Moultrie XV-7000i Review

The Moultrie XV-7000i is an inexpensive 4G/LTE Verizon cellular trail camera. The XV-7000i excels at taking quality pictures, triggering quickly, and being relatively easy to setup. The data plans are relatively expensive, but overall, this is a very solid cellular camera for the price. - TCP Staff

Model # MCG-13309 | XV7000i Owner's Manual

XV-7000i FAQ's

Trailcampro Comprehensive Score:

77/100

Moultrie XV-7000i Trail Camera Review

Pros

• Fast trigger speed and good detection range
• Excellent photo quality

Cons

• Relatively expensive data plans
• False triggers fairly often

The Moultrie XV7000I cellular trail and game camera uses a 4G/LTE Sierra Wireless WP7603-1 module that allows this camera to operate on Verizon 4G/LTE towers. It is backwards compatible and should work on 3G towers while they are still active.

Picture Quality: 92/100

Photo resolution: 20 mpxl (interpolated)

Flash Type: Low Glow IR

Photo quality is outstanding for such an inexpensive Moultrie XV7000I cellular trail and game camera. Day pictures have tons of color, good clarity, and impressive depth to each image. Night imagery is bright, clear, and only possesses a slight "halo" effect. There is a touch of whiteout on close objects, but not enough to bother us. Overall, picture quality is excellent for a cellular camera.

What if you purchase from us and aren't happy with the image quality?

This is a common question and we have a very simple solution. Call, email, or chat with us and we can take a look at the images and offer suggestions or immediately tell if something is wrong with the camera. If so, we will warranty the Moultrie XV7000I cellular trail and game camera for you (with the free 2-Year warranty you receive from us) or return the camera for a full refund (within 90 days of purchase). You have control of the process, remember, we work for you.

Megapixel Ratings:

In the past, many people get confused with the megapixel rating trail camera manufacturers advertise. Companies inflate the mpxl rating to attract eyes to their products. They do this through interpolation, which digitally adds megapixels to a photo without actually improving the picture.

The best way to judge picture quality is to look at actual pictures. You will notice this the most when you zoom in on a full-size image that a camera has taken. The details of the photo will appear hazy or even digitized. This is normal, and to be expected.

Battery Life: 60/100

Picture & Video Resting Power (on): 1.35 mW

Picture Daytime/Nighttime Power Consumption: 72.23 Ws | 76.16 Ws

If this Moultrie XV7000I cellular trail camera took 15-day pictures and 15-night pictures every 24 hours, it would last 2.4 months on a set of lithium batteries.

Detection Circuit: 78/100

Picture Trigger & Recovery Speed: 0.29 s. | 64 s.*

Video Trigger Speed: 1.21 s.

Detection Range & Angle: 90 ft. @ 49.4 ° Detection Angle (40.9° field of view)

Trigger speed is exceptional quick for a cellular camera.

* Recovery time is unique and unorthodox. It will take some explaining. This MCG-13309 camera does not take and send a single photo. When it is "triggered" it will stay active for a few minutes and continue taking photos as long as the motion is in front of the camera. When the motion stops, the camera sends all the photos it took during that time period. The minimum amount of time for this is 2-3 minutes.

This can either be a positive or negative depending on your point of view. The positive is that if you have an interesting animal or sequence, you won't miss much. You'll have multiple pictures with no "down time." The negative is if a thief sees your camera during that time period and shuts the camera off before it can send the photos. So, whether the recover time is a positive or negative completely depends on your point of view. For the purpose of scoring, we rate the recovery time at 64 seconds as that is how long the camera takes to recover and send a photo. This is not a "real life" scenario but is as accurate as we can make it for the purpose of our rating system.

The detection range is 90 ft. on an average day (impressive) and the detection angle is about 10° wider than the field of view. This will result in a few false triggers.

Quality of Design: 77/100

Dimensions: 8.5" x 5" x 4"

Battery Type: 12 AA

External Battery Jack: 12-volt

Case Design

The MCG-13309 is large and has an odd, unorthodox shape. The exterior of the camera feels sturdy and durable. The XV-7000i offers a threaded insert on the bottom of the camera for a Slate River Mount and three spots for a Python Cable Lock, including one on the front that would lock the sd card inside the camera.

The latch is huge and very easy to open. When closing it, make sure you snap both the top and bottom of the latch tight, it would be easy to hear the click from one side and incorrectly assume the other side is shut. This could let water in if both sides aren't snapped shut completely.

