Moultrie Mobile Delta Cellular Trail Camera Review

Note: In 2022 Moultrie came out with the next version of this camera, the Moultrie Mobile Delta Base. At the time we are writing this both cameras are still available for purchase and depending on your needs you may opt to go with the original Moultrie Mobile Delta, which we are reviewing here, instead of the newer Delta Base. We did a full review of the Moultrie Mobile Delta Base if you want to learn more about it. We also did a comparison of the Moultrie Mobile Delta vs. the Moultrie Mobile Delta Base.

Having used a lot of trail cameras over the years I can say that the Moultrie Mobile Delta Cellular Trail Camera stands out.

The Moultrie Delta Cellular Trail Camera is one of the rare trail cameras that have both a super affordable price AND a no glow flash. This means that it can be used as an ideal security trail camera, or even as a general-purpose trail camera.

What’s more, this trail camera has a terrific set of other features that help to make it extremely versatile.

The extremely popular Moultrie Mobile Delta, comes in both AT&T and Verizon versions. Keep reading our review to see if it has everything you are looking for in a cellular trail camera.

Summary of Moultrie Mobile Delta Review

The Mobile Delta cellular trail camera can be the perfect companion for anyone who wants an affordable no glow trail camera to remotely monitor their favorite hunting spot or other property. However, don’t let the Delta’s affordability fool you. The camera has plenty of great features that anyone would want, including an adjustable PIR sensor, fast trigger speed, and the ability to record and transmit videos.

Pros

• No glow flash
• Great mobile app
• Fast 0.35 second trigger speed
• Adjustable PIR sensitivity
• Ability to record and transmit video
• Verizon and AT&T versions are available
• Affordable price
• Affordable data plans
• GPS feature
• Easy to use and set up
• Long warranty

Cons

• Limited number of video transfers each month (unless you purchase more)
• Owners manual could have a bit more detail

Learn More Here

Review of Key Features and Benefits of the Moultrie Mobile Delta Cellular Trail Camera

Camera

Update: When the Delta was first released they had some quality issues with capturing pictures and videos at night, but with the November 2021 firmware update Moultrie fixed those problems. That helps to explain why some people had issues at night while other people thought everything worked just fine in low light conditions.

Thanks to the new ILLUMI-NIGHT 3 camera sensor, the Delta takes crisp pictures and videos both day and night. It has the ability to take 32MP HDR photos. If the camera is in Photo mode it will send a lower resolution image to the app with the option for you to download the high-resolution image if you choose.

In addition to the Photo and Video modes that you find on most cameras, it also has a Photo + Video mode. What may surprise you about the Photo + Video mode is that it doesn’t capture a 32MP picture and then record a video. Instead, it makes a thumbnail for the video, and then within the app, you can decide if you want the camera to send you the HD video based on what you see from the thumbnail image.

As far as videos go, the Delta can record 15-second video clips with audio. Unfortunately, there is no option to record videos at different time durations. You can decide if you want the videos to be recorded in 720p or 1080p resolution.

Passive Infrared (PIR) Motion Sensor

The camera’s motion sensor has an 80-foot detection range. The sensitivity of the PIR sensor is adjustable with high, medium, and low settings.

Being able to adjust the sensitivity of the PIR sensor for the environment the camera is set up in is always a good thing. Not only can you turn the sensitivity up to high to maximize how far away the camera can detect activity, which would be the setting I would recommend starting out with, but it also allows you to reduce the sensitivity if the camera is in a place where it struggles with false triggers.

Smartphone App

The first thing you should do after getting the camera is to download the free Moultrie Mobile app. After the app is installed you can easily activate the camera using the app. After you activate the camera and then power it on for the first time it will look for a firmware update. This whole process can take around 10 minutes assuming that you have a good signal so be patient.

The app is your key to almost everything when interacting with the camera. Not only do you use it to activate your camera and select your data plan, but you use the app to change the camera’s settings as well as to view and sort through the pictures and videos that the Delta has captured.

