Texas Hunting Forum

Awesome Camera Purchase - Link S

Posted By: noose

Awesome Camera Purchase - Link S - 12/11/19 01:03 PM

I have been using regular cameras for a few years now and it's always the same... take new cards in, swap them out, bring the new ones home and look at the images. If I don't like the angles or timing, or whatever, I have to wait until my next outing to adjust.

I decided to bite the bullet and get a cellular camera. I got a spypoint Link S for $100, installed lithiums as recommended, and placed it at my property. I can't believe I didn't do this sooner!

I currently have it set to take way too many pictures but the first month is unlimited and I'm trying to get a feel for how many/how little I'm willing to pay for. Images, even though compressed, are still plenty high enough quality to know what I'm looking at. Requesting an HD version of the image over the air is $0.10 extra. Right now, it's like crack. I can't get enough and every time I get a text message telling me there are new photos I stop what I'm doing to look.

If you haven't tried one of these little gems, I'd highly recommend it. All the settings for the camera are done in the app. It still uses an SD card to save 10MP images but I haven't looked at those yet so I can't vouch for the quality of those but here's a couple of images. The first is a compressed day and the second is the same image requested as "full HD". It usually takes about 2-3 hours to get the full HD as it sends it out in bits with each data send.

If you have any questions about this camera, let me know and I'll try to answer. Note that I used a cellular tower map to determine the signal strength where my place is. It comes in two versions: verizon and "universal". There is an AT&T tower much closer so I went that route and have 3 bars of signal. My verizon phone has trouble out there so at least I got this part right. They make some kind of extra antenna for better gain but I don't seem to need it.

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Posted By: Texas Dan

Re: Awesome Camera Purchase - Link S - 12/11/19 01:45 PM

Yes, I knew prices on these cameras would eventually come down to more reasonable levels. I suspect more of them will now be sold for security purposes.

Thanks for sharing.
Posted By: QuitShootinYoungBucks

Re: Awesome Camera Purchase - Link S - 12/11/19 02:09 PM

Do you mean the Micro? The S is $499, I'd be a little surprised if you got one for $100.

It may be internet bluster, but there are tons of bad reviews on the Micro. I'd love to try it but they need to work out the bugs.
Posted By: Texas buckeye

Re: Awesome Camera Purchase - Link S - 12/11/19 02:15 PM

I used one of these for about a year, coupled with a solar and external 12v set up. It worked great until the external battery connector inside the camera stopped working. I didn’t want to feed it batteries every coupe weeks. I tried to get spypoint to understand what my problem was but between the language barrier they never got the problem and never offered to try to fix or replace. I gave up.
Hope the camera works well for you and isn’t too much of a battery hog, you might get more life with lithiums
Posted By: lzybear75

Re: Awesome Camera Purchase - Link S - 12/11/19 03:13 PM

We have 1 Evo, 1 Dark, and 3 Micros. The evo and dark are pretty soild cameras the micros are good when they work but seem to have alot of issues (i think the issues come from spypoint trying to send updates and trick things up too much), theyll work fine for a month or 2 then just quit sending pics. 1 micro is still an original, 1 is a replacement and im in the process now of having 1 replaced for a second time, their customer service is the worst.
Posted By: noose

Re: Awesome Camera Purchase - Link S - 12/11/19 03:43 PM

Originally Posted by QuitShootinYoungBucks
Do you mean the Micro? The S is $499, I'd be a little surprised if you got one for $100.

It may be internet bluster, but there are tons of bad reviews on the Micro. I'd love to try it but they need to work out the bugs.


Yes, thanks for the catch! I meant the micro. Academy and Cabelas had these on sale a couple weeks ago for $99 and I used a discount code and got it for $75. The complaints over image quality on the internet are because people are uninformed and have unrealistic expectations.

With 8 AA lithium batteries, you get what amounts to a mobile phone running for 2 months straight. To me, that's freaking incredible. The camera simply cannot broadcast 10MP images over 4G and hope to have any kind of battery life. So, the images are HIGHLY compressed. You can request an HD download and it comes in "pieces" over each upload. The image still does not rival my browning 12MP camera day or night but is close enough to know exactly what is on your property, in real time, if you really want it. I've got it uploading every 2 hours to preserve the battery a bit and when my free unlimited month expires, I'll step it back again as I'm getting 100s of pics per day right now.

I read the reviews, too. Setup was idiot-proof. It worked out of the box. I get modest-quality images but I knew that going in. If you go in thinking you are going to get images that rival your iphone or galaxy, you'll be disappointed. Otherwise, this little device is fantastic. I'm buying 2 more...
Posted By: QuitShootinYoungBucks

Re: Awesome Camera Purchase - Link S - 12/11/19 03:50 PM

Originally Posted by noose
Originally Posted by QuitShootinYoungBucks
Do you mean the Micro? The S is $499, I'd be a little surprised if you got one for $100.

