The Cameras
My Vivint system is equipped with three cameras. Let me start by saying, I had no idea having cameras would be so useful. The doorbell camera is attractive and will look nice with any style home. The 180-degree field of view shows you everything near the door. My house has a walk-up porch area, and we can see every inch of it on the camera. The camera uses your current doorbell wiring, so the installation should be quick and painless. When the doorbell is pressed, you will now hear the bell on the SkyControl panel and on any other devices running the Vivint app.
When the doorbell rings, a few things happen. All of the devices will have a video with two-way talk available. You can answer your door from virtually anywhere. A great tip, if you are using iOS, is to long press on the notification, and it will give an option to open the app and view the camera immediately. Apple Watch users will also get a screenshot of who is at their door so they can see it without digging for a device to make a quick decision on what to do. The doorbell camera is always on, and it also provides night vision which is really a great feature. I love the fact that my phone will always tell me if I have a visitor and take a clip of what’s happening no matter where I am.
The outdoor camera is an all-weather camera with night vision that helps watch over any part of your home. I am able to check in and see if anyone is near my driveway and check the clips to see if any movement has been detected. There have been several times we wondered where our youngest was, but I could open the camera to see him circling on his bicycle on the driveway. Since we have it installed to see the driveway, we can also get a notification if someone drives up; it also creates a clip if there is movement detected. I find myself looking several times a day, and I have even checked it to see if it is raining at home when I was out of town. If there was another piece I would add to the system, it would be one more outdoor camera, and then I would have just about all of the main parts of my house covered.
The Vivint Ping camera is an always-on indoor camera. With HD wide-angle and infrared night vision, you will never miss anything happening in your house. What makes this camera really handy is the two-way call out. A button on top of the camera will send an alert to your device that there is an incoming call, and you can then communicate with that person. You are also able to press the microphone button on your device and immediately speak from the camera to the room. My youngest likes to talk to us from it fairly often, and we may or may not have been able to tell our boys to “quit fighting” or “leave each other alone” although we were not even home.
You are able to set custom notifications on this camera as well, allowing you to get alerts any time something happens.
This review will be broken up into two parts to give the entire system the amount of coverage it deserves as well as provide readers with smaller portions to research. In the next post, I will discuss the Playback DVR, door locks, thermostat, smoke detector, and other detectors included in the system. Don’t forget to check back soon for the second installment.
As you can see, the Vivint system is a comprehensive solution for smart home and security that will make your home automated and make the components work together while bringing you peace of mind. I have come to rely heavily on the system for monitoring many things. My wife, who is not a geek like me, was hesitant about the system at first, but now she absolutely loves it. The app is simple to use and straightforward, and it will allow most anyone to quickly become an expert on monitoring their home. I highly recommend the company if you are looking to get a similar solution.
Source: Vivint provided review samples and professional installation
What I like: I absolutely love the entire system; Once everything was adjusted how I like it, it has truly become a part of our home: I’m not sure how we went without it honestly
What could be improved: The geek in me would love to be able to add a few third-party items like cameras, but I do understand their theory behind no DIY; I would like to see the iPad app have a landscape orientation
