Mama Bear Review: Technaxx Game Camera

Game cameras have multiple purposes including wildlife photography, home surveillance, and animal tracking. For example, a few months after we had moved to our mountain home, our neighbor came over and kindly requested that if someone was going to pee in the woods, it would be nice if they would turn the other way. Apparently he had multiple cameras on his adjacent property set up for surveillance of animals and humans alike. He has a big problem with poachers and illegal hunting on his property.

After he explained to us about his cameras, we decided to set some up as well. We have lots of wildlife including deer, moose, elk, bears and mountain lions. But, we also have trespassers too. We didn’t realize that so many people were trespassing on our property until we had set up the cameras. The ones we had set up were extremely big and bulky and hard to camouflage. If you are experienced with game cameras, you know that the older ones weigh a ton and are really big. Over the years, game camera technology has improved and that is why I am so excited about the Technaxx Mini Nature Wild Cam RX-117. **Please note, this camera was sent as a courtesy to review. However, I only recommend products that I have tried myself and I love.

This was a fun gadget to play around with. There are multiple settings and I have set it up in multiple spots. As with any game camera, you never know what you will find when you check it. There was a bit of trial and error but in the end I was able to capture a moose!!! Technaxx is a German-based company known for auto-accessories and technology, home surveillance, sound and other consumer gadgets.

Here are a few of the Technaxx Mini features:

• Size – It fits into the palm of your hand and is a bit bigger than a pack of cards. It is almost half the size of other game cameras that are on the market.
• Video – The Technaxx Mini offers full HD video capacity at 1080p and triggers at 0.6 seconds. All video has sound. You can set up the camera to take videos from 3 seconds to 10 minutes apart.
• Picture – This camera takes high quality and very clear pictures up to about 60 feet. It takes pictures during the day and has infrared for night time.
• Settings – There are multiple settings including range, sensitivity, time-lapse capturing or continuous up to 24 hours. Choose video or camera only mode, or both.
• Built-in Motion Sensor – Motion detection (PIR) can trigger from up to 15 meters or 150 feet. (The moose in the picture was a little over 150 feet from the camera). You can adjust the range and sensitivity of the sensor.
• Long battery life – I have been using this for over three weeks now continuously and the battery still shows as full.
• Play-back – Easily check your photos and playback your videos on the screen on the camera.
• Indoor or outdoor use – Use inside or outside. The Technaxx Mini is water-resistant up to IP56.

This camera was extremely easy to set up. It comes with a strap, the camera, batteries (requires 4 AA batteries), a USB cord and the manual. It requires a microSD card, which is not included. The manual is easy to read and I had no problem following the directions. A few things that I suggest when setting it up are:

• Play around with the settings. Choose what you are trying to capture such as your bird feeder or the street and be sure to test it before leaving it. I had put it on the least sensitive setting and a short distance and got absolutely nothing. Once I set it on a higher sensitivity and a longer range, I was able to get what I wanted.
• Make sure it is on before you leave it. Once you set it to the on setting, it will count down on the screen from 15 seconds.
• If you are using it to track wildlife, look for signs of scat and tracks. I would set it about 10 feet from the trail for optimization.
• Don’t forget to check that the date and time are set.

I am so thrilled with the quality and size. I was really excited about how small it was because it makes it less noticeable without compromising the quality of the video or photos. The Technaxx Mini would make any dad a great gift for home security, hunting, tracking or bird photography. I can’t wait to see what else we get on camera.