it has a belt clip as well. The parent unit has 5 adjustable sound levels, and you can also set it to vibrate or light up when noise is detected. This was an added plus as I wasnt looking for anything high-tech. The sensitivity of the child unit is great, it will light up when she stirs in her sleep or even grunts while looking for her pacifier. The lights on the parent unit light up as the sensitivity and noise of the child increases. The child unit was in the room with the air conditioner on, which is pretty loud but it was able to dull out the noise of the air conditioner and was still sensitive to my babys cries, which could be heard clearly. I have had the baby on the bed, as far as 10 feet away and the child unit was still sensitive enough to pick up her noises. Another good thing to note is that at night, the child unit is dark when not detecting any sounds, but once noise is detected it lights up with a soft orange glow. When my daughter wakes up in the middle of the night and cries the glow is not so intrusive where it keeps her awake, but she likes to look at it. Its also just enough light provided where I can change her without turning on the lamp or light. VTech really thought about the parents when making this product, and covered all the bases. I am more than satisfied with this product.

Distance was about 40-40 feet. Voice is clear and no buzzing or random noise from either end

Gift

I needed to be able to hear my mom from her room, which is on the other side of the house, if she needed help. Had a different monitor previously, but it had a lot of static. This V-Tech works so well. It has 5 volume settings and I able to hear her movement sounds so I know she’s up and about. She feels more relaxed and confident that I can hear her in the middle of the night now. We also like the talk feature on the base unit, because I can let her know I hear her and am on my way to assist her.