cuddelink vs spypoint micro

[Scott S]

I think I'm going to roll the dice on a Spypoint Micro.

There appears to be two options, the "USA Nationwide" and the "LINK-MICRO-V". I can't for the life of me find an explanation as to what the difference is between the two.

Can anyone here shed some light on this for me?


Thanks in advance.

-Scott

 

[trampledbyturtles]

Micro V is the Verizon version if that is the major carrier in your area.

It is what I went with.

 

[Scott S]

Micro V is the Verizon version if that is the major carrier in your area.

It is what I went with.

Awesome. Thank you. What carrier is the other option?

 

[trampledbyturtles]

Think it is at&t, not exaclty positive.

 

[Scott S]

Think it is at&t, not exaclty positive.

Understood. Not certain why the hell they're so cryptic about it. I appreciate your help.

 

[bwoods11]

Are all the trail cam apps controlled by your phone app? Can you switch number of pics, delay, amount of times the pics come through...on Cuddelink, Spartan etc...I like that feature. Just never researched each brand.

 

[Kooch]

Are all the trail cam apps controlled by your phone app? Can you switch number of pics, delay, amount of times the pics come through...on Cuddelink, Spartan etc...I like that feature. Just never researched each brand.

I can only speak to the Spypoint Link cameras. The answer is yes. All configuration happens through the mobile or web app.

 

[bjseiler]

Just wanted to post an update on this. I have 3 spypoint micro's now. They raised prices in September so retail went from $119 to $149 most places. You can still get them from a large seller on ebay for $119 so I just picked up another one.

First one I placed in September still is at 54% battery which I am thrilled about (bulk Rayovacs from Amazon).

You get one month unlimited free. Then there is a 100 pics per month plan that is free. I've had to upgrade my first two cameras to the 250/month plan ($5/month) and I'll probably have to bump one of those up to the next highest plan this month (1000/month for $10). Plans are all per camera which I don't really love. Since cameras go up and down in volume it would be nice to have them combined like Cuddelink but oh well.

I think the linkmicro pictures are probably worse than cuddelink. Only talking about transmitted pictures here. I rarely pull cards and look at the full resolution ones. Battery of spypoint is leaps and bounds better.

After the season I will probably just set all the cameras back to the 100/month free plan.

Spypoint only sends pictures to the app. I probably prefer email like cuddelink.

Pricing, free plan, and battery life, I'll probably continue buying link micro's over cuddelink's for the time being.

 

[144]

I love the link micros. I’ve got 7 deployed now. For the price, I don’t think you can beat them. I’ve sold all of my old cameras and went completely in on them.

FYI - there is a Walmart version out there that is exactly like the link micro, but is cheaper if you get them off of eBay. It’s called the link-wm or the link-wm-v . Works exactly the same.


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[Peplin Creek]

What’s the transmission options for the spypoint. Instant, hourly?

 

[144]

Each detection, 1,2,6,12 times a day


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[Peplin Creek]

Have you noticed any camera avoidance with these. Specifically at night, deer looking at the camera?

 

[MilkweedManiac]

None here so far. I just try not aim them in a way the deer will be walking straight to them for any great length of time.

 

[bjseiler]

I have one of mine right on a trail and the deer walk right towards/away from it. Haven’t seen any issues.

 

[SwampCat]

I have had my spypoint for four months - how long the camera functions properly is usually what separates the good cameras from the junk. I think my spypoint is dying. It is going through batteries every two to three weeks during winter. 150 pics a month. It now shows no service - used to have 2 or 3 bars in same place. I hope not - but i think it is on its last leg.

 

[yoderjac]

I have had my spypoint for four months - how long the camera functions properly is usually what separates the good cameras from the junk. I think my spypoint is dying. It is going through batteries every two to three weeks during winter. 150 pics a month. It now shows no service - used to have 2 or 3 bars in same place. I hope not - but i think it is on its last leg.

That is sort of true. With the low end Chinese cameras, one of the big problems is quality control. So, in the past I've purchased several of the same camera at the same time and had many fail in the warranty period and then had the replacement camera fail in a few months of operation. I've had a few that lasted 4 or 5 years.

