NETVUE by Birdfy Hummingbird Feeder with 2 Cameras Solar Powered - Dual Smart Cams, 2K HD Wireless for 2 Angels Close-up Bird Watching Outdoor, Instant Notifications (20Oz) (Hum Duo AI Solar)

Overall Impressions:I am very impressed with the Birdfy Hum feeder (with solar panel). The experience and performance is better than I expected. Setup was clear and easy. The cameras provide high quality videos and images, complete with free cloud storage and AI detection (so no monthly subscription fees, thank goodness!). The app is easy to use, and I am constantly sending videos to my bird loving family via text direct from the app.I love it! 5 stars!Packaging, unboxing, and setup:The feeder was packaged well and attractively. It contained printed setup and installation instruction booklets, which I appreciate, instead of only directing you to an app, website, or youtube video. However, I noticed that they do have video instructions on their website, as well.My only complaint here is that the ant moat was a toss in item without a label or instructions, and it wasn’t immediately clear to me what the part was, or how to use it. I think they should include an instruction card in the future. Additionally, as I purchased the reader with the solar panel, it should have come with two ant moats (one for the USB cable and one for the feeder hanger), but there was only one moat in the box. I emailed customer support about the missing gasket, and received a response within a few hours. The missing moat is now on its way.The kit came with spare silicone gaskets, and nice cleaning brushes that seem to be custom made for the feeder.I previously had a NetVue bird feeder using the generic NetVue app, and this is my first time using the new Birdfy app, and it is much improved. Setup is easy and straightforward, with a wizard like interface that walks you through the setup process. The only issue I ran into was that the feeder operates only on 2.4GHz wifi, so I had to temporarily disable my router’s 5GHz signal to complete setup.Mechanical assembly and mounting was straightforward, and the solar panel came with multiple options for mounting. The print inserts that came with the product were great. Very clear, with nice drawings, and easy to follow.I purchased a separate mount that clamps to my deck railing to hang the feeder, although they offer different mounting hardware separately if you do not want to hang the feeder (I did not test this).App use and bird identificationThe app is great – clear to use, not a lot of clutter, and provides easy browsing access. There are download buttons for saving your favorite videos or image, and share buttons to text or email out the same, allowing you 30 days to grab what you want to save. I think the free cloud storage with AI bird recognition is the right solution here. Previous products I’ve owned in this area stored data on the camera, which had to be downloaded directly to your phone – which was much more painful to use.I was skeptical about the feeder having two cameras – one straight on and one a side view, but I must admit that is makes sense here. Seeing the hummingbirds hover, perch, and feed from both angles really adds a lot.Alerts and AI detection:The AI identification worked bout 95% of the time for me. Most of the time it properly identified the hummingbirds as Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, but sometimes it mistook them as Allen’s Hummingbirds. This is surprising for two reasons: 1: The Allen’s does not live in my area, and the feeder knows its geographic location and 2: Sometimes on a single visit, the system will identify a single bird as two different types in different captures. I expect both of these issues to improve as they improve the cloud AI analysis.The App offers several configurable options for settings, including filters for what type of notifications you want, but it is still fairly simple, and I hope it gets expanded in the future, as I like lots of buttons to play with. However, there is something to be said for something simple that works well.I properly received alerts on my phone and apple watch, and then was able to disable them when they became too frequent.Cleaning:This feeder has more parts to clean than a typical hummingbird feeder, including several silicone gaskets. However, included in the box are 2 custom sized bushes to help with the cleaning, and they seem to be customized for the job, as they seem to be the perfect size.I will say that the gaskets are nice, as they allow you to fill and invert the reservoir bottle without spilling the sugar water, so they do add function, despite the additional parts to clean. The entire disassembly / reassembly of the feeder is also very easy and quick. It really is a nice mechanical design.Birdy does offer a hummingbird mount that can attach to the front of a traditional Birdfy feeder. This is a simpler reservoir design, which would be