The Samsung Galaxy S5 comes with a couple of unique features like the Heart Rate Sensor and a Finger Print Scanner. However there’s also a hidden feature which can turn the Galaxy S5 into a baby monitor. To find out how it works, we’ve tried it out with a Galaxy S5 standalone and also with a paired Gear 2 smart watch.
To set it up, just head over to Settings > Accessibility > Hearing. You probably have noticed by now that this Baby Crying Detector is catered towards people with hearing disabilities. Inside, there’s a bunch of options including setting vibration pattern, its intensity and there’s even an option to flash the camera’s LED light for better attention. Once enabled, the Galaxy S5 is recommended to be placed around 1 metre from the baby and ideally in a quiet room.
Using the Galaxy S5 standalone, it will vibrate with visual alerts if crying is detected. From our testing using a sample baby crying video, it took about 5-10 seconds for the feature to detect. This would actually be more useful with a Gear 2 smart watch where you can leave the device in the room while you’re attending to something else around the house. Just make sure that you’re within the optimal Bluetooth range of about 10 metres.
Check out our video demo of the Galaxy S5’s Baby Crying Detector feature after the break.
While using this feature, it is also advisable to silent all notifications on the device as you won’t want your phone to wake up the baby. Overall it is a nice feature to cater for parents with hearing disabilities and it could also serve as a backup baby monitor if you need one.
