VTech DM221 Audio Baby Monitor with up to 1,000 ft of Range, Vibrating Sound-Alert, Talk Back Intercom & Night Light Loop, White/Silver

I ordered this because I lost the parent unit to my old Vtech baby monitor. The one I had before only had one-way audio, and I ordered this one as a replacement for the talk-back feature because my kids are a little older (2&4), and I can tell them its time to go to sleep when theyre being rambunctious after going to bed. This one also has the rechargeable parent unit, so Im not having to replace the batteries all the time. That is a major plus! The sound quality is great in my opinion, its not fuzzy or anything. My old one did have a bit of a static noise to it, so thats a plus as well. The range is good, reaches all the way across the house with no issues. There are other features on it that I havent really messed around with - the vibration on the parent unit and the night light on the kids unit. I just dont find them necessary for my needs. Its about double the price of the one-way monitor, if I remember correctly, but its completely worth it!

This monitor replaced an older 49mhz analog baby monitor that we have had since our three year old was born. We still like to keep a monitor in his room just in case he wakes up before us or calls out in the night, which is rare. The old monitor was picking up interference quite a bit and was beginning to have problems, so it was time for an upgrade. This unit uses encrypted digital technology on the 1.9 GHz spectrum. Theoretically this should give increased range and eliminate any possibility of casual eavesdropping. Compared to the old monitor which had a single on/volume knob, this one is much more high tech. With that, however, comes a lot more settings that you have to (or get to) fiddle with. In addition to dedicated volume and power buttons, there are also menu and select buttons with which you can navigate an on screen menu of settings. This unit has a sensitivity setting, which is what Id call a digital squelch, a term from my old ham radio days. It lets you have complete silence until the signal breaks a certain threshold. Only then do you hear it over the speaker. This is disabled at its most sensitive setting. You can set a vibrating or audio alert to go off if the squelch is triggered. There is even a way to remotely trigger the nightlight LED on the base and a button to talk back to the child. This lets the unit function as a simple 2-way intercom, which is helpful for us in certain situations. There is no doubt that this is a full-featured baby monitor, or that it gives you a lot of value for your money. Each of these features works as advertised, and once you get it set up like you want it the menu and its settings arent that much of an issue. Even with the squelch on its second highest setting my bedside table has gotten a whole lot quieter thanks to its digital technology. However, I do wish that the transmitter unit had a battery backup that would allow for operation in a power outage or for easy placement during nap time. I also wish that the monitor had a back-lit screen or LED that let you know it was on. As it stands now, I have to turn on my bedside lamp to look for the word LINKED on the screen to make sure its on. My only caution here is that it may be a little bit much for a parent looking for a basic, reliable digital unit without all these literal bells and whistles. We have another digital unit made by Graco for our younger baby, and all it has is an on switch, volume buttons, and a physical vibrate switch. Theres no screen at all to fiddle with, and it has proven to be a reliable tool. If you are a technophile and want a value-priced device with intercom features, however, this unit hits the sweet spot. In my opinion, its silence and intercom more than overcome its minor shortcomings.

I needed to be able to hear my mom from her room, which is on the other side of the house, if she needed help. Had a different monitor previously, but it had a lot of static. This V-Tech works so well. It has 5 volume settings and I able to hear her movement sounds so I know she’s up and about. She feels more relaxed and confident that I can hear her in the middle of the night now. We also like the talk feature on the base unit, because I can let her know I hear her and am on my way to assist her.

We’ve been using these monitors since our child was born four years ago… we only just now needed to buy a replacement bc the parent unit sound would go in and out (regardless of being plugged in or not, or fully charged). Great monitors! Works well and has longevity.

This works fine, and does the job for which I procured it. I should point out that I am not using it in the traditional way - i.e., to monitor a baby. Rather I am using it to monitor a dog that has a pronounced fear of thunderstorms (not unusual for dogs). I crate my dogs at night in another part of the house. If a thunderstorm arises during the night, my dog will panic and try desperately to escape her (wire) crate. The baby monitor allows me to keep tabs on her during the night, if thunderstorms are likely (I dont use it every night) and I will be awakened by her attempts to escape and can come to her rescue. The baby monitor sender and receiver link with no problems (theyre about 30 feet apart through interior walls). Sound quality is very good, and there is no background noise. So the only time you hear anything from the receiver is when there is actually sound being picked up by the sending unit. The sensitivity can be adjusted to pick up very small sounds or to only pick up louder sounds. My only complaint is that turning the receiver ON and OFF isnt easy. The directions say to Press and hold the power button to turn the unit ON, and Press and hold the power button to turn the unit OFF. However, there is no visual indication of power ON or OFF, and no feedback letting you know which state the unit is in. So it can be a bit tricky to turn it ON, but especially to turn it OFF. A minor annoyance, to be sure, but it points out a design flaw - it should be easier to turn the unit ON/OFF, and there should be a more definitive feedback indicating what state the unit is in.

