Finding quality animals to hunt is a challenge hunters thrive on. I love the anticipation of seeing what animals made it through the season and what new animals have appeared. With the development of new technology, cellular trail cameras are an impressive tool that have much to offer. It took four months of field-testing, but I am now ready to share my review of the SPYPOINT FLEX cellular cameras. Four months of education, elation, and a few challenges. Most of all, the SPYPOINT Flex cameras offered me a chance to increase my knowledge and have new insight into my hunt plans.
When they first arrived, the SPYPOINT Flex cameras needed minor assembly of the antenna to the body of the camera. Antenna connection was easy, but disassembly offered a slight challenge. The rubber washers should have some way of actually staying on the connecting bolt as they fall off easily when dismantling the antenna. I think it would be good to have them somehow built into the screw-in piece of the antenna itself.
I set up a SPYPOINT account in order to view my photos. This worked well because I could share the login with whomever I wanted to view the photos. This is beneficial when a few friends hunt the same spot or, in my case, my family wants to know where to set up treestands.
Disclaimer: SPYPOINT provided me with the cameras and a subscription to test the cameras and functionality of their website and app features. That being said, they know I don’t hold back and speak my mind.
I had several plans for the cameras. Plans to use them in three states, different temperatures and for different wild game. The first setup was in one of my pig spots during late August. Now, I know that the pigs usually avoid this area in summer due to the heat, but I have seen them travel the corridor. I caught only photos and video of gray fox and scrawny coyotes. This is about the time I started having glitch issues. The camera is very sensitive at the higher sensitivity settings, which can be changed in the mobile app. I found the sun to be a challenge in California due to almost every day being sunny. The temperature settings were way off (temperature was actually 90 degrees, but it was setting off at 111-120 degrees), and every time the sun shifted, the camera captured video or photos. It’s hard to avoid the sun in SoCal, but I had to get creative. I had an issue were that the date was off and SPYPOINT made the date correction quickly. The temperature issue was not a deal breaker for me, but that’s because it’s always hot out here in August, no matter where you put the camera.
Cell service was good in some California spots. I took the cameras to some other locations where there was little to no cell service. I didn’t know it was spotty until I got out there and tried setting up the cameras. That was a challenge, but this was no fault of the camera. The camera worked fine, but you need to have cell service in order to use these cameras properly.
While this isn’t specific to the camera, I must mention it. There is a SPYPOINT mobile app and the webapp. The SPYPOINT services are designed to be used on a mobile phone and not a computer. While you can use it on a computer, they are built differently and do different things. Most of my questions regarding these were in relation to the webapp. I like being able to use it on my phone, but many times I wanted to use the computer and had issues like being able to view the image or video at a decent size. It’s best to download the photo to your phone and then send to your computer in order to view it large.
I then sent my cameras to NY for my dad to set up. We were able to work together to set them up very easily. The signal sometimes did not work and I was instructed to format the card. The camera was nearly 3,000 miles away, so that was difficult, but I was fortunate to have my dad available to follow up. I still find this to defeat the purpose of a cellular camera. On cloudy or stormy days, there sometimes would be cell service interruption. That’s not a fault of the camera, just stating a fact that you may have to be patient with getting your photos.
For a period of three days in September, the cellular system stopped working and did not communicate with the cameras. This is bound to happen from time to time due to cell tower issues and provider issues. While frustrating, this had nothing to do with the cameras themselves. Once the system came back online, the cameras were relaying photos and video like before. Again, I had to be patient.
To make things a bit simpler, here are the PROs and CONs I found.
PROs:
- Small enough and well hidden. The deer found it anyway, but it did not change their patterns.
- Easily transportable, but the antenna connection is fragile.
- Lithium battery life was actually good, even with transferring images every four hours. I did test using regular AA batteries (you need eight) and they drained rather quickly. Use the Lithium batteries.
- Great to share with people and saves time and money!
- I like that it shows the moon phase on the image or video.
- The photos record to the SDHD card, but I still prefer to have them transfer.
