Motorola MBP36XL 5″ Review

Hailey By: Hailey | Last updated January 23, 2021

Motorola MBP36XL 5″ baby monitor camera base unit

9.2 / 10

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PROS:

  • Good image and sound quality
  • Rechargeable batteries for when you have to use the system unplugged
  • LED sound level indicator
  • 5 lullabies
  • Room temperature display

CONS:

  • Motion blur is a bit high
  • No app, can’t control the system via your smartphone/tablet
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SUMMARY:

The Motorola MBP36XL is a great video baby monitor. The base unit has a generous 5” display, the sound and image are clear and high-quality and both the camera and parent unit have included rechargeable batteries that allow you to use the system unplugged. The only downside to this system is the lack of an app to be able to control the baby monitor directly from your smartphone.

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COMPLETE REVIEW

You might see Motorola mainly as one of the pioneers on the cellular phones market, but as a telecommunication company, they offer much more. And one of their most thriving segment for some years now is that of monitoring systems. Among others, Motorola commercializes home monitors, pet monitors and baby monitors.

Some of their baby monitors rank quite high, and one of them is the Motorola MBP36XL. The MBP36XL is a 5” wireless video monitor, with an impressive range and several useful features.

Here are the main specifications of the MBP36XL baby monitor:

  • 5” color screen
  • Weight: 7.2 ounces
  • Dimensions: 3.7 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
  • Rechargeable lithium-ion battery;
  • Up to 1000 ft range
  • Infrared night vision
  • Two-way communication
  • 5 lullabies
  • Expandable up to 4 cameras

The Motorola MBP36XL is a smart, wireless video monitoring system. It consists of the camera itself and the parent/base unit. You can pair up to 4 cameras to the system, but of course you have to buy them separately. If you do get another additional camera for the system, you can also use the split-screen viewing.

The base unit comes with a 5”LCD display, which is large enough to see everything that’s going on with your baby. The camera has infrared night vision, it can tilt, it has zoom and a high sensitivity microphone that allows two-way communication. You can also use the pan function, by pressing on the left and right buttons. In order to tilt the camera, you have to use the up and down buttons.

The parent unit comes with a stand in the back so you don’t have to find something to lean the device on. There is also a StarGrip you can buy extra for the camera, so you can place it in a variety of places. The grip lets you attach the camera to brackets, shelves and so on.

Features

In case your baby monitor doesn’t come fully charged, it is best to fully charged before you set it up and start using it. You have to leave it for 16 hours to get fully charged. Once that’s done, the setup process itself is as easy as it gets. You simply turn on the camera, you turn on the base unit and that’s it.

The camera should be plugged in, but the battery inside it also allows you to use it unplugged in case you have to move it from one room to another. It has a life of 3 hours on a single charge. This is also an important feature for scenarios in which your power goes out, because thanks to the battery, you’ll still be able to see your baby.  For the base unit, the battery life is 9.5 hours on a charge.

The base unit has 8 buttons, four on the right and four on the left. You’ve got the power button, the mic button that lets you talk to your baby, the up and down/left and right buttons that allow you to pan and tilt, an OK button and a Menu button.

One useful thing about the MBP36XL is that it has audio notifications. There are colored LEDs on the top of the screen, which indicate the sound level, so even if the screen is turned off, you can still see on the screen the LED sound level indicator and hear your baby.

You can set both the camera and screen to stay on for a specific time. You can choose between 2, 4 or 6 hours for the camera and 5, 30 or 60 minutes for the screen.  

The image is clear, bright, everything looks sharp and the colors are natural. The motion blur is a bit high, but the overall image quality is really good.  

The sound volume can be adjusted and there’s almost no white noise with the Motorola MBP36XL.

There are some other cool bonus features with the Motorola MBP36XL baby monitor. You’ve got a room temperature display and 5 included lullabies to play to your baby.

The range of the Motorola MBP36XL is pretty good, it can go up to 1000 ft. In case you are out of range you do get an alert. There is also an alert for low battery level.

The MBP36XL uses wireless 2.4 GHz FHSS. So even though the camera and the base unit do communicate using wireless technology, the FHSS (frequency hopping spread spectrum) ID used by the camera means that the connection can’t be seen in your list of WiFi connections, which makes it more of a secure network.

Overall, the Motorola MBP36XL is a very reliable baby monitor. It has a good image and sound quality, it is extremely easy to set up and use and includes several useful features.

Pricing

You can buy the Motorola MBP36XL on Amazon for $121, with 1 camera included. If you want 2 cameras, you have to pay $229. The Star Grip is not included in the box, you have to purchase it separately and it costs approximately $20.

Help/Support

E-mail: [email protected]

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Our editorial staff evaluates products and services independently, but Best Review Guide may earn money when you click on links. Read our advertising disclosure.

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