It may be internet bluster, but there are tons of bad reviews on the Micro. I'd love to try it but they need to work out the bugs.


Yes, thanks for the catch! I meant the micro. Academy and Cabelas had these on sale a couple weeks ago for $99 and I used a discount code and got it for $75. The complaints over image quality on the internet are because people are uninformed and have unrealistic expectations.

With 8 AA lithium batteries, you get what amounts to a mobile phone running for 2 months straight. To me, that's freaking incredible. The camera simply cannot broadcast 10MP images over 4G and hope to have any kind of battery life. So, the images are HIGHLY compressed. You can request an HD download and it comes in "pieces" over each upload. The image still does not rival my browning 12MP camera day or night but is close enough to know exactly what is on your property, in real time, if you really want it. I've got it uploading every 2 hours to preserve the battery a bit and when my free unlimited month expires, I'll step it back again as I'm getting 100s of pics per day right now.

I read the reviews, too. Setup was idiot-proof. It worked out of the box. I get modest-quality images but I knew that going in. If you go in thinking you are going to get images that rival your iphone or galaxy, you'll be disappointed. Otherwise, this little device is fantastic. I'm buying 2 more...


I can handle the image situation, my biggest concern is the numerous reports that they just stop working. @ $75-100 it may be worth the risk. Where I would put them I have pretty decent cell coverage.
Posted By: noose

Re: Awesome Camera Purchase - Link S - 12/11/19 04:10 PM

Originally Posted by QuitShootinYoungBucks
Originally Posted by noose
Originally Posted by QuitShootinYoungBucks
Do you mean the Micro? The S is $499, I'd be a little surprised if you got one for $100.

It may be internet bluster, but there are tons of bad reviews on the Micro. I'd love to try it but they need to work out the bugs.


Yes, thanks for the catch! I meant the micro. Academy and Cabelas had these on sale a couple weeks ago for $99 and I used a discount code and got it for $75. The complaints over image quality on the internet are because people are uninformed and have unrealistic expectations.

With 8 AA lithium batteries, you get what amounts to a mobile phone running for 2 months straight. To me, that's freaking incredible. The camera simply cannot broadcast 10MP images over 4G and hope to have any kind of battery life. So, the images are HIGHLY compressed. You can request an HD download and it comes in "pieces" over each upload. The image still does not rival my browning 12MP camera day or night but is close enough to know exactly what is on your property, in real time, if you really want it. I've got it uploading every 2 hours to preserve the battery a bit and when my free unlimited month expires, I'll step it back again as I'm getting 100s of pics per day right now.

I read the reviews, too. Setup was idiot-proof. It worked out of the box. I get modest-quality images but I knew that going in. If you go in thinking you are going to get images that rival your iphone or galaxy, you'll be disappointed. Otherwise, this little device is fantastic. I'm buying 2 more...


I can handle the image situation, my biggest concern is the numerous reports that they just stop working. @ $75-100 it may be worth the risk. Where I would put them I have pretty decent cell coverage.


I read a few of the "stopped working" as well. I know they keep updating the firmware and I wonder if previous software versions had connectivity issues. The most recent firmware upgrade specifically mentions improved connectivity so who knows. Obviously only having had this for a short period of time, I can't speak to long-term failures. It does come with a 2-year warranty but a warranty is only as good as the company and people behind it. On a side note, I've probably had 15 or so game cams from a handful of makers. I've only had one that lasted more than a year. They either got some kind of crazy ant in there, moisture corrosion, animal damage to the lens, or something else. If I get a year out of a $100 camera, I'm all good. If I get 2, I'm joyous, lol.
Posted By: Mr. T.

Re: Awesome Camera Purchase - Link S - 12/11/19 07:25 PM

How much is the monthly service?
Posted By: Texas buckeye

Re: Awesome Camera Purchase - Link S - 12/11/19 07:31 PM

yeah, as mentioned above, my issue wasn't connectivity or software issues, it was a true hardware issue that was easily explained to the spypoint CS and they simply didn't get it. "Send in this file"..."It shows you have power issues" no duh, I am telling you the external battery connector inside the camera is failing..."send us this file"...

They want to blame everything on software because that's easy to fix. Hardware issues aren't so easy to fix.

I hope they work well for you, and for the year I used mine I got good use, albeit with an external trucker antenna to augment the cell signal. My covert cameras had enough signal in the area I was trying to use the spypoint.
Posted By: illest23

Re: Awesome Camera Purchase - Link S - 12/11/19 07:37 PM

Originally Posted by Mr. T.
How much is the monthly service?


