Stealth Cam GXW - Wireless Review

Pros

• Option to send videos as well as pictures
• Excellent trigger speed
• Easy, intuitive setup
• Exceptional daytime photos

Cons

• Average battery life (2.2 months on AA lithium batteries)

Trailcampro Analysis

Finally, a cellular scouting camera capable of sending videos AND pictures! This is the first trail camera of its kind and has generated some excited here in the Trailcampro office.

The Stealth Cam GXW Wireless works on any GSM tower, this includes AT&T and T-Mobile towers - we recommend a minimum of 3 bars of reception. The camera needs a sim card from AT&T. We will talk more about this in the "Quality of Design" section.

An important early note is this camera is capable of working internationally as long as it has GSM service. We, unfortunately, can't provide much help with the activation of the sim card if you are outside of the United States, as we currently do not have experience using the camera with international carriers. However, it is possible and only requires an activated data-only 3G sim card from your local GSM carrier.

Picture Quality:

Photo resolution: 12 mpxl | Video Resolution: 1920 x 1080 w/audio | Flash Type: No Glow Infrared

We used the Stealth GXW to monitor a gate to a farm that we run trail cameras on. This ended up being very beneficial for us as we now have evidence of someone coming in at 1 a.m. to steal a bunch of tools and supplies. The camera did the job!

Daytime pictures are incredible. Perfect color, great clarity, and depth. As you can see from the sample below - the GXW did not disappoint.

Night pictures have average range for a no glow camera and they do have some graininess. Keep in mind, we used this camera for security so many of the night pictures involve headlights from cars coming in and out. This camera is not for license plate recognition. For night pictures, we gave the GXW an average rating.

Pictures and videos transmitted to the app with be in a compressed size. Pictures are 640 x 360 and videos are 320 x 180 (you can turn audio on or off). The full-resolution image/video will be saved to the SD card.

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Megapixel Ratings:
Many people believe the mpxl rating manufacturers advertise are an indication of picture quality. They aren't. In fact, they aren't really true. Companies inflate the megapixel rating of their cameras with "interpolation," this digitally adds megapixels. For instance, this camera is rated at 14 megapixels, but this is not a 14 mpxl camera. They interpolate the photos up to 14, from a camera that is way lower in actual megapixels. Most cameras are actually somewhere between 2 and 5 megapixels.

Every company employs this tactic because the average consumer has been tricked to think more mpxls = better pictures. Don't be fooled. Make your next buying decision based on real photos - not marketing gimmicks.

Battery Life:

Resting Power (on): 2.89 mW | Daytime Power Consumption: 76.3 Ws | Nighttime Power Consumption: 71.18 Ws

If the Stealth GXW Wireless were to take 15-day pictures and 15-night pictures every 24 hour period, this camera would last 2.2 months in the field on a set of 12 AA lithium batteries.

Keep in mind, cellular scouting cameras use more power as they are taking a photo, connecting to a cellular network, and then sending a photo. The GXW can be set to send photos in "Batch" mode. Batch mode will upload photos at predetermined time intervals, which saves battery life and improves recovery time. This works well for wildlife use but isn't recommended for most security applications - as instant notification is usually needed.

If you plan on using this camera in video mode, prepare for major battery consumption. In order to take and send a 10-second video, the camera will have to pull a lot of power. This is expected and neither a positive or negative on the GXW.

Detection Circuit: 85/100

Picture Trigger & Recovery Speed: 0.25 s. / 59.7 s. | Detection Range: 90 ft.

Trigger speed is outstanding and at the very top-end of all cellular scouting cameras. In multiple tests, the trigger was extremely consistent and reliable. Recovery time is also in-line with other cell cameras.

Detection range was 90 ft. in our Detection Range Test. This is a very good detection range. We found the detection zone is significantly wider than the field of view, so keep that in mind when setting the camera up.

Overall, the detection circuit on the Stealth GXW is a huge plus and ranks very well for a cellular trail camera.

Quality of Design:

Dimensions: 5.5" x 4" x 2.5" | Battery Type: 12 AA Batteries | External Battery Jack: 12 Volt

Case design is outstanding from form to function. The case feels well-built and of high-quality materials. The latch has a very positive and snug "snap" when closing.

There is a built-in python bracket to the back of the camera and a 1/4" x 20 threaded insert on the bottom of the camera for a Slate River Angle Mount.

Cellular camera setup is normally a chore, but we have found the GXW setup to be very intuitive (and it comes with clear directions). This camera needs 3 bars of AT&T or T-Mobile reception. It will not run on Verizon or Sprint towers. Below are the data plan costs.

Data Plan Costs

• 250 MB of data for 24 hours - $5.00
• 250 MB of data for 30 days - $14.99
• 2 GB of data for 3 months - $25.00 (in our opinion this is the best value for picture taking)
• 3 GB of data for 30 days - $30.00
• 5 GB of data for 30 days - $50.00

The only thing we knocked the setup on is that this camera only sends photos to a phone app. It can't text, email, or send photos to a website. As long as that doesn't deter you, this camera shouldn't trip you up. Here is how you can set up the Stealth GXW.

Cellular Setup Directions

1. Download the "Stealth Cam Remote" App. This is available on iOS and Android devices. You must have one of these phones for this camera to work.
2. Create a new account on the app. A confirmation email will be sent and must be confirmed before going to the next step.
3. The camera comes with an AT&T 3G data only sim card. Go to www.att.com/buyasession to activate your sim card and select your desired data plan. For this, you will need to create an account. You can start, stop and change the plan at any time (no contract).
4. Install 12 AA lithium batteries, SD card, and sim card.
5. Turn the camera on and go into the menu. Follow the prompts for "Cellular Setup." This will display a series of prompts - follow each one and complete setup. You will need good cellular reception (we recommend 3 bars or more) to do the setup.
6. At some point, the camera will ask you to enter your account info. This is the account info from when you setup the account on the app on your phone.

Here are some screenshots of several of the app settings.

We have only seen one quirk on the app. Multiple people will have a hard time sharing the app for the same camera. Otherwise, not everyone will see all the pictures/videos the camera has taken. However, there is an option to link the camera with Google Drive. If you plan on having multiple people use the same camera, we highly recommend using Google Drive to share the photos with each other.

Durability is unknown at this time. We will update the Stealth GXW Wireless review if anything arises.

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