No, the ChargeX does not need an SD card in order to use or watch live feed. However, if you need to record and save the videos you will need to purchase one. SD Cards are available at All Trends USA.
Motion detection and night vision worked so great! I had the app all set up and you can actually do a lot of things there too. I had the motion detection toggled so I get notified once a motion is detected. Works so cool!