Are there any Alternative Brands to Hikvision that Offer the Same Quality & Features but for a Lower Price?

[oil]

I was really hoping to get some advice. We've been having a lot of issues with our old Swann CCTV so we'd like to move over to another brand. It seems like Hikvision has been recommended by most installers (their latest 8MP colour vu) however it comes with a very high price tag.

The Hikvision has everything that we'd like i.e 4K, good night vision with their ColorVu, mobile app loads quickly and is easy to playback/save videos too. I think I was also told that it's easy to make a lot of changes to the settings through their mobile app which is good too as our CCTV setup is in the loft so being able to do things from the app helps a lot.

I was also told that we can set up an audible alert for the Hikvision so that if anybody trespasses on our property at night, the camera will make a sound to warn the thieves away. This is an important feature for us as we get a lot of thieves trying car doors or walking into gardens at night to see if there is anything that they can steal.

I wanted to ask if there are any alternatives to the Hikvision 8MP ColorVu? I've read that Annke is just Hikvision rebranded however a lot of the reviews suggest that people have issues with their glitchy software/apps. I've seen some Ebay packages where sellers will mix the Hikvision NVR's with other brands equivalent 8MP ColorVu cameras. I appreciate that I will have to pay for reliability/quality, so I was just wondering if there is anything just as good but more competitively priced?

 

[Dan]

Hi @oil

We can understand as an end user installing for their home the latest 8MP Hikvision products can look expensive, but when you look at Hikvision in relation to other professional IP CCTV brands (e.g. AXIS, Vivotek, Wisenet, Mobotix, etc...) they actually come out as one of the most affordable options.

Anything cheaper than Hikvision is more than likely going to be a lower build quality (lots more plastic) and will likely be an OEM/rebadge of Hikvision or another Chinese brand which increases the chances of you running into technical issues.

What we often say is that although a professional brand like Hikvision is initially more expensive it will save you money in the long run because the software & hardware will be more durable, with a cheap OEM/rebadged brand you will likely run into issues within a few years and will have to replace it which will mean you actually end up spending more than you would have done if you just went with the better quality, more expensive product.

(also, the same thing with purchasing via eBay. You can't be sure of the quality/reliability of even a Hikvision product bought through eBay and if you do have problems you might have issues returning and you definitely would have no warranty on the products.)

 

[oil]

Thank you, I appreciate where you're coming from. I think you're right and I will bite the bullet and go for the Hikvision. Can I ask if you would be able to DM me a price for 4x Hikvision 8mp ColorVu cameras with 2TB please?

 

[Dan]

Hi @oil

If you drop us an email to info@use-ip.co.uk with the models you are interested in we can reply with the prices & availability/lead time.

 

[oil]

Thank you. Before I make my mind on which one to purchase, I just had one last question. What would you think about a setup of Annke cameras with the Hikvision NVR? Since some of the Annke cameras are OEM Hikvision, I would be able to get the same/nearly same cameras at a fraction of the price but the NVR would still be Hikvision so I wouldn't have the software/interface issues of cheaper brands.

 

[Dan]

Hi @oil

You are probably correct that Annke cameras should be compatible with a Hikvision NVR and lots of the functionality should be similar, but the big issue with OEM/rebadged cameras is that they use customised firmware from the parent brand that changes the branding of the software and adds/removes certain software features.

This customised firmware is the way that Hikvision protects its main brand because it won't support all of the same features as the real Hikvision software and it also won't be updated as regularly as the main Hikvision software (e.g. new features might be introduced to the Hikvision firmware that will never come to the Annke firmware).

 

[loop]

Dahua is what you are looking for, same features with better NVR and defiantly cams are lot cheaper, they have fullcolor which is their answer to colorvu.
Colorvu is older and hikvision had time on their side because Dahua entered in aperture 1.0 game very lately.
Dahua camera with dahua nvr is the best choice.

 

[loop]

*defiantly-definitely
I looked at Annke NightChromaTM NC400, its clearly a copy of Hikvision colorvu, the main question is, will it transfer motion alerts and trigger alerts and statistics analytic to hikvision nvr, very solid price of 75$.

​

 

[oil]

Thanks I'll definitely look into Dahua! I was considering it before as I assumed Hikvision & Dahua were pretty similar in terms of features/quality however an installer had advised me that Dahua were miles behind Hikvision in terms of the camera quality. Maybe they were just more biased towards Hikvision?

 

[loop]

Thanks I'll definitely look into Dahua! I was considering it before as I assumed Hikvision & Dahua were pretty similar in terms of features/quality however an installer had advised me that Dahua were miles behind Hikvision in terms of the camera quality. Maybe they were just more biased towards Hikvision?

Yes he is right but its not miles, dahua NVR is more stable, lot less bugs than on Hikvision. Hikvision is notorious for bad firmwares almost 100% of chance that newest firmware is full of bugs.

I personally like Hikvision DS-2CD2347G2-L cam it has great clarity but it has bugs like all Hikvision cams.

I would hunt for 1/1.8" sensor with colorvu or NightChroma or fullcolor.

 

[oil]

Thanks for your fast replies! I appreciate the help as I made an expensive mistake with my last system (Swann) so I want to make sure I get it right this time.

