Levana Alexa Review

Our Verdict on the Levana Alexa Baby Monitor

The Levana Alexa is overall a good baby monitor at an attractive price point. It’s the cheapest 5” display you can get and it offers multiple cameras support. But comes at the price of a shorter range and a lower picture quality.

If you need more than one camera and like to have a large screen without breaking the bank, the Levana Alexa is for you. If you only need one camera and can do with a slightly smaller display, we recommend the Philips Avent SCD630/37 that offers better performances for less money. If you do need multiple cameras and don’t mind spending a little more, the Eufy SpaceView is our preferred option.

Continue reading our review of the Levana Alexa for the in-depth results.

Summary

WHERE TO BUY IT

• Check latest price on Amazon

Alternative options:

• The Nanit Plus Smart Camera if you want the best WiFi video baby monitor with improved video quality and insights to help improve your baby sleep ($299).
• The Eufy SpaceView is the best Plug & Play monitor on our list at the moment. It comes with a dedicated parent monitor, a high-resolution video quality, and the prettiest design (check price).
• The Lollipop camera if you want a budget-friendly WiFi monitor with great video quality. It’s one of our favorite monitors of the year as well (check price).

Overview: Levana Alexa Baby Monitor

Features: Levana Alexa Baby Monitor

Our Hands-on Review of the Levana Alexa Baby Monitor

The Levana Alexa has a lot of things going for it. It’s one of the largest display sizes, at 5”, it can support up to four cameras, it has customizable feeding and napping timer alerts, room temperature, night vision, and more (see all the features below).

All of that for a price that is very competitive!

But, we’re disappointed with the signal range that doesn’t reach very far inside the house. And the picture quality on the display isn’t taking full advantage of its larger size.

Also there is no option to see all the cameras at once and you have to manually switch from one to the next. Which isn’t as convenient as the Motorola MBP36S split screen or the Infant Optics DXR-8 auto switching whenever one of your child makes some noise.

Bottom line: if you expect to always be within 120 feet / 36 meters of your baby’s bedroom and enjoy the big screen, the Levana Alexa is for you. Otherwise, check another option from our list of the best baby monitors of the year.

Audio and Video quality

The audio quality with the Levana Alexa is good. You’ll hear your baby clearly and the volume is plenty enough to wake you up even from the deepest of sleep.

The video, however, is only average, which is disappointing as it doesn’t take full advantage of the large display. The picture quality of the Levana Alexa uses a 480 x 272 display resolution, which basically the same than the smaller screen size models, but stretched on a 5” screen.

It’s a surprising choice considering the higher resolution that the camera is capable of recording (640 x 480). That said, it’s enough to see what your baby is up to easily.

You can adjust the volume and brightness of your display easily. And you can completely turn off the video picture on your display when you go to bed if you want.

The camera on the Levana Alexa offers infrared night vision so you can clearly see your baby even in the dark or low light. The camera will automatically switch to night mode when it gets dark in your baby’s room.

Signal Strength

The range on the Levana Alexa is our biggest problem with this baby monitor. The baby monitor uses a wireless 2.4 GHz FHSS signal similar to most of the other models on our list, but the Alexa can only reach up to 500 feet / 150 meters outside, and 120 feet / 36 meters inside. Depending on your house’s layout, you might struggle with the signal quality in some rooms.

Battery Life

In our testing, the battery life on the Levana Alexa was good. It’s plenty enough to be used unplugged during nap time and when your baby goes to bed in the evening until you go to sleep. So about eight to nine hours in total with the screen on. You can bump that up to 11 hours with the screen on standby. You will need to plug it at night to recharge while you sleep however as the battery takes about 5 hours of charging to be full. Your monitor will start beeping when its battery is almost spent.

Two-way communication

The Levana Alexa has an option to talk to your baby through the camera’s speaker if you want. The two-way talk function can easily be accessed by pressing and holding the microphone button on the parent monitor. The sound only goes to the camera that is currently selected, so don’t risk waking up your child in the other room.

Expandable with up to 4 cameras

You can easily pair up to four cameras with the Levana Alexa. It’s ideal for families with multiple children, as long as their bedrooms are too far apart from one another. The add-on cameras are sold separately (you can buy them here on Amazon). The add-on cameras are exactly identical to the one that comes bundled with the parent unit.

Ease of use

The Levana Alexa is a straightforward baby monitor to use. It will take you just a few minutes to set it up, the monitor will automatically recognize the camera after you turn both on and you’ll be good to go.