We ask a lot of a trail camera including operating in all kinds of weather conditions. One of the big differences in my high end BEC Orions is that they have the electronics coated and the low end cameras don't. No matter what precautions we take with desiccant or whatever, moisture always gets inside the housing when we open the camera to change batteries. Moisture may not be water, but simply air with moisture suspended in it. As cameras go through heating and cooling cycles in the field, that moisture vaporizes, moves through the camera, and condenses. Uncoated electronics degrade over time and then fail. So from this perspective you are right. While looking at individual low end cameras guys can have completely different experiences with the same model camera, if you look at the average lifespan the high end cams last much longer.

I'm still waiting for my first BEC to fail. I've had the Lexan lens and flash covers replaced along with a few connectors that wore out from use, but other than that they are all still going strong.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[bwoods11]

That is sort of true. With the low end Chinese cameras, one of the big problems is quality control. So, in the past I've purchased several of the same camera at the same time and had many fail in the warranty period and then had the replacement camera fail in a few months of operation. I've had a few that lasted 4 or 5 years.

We ask a lot of a trail camera including operating in all kinds of weather conditions. One of the big differences in my high end BEC Orions is that they have the electronics coated and the low end cameras don't. No matter what precautions we take with desiccant or whatever, moisture always gets inside the housing when we open the camera to change batteries. Moisture may not be water, but simply air with moisture suspended in it. As cameras go through heating and cooling cycles in the field, that moisture vaporizes, moves through the camera, and condenses. Uncoated electronics degrade over time and then fail. So from this perspective you are right. While looking at individual low end cameras guys can have completely different experiences with the same model camera, if you look at the average lifespan the high end cams last much longer.

I'm still waiting for my first BEC to fail. I've had the Lexan lens and flash covers replaced along with a few connectors that wore out from use, but other than that they are all still going strong.

Thanks,

Jack

You need to do like I do ... put camera out, turn on camera, change SD card, check SD card. I bet I have 5 $100/cameras that have lasted 6 years or more.

 

[yoderjac]

You need to do like I do ... put camera out, turn on camera, change SD card, check SD card. I bet I have 5 $100/cameras that have lasted 6 years or more.

I had a handful of cheap cameras that lasted about that long and many, many, more that died very quickly. Keep in mind that the typical Chinese business model is to buy into a market with high featured low quality poor QC products and drive out competition on price. They then work on improving quality and raise prices accordingly but still keep them pretty low with reduced manufacturing costs. I got frustrated fooling around with the low end cams many years ago so quality may have improved somewhat since I've used them. At first it was fun playing with the latest technology but when I started to do QDM, it took way too much time to deal with SD cards and sending back cameras multiple times under warranty. That is when I did the analysis and found that if I wanted a reliable system to collect hard data for QDM decisions, I needed to go high end.

This route is not for everyone. If one is just using cameras to see what is out there for hunting, who cares if a camera goes down for a few weeks. However, if one is using them for an application that can't tolerate gaps in the data and data bias, low end cams just don't cut it. It was an expensive solution both in time and money for the initial setup, but I've been sitting back reaping the data for many years now with no recurring cost except battery replacement every few years.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[SwampCat]

I have probably a dozen or fifteen five year old Browning cameras. Three or four have gone underwater - that is a killer. One other quit when I pulled the battery compartment out with the camera still turned on. My cameras are out 24/7/365. I have had cameras that maybe took a little better picture - but none have lasted as well. These are $100 to $130 cameras. There is nothing these cameras cant supply me for my qdm decisions - and maybe even better than some high end systems because I can afford to deploy so many cameras - often two or three on a two acre food plot. You would be surprised how many deer using a food plot fail to walk in front of a single camera.

 

[BenAllgood]

My Spypoint Link-Micro has been out since April and still going strong with batteries and signal. I have the US cellular version and the last update improved the signal strength. I did change the batteries once, but didn't need to. I use the Energizer Ultimate Lithiums. I wouldn't use regular alkalines. So far, I don't see how it could get much better with free pics delivered to your phone from a $100 camera.