Photo-Illustration: retailer I’ve been using the Infant Optics DXR-8 baby monitor every day since my 2-year-old son was about 3 months old. It’s not necessarily fancy, but I didn’t want it to be; like many parents, I preferred a radio-frequency-enabled monitor over a smarter, Wi-Fi-enabled one because of security concerns. And the DXR-8 is widely considered one of the best monitors in that category by both experts and consumers, no less than 43,800 of whom have given it 4.5 stars on Amazon .
So when Infant Optics reached out to me a couple months ago about trying its newest closed-loop monitor, the DXR-8 Pro, I was intrigued. Not only because I probably have another year of monitoring my son’s sleep, but also because, with a price just $35 more than the original, I wondered how much different it could actually be? If judged by looks alone, the answer to that question would be: Not that different. The display unit is bigger and has a larger screen — up to 5 inches from 3.
Back in the day, when the monitors were just audio, you were guided by the sound of your child. To me, that was sufficient. Fast forward to video, I think you’re invading the child’s privacy.