Hik 16 Channels 1U 16 PoE 8K NVR Network Video Recorder Compatible with HIK IP Camera(International English Version No HDD) 7616NI-M2/16P

This review is for DS-7732NI-M4 32 Channel 8K NVR. I have a mixture of older 4K cams and newer PTZ 4K cams from a variety of vendors (20+ cams total). I needed to expand my recording capability and bought a few different NVRs, this was the only one that worked with all cameras, but the setup was a long trial and error. Instructions are better than most, but still not complete. The interface is really a pain, but once you wipe your setup few times accidentally, you learn what not to do. You can fit four harddrives into the case, it is big. Overall, the best value for the money I found, more importantly, it works and does not seem to crash. Will update after a year or two my review.

I had high hopes for this Hikvision recorder based on feedback from friends and reviews. Unfortunately, this one just missed the mark for my needs. This recorder is really meant for two use cases: 1. HikVision cameras connected via POE and other cameras (HikVision or IP cams) that support ONVIF.Based on everything I read, i should have been able to connect cameras via POE and have them work, but that was not at all the case. I was able to get it to work on a limited capacity -- by manually configuring individual cameras, I could get them to work with the NVR, but the capabilities were incredibly limited. None of the "smart" detection features were supported even though this recorder was supposed to support the capability using either in-built camera capabilities or through it's image processing software on the NVR.The capabilities for cameras connected via ONVIF were just as bad, if not worse than the manually setup cameras via POE.If you are setting up a new system with all HikVision, you'll probably get much better results, but don't believe the claims about compatibility with other cameras or brands.