Masimo's camera, baby boot and app bundle impresses, but not a perfect package (2024)

It’s an emerging trend targeted at new parents: baby monitors that also include a wearable device–usually a “smart” sock or boot–that can measure and monitor an infant’s vitals and display it on a companion app.

Consider it a more comprehensive look at how your baby is doing in their crib, at night or during nap time, allowing you to see and hear your little one, but also what’s not visibly apparent, like pulse rate, oxygen saturation and skin temperature–and mom, dad, or caregiver can receive alerts if anything seems off.

While brands like Owlet have one of these cameras and wearable bundles, Masimo is a global leader in pulse oximeters for hospitals with decades of experience in SET (Signal Extraction Technology). (And until a recent legal dispute, the tech was also embedded in Apple Watch devices, too.) Masimo now offers a package called Stork Vitals+, billed as a complete smart home baby monitoring system.

Granted, for some, the Stork Boot may provide too much information to stress over, but for others it provides extra peace of mind.

And it’s a no brainer why you’d want something like this if your child has a medical condition. Stork Vitals+ ($449) includes the Stork Boot, camera, and app to tie it all together. Note: This is the successor to Stork Vitals ($299), which includes the Stork Boot with sensor and a hub (see below), but no camera (which could be purchased on its own, for $199). Stork Vitals+ has it all in the box, along with an optional camera mount and cable covers.

About the Masimo Stork Vitals+

• Dimensions (camera): 3.13 x 3.13 x 4.18 inches

• Weight: 0.7 pounds (318 grams)

• Connectivity for camera: 2.4GHz/5GHz Wi-Fi, Bluetooth

• Dimensions (Stork Boot, Small): 2.8 x 1.8 x 1.8 inches

• Dimensions (Stork Boot, Medium): 3.5 x 2.1 x 2.2 inches

• Camera resolution: 2K Quad HD video

• Zoom: 2x Digital Zoom

• Pan/Tilt: Pan only (not up and down).

• Night Vision: Black & White, single IR light

• Audio: Two-Way Talk (Speaker/Microphone)

• Power source: 12-foot USB-C cable for camera (plus adaptor) + cable guards, adhesive wall-mounting kit

• Monitor: None (Requires app)

• Operating Range: No limit (Wi-Fi/app connected)

• Temperature and Humidity Alert: Temperature

• Warranty: 1-year limited warranty

What We Like About the Masimo Stork Vitals+

It is easy to set up

With everything in the large box, a parent might initially feel intimidated with this baby monitor system, as you’ll take out the camera, small and medium boots and straps, foot sensor, cable management and screws, camera mount, two power adaptors and charging cables, and documentation.

But don’t fret, as it’s super easy to get going.

Once you download the app (iOS, Google Play) and create an account, and profile for your baby (if you like), it’s a cinch to wirelessly connect the camera (on a super long 12-foot cable). Just follow the prompts.

You might also think it will be tough to charge up the teeny sensor and then slip it into the boot, but it doesn’t require any technical knowledge. (The sensor is removable from the soft silicone boot, so you can fit the boot without the sensor).

Within about 5 minutes, the camera image was seen on the app, and once the boot was slipped on my test subject’s teeny foot (my cousin’s 17-month-old, Sadie), the data collected was also seen on the app. Easy peasy.

It has an intuitive app

Speaking of the app, along the top of the screen are conveniently placed icons for temperature and humidity–though the humidity sensor didn’t seem to work, as it stayed at “--%” through all our testing.

Along the right side of the screen are four icons: Speaker (to allow or prevent the speaker from playing audio), microphone (to mute or unmute the camera’s microphone), a music note (to stop and start more than 20 lullabies and white noise options through the speaker); and camera (to take photos of your child).

If your child is wearing the boot, at the bottom of the screen you’ll see icons for O2, heart rate, and skin temperature.

It’s a clean, minimalist look at your baby and their surroundings.

Other options include sleep time, awake time, a historical look at the night, and the option to share this info with a babysitter, medical professional (such as a pediatrician), or family member–though you’ll need a Stork Hub (see below).

