Moultrie Edge 3 Review

Likes

As long as you want a cellular-connected camera, the combined simplicity and power of the Moultrie Edge 3 won us over. It was nice not to have to buy, install, and format an SD card, which let us set up this camera a bit faster than usual. Once we put it to work, it was remarkably consistent and quick during our trigger test.

The Edge 3 consistently triggered photos then shot video as soon as we walked or jogged in front of its sensors. It captured us within the first 10-20% of the frame even when we were out to 100 feet away at a longer angle from the camera. If you want a camera that will detect elusive critters, this would be one of our fist picks.

We primarily tested the Edge 3 with its photo capture set to “Photo + Video” because we simply like having photos and video whenever possible. If you prefer photos only, you could set the camera to capture bursts or to simply keep triggering photos. The Edge 3 has a fast 0.5 second recovery rate, so either option will catch slowly feeding deer with multiple photos before it ambles out of range.

The photos and videos were all well above average in quality, generally crisp, and they handled shadows and bright sun without creating black spots or blowouts. The photos tended to excel while the 1080p video was merely very good.

We also came to appreciate the subtle power of the Moultrie smartphone app. The app let us change settings remotely, view uploaded photos and thumbnails of video clips, as well as request videos to download to the app. We could share those images or save them to our camera roll on our phones. The Edge 3 uses AI tech to filter out false trigger images to help you focus on animals, as well as alert you the critters you're most interested in — for instance, big bucks. The AI is smart enough to only take photos of does while taking videos of every buck it detects.

If you're a hunter, you can even connect the app to OnX Hunt, which is a common GPS-based mapping and property line application used by hunters. Moultrie also lets you access and control your cameras through a web app that does a remarkable job of mirroring the look, feel, and functionality of the smartphone app. Kudos to Moultrie here. Quality stuff.

We also appreciate the relatively tidy housing, and we love the foldable antenna. We lack patience out in the woods when we're setting up or retrieving trail cameras, so we dislike unscrewing antennas to keep them from breaking inside backpacks.

Dislikes

The internal 8GB of memory makes setup and management of the Edge 3 a bit easier, but it also means that you can't use an on-board SD card you can pull for moving bulk photos and video to your PC in the field. Of course, if you're using this camera, it means you've committed to using a monthly cellular service plan, so this isn't technically a problem, it's just somewhat annoying.

We also don't like that we have to continue paying to maintain functionality of the camera. After discontinuing our Unlimited Plan for an admittedly competitive $12.99 per month, we lost control of the camera's settings. However, we didn't lose our gallery of photos and video. We could still use the app to share or download what was already uploaded to the app.

Should You Buy the Moultrie Edge 3?

The Moultrie Edge 3 is a high-quality, budget-friendly cellular trail cam that gains its best value when it's used by serious hunters and property managers who need to keep track of animal activity with more granularity that most people need. The mapping and AI filtering features make scouting easier and more effective. Multiple cameras integrate well together, and the pricing changes more favorably when use four or more cameras at a time. If you're not sure about committing to a connectivity plan, there are better options.

What Other Trail Cameras Should You Consider?

The TACTACAM Reveal X 3.0 offers a similar set of features, but we appreciated its video more than the Edge 3. The app is easier to use, and it has a $5/month plan option that uploads the first 250 photos each month. Because it has on-board SD card storage, you can treat this camera in a hybrid mode where you can manually pull the photos and video from the card, keeping the cellular connectivity for light monitoring and remote settings changes.