The batteries load in the back of the camera. In order to keep the batteries from popping out when loading, you will want to insert them side-by-side instead of top-over-bottom. There are only a few buttons on the camera itself (most settings are done via the app), but they are easy to toggle or click through. There is no screen on the inside of the camera.

Camera Setup

The camera's setup is done via the app on your phone. We find the app to be adequate, but not super intuitive. During setup it wasn't uncommon to have to search around for a while before finding the area to change the settings or the status. This would undoubtedly get easier in time, just not intuitive right off the bat.

The XV7000i does allow the user to set the upload frequency from Immediate, 1/day, 2/day, 4/day, or 8/day. It does not have programmable start/stop time but does have hybrid mode (photo + video).

Cellular Setup

1. Download Moultrie Mobile smartphone app and create an account (or login to an existing account).
2. Go to "My Account" > "Activate Device." Enter the serial number and modem ID (this is found on a sticker above the battery compartment).
3. Purchase data plan
4. Turn camera on, wait 15 seconds for all the lights to stabilize, click the format sd card button. When the light goes from yellow to green, format is complete.
5. Click the "Connect/Status" button once. This will connect the camera to your app.
6. You can now go into the app and change settings or view pictures (it took our cameras 5-10 minutes to start sending pictures). For testing purposes, we recommend changing the Upload Frequency to "Instant" during testing. You can scale it back later if you prefer.

Data Plans

• 12000 Images: $49.99
• 6,000 Images: $29.99
• 3,000 Images: $19.99
• 1,500 Images: $14.99
• 850 Images: $9.99
• 100 Images: $4.99

These data plans are expensive compared to what other cellular data plans cost.

Durability

We currently do not have any durability concerns but will update the review if anything arises.

Keep in mind, our 2-year warranty program is your free insurance program in case something goes wrong with a camera you purchase from us. This warranty protects you from any manufacturing defect the camera might experience for two years.

The Moultrie XV-7000i is an inexpensive 4G/LTE Verizon cellular trail camera. The XV-7000i excels at taking quality pictures, triggering quickly, and being relatively easy to setup. The data plans are relatively expensive, but overall, this is a very solid cellular camera for the price.

Since 2005, our mission has to been to provide consumers with unbeatable value, advice you can trust, and customer service that exceeds expectations. There are plenty of places you can choose to do business with, if we are lucky enough to earn your support, we promise to give you our undivided attention. Trailcampro has grown each year not only by relying on your happiness but on the assumption that if we blow you away with customer service, you will brag about us to your friends (have you seen our referral/reward program?).

As always, if you have additional questions, feel free to call, email or chat with us. We look forward to helping you find your next trail camera!

Enjoy our reviews? Please consider purchasing your next trail camera from us.

FAQ's: Moultrie XV-7000i Trail Camera

Q: How do I view the pictures?

A: There are a number of ways to do this. Pictures/videos are stored on the SD card you place in the camera. Here are some other methods for viewing images:

• View pictures on your computer. Plug the SD card in a desktop computer or laptop via the built-in SD card reader or use a SD USB card reader if your computer doesn't have one. This method works for most tablets as well. With this method, we recommend having two SD cards per camera so you can swap them in the field.
• Trail Camera Viewers. While more expensive, handheld viewers are useful if you don't have a smartphone or run multiple trail cameras.

Q: Will this trail camera trigger on small animals (birds, rodents, etc.)?

A: Trail cameras detect on a combination of heat and movement, so, yes, small mammals will trigger the camera. However, if you are going after smaller warm-blooded mammals, we recommend getting the camera closer to your target. For best performance, place the camera in an area that would enable picture detection from 3 - 20 ft.

Q: Can animals see the infrared flash on this camera?

A: This is a low glow trail camera, meaning it has an extremely faint red glow when taking pictures or videos at night. We rate cameras as low glow if we can see the glow within 15 ft., but have a much harder time seeing it at a greater distance.

Q: Where can I purchase this camera?

A: From us! We hope to woo you with our incredible charm, two-year warranty, 90-day returns, free continental U.S. shipping, and technical expertise. If that isn't enough, we give you a 16 Gig SD card with this camera and you can call and talk our ear off anytime.

Seriously, though, we know you have plenty of options of where to spend your hard-earned money. The internet can be the wild, wild, west of too-good-to-be-true deals. If you choose to do business with us, we will go out of our way to make sure you are happy with the camera you select and the service we provide you.

We are passionate about testing and reviewing trail cameras, but most importantly, we are passionate about treating our customers the right way. We do things differently from what you have come to expect from other internet retailers and we hope you give us the opportunity to prove that to you.

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