CONs:
- I figured the weather section of the app transmitted from the GPS location of the camera. It actually pulled from wherever my cell phone was. My dad tried looking up the weather at a camera location in NY and it pulled from Long Beach, CA. Other times it defaulted to Kansas. Often times it would show Kansas (I did not have a camera or was I anywhere near Kansas). To be honest, if the feature is only for where your phone is, I would remove it from the app. Most of us already have a Weather app we can refer to.
- Watching the video in the app was frustrating. Only low quality videos show (brief animated loops) and you have to download the high definition to view it big. The low-resolution videos show you a sample (beginning, middle and end) to give you an idea of what is in the video. Once you download the HD Video, quality was good and transferred well, but watching the loops is frustrating because you need to download the HD video to truly see what’s been recorded. The frustrating part is that this goes against your HD video download for the month and sometimes there is nothing really there. In understand there is no perfect solution, but I would recommend you stick with photos if you are looking for quality viewing on the mobile app.
- I had one camera set up in Nebraska where it said I had good cell signal and battery life. Once set, the camera stopped taking photos. I went and checked it the next day and everything looked good and the lights came on as if it were taking photos, but none were taken. I formatted the card and waited, but the camera would not record photos. It was at the end of my hunt, so I did not bother with the camera any longer. I need to look into this more.
An observation (neither a pro nor a con) – the antenna doesn’t always stay up, but SPYPOINT did tell me that wouldn’t affect performance. They were right, but I can’t be the only one that struggles with knowing if it does or doesn’t. SPYPOINT has informed me that there is a new antenna gasket available for anyone having this issue. Reach out to customer service to get one.
Are using the SPYPOINT Flex cameras a benefit? 100% they are! If you aren’t seeing deer, you can eliminate an area and move the camera to a new spot. If you are seeing deer, then you can track movement, moon phase and location. You just can’t track the weather. Do I think the camera is worth $169.99? YES! If you plan to have it in a good cell service area. You will not have to travel to the camera to download photos, you won’t disturb the area and you can save time! The SPYPOINT Flex cameras are a worthwhile investment because gas is expensive and to go check the cameras and change settings manually is time consuming. You can change these settings whenever you want. You must remember that if you do need to format the card, it has to be done in person.
I give the SPYPOINT Flex cameras and system 4 out of 5 stars because I believe these are a game changing tool in the way I will hunt. They will save me time and money, plus I can enjoy utilizing them with hunting partners and family. I will be picking up a couple more FLEX cameras in the offseason and reaping the benefits in order to increase my chances at filling my tags next season.
Al, thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences with these cameras.
Al, had a clip in our local newspaper a couple weeks ago. (Webster City, IA) I took a picture of it. How can I send it to you? Do you have an email I could send it to? Thanks, Matt
If my name is at all familiar, you had my name in Matt’s white coyote Christmas a few years ago..
Al, I enjoyed your article and have a couple of suggestions. On a couple of spypoint camera’s I have used spypoint high gain antennas on my camera’s too gain a better signal. I also make and buy battery packs to increases the time I use the camera’s in the field. You also can install a solar panel, too increases battery life and the time the camera is used out in the field. Since the article was just written for the use of the stock camera and battery’s , I just thought I would pass a few options along. I use two different company’s, spypoint and moultrie. Have a great day. Best Wildlife Services
My spypoint takes pictures and sends them to my phone, however when I go to the app it tells me there no photos to see. I’ve tried for four days now to get a hold of customer service to no avail. They don’t call back ,or reply in any way. They took my money and left me out to dry. Would not advise anyone to buy the spypoint camera.
Didn’t work out of box, customer service talk out both sides of mouth, is flex worth cost, I think not, part for antenna on back order, maybe for next season
Sorry to hear that, Everett. Mine all worked out of the box. All but one continue to work. There is further testing to be done on my end with one FLEX camera, but for the most part I am pleased with mine.
