Tomy TFV600 Digital Video Baby Monitor review

Tomy TFV600 is keenly priced for a video baby monitor from a big-name brand. It looks a bit cheap to my eyes but it’s not too objectionable, and it has more features than other video baby monitors at this price.

Design

There’s a temperature sensor sprouting from the back of the baby unit, with the temperature reported on the parent unit screen. It won’t sound an alarm if the room gets too hot or too cold but it’s easy enough to use your own judgement as to when intervention is required.

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A nightlight is built into the base of the baby unit, giving a gentle white glow that can be switched on and off either on the baby unit or the parent unit. There’s a bank of LEDs on the parent unit to show the audio level, which should catch your attention if the TV is turned up loud. A talkback microphone lets you sent soothing messages to your baby without having to get off the sofa. If that doesn’t work, you could try the music playback function, with a choice of three music box-style lullabies. Quality is pretty dire, with a fizz of noise accompanying each note, but at least it’s not as bad as the mangled distortion that comes out of the Philips Avent SCD620.

The video feed can be set to be displayed continuously or only on demand or when a sound is detected. It’s a useful feature for conserving battery life, but it only gave a small benefit in this respect. It lasted for three hours and 46 minutes of constant video in my test, and four hours and 21 minutes in audio-only mode. That might not be enough for a full evening’s use. It beeped every minute to warn of a low battery, which isn’t as annoying as other baby monitors’ more frequent alerts, but it could really do with a more dramatic final beep before turning off. During my battery life tests I found that it had switched off completely without me noticing.

Another problem is the power cable for the baby unit, which is just 1.8m long — most other video baby monitors’ cables are between 2.5 and 3m. This could be significant if you don’t have an easily accessible mains socket. Bear in mind that whereas audio-only monitors can be placed anywhere in the room, video baby monitors need to have a strategic view of the cot or bed.

It fared reasonably well in my wireless range tests, working throughout the house and for a few metres outside. However, there was a lot of interference as I moved the parent unit around, which suggests less robust reception than other video baby monitors.

Verdict

There are better baby monitors available if you’re willing to spend more, but not everyone wants to spend over £100. As such, the Tomy TFV600’s solid set of features and reasonable price are a tempting proposition. If you can live with the limited battery life and short mains cable, it’s a decent choice. Although, you should also consider the Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature. 

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