Tommee Tippee Dreamsense Smart Baby Monitor review

Tommee Tippee claims that the Dreamsense allows you to take a break from constant monitoring since it will only alert you when necessary, helping you to relax and (hopefully!) get more sleep. The price puts it firmly in the high-end of the baby monitor market, alongside the Cubo Ai Pus Smart Baby Monitor, £289 and the Motorola Halo+ MBP944 HD Video Monitor, £279.99, although it’s worth knowing that the Dreamsense Smart Baby Monitor is currently available for just £199.99 on the Tommee Tippee website.

What were your first impressions?

The monitor looks sleek and modern as it comes out of the box, with a stylish white baby unit, parent pod and charging cables. It only has a few, lightweight parts and a short instruction manual so it looks easy to set up. I was surprised and pleased to see it comes with different adaptors for abroad, so it would work well for travel.

The Dreamsense appears well-designed, as you would expect from Tommee Tippee. There’s no parent unit with a screen because you use your smartphone to check the video. Instead, there is a USB-chargeable, pocket-sized parent pod with a light on each side, to show you any issues at a glance.

How does the Tommee Tippee Dreamsense Smart Baby Monitor compare to other Tommee Tippee monitors?

While Tommee Tippee has sold simpler audio and video baby monitors over the years, the Dreamsense is the brand’s first smart monitor – connecting to your phone instead of a separate unit with the screen. It tracks your baby’s sleep patterns to help you identify ongoing issues – a huge bonus and a great feature for those who want their little one to get some more shut-eye.

The previous iteration of Tommee Tippee monitors, the Dreamee Sound, Motion and Video Baby Monitor, £219.99, comes with a sensor pad under the mattress, but the Dreamsense instead features in-built sensors for sound, light and humidity and smart sound detectors that distinguish between baby sounds and other background noise. I prefer in-built sensors to a sensor pad, but some may like the reassurance of a pad that can detect if your baby's movement stops during the night – if your child stops breathing or stands up, for example.

One complaint I noticed in reviews of the Dreamee was the bright nightlight. The Dreamsense nightlight now turns off automatically after 40 minutes, so it won’t disturb your baby when they are in deep sleep. The Dreamsense can also play pink noise and your own pre-recorded tracks to your baby, in addition to the music and lullabies of the Dreamee.

The sharp HD night-vision camera is a real improvement, with a wide-angle lens that provides a full view of the cot and most of the nursery. It also has a 3x digital zoom and snapshot function.

How does the Tommee Tippee Dreamsense Smart Baby Monitor compare to other baby monitors you have used?

I have used the BT Baby Monitor 6000 (now discontinued), which is cheaper at £119.98, but the camera isn’t as clear and doesn’t offer a wide-angle lens. It does have a night vision camera, temperature alerts and 2-way talkback, but no smartphone app.

I’ve also used the Angelcare AC327 Baby Movement Monitor, which is cheaper at £210, and comes with a motion Sensor Pad – but again doesn’t have an app or sleep analysis tracking and doesn’t play music or pink noise. The Angelcare doesn’t distinguish between background and baby noise and doesn’t monitor humidity. However, the Dreamsense didn’t always distinguish between baby and background noise accurately and I wasn’t sure I required this feature.

I found it much harder to get the Angelcare camera in the right position – it comes with screws for the wall, but you may not want to attach it in this way. The Dreamsense has such a wide-angle lens that it just took a few tests and tilt adjustments to get a full view of the cot.

How easy is the Tommee Tippee Dreamsense Smart Baby Monitor to set up?

I’d say this monitor is easy to put together and set up. First, you simply plug in your monitor’s baby unit and turn it on. You then need to download the Tommee Tippee app and pair the baby unit with your phone, following simple instructions on the app. The orange light on the unit will turn solid white once it’s connected. Then plug the unit into a power socket in the nursery and find the right spot to monitor your baby. This all took a fairly short amount of time. The parent pod needs to be charged for 4 hours before first use but can be used while charging.

The instruction manual was a little bit confusing, and it took me a bit of time to get my head around how the different lights on the parent pod worked. There is a day and night setting and different coloured lights to show when the pod is disconnected and when there are disturbances from your baby or changes to their environment.

The real challenge with set-up is getting the sensitivity settings right for your home. The monitor picks up baby noise and environment noise, but I found it was recording some baby sounds as environment sounds, and the sound of our white noise machine caused some crackling through the parent pod.

Does the Tommee Tippee Dreamsense Smart Baby Monitor have an adjustable camera?

Yes. The wide-angle camera comes with a stand and 190-degree horizontal pan, 80-degree tilt and 120-degree field of vision, so it was much easier to tilt to get a full view of our baby’s cot than I have experienced with previous monitors. You can also zoom to 3x on your phone for a close-up of your little one.

Is it easy to position the Tommee Tippee Dreamsense Smart Baby Monitor camera correctly?

