Tweet, tweet. This is the noise the Cubo Ai Plus baby monitor makes, via an alert on my phone, when my daughter Ruby is crying.
It’s part of the bird theme that’s going on with a new monitor company called CuboAi. In this Cubo Ai Plus review, we dive into how this monitor stacks up against the rest of the wifi baby monitor crowd.
Let’s dive in.
Please note: Fathercraft is reader supported, meaning, at no cost to you, we may earn a commission if you buy after clicking an affiliate link. Learn more. Also, we received a free Cubo test unit for this review.
Additionally, we’ve partnered with Cubo to offer Fathercraft readers an exclusive savings on the Cubo AI Plus, just use code CUBOCRAFT when you check out on Cubo’s website.
In this review, we cover (click a link to jump ahead)
Cubo basics: what is Cubo Ai Plus?
What’s different from the previous model?
How to set up and use Cubo Plus
The awesome
The wish it were different
A verdict
but first, a video review of Cubo Ai Plus:
What is the Cubo Ai Plus?
The Cubo Ai Plus is the upgraded version of the Cubo Ai, which is a baby monitor that uses wifi to connect the parent unit (your phone) with the child unit (a bird-shaped camera, microphone, and temperature/humidity sensor). Cubo discontinued their old model, so we’re here to catch you up on what they’ve added.
(If you’re curious about wifi monitors and how they differ from traditional monitors, we have more on that here)
The Cubo Plus shares features common to other wifi baby monitors like Nanit, Miku, Lollipop, and more (you can find all of our baby monitor reviews here):
- Unlimited range. If your child unit is connected to wifi and your phone is connected to wifi or cellular, you can connect to your monitor.
- Use your phone as the parent unit. No need to carry around an (often bulky) additional parent unit.
- Strong picture quality. Since you’re using your phone’s display, if the monitor’s got a good camera, you’re going to get a good picture vs often lower-quality displays on traditional monitors.
In addition, Cubo has created a thoughtful list of features, some of which are present in other wifi monitors, some of which are not:
Covered face alerts. Cubo uses computer vision to recognize when your child’s face is covered by a blanket or swaddle. Since a covered face can be extremely dangerous for young babies, this is a really nice safety feature.
Temperature and humidity sensors and alerts. Cubo Plus monitors temp and humidity via dongle that plugs into the camera unit; you can set your own allowable ranges and have your phone alert you if either falls outside of your desired range.
No visible red light on the child unit. Many baby monitors, in order to improve the monitor’s night vision, have a red light on the monitor that allows the camera to see better in the dark. (Since babies should sleep in the dark, good night vision in a baby monitor is important.) This red light, if too bright, can be distracting for babies and scary for older children.
Safe zones and a ‘fence’ for alerts. You can set a virtual ‘fence’ around your child’s crib that will let you know if she climbs out of her crib when she’s older, or set a ‘danger zone’ (your kitchen, for example) for older babies or toddlers who are crawling or walking around. If your child goes past this fence, the monitor will alert you.
Automatic photo capture and events replay. The Cubo Plus uses its motion detection to automatically capture photos of your child moving about during the night or during naps, and you can watch video replays of your child’s night (Cubo Plus stores 18 hours of video)
And more … Cubo Plus has a bunch more features too—you can capture photos and video, it has a built-in nightlight, comes with a stand (some monitors sell stands separately), allows for bird’s-eye-view mounting, two-way audio, and a wide field of view.
What’s different from the old model?
Cubo made some major upgrades on their new Cubo Ai Plus. We’ll give you a high-level view on what exactly is different, then go into further detail below. Without further ado:
- High res 1080p day and night vision– Cubo Plus did some upgrading on their cam and made it even more crystal clear. This is a must improvement, and it is shocking how good the quality remains on the night vision feed.
- Cubo Plus app setup– Cubo Plus app is so much easier to set up and use. No more connection issues, no more confusing setup, and added tips on the bottom of the main screen!
- Video feed as you look at pictures– A cool new feature is the live feed of your baby sleeping in the top corner as you scroll through the app’s homepage pics. You can check out your baby while you check out your baby, what’s better?
- Ai auto photo feed– The Cubo Plus will automatically take around 5-10 photos a night and it then organizes those photos on the home screen of the app. That way you get to wake up to adorable pictures of your sleeping baby.
- Temperature and humidity dongle– The old Cubo Ai had a long stringy looking thing hanging down from the monitor that looked bizarre and was a grabble target for some older kids. Now, it’s a tiny dongle that plugs in to the back of the monitor and captures a much better reading without being a distraction.
- Sleep analytics– It may not be the same level of detail as Nanit+ Insights, but it will give you info on the time your baby went to bed, longest sleep period, time to fall asleep, and caregiver visits.