Wow that's shocking to hear how bad Hikvision are for bad firmware, my unstable Swann NVR was a key factor for upgrading so it would have been annoying to go from 1 unstable system to another. That camera you showed is quite good, I've been quoted on the DS-2CD2387G2 as I'm looking for 4K, I thought it's best to 'future proof' myself now.

I'll have a look at the Dahua range now, is there a 4K Dahua camera which you'd recommend that is equivalent to the best Hikvision 4K ColorVu/Dark Fighter?

In terms of the Annke's, you're right, they may have all of the Hikvision camera features (good motion detection etc) but if I run it off a Hikvision NVR then all these motion detection features/alerts may not work well together.

 

[loop]

Thanks for your fast replies! I appreciate the help as I made an expensive mistake with my last system (Swann) so I want to make sure I get it right this time.

Wow that's shocking to hear how bad Hikvision are for bad firmware, my unstable Swann NVR was a key factor for upgrading so it would have been annoying to go from 1 unstable system to another. That camera you showed is quite good, I've been quoted on the DS-2CD2387G2 as I'm looking for 4K, I thought it's best to 'future proof' myself now.

I'll have a look at the Dahua range now, is there a 4K Dahua camera which you'd recommend that is equivalent to the best Hikvision 4K ColorVu/Dark Fighter?

In terms of the Annke's, you're right, they may have all of the Hikvision camera features (good motion detection etc) but if I run it off a Hikvision NVR then all these motion detection features/alerts may not work well together.

Full 4k is expensive. 4mp is solid middle line with solid storage size footprint, you can cope with the size, 4k is real size trouble.
Direct Dahua 4mp concurrent model to the Hikvision that I listed is Dahua IPC-HDW5449TM-SE-LED, there are better full 4k 8mp full color2.0 Dahua models with sensor 1/1.2", but they are crazy expensive.
Question is whats the length of the field that you will record. 4mp is excellent at 20m range even with 2.8mm

I also saw Dahua IPC-HDBW5449R1-ZE-LED both dahua models has my brother.
The main problem with Dahua is when there is darker scene and you have moving object you could spot ghosting effect. Hikvision sensor are better there is less ghosting.

 

[loop]

Also I would suggest one more thing for accessing Hikvision and Dahua outside your network use openvpn, I hope you have a router that has openvpn server.
Like many systems they have holes in security I dont trust Hik-connect and Dahua remote viewing.
.
You could set on your router VPN server not to rout your internet and on your phone openvpn client it can be connected always. If its too much hassle to manually connect to your local vpn.

 

[oil]

Thanks I completely understand where you're coming from regarding pricing, as the Hikvision 8MP is definitely much more expensive compared to the 4MP. I'm planning on having the cameras around 2.5m above the ground (just slightly above a garage) and 20m would be more than enough I think.

The only reason I was leaning towards 8MP was because my current setup is already 8MP (Swann) and although it's higher up (around 4m high) the clarity is very poor. At night, we can't recognise any faces as they are blurry despite the camera's LED's switching on to give it colour, so I worry about how the 4MP would be at recognising faces.

Do you reckon I'm being too unfair by comparing the 8MP Swann that's 4metres high to a 4MP Hikvision ColourVu which will only be 2.5m high?

 

[loop]

Integrated white light in complete dark scene is not enough to have day light recognition of human face but its 5 time better than no colorvu.
10w flood light with radio motion sensor, is more than enough to get you almost 88% of daylight face recognition on 10-15m in dark scene.
On 20m with 2.8mm, face is too small but recognizable. With 24w flood light you can get better face recognition in the night time than at daylight at 10-15m.
With 3.6mm and 4mm, I'm almost certain that you would get full face recognition on 20m with 24w flood light.

Write me your Swann camera model I want to see on youtube quality in 8mp

 

[oil]

Thanks for your help! I will take your advice on board. My Swann camera model is Swann swnhd-887msfb

 

[loop]

Interestingly for model 887 I cant find any useful video on YouTube, but there are 885 models I supose the difrence is marginal, but its a awful cam especially in the dark scenes.

 

[oil]

Ah that's strange! I wonder if they may have put it under a different title like Swann's 4k with led light. Did the 885 model which you saw have an led spotlight? The 887 has led spotlights which only get activated upon motion and it helps to give a colour view, but to be honest I think most people with good systems like Hikvision/Dahua will still find the Swann spotlight LED poor at night.

 

[oil]

Also, the Swann LED's are only activated upon motion (so it's black and white rest of the time) so sometimes it doesn't even pick up the motion and switch the LED's on for colour. Whereas I think ColourVu has its lights on throughout the night to give colour doesn't it?

 

[fourtytwo]

I am quite surprised that nobody has mentioned Reolink in this thread. I have used the 4K camera and for my purposes it was quite good the most important feature being the excellent AI movement filter that doesn't get triggered by waving grasses etc and reliably picks up people & vehicles. The image sensor is slightly smaller than some others but not by much and the price is wayyy down below Hik and you can actually buy them direct from the manufacturer with no snooty comments about DIYers being inadequate to install them! Yes they have bugs but so do they all and from what I have read all the IP manufacturers suffer lockups etc that I beleive is due to the tech being fairly new in the cctv industry so there firmware lacks robustness. Just another posibility to consider.