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

I absolutely love my VTech DM221 Audio Baby Monitor! The sound quality is crystal clear and I can easily hear every little noise my baby makes. The range on this monitor is also impressive, as I am able to move around my house and still get a strong connection. But the best part about this monitor is the added features, like the two-way talk feature. The two-way talk feature allows me to comfort my baby from a distance. I also have to mention that I am a huge fan of the Vtech brand in general. Their products are always high quality and innovative. I have purchased several other Vtech products for my family and have never been disappointed. Overall, the VTech DM221 Audio Baby Monitor is a fantastic investment for any parent. It provides peace of mind and convenience, and I highly recommend it to anyone in need of a reliable baby monitor.

As a sound monitor it is fine, maybe equal to a more expensive model, maybe not. It is more than adequate for my needs, especially at such a great price. Baby monitors in the ToysRUs were twice the cost and looked cheaper. Out of the gate, the rechargeable battery wouldnt recharge, the VTech replaced it overnight with a working model. Very impressive response! The nightlight on the handle of the baby unit does not stay on past about 15 minutes unless you set the auto-lock to yes. The instruction book is long, but important to read well or you will miss important settings info on the menu. I like that you can use the adapter on the parent unit for power if the battery gets low or dies. It only seems to be able to recharge fully when unit if off, not while in use, but with this newer one, the battery is doing fine. Multiple volume settings, vibration alert and sound beep alert when the baby unit has sound activity. What I like is that it picks up noises NEAR the unit and tends NOT to pick up noises farther away, distant, which is a good thing. We have lots of sirens where I live but I do not hear them loudly at all, since they are literally mostly in the distance. Note: I dont use this for baby monitor, but the quality is good for one. I use this for an outdoor kitty who I cannot hear when she is outside and crying to be let in, now I can hear her and get her in before she panics. Plus I can hear my neighbors, UPS deliveries, whatever is out there beyond my sight and indoor hearing. My favorite bonus on this is that I can be inside and listen to all the birdsong from outside. In the mid-fifties (yes, the 1950s!) we used to have an indoor/outdoor monitor to listen to the morning birds while having breakfast in the kitchen. Nice to be enjoying that again. Very clear. No ambient noise indoors, but outdoor has ambient noise from all the outdoor chaos, the wind and traffic.

Actually, I dont use this product to monitor a baby; I use it to monitor my dogs. With all the fans running in the bedroom at night this hot, humid summer, it would be difficult to hear their warning cries if they had to make an emergency trip outside. This monitor remedies that problem. We have a second one of these monitors also--the version with two parent units--and we use that one to monitor my wifes 87-year-old mother who sleeps downstairs. If she ever needs help in the middle of the night, well know about it. All of the components work great. The volume & sensitivity are adjustable. There are a number of other features, too (that I dont use myself), including a night light in the transmitters handle that can be turned on & off manually or can operate in an automatic mode. As far as durability, I have to admit that I have knocked the parent units off the nightstand onto a hardwood floor on more than one occasion, and have let them slip from my hand and drop about four feet, and theyre still working. The parent units hold a charge reasonably well, but it takes a while to fully recharge them again. Of course, you can charge/use them simultaneously with the included A/C adapter. [FYI: The transmitter does not have a battery option and must be plugged in to use.] There is a hook on the back of each parent unit, so you can roam around the house while still monitoring your child. If there was one thing Id change about this product to make it perfect, it would be to add user-selectable channels to the components. As I mentioned, we have two units. They dont interefere with each other--which is a good thing--but what if they had both been using the same frequency? It would be nice if we could select the channel used by each transmitter & receiver. From a business perspective, this would also allow VTech to sell additional parent & transmitter units separately (e.g. to replace a broken one or add additional monitoring capabilities), and then the end-user could just match the new component with the already-existing one. Anyway, wish list aside, this is a great product that allows you to remotely monitor a baby, the elderly, pets, or whatever you else you might need to monitor. It has proven to be a reliable product. ============= Update 10-15-17 Gotta reduce my rating. Ive had far too many sleepless nights because the parent unit loses its link with the transmitter. When this happens, the parent unit starts beeping about once per second. Its like an alarm clock. Now I dont really mind that... in concept... because certainly I want to know when the connection is broken and I need to manually check on whatever Im monitoring; but what I _DO_ mind is the frequency with which the connection is lost. This is a common problem, based on online research, and the consensus is that this occurs when you reduce the sensitivity of the microphone in the transmitter unit. Really? The sensitivity of the microphone should be completely separate from the power of the transmitter. Key word is should; but apparently that is not the case. So if, for example, theres a table fan running in the room being monitored, you have to listen to the drone of the fan all night because you have to keep the sensitivity set to the max. If you turn the sensitivity down, then you have to deal with the link lost alarm. Pick your poison... either way the result is the same, i.e. you dont sleep at night. This is a problem that VTech needs to address.