It was pretty easy to get the camera in the right spot. We placed it high up and could see the whole of the cot and most of the baby’s nursery. The parent pod is wireless so it’s nice and portable, except when charging via USB.

How easy is it to connect the Tommee Tippee Dreamsense Smart Baby Monitor to your smartphone?

Very easy; we connected the monitor to 2 phones in a short amount of time. You download the Tommee Tippee app and then follow the instructions to find the baby unit via your WiFi. A flashing light on the unit will turn solid when your phone is connected to the device. There were a few spelling errors in the on-screen instructions, which seemed careless, but they were easy to follow.

You can tweak the settings on your phone to ensure you have the perfect sleep environment for your child – choose your preferred temperature range, humidity, and sensitivity to sound. This may take some time to get just right, especially for those who are less comfortable with smartphone technology. But once it’s set, you should be good to go.

What is the sound quality like on the Tommee Tippee Dreamsense Smart Baby Monitor?

The sound quality is terrific on your smartphone when you open the app – you can clearly hear every noise in the room. But at times I found the sound on the parent pod a little staticky and it cut in and out.

You can adjust the volume on your parent pod and adjust the sensitivity to environmental noise and baby noise on your phone, so the pod only picks up loud cries rather than quieter whimpering during sleep, for example. We had to play around with these sensitivity settings a fair bit as the parent pod was picking up a lot of background noise. Some reviews have said the pod registered the sound of their white noise as baby noise. Once you have tweaked the sensitivity to suit your home it should work as designed.

Was there any background noise when using the Tommee Tippee Dreamsense Smart Baby Monitor?

There was some background noise that came through the parent pod for us. We had to lower the environment sensitivity to get rid of this problem. This could be a useful feature if you want to check how much noise can be heard in the baby’s room, but I found the pod didn’t always accurately distinguish between background and baby noise.

Was there any interference?

We did experience some crackling at times through the Tommee Tippee Dreamsense Smart Baby Monitor. I think this was in part to do with sensitivity settings. The brand says that if you are hearing feedback, it could be because your volume settings are high and the parent pod is close to the baby unit, which is common with baby monitors. To fix this, you can move away from the baby unit, pause the parent pod or mute your phone.

What is the Tommee Tippee Dreamsense Smart Baby Monitor picture quality like?

The picture is crystal-clear thanks to a high-quality, HD night-vision camera and 3x zoom. You can click to zoom or use 2 fingers as you would to zoom in on any image on a smartphone. I loved being able to see my baby’s features so clearly and in full colour, I could easily see his chest moving as he breathed. Occasionally our video took a few seconds to connect – you do need a good WiFi connection.

Does the Tommee Tippee Dreamsense Smart Baby Monitor offer any data analysis of baby’s sleep?

There is a sleep tracking function and I think this is an excellent feature. You set your baby’s bedtime and wake time and, in the morning, the app will show a summary of how your baby slept. My baby isn’t a great sleeper and I’ve previously noted down his wakeup times and duration so I remember them in the morning and can track them over time. It is far easier having an app to do this for you.

The tracker isn’t always completely accurate in assessing what the sounds are. For example, one night it told me that my baby had had just one wake up, and that there was an environmental noise later. In fact, that noise was another wake-up. You can tweak your settings to fix these issues.

Does the Tommee Tippee Dreamsense Smart Baby Monitor play lullabies?

It does. The entertainment mode is a nice feature, offering a choice of soothing tunes of about 1 minute each including Row Your Boat, Twinkle Twinkle and Baa Baa Black Sheep. You can also play pink noise or a recording of your own. You can play these at any time by pressing a button on your smartphone app. It would be useful to be able to record a longer track but it is possible to shuffle the tracks so you can have the pink noise playing on repeat, for example.

Does the monitor have a temperature indicator?

It does, and in the monitor settings on your smartphone, you can set ‘Comfort Zones’ to ensure your child is sleeping in the ideal environment and check for any changes. You can toggle to change the sensitivity of the mics picking up background and baby sounds. You can also set your temperature, humidity and brightness comfort zones and you will be notified of anything outside the range you set. This worked perfectly and I love that it measures humidity too, which most monitors do not.

Is there a talk-back function?

Yes, you can press and hold a button on your phone to talk to your child. This was easy to use and perfectly clear.

Does the Tommee Tippee Dreamsense Smart Baby Monitor have a movement sensor?

No, there isn’t a movement sensor pad like the one seen on the Tommee Tippee Dreamee monitor or something like the Angelcare AC327. However, you are notified of any background noise. I don’t find movement sensors particularly useful and believe they can increase your anxiety levels so I wasn’t bothered about this, but they may provide some parents with reassurance.

Does the Tommee Tippee Dreamsense Smart Baby Monitor operate via WiFi?

The monitor does operate by WiFi and Tommee Tippee says this is a safe and secure connection. It says the monitor is compliant with international security standards, and the app uses 2-factor authentication for your privacy and protection.