100 photos a month = Free
250 photos a month = $5
1000 photos a month = $10 or $84 annual subscription
Unlimited = $15 a month or $120 for annual subscription.
Posted By: ASUhunter21

Re: Awesome Camera Purchase - Link S - 12/14/19 02:41 PM

I have been thinking of getting a few of these. Maybe there will be some deals for Christmas and Santa might bring me a few
Posted By: Axis308

Re: Awesome Camera Purchase - Link S - 12/14/19 11:32 PM

I had one connection issue and it was during an update. Wish there was a way they would let you know. Those things I guess have to be done, just stinks when it happens the day after your last hunt and it will be a few days before it can be taken care of (one and a half hour drive). However, to me well worth it. Hunting a small place that hasn’t been hunted in several years. Seen some great pics, but deer seem to move mostly at dark and randomly during the day.

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Posted By: Texas Dan

Re: Awesome Camera Purchase - Link S - 12/15/19 01:33 PM

Originally Posted by illest23
Originally Posted by Mr. T.
How much is the monthly service?


100 photos a month = Free
250 photos a month = $5
1000 photos a month = $10 or $84 annual subscription
Unlimited = $15 a month or $120 for annual subscription.



I was a little surprised the telco's didn't follow the same business model when these cameras first became available that they followed with smartphones. That is, subsidize the original cost to the consumer and make their money on monthly service fees. It's pretty much the same business model when you get a good price on a printer but pay through the nose for replacement print cartridges. I'm sure the telco market is just to competitive for that now, as evidenced by the fact that nowadays you seldom get help with the price of a new iPhone.

Picture quality has never been a big selling point with me either. So long as I can easily tell its buck or doe and it's general level of health and maturity, I'm good. Now if I was needing photos for commercial purposes it might be different. Long battery life and not too many false images (photos of nothing) have always been the primary concerns for me. And from what I know and understand about electronics design, long battery life will likely be a longstanding challenge with cellular game cameras. That's because their radios must be kept on in order to capture more instant photos. Just think about how long the startup process takes when you first turn on your smartphone and you get the idea. Cellular cameras can't operate in a "sleep" mode like traditional cameras that can be quickly turned on and made ready to take a photo.

But who knows, maybe someone will make one that operates much like a traditional camera most of the time and only turns on it's radio on for a short time later to transmit collected images. It might even allow the user to pick how many times a day it transmits images, and does so only when it has images to transmit.
Posted By: mow

Re: Awesome Camera Purchase - Link S - 01/20/20 11:21 PM

I had all kinds of trouble with my Walmart spypoint..that was the problem..they make a cheaprr made product..after lots if back and forth..spypoint sent me a new Evo,the one I had was Walmarts spypoint brand of the micro..I had them update push an update and use a 32g SD card and it works like a charm..I put an external antenna on a 10' sche 40 mast..and I get 3bars..I bought another micro on black Friday and plan on buying another one..they are priced at 149 at academy..
Posted By: tlk

Re: Awesome Camera Purchase - Link S - 01/21/20 01:32 AM

This is all way too complicated for me. I have considered the cellular but here is my problem. We actually enjoy getting in our trucks and driving to our lease during the summer and fall and pulling our trail camera cards and looking at the deer. Not sure I am ready to have everything transported to my at my office or home - not saying it is a bad thing - just not for me - I love being at our lease live
Posted By: B_Man

Re: Awesome Camera Purchase - Link S - 01/21/20 01:09 PM

I wish my camera had worked that well. I have written some replies to inform others of the problems I had.
I spent $149 for my camera and it had a lot of problems. It was not the image quality because I knew it was only 10 MP.
The problem was the detection circuits- taking tons of pictures when nothing was there, then not taking pictures
when deer and turkeys were there. At times it took pictures when animals were there but a lot of times it did not.
The feeder is in my backyard and I could see when animals were there and when they were not there.
I tried to work with Spypoint and got a new one to replace the first one, then the 2nd camera was no better. The customer service was terrible- I called them and worked with
them on Live Chat and did all the things they asked, made all the software upgrades, etc. etc etc.. It seems like I got a new representative
with Spypoint every time I made a change and did a test on the camera. It was a Pain!!! We do not get paid to spend hours testing and trying to fix their
cameras. I wanted to to trade my MICRO for the EVO since I spent a lot of time on the MICRO just to see if it was better but that did not work out.
Just in case you were wondering about some of the technical data - it had 4/5 signal strength, new batteries, new software, tried all the sensitivity levels.etc..
I gave up and spent $149 that only works part of the time. I am sorry this is long but wanted to share my knowledge and experience with others, again glad your camera works.

thanks
Posted By: mow

Re: Awesome Camera Purchase - Link S - 01/22/20 12:00 AM

Some leases limit traffic
Posted By: mow

Re: Awesome Camera Purchase - Link S - 01/22/20 12:02 AM

I had the same problem..sent it in and in 3days had a new one working in the field
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