I’m afraid I would only rate them a 1 out of 5 stars. I went all in back in June and got five Flex cameras. All 5 have failed and 2 of the first 3 replacements have failed. That’s 7 out of 5 failures. I think the heat of this summer 2023 has just been too much for them. I have 1 left functioning in the field, and they are sending me 4 of the new version Flex G-36 cameras as replacements. I hope and pray these are more robust. I have spent too many hours traveling back and forth to the field, troubleshooting, not to mention gas money on mileage wasted. Other than that I like the cameras. I run them all on solar panels which never have a problem except possibly when the camera is dying and goes into an infinite loop that runs down the large internal battery on the solar panel. Customer service is decent. They can’t help the fact that the product is shoddy.
I appreciate the info, Joe. I have a few original FLEX cameras and they work well. I bought one earlier this year and it keeps puttering out after a few days. It’s making me a bit nuts. The other cameras I have with solar panels and such are working very well. I plan to post more findings/results early next year, after hunting season.
Spypoint cameras are junk. Spend $500 on cameras that don’t work. And there is no customer service. Been trying to talk to someone and they won’t respond
I have 9 Spypoint cameras. 7 have completely stopped working after 18-24months. After countless calls to customer service(reformatting, replacing sim cards etc…) the solution I was provided is we can sell you more cameras at a discount. The one FLEX camera that is still working burns through 8 batteries every 4 days. Many complaints on line about the FLEX. I am so disappointed with Spypoint as a product provider. Customer Service was always responsive but unable to help with products that fall apart after 24 months.
As a side note the FLEX model that I have does not have the solar built in and does not provide an option for a solar panel connect( poor design).
The bottom line for all your readers is
BUYER BEWARE!!!
I would like to see an article on your Spypoint cameras after 24 months of service.
Hi John, thanks for the honest feedback. I would be frustrated if my cameras stopped working, too. So far, my original FLEX cameras are all doing well and functioning as they should. I have one new FLEX camera that works for a few days and then completely blanks out. That is frustrating. I have to test a few things out with it before I share my final results, but I can understand where you are coming from.
I have two of the same camera you tested and both of mine are not worth the batteries I put in them.
A total of 567 pictures on both and only 6 actual animals. 4 sets of batteries and one camera took 262 pictures the first day.
Poor quality pictures.
Well imm live in Ireland and iv had 3 /4 spypoint flex and not one of the has worked and I see loads of others with the same complant. Not good at all zeiss have a new one has anyone tried it
I have two spy point flex my last year one I could not get it to work so I bought a new one. The flex has better pics than the LM2. I really like to get the flex S since it has the solar panel. With that that I have 6 other spy point lte micro and I only have one of them working right now. I don’t know why they work good for a year then don’t. My buddy showed me tac cam it has good pic and video and if you see pic you make it into a video I think that’s cool. Just trying to decide what to do tac cam cheaper with dollar panel on it. I just been with y’all spy point so long don’t want to switch but I have a lot going on right now can’t afford the FLEX S CELLUAR camera especially if it’s gonna stop working. But I like to leave at least two cameras up all year to watch bucks drop horns and grow them back.
I bought my first ever game camera (SPYPOINT) Flex S in October 2023 and am extremely disappointed in it’s performance. The solar panel does not recharge internal battery even in full sunlight. Requires retrieving the camera every few days to recharge internal battery. I’ve tried 2 different sets of rechargeable AA’s in the battery pack and 2 separate sets of alkaline batteries as well, and all are drained after a couple days of use regardless of the sensitivity setting or the sync frequency. In bright sunlight, which is required to recharge internal battery, the camera takes many unwanted pics even on low sensitivity setting either due to shadows being casted or heat sensitivity. When requesting to take a picture or to update status through the app, many times it takes several hours or even a day or more to update regardless of the frequency setting. Camera has completely stopped operating on several occasions even with fresh batteries and full charge. From what I’ve experienced from this SPYPOINT FLEX S camera, my opinion is that it is totally junk and I would not waste money on another SPYPOINT, not even a different model, especially at $189 per camera. Not at all what I expected from a high end game camera.