ECOWITT Weather Stations with Outdoor Sensor HP2564, Wifi Internet Radio 7 in...

This is an accurate, effective system that has a decent ecosystem of sensors that just...works. It's great. I do wish the units weren't made from totally generic soft/brittle plastic. Setup was ludicrously simple, Home Assistant integration was a breeze; it picks up current data and adds new sensors just fine. The "TFT screen" looks smart - sadly not customisable despite it being a genuine TFT display (not an LCD pretend one). The navigation buttons, while touch-sensitive, are fiddly; and the menus are pretty crude - though perfectly functional. I have it go to HA and can create any dashboards I want though; so it is really a "fancy-looking sensor hub". No issues with WiFi or sensor signal reception. I've already added more sensors!

I have had this since the 2nd December and it’s the best weather station I have had by far! I love the display and since my purchase I have added a lightening detector, 2x soil sensors, an additional temperature and humidity sensor and a power supply to protect the unit from frost or snow by the use of the inbuilt heater element. Link this to the Ecowitt app on your phone it provides you with easy access to your current and historical data plus I have now linked in to a further online weather recording websites to share my data. Overall a banging piece of equipment that allows for plenty additions. I realise the price is expensive by the functionality is quite amazing and worth every penny for me.

There is a lot to like about this Weather station. The price point is good for the kit you get. There are lots of options and add ons available for monitoring other meteorological data. The unit seems robust and relies on batteries coupled with solar power to extend battery life. The indoor display is clear with instant data shown and updated in one min periods. The ability to view graphical data on the unit is excellent. It connects to my WiFi without any issues however the range is not the best but may be hampered by the location of my router. The application on my phone presents data in a similar way and gives the option of exploring data from other devices around the world. There are great features to connect to other monitoring services. Mine is connected to wunderground which give the device a gold medal for accuracy. The indoor unit give good options in calibration. The air pressure reading was bang on and I gave the sunlight reading a tweak of about 10% as it's location is by the sea which creates reflected sunlight was off slightly compared to met office weather stations in the area. The advantage of it being connected to both ecowitt and wunderground mean I can check the station anywhere in the world where I have Internet. The indoor monitoring unit is great and again gives perfectly accurate data. My only complaint is that there is no pole to mount this on and I had to make one out of an old shower curtain rail. I question whether the unit will work for a long period of time give the sea air but only time will tell, I hope support will be able to provide a part should it need replacing.

I love this weather station. Love the fact it connects to the internet so I can see the weather at home even when i'm not there! Only marked down due to the poor user interface. Was really surprised for a big LCD display, it wasn't a touch screen. I mean, pretty much everything has a touch screen these days. Instead you have to navigate around using the touch keys underneath - really really fiddly and annoying.