For me, the Moultrie Mobile app is a huge positive with this camera. Using the activity tab you are able to identify patterns of activity for your cameras related to things such as weather conditions or time of day. This can really help you decide which hunting location you want to try for a specific day. In addition, the filtering feature really lets you drill down if you want to look for specific details. You can even filter for things like deer, buck, doe, turkey, vehicle, and people. Below is a video that shows an example of how to use the app.

Data Plan

Within the Moultrie Mobile app, you will see that there are several data plans to choose from with a wide range of prices and the number of uploads available.

The plans start with the super affordable Standard plan, which has 1,000 image transfers and 10 video transfers per month. If you want unlimited image transfers and up to 50 video transfers per month there is the Unlimited plan. For those people who like the unlimited plan, but end up buying 4 or more cameras there is the Pro Series Unlimited plan which gives you the same unlimited photo transfers and the same 50 video transfers per month, but allows you to share these between multiple cameras, which could end up saving you money. It is also worth noting that you also have the option to easily change your plan or buy more videos within the app.

As someone who really likes video, I really wish there were more video transfers included within each plan, but this is an issue with the data plans for most cellular trail cameras. That said you can purchase more video transfers if you need to. To be fair, I understand the reason why the number of video transfers is limited. Keeping the number of transfers low allows Moultrie to keep the price of the data plans more affordable.

Whichever plan you choose there are two payment options. There is a monthly price and a yearly price, which will save you money if you plan on running your camera(s) year-round. A list of available plans and prices is shown below.

Plan	Images per month	Video Transfers per month	Monthly Price - Paid Monthly*	Monthly Price - Paid Annually*
Standard	1,000	10	$9.99	$8.99
Unlimited	Unlimited	50	$16.99	$12.99
Pro Series Unlimited (for multiple cameras sharing same plan)	Unlimited	50	1st cam $34.99/mo. Add'l cams $7.99/mo. or $95.88 annually	1st cam $22.99/mo. Add'l cams $7.99/mo. or $95.88 annually
*Note: You can get an additional 50 video downloads for $1. If you are on the Standard plan you can get an additional 500 images for $4.99.

GPS On-Demand

The camera also has built-in GPS on-demand, which will pin its location on the map within the Moultrie Mobile app. Not only can this feature help you find your camera, which can be a big help if you run several trail cameras, but it can also help with theft deterrence or finding a stolen camera.

Trigger Speed

The trigger speed on the Moultrie Mobile Delta Cellular Trail Camera is 0.35 seconds. Not only is this a fast trigger speed, but it is faster than most trail cameras on the market.

Then when you compare it to some other highly rated, and significantly more expensive, trail cameras that have trigger speeds in the 0.2 to the 0.3-second range, you become very pleased with the Delta’s 0.35-second trigger speed.

Flash

The Moultrie Mobile Delta Cellular Trail Camera has a no glow flash with an 80-foot flash range.

Having no glow flash ensures that the camera does not scare away animals while still being able to capture a good photograph or video. It also makes sure that the camera’s location is not given away at night, which is very important if you are using it as a security camera or to monitor animals on public hunting land. No glow flash is a pretty valuable feature and helps the Delta stand out from the competition since no glow flash isn’t on every cellular trail camera.

Dimensions

The dimensions of the Moultrie Mobile Delta Cellular Trail Camera are 9 x 5 x 3 inches. It is slightly smaller than some other cellular trail cameras and slightly bigger than others. While you won’t confuse it for a mini trail camera, it is still small enough to blend into its environment if you are worried about trespassers and thieves and want to conceal the camera.

Thanks to its threaded tripod mount on the bottom of the camera you can buy a trail camera mounting bracket and angle the camera down at an angle from an elevated position if you are worried about people stealing or tampering with the camera.

Time-Lapse Feature

Update: When we initially reviewed the Moultrie Mobile Delta in 2021 it didn’t have a time-lapse feature. However, when we reached out to customer support they informed us that it would be available at a later date, and indeed an update was made to the camera’s firmware and it now has this feature.