much easier to clean, but after trying out the Hum Feeder I think the side camera add a lot, so I recommend this feeder for those interested in Hummingbirds.Advice and tips:The solar charging cable is fairly long – allowing you to mount the solar panel in a sunny place, and the feeder in a shady spot. Putting the feeder in the shade slows down contaminate growth, so you won’t have to clean the feeder as often. There are also preservatives you can buy to put in the hummingbird feeder to make it last even longer.Mounting the feeder in the shade can also reduce lens glare, which impacts image quality and can cause false motion alerts.Mounting on a solid surface (need separate mounting kit) can prevent the occasional false motion triggers caused by wind rocking the feeder, but then you need to worry about ants. However, there are ant repellants you can use around hummingbird feeders.Reminder to avoid soap when cleaning a hummingbird feeder. Use diluted bleach or vinegar instead, and rinse well to remove residue.During setup, I had to temporarily disable the 5GHz wfi band. I have an eero mesh router, and instructions on how to do that are here: https://support.eero.com/hc/en-us/articles/360049983772-How-Do-I-Temporarily-Hide-the-5GHz-Band-on-My-eero-NetworkFor those worried about security issues with putting another IOT product on your home network, I set the feeder up on a guest network for additional security. As this feeder connects only through the cloud, and not directly to your phone or tablet as some other feeders to, this setup works fine.Before putting the feeder outside, it was inside for almost two weeks, with occasional triggers, and little loss in battery life. Because of this long battery life, and since you need to bring in the feeder for cleaning regularly, there is a convenient opportunity to charge the battery feeder when cleaning (however, I think charging will take several hours, so consider that). So although I recommend the solar panel version, I think you can get by without it for the Hum Feeder, but I think a solar panel is almost mandatory for other Birdfy bird feeders.

I have 3 Birdfy devices, a nest, a feeder, and a hummingbird feeder. When they work, they are really cool. The bird ID system is wrong about half the time, but I don't really care about that. They are pretty fun, and you can share with friends and family.Why 1 star? Getting them to work is a crap shoot.To get the nest to work, I had to return the first one and get a replacement. The first one kept crapping out trying to update firmware until it just wouldn't turn on. I sent it back to Amazon and the replacement updated firmware easily.To get the feeder to work, I had to return the first one. The first one just wouldn't connect to the Internet. 2nd one connected on the first try.Then the hummingbird feeder saga. Well I'm on my third one. First wouldn't connect to the Internet at all. Second would connect but would get into an endless loop trying to update firmware. I had high hopes for the third one. It connected and did the first firmware update from 1878 to 1926. Then it tried to update again and it crapped out. Can't get it to connect to the network at all now.My 4th hummingbird feeder got to the same place as the third. It updated to 1926, but when trying to do the next update to 1988 it died and would not connect to the Internet. I rebooted my router, my phone, and the device countless times. Then I tried changing my network password. I changed one digit from a 2 to a 3, and tried to get the hummingbird feeder to reconnect to the network. To my utter surprise it did and had 1988 firmware loaded. It asked to update to 1996 and I allowed it. It is back online and seems to be working. I'll have to reset my network password and hope I can get it to connect again because otherwise I have to change the password for every other device in my network and that isn't gonna happen...To help your chances make sure you are trying to connect to a 2.4ghz only network, be prepared to reset with the little pin tool, and pray to whatever God you believe in it connects on the first try or two.The live chat is useless. Probably more than useless because they just waste your time. They basically confirm your network is 2.4ghz and have you reset the thing 15 times, all while taking 3 to 5 minutes between responses. They will eventually offer to email you a file you can put on a micro SD card to update the firmware - good luck with that I couldn't get it to work. Or they will "reply via email in 24 to 48 hours" and instead take a week to give you an RMA for something you can just return to Amazon.The help people said they have all kinds of connectivity issues with firmware prior to 1931, but you can't get the damn things to connect to update the firmware if the firmware is older than that. I have spent too many hours trying to get these to work. I think the hummingbirds will have to starve.