Overall, a versatile and cost-effective weather station system of modular design that looks well-made, has a really useful range of additional sensors available to purchase and as far as I can tell is almost as capable as the Davis weather stations – but at a fraction of the cost. For those wanting a more detailed review, please read on. As my old weather station of ten years was on its last legs, I decided to purchase this kit as a) it offered good value for money as far as functionality was concerned b) I like Ecowitt’s modular approach to sales i.e. although it works out more expensive, you can start with a simple online weather station using just one sensor and a wireless-to-WiFi gateway and add to it as you go along, knowing it will all work together and c) Ecowitt is a brand name of the Fine Offset company based in China who make weather stations and sensors for other companies and have gained a good reputation over the years. I also purchased the bird spike kit, (to stop the pigeons round here leaving deposits in the rain gauge) the rain gauge filter and the remote battery pack for the 7-in-1 sensor array as this saves having to take the mounting pole down every year or so to replace the backup batteries and possibly damaging the sensor array in the process. Mounting the array onto the pole was a little fiddly, but not difficult: more a case of wading through the job. Don't over-tighten the nuts or you may crack the plastic shoe. Just tighten the nuts enough to ensure the yoke sits firmly on top of the pole and does not move when you rock it gently on the pole. Allow plenty of time, read the instructions carefully, take it steady and you’ll be OK: if a 65+ year-old duffer like me can do the job successfully, anyone can! Mounting poles from 1 to 2 inches in diameter can be used, with suitable poles available from Amazon. I would advise against using a pole longer than 8 feet as it may sway too much in strong gusty winds and falsely activate the rain gauge bucket. I used a 6ft x 1.25 inch 16-gauge aluminium pole and the array barely moved at all during the recent storm Eunice where the sensor array’s anemometer recorded wind gusts exceeding 70mph. I was also impressed with the wide range of add-on wireless sensors and spares available, and I have purchased the lightning sensor, three extra temperature and humidity sensors and a 3-metre wired temperature sensor with external probe. Interestingly, all three temperature & humidity sensors register identical temperature and humidity readings when placed side-by-side, giving an indication of how well the devices are calibrated. Other sensors available include (among others) soil temperature, soil wetness, water leak detectors and air quality sensors. The equipment looks well made, seems much more accurate and sensitive than my old station and has some really useful options on the display console, such as being able to either manually or automatically turn the display off at night (you can set the off and on times as you wish) which is useful if you site the console by the bed, along with an automatic two-level brightness option, which is dependent on external light level. The data displayed on the console is really quite detailed and too much to record in detail here. Interestingly, hourly rain rate is also displayed along with ‘Event’, daily, weekly, monthly and yearly rainfall to date. Furthermore, all sensor readings logged can be adjusted or calibrated, which for me meant I could add onto the console the year’s recorded rainfall prior to setting up the station. The display console requires a +5V supply to work (mains adapter supplied), displays a lot of detail, yet is easy to read: however, the (up to 8) remote temperature and humidity sensor readings can either be ‘cycled’ with the supplied ‘Indoor’ temperature & humidity sensor, or any one of these can be displayed permanently. Data logging is good overall and includes the time on the max/min screen when say the maximum temperature etc. occurred: however, these times are not recorded in the internal or online history log. Other useful features include: +Micro SD card slot which accepts sizes up to and including 32gB (max) for either installing new firmware or backing up weather data logs for say analysis in a spreadsheet etc. Ten years of history data equates to less than 1gB. +WiFi facility (only 2.4gHz 802.11g band compatible) for uploading weather data to weather servers. +Partially pre-configured upload facility (only user/station i.d. and password needed) for uploading weather details to either Ecowitt’s web server, Weather Underground or Met Office WOW servers, with a configuration option to upload the readings to your own weather server as well, using software such as CumulusMX so that you can remotely view the weather info on say your smartphone via the Ecowitt web server or the Ecowitt and WSView apps (Android) or equivalent Apple iOS app. This is really useful for say keeping an eye on your house when you’re away in cold weather and help you to decide whether you need to turn the heating on remotely, using say Nest or Hive online systems etc. The user manual is fairly comprehensive and reasonably easy to follow – particularly in regard to siting the sensors and mounting the 7-in-1 sensor array onto a pole. However, one or two less important options shown in the manual have been replaced with others following various firmware updates since the manual was printed. One thing to be aware of: for some unknown reason, the manual explains how to set up data uploads to remote weather servers BEFORE explaning how to set up the console to access your WiFi, which is needed in order to access the remote servers! As for customer support, again, Ecowitt shine; as the supplied console kept intermittently locking up every few hours, necessitating a reset via the hidden button on the side. I contacted Ecowitt support via e-mail who, after verifying my purchase, sent me a new console (and mains adapter) free of charge from China and e-mailed me a tracking number that enabled me to track the parcel almost to my front door! This replacement console has performed perfectly so far. As for overall reliability, time will tell, but apart from the original console intermittently locking up (which can elude even the most stringent quality control checks) all is well so far. As for negative points, not much: perhaps the only missing facility for me would be the ability to directly transfer the history data directly to a PC via the mini (not micro) USB socket on the console instead of needing to remove the memory card every time. Apparently, this USB socket is only for firmware upgrades and how to do this using the socket is not mentioned anywhere in the manual. These updates are easiest done by copying the new firmware file onto an empty micro SD card and inserting it into the card socket on the console. Powering down the console and back up again starts the update process which takes around a minute. Also, the push buttons being at the bottom of the screen means two hands are needed to push any button (one to hold the console steady and the other to push the button) whereas if the buttons were sited along the top or down both sides, a pincer movement using the thumb and finger of one hand would suffice. Finally, if you decide to purchase sensors direct from the Ecowitt web site, make sure you order the correct wireless operating frequency, which is stamped on the back of the display console. 868mHz for the UK and Europe, 915mHz for the USA and 433mHz for Australia. Recommended! *Edit 11/08/22: Six months on from writing this review, all the equipment has worked flawlessly so far and I have updated both sets of firmware on the console (main and WiFi) several times. The WiFi firmware can only be updated via the Ecowitt app though, but it automatically notifies you of a WiFI firmware update being available. Installing the WiFi firmware update also takes around a minute. I did have a problem with the lightning detector not detecting any lightning when a storm was in progress close by, but I found this was due to me mis-reading the instructions: I had set the DIP switches inside the battery compartment cover to minimum sensitivity! Setting the switches as below corrected the problem and the sensor now accurately detects lightning flashes as far as 25 miles away with no false detections. I set the DIP switches thus: looking at the sensor with the switches just above the battery holder, from left-to-right the switches should read: UP-DOWN-UP-DOWN. Any changes made to the DIP switches are only recognised after removing the batteries, waiting ten seconds or so and then reinserting the batteries. Also, I would recommend any weatherproof housing used for the lightning sensor is not placed directly next to the metal mounting pole as this can impair detection by 'earthing' the RF signal given off by the lightning. I used this one: Amazon product code ASIN B017ILZF6C and mounted it on a stout wooden fence post. I see Ecowitt are now shipping a suitable housing with the lightning sensor which has an arm on to keep the sensor a short distance away from the pole. Would I buy Ecowitt eqipment again? From what I've experienced so far, most definitely!