Ive had them now for 10 years! My son and I use it as a one-way walkie talkie now lol so I dont have to yell for him to come up for dinner. I know Ill have to get rid of them soon, but man have they come in handy all this time. I just realized I never posted a review and should have.

This is not just for babies. I care for an elderly loved one with dementia. This gives me the ability to move about the house or be in another room for a few minutes without concern for her falling or wandering off. The sound is very clear even on a different floor of our home. I can hear rustling in a bed, movement in a room, or agitating noises and I can speak with her through the parent unit. She can understand me very well through her unit and responds which is often all that is required to offer reassurance. At night with volumes turned up, I am actually able to get some real sleep knowing any disturbance will wake me. Sleep matters: I am less anxious and less keyed up allowing me to be a more loving caregiver the following day. It is hard to articulate how important saving tiny bits of energy can be throughout the day, but this product has been immensely helpful to me. Set up was simple. Im always concerned about these things, and it was a relief to not have to stress about it or have to find help. I cannot say enough about this product. Great VTech sound, affordable, simple set up, and a caregivers little helper. Grateful.

I must say that I have been extremely pleased with this baby monitor. I purchased this when I had a second child and needed to be able to hear the noises coming from both rooms (the children are on the second floor while we are on the first so a monitor is an absolute must). I originally ordered a Sony monitor which was identical to the one we had for our oldest. When I set it up the whole thing didnt work, so I went back to the drawing board to hunt up a new one. Here are my pros and cons for this monitor: Pros: I love that this is digital. My other monitor was not and its quite a bit noisier, not what I want in the middle of the night. The VTech monitor is very quiet so all I hear are the noises the baby makes and a light white noise sound in the background. The range of the monitor is better than our old one, so I can have it right on my night stand instead of just outside my bedroom door like the old one was. Its really quite easy to use, fairly self explanatory. The walkie talkie feature is handy to have, as a couple times I needed to communicate with my husband to bring something up for me in the middle of the night. As the baby gets older I anticipate using this to communicate with him. I loved the price. These ended up being cheaper than the Sony that I originally bought and I like them so much more. Cons: The only thing I can really think of as a con is the fact that sometimes the signal is randomly disrupted and the parent receiver will start beeping. Sometimes it keeps on beeping until I turn it off and turn it back on. Not so bad in the middle of the day, not so fun in the middle of the night. But Im sure this happens with all of the monitors. If you are looking for a monitor that wont break the bank and works quietly and efficiently, this is the one for you.

***Update!! After 20 months of use. This monitor still works! Im impressed for the price. However, we recently moved and now have issues daily with the parent unit becoming unlinked from the baby unit.. even when we are in the next room! If we move it closer, it will link back up. Sometimes it will link again on its own. So thats a bit disappointing. The other issue we have, is the battery of the parent unit does not last. We now plug it in every time our son is awake, and unplug when hes sleeping to use. Doing this keeps it charged enough not to die. However its always at 1 or 2 battery level. Also, we have to keep it on ALL the time. Even if it has a full battery, when we turn it off itll turn back on and display low battery and need to be plugged in. While these issues arent deal breakers, they are annoying. But again, for the price Im impressed with how well its held up. Our toddler loves to play with it, the handle on top of the parent unit is cracked, but the screen works still! Still recommended if youre looking for a quality baby monitor for daily use that wont get too much abuse. *original review: Weve had our monitor for a few weeks now and Im pretty happy with our purchase. For the money, its worth it. We bought it as a supplement to our video monitor (we bought a WiFi one so our long distance family could see our little boy) and only needed something for use while hes napping. It works when the baby unit is upstairs and our parent unit is downstairs and on the patio with us, so the range is perfect. We havent had any issues with the screen dying or it breaking at all. The volume is loud enough for us to hear him when were spending time with loud company. And the sensitivity settings make it so we can hear him when he cries but not listen to his rock and play rocking in the background. My only complaint is the battery dies relatively fast, after using it for a few hours it displays low battery and needs to be charged.

Everything is great about this monitor except the battery life. You pretty much have to constantly charge it. The other features are great though, I love that you can choose the level of sound that it will start making noise at. The sound is clear even from across the room. The nightlight is nice, but not super bright so it is hard to use it for a diaper change, but still good