Cubo Plus setup and use
Like all wifi monitors, to set up Cubo Plus you need to first download the app (free from the Apple App Store or Google Play store), and then follow the app’s instructions for connecting the child unit to your home wifi.
The setup guide in the Cubo Plus app was well done and much easier than the previous Cubo model. There used to be issues connecting the old Cubo app to wifi, but the Cubo Plus has upgraded the user experience and there are subsequently less technical issues. They also included some super useful tips on the bottom of the main page. Good job Cubo!
Once connected, you can set danger zones, allowable temperature and humidity ranges, and more.
The biggest choice for parents of babies will be where to mount your Cubo. As we’ve discussed with other baby monitor reviews, we strongly prefer a “bird’s eye view” mount, which has your monitor mounted above the crib looking straight down into it. This prevents any blind spots and gives you a great view of what your baby is doing.
Cubo’s stand allows for this type of mounting, and crucially keeps cords contained inside the stand itself, preventing the cord from being grabbed by your baby and possibly wrapped around her neck. (Cords from monitors and all other devices should be positioned at least 3 feet away from your baby’s crib for safety.)
There is no automatic pan or tilt with the Cubo Plus, but you can manually move the camera up and down to find optimal viewing angle.
Once you’re set up, you’ll do everything from the app, which is simple and easy to use. The home screen displays the live feed, automatic photos, your child’s age, and more:
There are three other tabs in the app:
- Sleep Analytics tab shows when your baby went to bed, average time to fall asleep, caregiver visits, and longest sleep period.
- The Notifications tab shows a history of the camera’s alerts including temperature and humidity warnings, baby cried, motion, etc.
- The Settings tab allows you to adjust settings, get help, pair a new camera, and more.
Our Cubo Plus baby monitor review
Ok, now that we understand what Cubo Plus does and how it works, let’s talk about how well it works.
The awesome
Design—both real world and the app. Cubo is a well-designed product. It looks really nice, kids will love the design as they get older (the same cannot be said for some other baby monitors), and everything from the unboxing to the mobile app is well-designed and intuitive.
It just works. In part because of the design and also because of the product’s engineering, this monitor works quite well. It has strong connectivity, alerts work as designed, and it’s easy to connect quickly and understand what’s going on with your baby.
Image and sound quality. With the new upgrade to image quality, both Cubo’s day and night image quality is among the best, and it’s audio quality is quite good, too. These things paired with low latency and the ability for bird’s eye view mean you can easily see, hear, and understand what’s going on with your baby.
A thoughtful feature list. We appreciated the collection of features that the Cubo baby monitor enables—temperature and humidity, rollover & covered face alerts, and safe/danger zones that allow this monitor to remain useful as your baby turns into a toddler make this monitor well-rounded and useful.
The wish it was different
No built-in white noise. Both of us here at Fathercraft are die-hard white noise believers. All night and during naps. We’ve really appreciated monitors that have built-in white noise because 1) it’s surprisingly hard to find a good white noise machine (though we do like the Hatch Rest+) and 2) it’s another thing you’ve got to plug in and manage wherever your baby is sleeping.
No high-speed scrubbing on playback. It’s pretty awesome that Cubo stores 18 hours of video footage, but you can’t scrub through it at high speed while seeing the video feed. So, if you’re looking for something, you’ve got to guess the point in the last 18 hours you’re trying to find and navigate to it. (Though you could use the alerts feed to help you, those are time-stamped.)
The stand. I love that the stand comes with the monitor, and it’s a great deal considering other companies are selling stands for over $100. However, you do get what you pay for and the Cubo stand just isn’t as sturdy as some of the other (more expensive) options out there.
A verdict
Overall, the Cubo Ai Plus showcases some amazing upgrades from their older model, and they are moving in the right direction with their new features. The image quality, new ergonomic temp/humidity dongle, and app upgrades really push the Plus to the next level.
The Cubo’s design is both fun and functional, it’s feature list is substantial and full of stuff that’s actually useful. If you’re looking for a solid wifi baby monitor at a quite-reasonable price point, Cubo Plus is a good bet.
Pricing, and where to buy the Cubo AI Plus
The Cubo Ai Plus is typically priced at $299, but is sometimes put on sale for $269, so be sure to check Cubo’s website.
Cubo is available on Amazon, and also on Cubo’s website. Remember, if you choose to buy Cubo on their website, you can use the code CUBOCRAFT to get additional savings on Cubo, an exclusive benefit for Fathercraft’s readers.
Learn more on Cubo’s website here.
What’s next?
If you enjoyed our Cubo Ai Plus review, check out more of our baby monitor reviews or learn more about Fathercraft.
Thanks!
Editor’s notes:
- While we partnered with Cubo to offer a discount to our readers and do receive a commission for purchases made with this code, our editorial integrity is of the upmost importance to us. This was a decision made independently of our review—we think the Cubo is great, but are also not afraid to point out its flaws. You can learn more about our policies here.
- Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