When we moved our baby girl to her crib in her room, we, of course, needed some sort of monitor. Since we didnt receive the fancy, expensive video monitor at our baby shower that we had registered for, we had to come out-of-pocket for one and had to settle for a more basic, less expensive monitor. Im so glad that someone didnt waste $200 on a monitor with all the bells and whistles! This monitor does everything we need it to. It has good range - in my one-story house Ive never been too far away for it to get signal. The volume is nice and loud at the highest setting and wakes us up when she cries. Theres also a setting for a vibration alert, and it works, but I have yet to use it practically. The nightlight casts a soft amber glow. I love the feature where you can communicate with the Baby unit. There have been many times when my spouse or I have talked back and forth when one of us needed something. We like this monitor so much that, when my mother needed one at her house for when shes caring for our daughter, I recommended this one to her. The only cons I can think of with this unit are minor. 1) I wish the battery on the Parent unit lasted longer. When we have someone babysitting at our house, the Parent unit is always off of the charger (which is in our bedroom) so the sitter can use it in the living room. The charge on it wont last a full day. 2) When you turn off the Baby unit (like when Im at my mothers and feeding my daughter or sleeping in the bedroom and dont wish to have the Parent unit listening in) the Parent unit emits a loud beep every 30 seconds or so. I can understand the practicality of this feature (in case the Baby unit accidentally comes unplugged), but it still bugs me. Overall, I think this is a very good monitor and I would recommend it to anyone!

I really like the simplicity of this device. It’s easy to set up and use and does what it promises. The battery life is very poor. I get a few hours out of a newly purchased device.

I use this to listen for my son, it is even better now that he has started to talk. He speaks to us through the monitor and will continue talking for a while until we get him or he gives up and falls asleep.

Church nursery workers wanted to be able to hear the sermon. Instead of wireless speakers (bad reviews) or running wires (not really feasible) these work great. These are placed approximately 90 ft apart and the sound is amazing.

**Update 1/5/2016** Since my below review we have used this many more times and Im happy to report that this is still a very solid performer. The range is great, baby noise comes through clear, and my previous complaint about the talk button being easy to press hasnt been a big deal. Four stars remain well deserved. **Original Review 4/18/2015** We have a nice Angelcare monitor that we use at home but wanted something simple we could take with us when traveling to our parents and friends houses. The VTech fit the bill budget wise and after one 5 day trip we have been really happy. Other reviews have done a great job saying what this unit does well so I wont waste time here reiterating those opinions as I agree with them. Couple of cons that I wanted to mention just to keep in mind before you buy, but note I would still buy this product again knowing this so I do like the product a lot. - Battery life on the wireless unit is not great. You will have to charge during awake time at least once during the day if not more. - No battery on the unit that is in the nursery. Minor concern for me since we are used to power outages which would render this useless. How many times is that going to happen though? Not a huge deal. - Biggest complaint is the talk button on the side of the parent unit is extremely easy to press when grabbing the unit. If you wear this on your belt or pocket then when you grab it you will almost certainly press the talk button which will send whatever noise is going on around you straight to the unit by your sleeping baby. Not ideal. Again, Im rating this as 4 stars so obviously I am happy with the unit. For the price, I think youd be hard pressed to find a better option and considering our needs it is near perfect. It is really compact and fits in a pair of shoes easily for simple packing.

I did a lot of research before buying a monitor, and am glad I purchased this one. There is very very minimal white noise. Both the monitors I had used with previous children had a lot of static and would sometimes keep me awake at night. I have heard white noise once from this monitor. It was during a storm and not loud enough to be bothersome. The part that goes in the childs room has a night light on the top that you can turn on and off from the parent unit. Its a great feature, I do however, wish that the light could be turned on/off using the baby unit. Or that it would go off on its own after a set time. But it is a nice feature. The parent unit has a light system to guage how loud the noise is, I havent really found this useful yet, but I guess its a way to have the volume on low and be able to tell if the baby is crying or just talking. I know my so hums himself to sleep sometimes, so it might help in a situation like that. Another feature I havent found useful with the baby is the two-way talk. That isnt to say I havent used it though. I use it quite frequently to call my other son to me without having to yell across the house. I just havent found a way to use it for the baby. But I still love that it has the capability. All in all, this product does exactly what is it is intended for and does it well. I love it and have recommended it to all my friends having babies and even bought one as a baby shower gift. I also want to note that I live in an 1110 square foot apartment. I have reception from everywhere in the apartment. I dont know if there are any other monitors in the building, but there are other babies and small children, and I have never had any interferance.

My mom had cancer surgery and was in bed for several days. I stayed over at my folks house to help with her recovery. I decided to purchase these as the unit for the baby is wireless, which means she could keep it next to her in bed instead of the nightstand, which she could not reach due to surgery pain. It also has a nice nighlight on the baby unit made her feel comfortable after waking up in the middle of the night, a bit disoriented. The unit allowed us to keep her bedroom door closed so that she would not be woken and could rest and recover. If she needed anything, she would just have to speak and we could hear her over the parent unit.