What power sources does the Tommee Tippee Dreamsense Smart Baby Monitor use?

The baby unit plugs into the mains and the parent pod is wireless and USB rechargeable. It takes about 4 hours to charge, and the battery life is 6 hours. This means you can carry it around the house, but you do need to plug it in overnight – that was fine for me as I plugged it in by my bed when I went to sleep.

How portable is it the monitor?

This Tommee Tippee Dreamsense Smart Baby Monitor is super portable as it’s lightweight with just a few parts, and the parent pod is wireless and rechargeable with 6-hour battery life after a 4-hour charge.

Several adaptors are included in the box to enable easy use of the monitor when abroad. The baby unit’s wide-angle lens tilts and pans to give you a clear view of your child in their cot and should be easy to set up and move around in any setting.

How robust and durable does it feel?

The Dreamsense feels extremely robust and durable. Since you view the video via your smartphone, there’s no risk of a cracked screen, and the palm-sized parent pod is compact and solid. The camera is neatly embedded into a protective stand that tilts in the centre. It would be hard to break and seems like a reliable product.

What were your favourite features of the Tommee Tippee Dreamsense Smart Baby Monitor?

My favourite features were the sleep-tracking function and the high-definition picture. I hadn’t used a smart monitor before and loved the fact that my husband and I could both connect our smartphones to the monitor and check on the baby or adjust the comfort zones from wherever we were in the house or garden. The 80m parent pod range is also really impressive and great for people with large homes. The baby unit’s wide-lens camera is tremendous for getting the best possible view of your little one and is much better than other monitors I have used.

Are there any design elements you found particularly useful?

I like that when using the Tommee Tippee Dreamsense you can pause the parent pod with a tap on the large central button, at which point the lights turn red, and that the lights turn purple when it is disconnected. You can also adjust the brightness of the lights or turn them off in night mode.

The icons on the app are particularly useful as they show at a glance if the parent pod is offline or if any settings are outside your comfort zone with a red outline around that icon.

Now you’ve tested the Tommee Tippee Dreamsense Smart Baby Monitor, what would you have wanted to know before purchasing?

I think it’s important to know that there’s no parent unit with a screen so you can’t simply glance at your baby sleeping while you’re watching TV or having dinner. However, this does reduce the anxiety of constant checking because you have to open the app to check the video.

I would have also wanted to know that the sound through the parent pod can be a bit crackly at times, although this can happen with most monitors. I’m also not convinced it distinguishes between background and baby noise completely accurately.

What’s in the box?

• Baby unit
• Multi-region power adaptor plug
• 2.5m USB-C power cable
• Parent pod
• 1.2m USB-C charging cable
• User manual

What are the additional accessories that you can buy?

• Dreammaker™ Light and Sound Baby Sleep Aid, £29.99
• Go Egg2 Ambient Room Thermometer, £32.99
• Portable Blackout Blind, £21.99

Who would you say the Tommee Tippee Dreamsense Smart Baby Monitor would be most useful for?

This product would be ideal for any parent who wants an intuitive smart monitor that’s easy to use via a smartphone app, with no fiddly buttons and complicated settings. It’s also great if you want to track your baby’s sleep, and if you are keen to have a clear view of your baby with no need to buy extra attachments or drill into the wall to set up the camera.

It would also be handy for people with large homes and gardens as it has a range of 80m and 2 parents can both check in on the app from different rooms. Plus, it may reduce anxiety as the parent pod lights turn off in the night and only come on if there’s a noise. The fact that you need to open the app to check the video may reduce the stress of constant checks of a screen.

Is the Tommee Tippee Dreamsense Smart Baby Monitor worth the money?

This is a premium product at £299.99 but that’s pretty reasonable for a smart monitor – and I expect that will be the main type of monitor in a few years. It’s really valuable to have sleep tracking as well as clear audio and visuals, and I love being able to adjust settings and check in quickly via an app. The parent pod is a clever addition, and this may well suit many families.

How does the Tommee Tippee Dreamsense Smart Baby Monitor compare to similar baby monitors?

Where can I buy the Tommee Tippee Dreamsense Smart Baby Monitor?

Available at Tommee Tippee, Argos and John Lewis.

MadeForMums verdict:

Overall, I liked the Tommee Tippee Dreamsense Smart Baby Monitor for its smartphone app and excellent camera – I’d definitely favour a smart monitor in the future. I did find the sound through the parent pod a little crackly and the intelligent microphones did not always accurately distinguish between background and baby sound for me, but I was able to fix this with some tweaking of the sensitivity settings. I would recommend this product for the simple set-up, sleep tracking and at-a-glance settings for temperature, humidity and brightness. The camera is superb and simple to adjust, and the audio is fantastic through your smartphone. It would be perfect for travel with its lightweight parts, wireless parent pod, and wide-lens camera.