An All-in-One Monitoring System for Your Home
This smart home device from Canary is not only a camera but is also a feature-packed home monitoring system. We reviewed the Canary All-in-One Home Security Device to find out for ourselves its pros and cons. Designed to present a high-tech solution to home security, this internet-enabled device allows you to not only hear and see what is going on in your house but also to track its environmental data, such as humidity, temperature and air quality. Offering several automatically activated modes depending on whether you are at home or away, the manufacturers of this complex gadget claim that its intelligent notifications help you to make smart decisions when something goes wrong, so we decided to put their claims to the test and try out the Canary All-in-One Home Security Device to see whether it lives up the hype.
Setting Up
While the Canary promises an easy set up process – telling users to simply power up the device, plug it into their phone’s headphone jack and enter the details of their Wi-Fi into the app, it may not necessarily be that simple as sometimes it fails to connect to smartphones. Nevertheless, Canary provides a set of troubleshooting tips for you to follow should you have this problem. After pairing the device to your network, you then have to upgrade the Canary’s firmware and then you’re set to go.
Using the Canary All-in-One Home Security Device
When you unpack the Canary security device, the first thing that you notice is that it does not look like other security cameras and this could be a good thing if you want it to blend in with your home décor. With its attractive and minimalistic appearance it is appealing enough to keep out on a counter and is unlikely to attract the attention of intruders. On the other hand, if you are hoping for a security device to act as a deterrent, the neutral look of this gadget may not be distinctive enough to meet your needs.
The Canary’s camera records in full HD, and also features a motion sensor and night vision capabilities. It can transmit audio and video recordings direct to your smartphone so that you can easily see and hear everything that happens in your property while you are away. However, this device also has a wealth of other features. It can monitor the humidity, air quality and temperature in the room in which it is located so that you can monitor every environmental aspect and change settings via the Android or iOS apps. There is also an integrated 90 decibel alarm which you can activate remotely to scare off intruders. Multiple household members can download and use the app, allowing different users to monitor the home and to receive notifications.
One of the downsides to this product is its lack of an SD card slot, although all motion recorded events are stored on the Cloud and can be accessed remotely.
This device has three modes, and thanks to its auto arm and disarm system, it can automatically sense whenever household members enter or leave the property, changing its settings in response.
- Away Mode – this is activated when everyone has left the house. In this mode, all motions are recorded and notifications will be sent to you
- Home Mode – if everyone is home, you can choose whether your Canary should record and send notifications or whether you switch it to Private, turning off the camera
- Night Mode – the user sets two times between which the Canary can record motions and send notifications even if you are in the property
The camera has a very powerful motion sensor and sometimes it can be activated by accident. Although it is possible to customise and lower its sensitivity, it is still possible to occasionally receive erroneous notifications. The quality of the camera’s night vision is also impressive, showing clear images.
The additional environmental monitoring features are interesting and can be quite sensitive. They will alert you to situations when the room is especially hot or cold, and so could be useful in warning homeowners if there is a fire or heating breakdown, however the air quality feature is not very explicit, only labelling the air quality as “normal”, “abnormal” or “very abnormal” which is not terribly useful. While these features may be helpful, they should not be used in place of a smoke alarm or carbon monoxide detector.
Canary have focused on securing data and video recordings, ensuring that security measures have been taken to protect private information including the use of AES 256 bit symmetric key encryption, secure HTTPS access, TLS/SSL and a Virtual Private Cloud.
Canary All-in-One Home Security Device Review: Main Features
- Full HD video recording
- Night vision camera
- Notification alerts
- Controlled through the the Android or iOS app – compatible with multiple users
- 3 automatic modes – auto on/off
- Monitoring of home environment
- 90db remotely activated security alarm
Canary All-in-One Home Security Device Specifications
Manufacturer: Canary
Model Number: CAN100UKWT
Dimensions: 7.6 x 7.6 x 15.2
Weight: 962g
Plug format: 3 pin British
Conclusion
While it does not come cheap, the Canary All-in-One Home Security Device is an excellent addition to your home security system. As it can be controlled by multiple users through the smartphone app, it is especially convenient for households that contain several people, and its automatic on/off feature means that there is no need to be constantly fiddling with the settings. With its unobtrusive design, this device blends in well with your room décor and its powerful alarm is sure to deter any intruders who enter your property. The quality of the video is very high quality, and as all motion captured events are sent directly to your phone, you can see at a glance whether there is any need to take action. While the high sensitivity of the motion sensor may result in a few false alarms, this is a solid and efficient device that will help to give householders peace of mind when away from home.