Amcrest NV4108E-A2 4K 8CH POE NVR (1080p/3MP/4MP/5MP/8MP) POE Network Video Recorder - Supports up to 8 x 8MP/4K IP Cameras, 8-Channel Power Over Ethernet Supports up to 10TB HDD (Not Included)

Overall I am very happy with this NVR, the limitations are ones I knew of when I got it and the pain points are minor enough I would recommend the product fully although they were frustrating in the moment.My use primary use case:Recording video from my mix of Amcrest wifi cameras, Amcrest POE cameras, and some older Swann ONVIF compatible (sorta, barely) wifi PTZ cameras (dislike these but I haven't gotten around to replacing them with POE PTZ's) while I am out of town. Triggered recording is a nice perk but I am happy with always recording and overwriting on full storage as well. Whe I am home its nice to be able to unplug and not have to worry about it capturing me in my birthday suit.First Impressions:Why is there a mouse in the box? I don't need another cheap throwaway device. (Narrator: he did need it)Oh, you use the mouse to set it up via the local interface...how do you type.I hate on screen keyboardsDo I have an extra keyboard around?Oh, wait, I'm done setting it up that wasn't so bad. (took maybe 10 minutes with mouse and HDMI monitor, without a monitor your probably S.O.L I didn't read the instructions though...sorry tech writers everywhere)*Using the HDMI interface* "oh wow this is much more polished than I expected"*Later using the Web interface* "oh wow, this is kinda dated looking"*Later logging into the web interface via my phone* "wow guess that why they have an app...still not as bad as my ubiquiti Edge Router Lite on my phone" Seriously though the web interface is busted on mobile screens.WHY WONT THIS ADD TO THE APP!Added to the app, and now it just works like a Ronco Rotisserie I can set it and forget it.Pain Points / Annoyances:Adding the NVR to the app!Took me longer than anything else, adding the hard drive, adding username/pass...anythingThe problem is the copy below the two QR logos, I kept scanning "cellphone client" because the app on my phone was asking me to scan the code.I figured it out by accident when I panned the camera and it grabbed the "wrong one" - Device SNI would rename "Cellphone Client" - "Download App" and "Device SN" - "P2P Device Setup"SMART data is shown under Operation -> Information - HDD but not under Management -> Storage -> HDD ManagerWish the PTZ controls were hidden if not support by any camera, or just the ability to collapse the panel behind an overflow menu.The HDMI output has a much more useful/powerful camera layout than the web interface.Wish List:Image processing with object detection and OCRI would like to be able to trigger on a person/dog/cat etc even better let me tag captured faces to that the detected person is reportedGrab license plates from cars that enter the frameTemperature reporting for the harddriveBetter external notification reporting (things in addition to SMTP)Support central logging to a log server.Push notification support to Pushover or other push notification broker for alarm eventsSupport for MQTT servers for alarm eventsSupport LDAP authentication19" Rack mount ears, This might be a product segmentation decision but I'll probably try and print a bracket to mount it as the rest of my network and AV gear is in the rack and I have a 19" monitor mounted there as well.Questions / Things That Confuse Me:Under the network tab in the web interface there is a sub tab marked "Switch"I assume this is for setting the DHCP server settings for the builtin POE switch but it's confusingly named.I want to expose it to the web for remote access but I'm not sure how hardened the web interface is.I see that it supports HTTPS certs but I don't want to manage uploading certs everytime letsencrypt rolls over.I probably put it behind a Nginx reverse proxy with an auth layer as extra securityNot sure if the manufacturer would recommend this.

Easy setup and connection to Axis cameras in addition to amcrest. Everything works as advertised and image quality is good enough for identification.

I am a 30 year low voltage tech and I needed quick NVR that didn't cost a lot. Great NVR for a decent price. I didn't expect the NVR to power all of my cameras through the built in POE ports but it did and they worked fine. The HD quality is top notch. I can't think of problem with the NVR it works like it should. Normally you would need to spend close to $400 for a brand name NVR. I am glad I took a chance and tried this one out.

