Field Test: Spypoint Flex-M and Flex-Plus Cellular Trail Cams

The 2024 deer season in South Dakota was the fifth consecutive year for my friends and I using Spypoint cellular trail cams. Click here to read my field test article detailing my experiences throughout the 2023 season.

Spypoint makes several different cellular trail cams, as well as non-cellular options. I won’t spend much time here detailing the many features in the various models; you can visit the Spypoint website for that information.

During 2024, the two new Spypoint cell cams I tested were the Flex-M and Flex-Plus. Both cameras capture excellent photos and videos. Specifically, the FLEX-M shoots 28 MP photos and 720p videos; the FLEX-Plus, 36 MP images and 1080p video. One primary difference in the two models is that the Flex-Plus has twice the battery capacity. Like most Spypoint trail cams (cell and non-cell), the Flex-M has a single battery tray that holds eight AA batteries; the Flex-Plus has two trays, meaning it’ll hold 16 AA batteries. Note: Both cams can also be powered by Spypoint’s LIT-22 rechargeable lithium battery packs, or the company’s lithium battery solar panels.

In addition to testing these two new 2024 cell cams, I placed five older Spypoint cell cams in the South Dakota river-bottom, specifically a 2022 Flex, as well as these four models from 2023: LM2 (two of them), Flex G-36 and Flex-S. All deer hunters want and expect more than a single season of use from a cell cam, so this review should give you peace of mind when deciding whether Spypoint is the correct brand for you.

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Setting Up Spypoint Cell Cams

As I explained in my previous reviews, I was reluctant to jump on the cellular trail cam bandwagon because I often struggle with technology. In fact, in 2020, which is the first year I ran Spypoint cell cams, I basically watched a tech-savvy buddy of mine set up our cams, get the app rolling on our phones, change cam settings as needed via the app, etc. I was still reluctant to drive completely solo with our cams in 2021 and 2022. The fourth year (2023), however, I forced myself to learn the entire process without his assistance, and if you read my previous review, you know that it went very well.

Spypoint does an excellent job explaining all of the set up steps clearly and in simple language. This info is detailed in the printed Quick Start Guides that come with each camera, and you can also find it on the company’s website. Spypoint even has this info on its YouTube channel if you prefer to learn in that way. At no point did I throw up my hands in frustration.

The biggest unknown, and you won’t know this until you are ready to place a cam in the field, is whether your hunting area has a reliable cellular signal. A cell cam can transmit images to your phone via the app only if it has a cell signal. On my South Dakota permission property, a half-mile-long river-bottom, the quality of the cell signal varies substantially, and I have no explanation as to why. In general, my cams pick up a decent-enough cell signal when placed on the higher ground, but at times they get a decent signal deep in the forested bottom, too. In other spots (typically in the bottom), the signal isn’t strong enough to run a cell cam. Of course, some of these non-cell-signal areas are prime whitetail locations where I want to capture images, so I still utilize non-cell trail cams, too.

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Finding the Sweet Spot in Settings

You’ll have several choices to make when setting up your Spypoint cell cams. Even though the Flex-M and Flex-Plus will capture outstanding video, I generally had these two new cams, and my five older ones, set up to take photos only. I live 3 hours away from this South Dakota river-bottom, and to me battery life is the most critical factor. Recording videos and transmitting them to the app takes more battery than simply shooting and transmitting images, so I opt for the latter. I can learn everything I need to know about buck body and antler size with photos.

The 2024 deer season served as a good reminder regarding finding the sweet spot in terms of cell cam photo settings, and more specifically, trigger sensitivity, duration between pics (i.e. motion delay), and how often the camera transmits to the app (sync frequency). In my opinion, you’re best off setting the trigger sensitivity to “low” initially, choosing a long period between pics (like 10 minutes) to avoid numerous false triggers because of blowing branches or tall weeds, and having your cam transmit pics to the app at least four times per day. Let me explain.

As I discovered in the previous four years of using cell cams, and again in 2024 (guess I’m a slow learner!), branches or tall weeds moving due to high winds can cause a photo to be taken, especially if the trigger sensitivity is set to “medium” or “high.” And if you have motion delay set to only 10 seconds, or worse yet, “Instant,” you can imagine how many pics your cam could take in a day if you didn’t do a good job clearing a branch or high grass. In addition, if you have the sync frequency set to only once per day, you won’t find out about the false trigger problem until it’s way too late.