It is good to know that Moultrie continues to work on updating its products after they are released.

Hours of Operation Timer

The Delta cellular trail camera comes with an “hours of operation timer”, which can be really helpful if you don’t need the camera to monitor its surrounding around the clock as it can help conserve your data plan, battery life, and storage space on the SD card.

On the Delta trail camera, this feature is listed in the settings menu as Scheduler Settings.

Color LCD Screen

There is no color LCD screen. In fact, there is no LCD screen of any kind on this camera, but the way the Moultrie Delta is designed it doesn’t need an LCD screen since you control the camera and update the settings with the free Moultrie Mobile app on your cell phone.

In addition to 4 LED indicator lights that tell you the status of the camera, there are actually only 3 buttons on the camera itself. The power button, a button that connects the camera to the network, and finally there is a button that tells the camera to format your SD card. A picture of these buttons is shown below. So as you can see for yourself there isn’t much of a need for an LCD screen on the Delta.

Memory Card

The Delta can accommodate SD and SDHC memory cards up to 32GB in capacity. Class 10 cards are required. If you want to shop around for and memory card, but don’t know a lot about SD cards you can check out our article on how to choose the best SD card for trail cameras. Otherwise, the Moultrie 32GB SDHC card is an excellent choice for this camera.

It seems kind of limiting to only be able to use cards up to 32GB on a camera that you could leave unattended for long periods of time, especially if you are using it to capture videos. Thankfully the Delta has a Managed Memory feature that, similar to other cameras that when enabled will allow the camera to overwrite the oldest files on the card to make room for new pictures and videos should the memory card become full.

Note: Don’t use a microSD card with an adapter with this camera. You should only use full-sized memory cards with this camera. Moultrie specifically states that you shouldn’t use SDXC cards, Micro/Mini cards, Ultra Capacity, or High-Speed cards. If you don’t follow Moultrie’s advice on which type of card to use and actually get it to work you should expect that the results you get from the camera will be lacking.

Tip: Remember to format your SD card before using it in your camera. If you look around online you will see reports of people who are using the right type of SD card in the Delta, but the results they are getting are subpar and they think there is something wrong with the camera. Eventually, they realize that they didn’t format the SD card before using it in the camera. Then after formatting the SD card the videos and pictures that are saved on the card look much better.

Batteries

The Moultrie Mobile Delta is powered by 12 AA batteries. You can use alkaline or lithium batteries, but lithium batteries are preferred. While battery life can vary depending on the settings you choose (especially the upload frequency) and the activity in the location the camera is placed in, the Delta is pretty energy efficient. In fact, Moultrie says that the camera can last up to 1 year on a set of lithium batteries. For best performance and longest battery life, we suggest using Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries. If you want to know what we suggest using lithium batteries in this cellular camera you can check out our article on the best batteries for trail cameras.

Input for External Power Supply

There is a 12V input for an external power supply on the Delta. We already said that you should expect pretty good battery life from this camera, but if you really want to minimize the number of trips you make out to the camera you can pair the Delta with Moultrie’s solar panel, which can be invaluable if the camera is in an area with a lot of activity especially if it is in a remote location.

Image Stamp

The camera has an image stamp, or an info strip as Moultrie calls it, that displays time, date, temperature, moon phase, and the camera name of your choosing (which can be very helpful if you end up purchasing multiple cameras). You have the option to turn the image stamp on or off. However, unless you are using the camera for nature photography I really can’t imagine very many situations where you would ever need or want to turn this off.

Signal Strength

The strength of the cellular signal in the area you are going to be using a cellular trail camera is always important. Using the camera in an area that has a weak signal could interfere with the transmission of pictures and videos as well as cause the camera to burn through batteries faster than normal.

So when you purchase the Delta make sure that you select the version – (AT&T) (Verizon) – that uses the cellular network with the strongest signal in the area you plan on using it.

In case you are wondering, you don’t need to have an account with AT&T or Verizon in order to have a cellular trail camera that uses their networks.