For the longest time I was using my cameras with SD card storage to record and playback recordings when I wanted to view them. Although this kinda worked for me, I found that if I wanted to see something on the camera it tended to be difficult to search for things, and then recall them to playback. Sometimes it couldn't complete the search, sometimes it would complete the search but it would disconnect from the camera while I was playing it back directly from the internal SD card. So, I decided to get an NVR so I could have one central hard drive to record everything to.I purchased the NVR without a hard drive and figured that I would just use an old hard drive that I had removed from a scrapped computer in the office. I ended up putting a 5400 RPM 1 TB hard drive from an old laptop into the unit. I will say that although I was able to mount it in the NVR without a 2.5" to 3.5 bracket, I was only able to use 2 of the 4 screws to hold it in. I really wish that Amcrest would drill a few more holes in the bottom of their NVR so people can choose to use either a 3.5" or 2.5" hard drive in the unit without having to purchase or have an adapter plate / bracket. Otherwise everything went smooth and I was up and running.The initial start up was easy, I was asked a bunch of on-screen questions (through the convenient to use HDMI connector) Once I answer those questions and then searched for cameras on the network, and connected to the back of the NVR it loaded everything up and I was ready to go. I did have to enter the User Name and the Password I set up for all the WiFi and other POE cameras not directly plugged into the back of the NVR, but that was to be expected.The first thing I did was get all of the different cameras recording into the hard drive. I was amazed at how fast and easy it was to search and playback of all my cameras. Being used to waiting up to a minute or even 2 sometimes for things to load, and then find the video when I tried to select it, it blew me away how a search of 24 hours of video happened in a matter of about 2 seconds! Then when I clicked on the playback for each of the cameras the video just started playing, no waiting at all! Remember, this is 5400 RPM drive from a 8 year old laptop.The NVR also has the ability to connect seamlessly with the Amcrest Surveillance Pro software. This makes life so easy. One thing that I would have liked to see from Amcrest with this NVR is the ability to play audio from the NVR connected cameras, out of the HDMI connection to the monitor. Sadly you can not. Instead, if you use the Surveillance Pro software you can listen to, and talk back to cameras with both speakers and Mics.A great feature of the NVR is its ability to communicate over the network. This means you don't have to even connect a monitor up to the NVR HDMI output. The NVR software using the IP address of the unit will come up with a TCP login window. Once you enter the user name and password that you've assigned the NVR you have complete control over all the settings. You can even monitor the cameras (without sound and Mic) and playback video recorded on the hard drive.The great part about the NVR, which I hadn't even thought about until I got it, was the fact that I could place the NVR ANYWHERE that I had a network connection. I didn't have to park the box by a monitor to use it. I simply stuffed it away in the attic where I have a switch, and I was able to go to my office and access the entire NVR setup via the TCP connection, OR, I can use the Surveillance Pro software from ANY computer on the internet, or my cellular device to monitor all of the cameras on-location where the NVR is. This means that I can be out of the house, and while at an outside office, I can be watching what's going on with the house. At first I thought that I would have to have access to the NVR box sitting next to it to view the recordings and monitor the cameras, like in a security room. This is NOT the case at all.Overall I'm very impressed with the low cost NVR and how well it integrates with even an older hard drive. There's a fan on the side that keeps everything nice and cool, so I'm not worried about over heating, even though it's a single board design. I called Tech Support to find out about the issue being able to listen out of the NVR and they were knowledgeable and able to answer all of my questions.. So I was happy with the support I received. If you want to set up a full security system including wired and wireless cameras on-site, I think for the price this will give you access to 8 plug in POE cameras, as well as at least another 8 (or more) wireless cameras you may have around the house. All with fast recording playback.I haven't even begun to dig into all the amazing features you can do with the software. Some include (with the correct cameras) heat detection, Facial recognition, Alarms and Zones and the list goes on. With the free software this is a serious security device, and not just a simple Ring doorbell and wifi camera going to a slow cloud service.Heck, this unit even works with the Amcrest WiFi Doorbell which I was able to add to this NVR as well! I would strongly suggest this unit to anyone that wants an easy setup and use of instant playback and monitoring from anywhere in the world. Especially for the price!