Nanit Home Display Review: A Transformative Tablet

The home display can be powered wirelessly and charged via a USB-C cable. It relies on your Wi-Fi network to connect to the camera, so while you can carry the monitor around your house, you can’t take it completely “off the grid” or use it outside of your home network (which isn’t a deal-breaker for many families, but I think it’s worth mentioning).

The flexibility comes with some limitations: the battery doesn’t last a full day, so if you’re using it without its charger, you’ll need to turn it off when not in use to keep it powered. I’ve found that most days, after I put my daughter down for her nap at 10 a.m., the device, if left on and unplugged, will be nearly dead by bedtime around 7 p.m.

Clarity check

Under most conditions, Nanit’s video quality is consistent. My personal test is whether I can see my daughter’s eyes in night mode, and with standard viewing at home, the answer is yes. Zooming in does expose some pixels, and the fixed height of the floor stand means you can’t adjust the frame as much as you’d like. But to glance at the check-ins that parents do dozens of times a night, the clarity remains constant.

The live stream responds without any noticeable lag or buffering, which I found crucial in determining whether certain sounds were screams or just sleep grunts. The screen also displays room temperature and humidity levels, which is a nice touch as we delve into a Midwestern winter.

The sound is clear as day. When set to do this, the home screen will alert when it detects crying or movement, and I haven’t missed any alerts while sleeping. The only problem came when the device was lying on my desk; Since the speaker is located at the back, the sound was noticeably muffled. Fortunately, the built-in kickstand solves this problem, so it’s easy to avoid.

Screen time

About the reason you’re all here, which is the touch screen display. Its home screen is a mix of widgets: the live feed, your baby’s status (when was he last visited, how long he slept, etc.), a nightly summary, and environmental conditions (temperature and humidity). The live streaming interface closely mimics the Nanit app, with controls for the microphone, nightlight, audio monitoring, breathing detection, and camera power located along the bottom of the live view.

Something worth noting: The screen is very bright. Even with the brightness turned down completely in the settings, it was still bright enough to disrupt my sleep. Pressing the power button once you enter standby mode – the sound stays on, you get sound and motion sounds, but the screen stays dark. (Sometimes you need a second to prepare your eyes for the blast of blue light first thing in the morning.) There’s one problem: If you’re watching a live stream, the screen won’t automatically go to sleep and stay lit. On any other tab, it dims after 30 seconds to reveal a screensaver displaying the time, date, and notifications, similar to a phone lock screen.