The boot sensor lasts up to 16 hours on a single charge and can be fully recharged in about two hours.

It has a responsive sensor and a decent camera

As its name suggests, monitoring vitals is the key differentiator between Stork Vitals+ and most other baby monitors.

Masimo says it’s “not” a medical device (likely for liability reasons) but this FDA-cleared boot can give you a glimpse into your baby’s wellness by monitoring oxygen saturation (SpO2), pulse rate (PR), and skin temperature.

Designed for babies up to 18 months of age, the foot sensor provides continuous monitoring, plus the Stork app alerts parents if their baby turns over and is sleeping face down, which can be dangerous.

A small and medium boot is included, but a larger model, perhaps for older infants, can be purchased separately for $49, if desired. The boot is made with a soft, flexible silicone.

Camera quality is very good, offering twice the resolution as the camera in the Owlet Dream Duo (also with foot sensor), and it really outperformed other baby monitors when the nursery is dimly lit, as the Stork Cam’s night vision shows more detail and color compared to the usual grainy black-and-white images (unless it’s pitch black, and then it’s about the same as other monitors).

The Stork camera supports two-way audio, songs, and white noise.

What we don’t like about the Stork Vitals+

It requires a Stork Hub for optimum use

It’s not included in the box, but you’ll need to add a Stork Hub ($149) to your Vitals+ Baby Monitoring System if you want the ability to track your baby’s health outside of the home–say, on a date night–or for an approved family member or caregiver to see the data in a secondary location. The Hub is a small device that plugs into the wall and helps relay the data to the app on a smartphone.

At a steep $549 for the Camera and Boot, it’s too bad Masimo doesn’t include the Hub in the box, too.

Many parents who purchase Stork Vitals+ are unaware you need an extra device to see the info while outside of the home or share with others in real time. Now we’re talking $700 for everything, which is out of reach for most parents.

It’s still missing a couple of features

As comprehensive as the monitoring is–sound, sight, oxygen, heart rate, and room and skin temperature–Stork Vitals+ is missing a couple of things.

For example, you can’t add a second baby monitor to the Stork App, like you can with many other baby monitors. So, if you have two kids, you can’t use one app to see both of them in two places, as you can with other solutions.

Using your fingertip on the app, you can pan left and right to see more of baby or the room, but you can’t tilt up and down, like you can with many others monitors. You need to manually tap to take a still photo, yet there are baby camera solutions like Lollipop that can automatically take a pic when it detects a smile.

Also, the camera takes photos but not videos. Too bad. You also can’t wrap the camera around the crib bars on a long stem (like you can with Lollipop), but you do get a wall mounting kit if you prefer that over its base.

Some of the features were fussy in testing

While Vitals+ includes a humidity sensor, it didn’t work in our testing. Nothing in the instruction manual addressed what to do if no humidity is undetected. It remained at “-%” but the temperature sensor worked just fine.

Should you buy the Masimo Stork Vitals+?

Yes, if the vitals monitoring is important to you

There aren’t many of these “all in one” kits – combining a camera and wearable, and an app to tie it all together–and while Masimo Stork Vitals+ gets it mostly right, it’s annoying the bridge isn’t included. Especially at a $549 price point, with the similar Owlet Dream Duo (with sock sensor and no bridge required) priced at $269, which is less than half the price of Vitals+.

Granted, Masimo’s vitals-reading technology is likely superior to Owlet, given its decades of experience and several million devices around the world, but to pay more than $700 for everything is very, very steep.

And this is only for one camera–as you can’t add another (if you have other young kids), like you can with several other baby monitors.

That said, the app delivers a great experience, and should provide nearly everything a parent wants in the palm of their hand–except video recording, and no tilt support. What Vitals+ does, it does well, and consistently at that.

Especially for those who want to measure key health data like baby pulse rate, oxygen saturation, and skin temp, as well as receiving alerts for baby’s position (face up or face down), Stork Vitals+ from Masimo is impressive, but there is room for improvement.

Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.