This unit is compact and unobtrusive. The wind speed sensors were picking up direction but indicated wind speed was a fraction of the actual. Despite not being in any shadow, it expired 2 AA cells in a month during cool winter weather (0-5C). LCD interface is clunky, but suffices. Wireless connections were reliable.

Straightforward to set up, good console display and good wireless range. Very pleased with it and have bought a lightning detector as well. Mystified at first by a pack of bits and pins than came with it but with no instructions. That turned out to be an anti-bird perching kit. Despite waffle below, I'm more than happy with this weather station. The sensor array is sited to give maximum clearance above roof ridge. The main downside for me is that the array, despite a wireless connection to the console, has to be taken down from our gable end to upgrade its firmware, to press its reset button if necessary (not needed so far) and to change the back-up battery, which does not recharge via solar power. This is not straightforward ladder work for me and is hampered by the need to run a cable up the pole for the heater power in winter. The connector for this cable has to be unplugged to get the pole down but it is so short that it is almost at the top of the pole, in free space 2.5m higher up! I've had to leave a load of heater cable looped up and taped to the bracket at the base of the mast to give some leeway to get the pole and array down. It would be a lot easier if a short extension were to be supplied (say 2m to 3m) so that the heater cable could be disconnected near the pole mounting bracket and allow the array and pole to be removed in one go with no entangling cable.

I was fed up with my old weather station. It would eat batteries so that I had to replace them every 4-5 weeks. I decided it was time for an upgrade, if only to save on batteries - a solar powered version is what was needed. This is solar powered but still required batteries - I hope they last a long time as they shouldn't be needed most of the time. The station was easy to put together and set-up. The base station was pretty easy to set-up too, although the manual and the mnus on the device don't always match up. But a little hunting around usually found the setting I needed. Getting connected to the WiFi was straight forward and connecting the Android app means I can see the weather at home wherever I am - even if I'm in the next room and can't be bothered to go and look. I connected it to the MetOffice WOW service and that was also easy. The display is bright and vibrant and full of useful information. My wife doesn't like the backlight, but it can be turned down and also has a timer for auto-dimming between certain hours. Overall this is a great little weather station and comes packed with features for a reasonable price. I would recommend it. It did, however, seem a little stingy that there is no mounting pole supplied. I'm sure they could have included it for the price. Fortunately, I had the pole from my old station that I could use. I also wait to see just how good the solar panel is and how long before I need to replace the batteries. The details about how the solar panel works are non-existent (does it just provide power during daylight, does it charge an internal battery). If it disappoints in this department, I'll be sure to come back and update this review.