I’m seeing no shortage of Wi-Fi baby monitors popping up and for good reason. The ability to check on your baby with your smartphone or tablet is super convenient.  I recently tested out the new D-Link HD Wi-Fi Baby Camera, which gives you remote access from your mobile device or laptop. If you’re in the market for a video baby monitor, here’s why you’ll want to take a second look at this one in particular.

Out of the box, the D-Link comes with a compact camera which fits into the palm of your hand, the power cord, and mounting accessories. The only other thing you need to get going is the free myDlink Baby Camera Monitor app for iOS or Android.

All in all, set up took me about 15 minutes, which is pretty awesome.

The camera quality is quite impressive, which makes sense since it’s HD, but I was surprised that it was so crisp and clear from my mobile phone. I tested it in different light settings and the night vision feature kicked in nicely, which means you won’t have to try and decipher whether you’re looking at your baby’s head or their favorite stuffed animal in the middle of the night.

The ability to play lullabies and the temperature alerts are nice-to-have features, but what I really think is most useful is the two-way communication, which you can do directly from your mobile device, whether you’re in the next room during naptime, or at a restaurant on date night while Grandma is babysitting.

Not to mention it saves you the trip from having to get out of your warm bed in the middle of the night, should your voice be all your baby needs to fall back asleep. I can’t count how many times I’ve gotten up and the baby’s fallen back to sleep by the time I’ve arrived at her bedside. Grrrr.

Beyond the home, the monitor lets you or anyone you give access to (with your secure log-in) the ability to see what’s going on on the homefront, even if you’re not there. Granted, I don’t need to see every single thing my baby’s doing during the day, but if she’s doing something ridiculously cute while I’m at work, it’s nice that I can see it happening in real-time whenever I want and even talk to her through the monitor. I can even take still pictures through the app of whatever the monitor is capturing, which is a neat feature.

I realize there have been some rumblings about Wi-Fi baby monitors being “hacked” in the past, but really, they were just on open networks. Just be sure to protect your Wi-Fi  with a good password. And don’t teach your 10-month old your credit card number. Ha.

At $179, the monitor is definitely an investment, but pretty comparable to the higher end video monitors I’ve seen. And really, with all the features and how smart it is, it’s really like having a couple of regular baby monitors all in one.

The D-Link HD Wi-Fi Camera is available from major retailers like Target and our affiliate Amazon.