Home security camera

Reolink Argus Pro security camera review

REVIEW – I have several wireless security cameras in my home, but I don’t have any cameras set up to monitor my property outside of my home because I don’t want to deal with running wires for power or connectivity. When Reolink offered me the opportunity to review their Argus Pro camera, I was immediately interested because it uses WiFi and does not require any wiring as it can use a solar panel for power. Let’s take a look at it.

What is it?

The Reolink Argus Pro security camera is a WiFi 1080P camera that can be used outdoors as it’s weatherproof. It can also be powered with a solar panel.

Hardware specs

1080P, 130° Wide Viewing Angle, 33 feet of night vision
PIR Motion Sensor
2.4GHz WiFi
Weatherproof
microSD card slot supports up to 64GB card
Built-in alarm siren

What’s in the box?

Argus Pro camera
Solar Panel (depending on the package)
Battery pack
Outdoor mount
Hook and loop strap
Skin
Reset needle
Surveillance sign
Mounting Hole Template
Micro USB Cable
Pack of Screws
Quick Start Guide

Design and features

The camera has a white plastic shell with a black front where the lens and IR illuminators are located and on the side is a covered microSD slot (microSD card not included) which supports up to a 64GB microSD card.

The back of the camera is actually the 5200 mAh rechargeable battery which snaps in place. The battery recharges using a micro USB cable or a solar panel if you don’t want to worry about running cables to power outlets.


The solar panel is # x # and comes with a mount so you can attach it to a flat surface like a wall or a tree and then orient it to capture the sun’s rays to power the camera.

The solar panel has a cable with a weather-protected micro USB connector that plugs into the back of the Argus Pro.

The Argus Pro can be used indoors, but if you intend to use it outdoors, it’s best if you use the included skin for added protection from the weather. The skin is a thin rubber jacket with a hat-like brim above the camera lens.

Setup

I tested the WiFi signal on my front porch and a few other areas around my home but ended up setting up the camera temporarily on a rock pointing at the front of my house and the solar panel on the ground next to it. Both the camera’s mount and the solar panel’s mount allow for a more permanent installation by attaching the mounts to a wall or other surface with screws, but for testing purposes, this temp setup worked out fine for me.

Reolink app


The app is easy to use and is similar to other security camera apps which show a small live view and offer a way to arm and disarm motion detection. The PIR switch in the images above toggle motion detection. The app also shows the current battery charge status which is very handy if you use the solar panel. The app will tell you if the battery charge drops to 10% so you can do something about it.

The Reolink Argus Pro allows you to see a live view of the camera(s) any time you like but when motion has been detected, you’ll receive a push notification on your phone and an email if you opt to set up email notifications in the app. From there you can click on the notification and see a short video clip of the detected motion as long as you’ve inserted a microSD card in the card slot in the camera. It’s up to you to supply the card. The app will store the clips which can be set to 8, 15, or 30 seconds in length (8 seconds is the default). Reolink also offers a cloud service (currently in beta testing) that provides 10GB free cloud storage for motion clips for up to 15 days. Think of it a backup to the clips on the microSD card. However, this feature/service is only available in the US.

The Argus Pro has decent image and video quality and also offers 2-way audio, and a siren that can be set to go off when motion is detected.

What I like

  • Wireless
  • Solar charging feature
  • 2-way audio
  • Notifications can be emailed as well as pushed to mobile device

What needs to be improved

  • Doesn’t record 24/7 video to microSD card

Final thoughts

There’s a lot to like about the Reolink Argus Pro. My favorite features are that it is weatherproof and works with a solar panel so that it can be placed anywhere outdoors and not need special wiring to install it.

The camera has good picture quality and the app is easy to use. The only disappointment is that the camera only records motion clips to the microSD card instead of 24/7 footage. My guess is that Reolink could easily offer that feature in a future app update.

If you’re looking to add cameras to your property and want an easy no hassle install with no wiring needed, the Reolink Argus Pro is a good choice as long as you have solid WiFi coverage at the install locations.

Price: $154.99
Where to buy: Reolink and Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Reolink.

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Reolink Argus Pro security camera review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 1, 2018 at 9:00 am.

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Gate Camera Smart Lock review


REVIEW – Being the technology geek that I am, I’ve been wanting to upgrade to one of these smart locks for quite a while. When the chance to review the Gate Camera Smart Lock came along I was more than willing to give it a try.

What is it?

The Gate Camera Smart Lock is a deadbolt lock replacement that features a keypad, camera, and two-way audio capability combined with a smart phone app (via WiFi) to deliver features that a normal keypad lock cannot.

What’s in the box?

  • Gate Camera Smart Lock
  • USB charging cable
  • 3 keys
  • Screwdriver
  • Spacers for thinner doors



Design and features

The Gate Smart Lock features a 720p 150 degree field-of-view motion activated camera with real-time video and audio, WiFi connectivity, LED lit keypad lock, physical key cylinder (standard key backup), 2-way audio communication, and connected features via a smartphone app.