Think about it: Unless you purchase a photo plan with unlimited images, you could easily burn up an entire month’s worth of images in 24 hours with false triggers.

Cell Cam Placement Tips

Each year I’m amazed at how far my Spypoint cell cams will capture an animal walking in front of them. This is great, provided you understand that great care must be taken when trimming tall grasses and branches that could trigger the cams, especially on windy days. As a rule, you should clear debris for at least 10 yards in front of a cam. In my experience, deer will trigger a cam at 15 yards (even with sensitivity set on “low”), but debris will trigger it at only 10 yards and closer.

In addition to a pruner and saw for cutting brush and saplings in the photo zone, I’ve found it very helpful to carry a hedge shear to make quick work of tall grasses. And take special care in looking out for branches that are head high, or even a foot or two higher, especially if those branches have leaves. In 2024 I placed one cell cam on an oak tree on a food plot edge and thought I had everything cleared appropriately, but one problem branch proved me wrong. Everything was fine for a few days until the wind blew 30 mph, and then I had hundreds of images — each hour! — of the branch blowing back and forth. Lesson learned.

In general, it’s best to face your trail cams away from the rising and setting sun, and in the Upper Midwest, facing a cam to the south can also cause camera glare. Whenever possible, I face my cams to the north. The only time I didn’t follow this rule this year was when placing the Spypoint Flex-S cell cam (2023) and Force-Pro-S 2.0 non-cell cam (2024), which both feature a built-in solar panel. In this case, I found spots where I could point the cams to the south so each one would get decent sun on the solar panels, but because the cams were shooting toward nearby steep hillsides, they avoided glare on each lens. It worked well.

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Speaking of solar panels, during the middle of the 2024 deer season I decided to try Spypoint’s 10-watt Lithium Battery Solar Panel (SPLB-22), which can be attached to any Spypoint cell cam. I hung it on the south (sunny) side of a tree, opposite the cam itself, which was pointed north. I plugged in the panel to a 2022 Spypoint Flex cell cam and it worked tremendously.

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Final Thoughts

I couldn’t imagine that I would be able to write this sentence when I first considered trying Spypoint cell cams, but 2024 marked the fifth consecutive year with flawless performance. Any problems with false triggers were the result of my error — me not trimming away obstructions.

Throughout months and months of miserable weather each fall and winter, including rain, sleet, snow and brutal cold, not one camera has failed. I’ve never had insects get into a camera. I’ve never had moisture get into a camera. Yes, I’ve had batteries eventually fall to 0% and the cell cam stops working, but again, that’s my mistake. (By the way, the Spypoint app clearly shows you the current battery life of each cell cam, as well as the current strength of the cell signal.)

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I’ll end this field test by talking about the images captured by my cell cams. Yes, some after-dark images of deer in the distance, especially deer on the move, can be a bit blurry. But this is only when deer walk (or run) past the camera well beyond the planned distance. In other words, I’m expecting deer to walk 5-7 yards from the camera, but instead one passes by at 15-17 yards. Even in this case, I’m able to zoom in on the deer and distinguish whether it’s a doe or buck, and how big of a buck. I consider these long-range pics to be a bonus; I’m impressed that the cam was able to capture anything at all.

In all other cases, the pics taken by my various Spypoint cell cams have been outstanding. Time after time, I’m surprised and amazed that a cam took a good pic of a running deer or flying birds. It’s tremendously fun to see daily pics of what’s happening on the South Dakota property when we are 3 hours away going about our lives.

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I’ve seen my 22-year-old son’s interest in bowhunting skyrocket due to his ability to view deer pics each day. Elliott is a diehard duck hunter, and that will never change, but seeing numerous big bucks traveling the South Dakota river-bottom was the driving force behind him buying an archery tag for the first time in four years.

Each day throughout the fall, he’d check the Spypoint app before me, then text images of big bucks to me, along with a comment or two. It was a fun way for us to share our love of hunting, even with him being away at college. And wouldn’t you know it, he was blessed with a close-range shot at the biggest buck we had on cell cams all season, a tall-tined 6x5 (top photo). He’s already talking about next year’s deer season!

Click here for more information on the Spypoint cell cams covered in this field test, as well as the company’s new offerings for 2025.