Since there is no pan and tilt nor zoom functionality on the parent unit, you’ll need to position the baby camera carefully the first time you install it. We didn’t find it to be a problem though.

We do like the fact that the parent unit uses standard mini-USB plug to charge its battery. That way you can use your existing cables lying around the house if you want instead of moving the Levana power cable with you when needed.

Security: Levana hacking

Because the Levana Alexa uses an encrypted FHSS radio signal, risks of hacking and security breach are minimal. It’s impossible for someone to hack into the Levana via your Wifi connection, they would need to be within signal range. They would also need to be able to decrypt the secured signal.

Levana Alexa Health and Safety

The Levana Alexa camera connects to its parent unit through a wireless 2.4 GHz FHSS connection. It means that an electromagnetic field (EMF) will be constantly emitted from the camera to the monitor in order for you to receive an audio and video feed. We recommend that you read our article on electromagnetic field if you want to understand what it means in terms of health and safety for your baby.

In our testing, the Levana Alexa camera produced a similar EMF reading than the other baby monitors on our list when placed 6 foot / 1.8 meters away from our baby’s bed. This is the minimum approximate distance for most baby monitor cameras. The Environmental Protection Agency recommends that you limit your exposure to 0.5 mG to 2.5 mG at a time. The further you place the camera away from your baby, the less EMF they will be exposed to.

Note that the parent monitor also emits EMFs. Most parent will sleep with the unit on their bedside table, but we recommend you move it further away.

Levana Alexa: Most Frequently Asked Questions

• Question: Can I talk to my baby through the device?
  Answer: Yes. You just need to press and hold the microphone button on the monitor while talking to speak through the device in your baby’s room.

• Question: Can I see more than one camera at a time?
  Answer: No. While you can add up to four cameras to one parent unit, you will be able to see only one camera at a time. The Levana Alexa does not have a split screen mode.

• Question: Can I hear the audio from all the cameras at the same time?
  Answer: No. You can only hear the audio from one camera at a time. But you can easily switch camera from your monitor or use the auto switch option to automatically rotate from one camera to the next.

• Question: Does the Levana Alexa have an iPhone App?
  Answer: No. The Alexa model is not a Wifi baby monitor, so you will need the parent unit to see and hear your baby. Have a look at our review of the best best Wifi baby monitors if you want to be able to pair it with your iPhone or Android phone.

• Question: Can it be voice-activated?
  Answer: No. The Levana Alexa does not has a VOX mode.

• Question: Can I speak to only one camera at a time?
  Answer: Yes. When you use the two-way communication feature, your voice only goes to the camera that is currently selected.

• Question: Can the Levana Alexa baby monitor cameras be purchased separately?
  Answer: Yes. You can use up to four cameras in total with your parent monitor. You can purchase the additional add-on cameras here on Amazon.

• Question: Is the camera wireless as well?
  Answer: No. The camera will need to be plugged in at all time using the power cord included in the box.

• Question: What is the Levana baby monitor warranty?
  Answer: The Alexa comes with a standard one year warranty. We recommend you contact Levana if you experience any issue with your model after purchase. You can call them during normal office hours or email their customer support team.

• Question: What is Levana’s customer service number?
  Answer: If you’re calling from the US, you can contact Levana by phone: 1.855.293.7253.

Levana Alexa: What’s in the box

Wondering what’s in the Alexa box? Here’s everything that will be included in the Levana Alexa package:

• 1 x Parent monitor unit
• 1 x Baby camera unit
• 1 x Rechargeable battery
• 2 x Power Adaptors
• 1 x Camera Wedge

Levana Alexa User Manual

You can download the Levana Alexa baby monitor user manual from here.

Other Infant baby monitors models

• Levana Jena: An older and cheaper version than the Alexa, the Levana Jena is a great alternative if you don’t need multiple camera and want to spend less than $100 for your baby monitor.
• Levana Ayden: Just $10 more expensive than the Jena, but offers multiple camera support and comes with a large screen size. A serious contender for the Alexa if you want to stay under the $100 budget. And strangely enough, the Ayden does support lullabies playback, unlike the Alexa.

Alternative Options

• The Nanit Plus Smart Camera if you want the best WiFi video baby monitor with improved video quality and insights to help improve your baby sleep ($299).
• The Eufy SpaceView is the best Plug & Play monitor on our list at the moment. It comes with a dedicated parent monitor, a high-resolution video quality, and the prettiest design (check price).
• The Lollipop camera if you want a budget-friendly WiFi monitor with great video quality. It’s one of our favorite monitors of the year as well (check price).