Warranty

Moultrie has upped its game with regard to the warranty on this trail camera. The Delta is backed by a 2-year warranty, which is a significant step up from the 1-year warranty that Moultrie had on their 2015 and older model cameras. Most trail cameras these days only have a 1-year warranty for manufacturer’s defects.

Included Accessories

The following items are included in the packaging:

• Mounting strap
• Quick Start Guide
• QR code that takes you to a Quick Start Video

Areas of Use

The Moultrie Mobile Delta Cellular Trail Camera is a versatile camera that can be used for many purposes. Thanks to its cellular capabilities and no glow flash you should feel confident using it on public hunting land, as a security camera, and in remote (hard to get to) locations.

Pricing

One of the attractive things about the Moultrie Mobile Delta Cellular Trail Camera is that it comes at a very affordable price. Then when you consider that it has inexpensive data plans, a great mobile app, and many high-quality features like no glow flash you see its great overall value.

Other Options

Moultrie Mobile Delta  Base Cellular Trail Camera

In 2022 came out with the successor to the Moultrie Mobile Delta with the new Moultrie Mobile Delta Base Cellular trail camera. While Moultrie provided the Delta Base with a new backend for better performance there are still three reasons why people may consider getting the older Moultrie Mobile Delta. First, the Moultrie Mobile Delta can take up to 32MP images compared to the 24MP images on the Moultrie Mobile Delta Base. Second, the 0.35-second trigger speed on the Moultrie Mobile Delta Cellular Trail Camera is a bit faster than the 0.75-second trigger speed on the Delta Base. The third reason why some people are attracted to the Moultrie Mobile Delta Cellular Trail Camera is its onboard GPS, which isn’t available on the newer Delta Base.

If you want to learn more you can read our full review of the Moultrie Mobile Delta Base. Otherwise, you can see its current price here.

SPYPOINT LINK-MICRO-S-LTE Cellular Trail Camera

If you would really like a compact cellular trail camera that you can leave unattended for extended periods of time and don’t need no glow flash the SPYPOINT LINK-MICRO-S-LTE cellular trail camera (AT&T) or the SPYPOINT LINK-MICRO-S-LTE-V cellular trail camera (Verizon) could be just what you are looking for. With their compact size and integrated solar panels, the SPYPOINT LINK-MICRO-S-LTE and SPYPOINT LINK-MICRO-S-LTE-V can blend into their surroundings and be left alone for as long as you need without fear of them running out of power.

Packed with a lot of great features, the one thing these cameras can’t do is record video. While that might be a deal-breaker for some people, these cameras are worthy of your consideration if you are OK not having video.

If you want to learn more about these cameras you can read the full review we did on these cameras. Otherwise, you can see the current prices for the SPYPOINT LINK-MICRO-S-LTE (AT&T) and the SPYPOINT LINK-MICRO-S-LTE-V (Verizon) by clicking on the above links.

Exodus Render 4G LTE Cellular Trail Camera

If you are wondering what other no glow cellular trail cameras are out there, the Exodus Render 4G LTE Cellular Trail Camera is a great camera to look at. The Render has a higher price tag but gives you a lot for your money. In addition to a faster trigger speed, the Render gives you an adjustable no glow flash and a Dynamic Video Recording feature. Plus, Exodus backs the Render up with an unheard-of 5-year warranty that also protects you from accidental damage and theft.

Although the Render doesn’t transmit videos at the same high resolution that the Delta does, there are many data plans to choose from and you can decide how you want to use your data plan and you’re not limited in how many videos you can transfer each month.

If you want o to learn more about the Exodus Render you can check our review of the Render. Otherwise, you can check the Render’s current price here.

Final Thoughts

The no glow Moultrie Mobile Delta cellular trail camera offers a lot of features in an affordable package. Able to capture 32MP HDR pictures and record and transmit HD video the Delta can make you feel like you’re seeing things up close and personal. It is a great option for any serious wildlife enthusiast or property owner.

You can learn more about the Moultrie Delta and check its’ current price here.

Last update on 2024-04-25 at 22:50 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API