The lock itself is really nice and seems to be well built. It’s simple in design, yet has everything you need. The lock operates on a rechargeable battery that is in the locking knob on the interior side of the lock. The battery is supposed to last 30 to 60 days, but that will vary depending on your wi-fi connection. The knob is held in place with very strong magnets, so you simply pull it off to recharge it with a standard micro-USB cable. The lock can still be operated manually when the battery is off/recharging.

The lock isn’t always accessible via WiFi when motion is detected the lock “wakes up” and connects to your WiFi. This is understandable because to be on all the time would require a very large battery. This means that you can’t just pull up the video feed in the app any time you want, only when motion is detected.

There’s a doorbell feature that will send a notification to the app, as well as an intercom feature for speaking to your guest from the app.

Installation

The Gate Camera Smart Lock replaces the deadbolt on your door, and as such requires installation. If you’ve ever replaced or installed a deadbolt lock, you’ll find the process very familiar. If you’ve never installed a lock like that, you might find the process varies from easy to frustrating depending on the door and your experience level.

The tricky part of the installation process is that doors can vary in thickness and design. There’s plenty of information about this on the Gate website. I had initially planned to install it at my residence but the pre-1900 doors were just not quite compatible, so I took it over to my brother-in-law’s house. That turned out to be a bit of a chore as the deadbolt hole in his door was a little small for the Gate lock. That was probably a non-standard hole, but it was still large enough for a standard deadbolt, but not large enough for the Gate lock. No problem, I have a tool for that. A few minutes later and I had a larger hole and everything installed without a problem.

Part way through the review process I was able to finally locate a new house so I moved across town and swiped back the lock. I had intended to put it on my back door for easy access for myself and family, however, that door has a window in it and the deadbolt was too close to the deadbolt for the Gate lock to fit.

Could not install on this door

So on to the front door. This is where I had issues. The door was the proper thickness and everything, I just did something wrong along the way and before the installation was complete I turned the knob on the back and jammed the lock. The screws weren’t all the way in and the lock was covering the screws making further installation or removal impossible. After a bit of messing with it, I finally got it unjammed and installed properly but this is something that Gate should address as the deadbolt was out which meant that I would not have been able to close the door and just fix it later.


Operation

Initially, I stood next to the door and verified that the lock had access to the wi-fi. I installed the lock and then found the wi-fi connection to be spotty. My router was in the basement about 30 ft away, with only the floor between it and the lock. I then moved my router closer to the door (about 12 ft away), but still had issues. Next, I raised the router up to about head height and that seemed to work fine. It seems as though the Gate Smart Lock has a very week wi-fi signal, so you’ll want to make sure you have a pretty straight shot from your router to the lock. I found the same issue at my brother-in-law’s house, where he only had two walls between the lock and his router and the lock had issues connecting. The lock will unlock using your code when there is no WiFi signal, so even when the power is out the lock will work.

The Gate Smart Lock smartphone app is pretty decent. It features built-in videos that walk you through the process of installation and connection. Setup and configuration was easy, it’s a well-designed app. Notification events are displayed with an animated icon and a summary like “Video while locked” and “Gate entering now”. When you tap the event you can play the video.

With the app, you can create users and assign access schedules. You can create one-time use codes or multiple use codes. If the user has a phone it will text them the access code. When that user uses their code to enter it will send you a notification like “Bob entered the front door”. You can also unlock the door using the app when there is motion at the door, an obvious but useful feature.

You can configure the motion sensitivity (Off/Low/Medium/High) as well as set a time period to auto-lock the door after 10, 20, or 30 minutes. This is a key feature since you can’t lock the door if there’s no motion at the door. This is due to the wi-fi connectivity “sleeping” when there’s no motion.

There’s no battery level indicator in the app or device, it will simply send you a notification when it gets low.

The video that the device delivers isn’t the best when compared to 1080p security cameras, however, you’re not going to be recording a movie with this device. It’s adequate for what it’s intended for which is to see who’s at the door. There were instances where the video showed compression quality issues, but that could be because of the weak WiFi connection I had.

The doorbell feature is nice, especially since my office is in the basement. If someone presses the doorbell button, I’ll get a notification and I can verbally announce through the app that I’ll be there in a minute. I do wish though that the doorbell button actually said “doorbell”, as the phone icon on it may not be obvious to some people.

Even though the lock works properly now, it still has a “WiFi connectivity is weak. You may not be receiving updates from Gate.” message on the main app screen, and there isn’t any way to make that go away.

One thing I really like is that when the lock detects motion, it lights up the keypad. This not only makes it easy to see the numbers but also lets people know that something is watching them, so it might act as a deterrent to would-be thieves.

UPS and FedEx don’t really knock on the door when delivering packages, so the notifications are really handy. Also, one added benefit for me is that my mailbox is next to the front door, so I get motion notifications when the mailman comes,  I really like that!

Here are a few screenshots from the app:



 



 



What I like

  • Simple to use
  • Guest access codes and remote unlock
  • Notifications tell you who/which code was used to open the door
  • Physical key backup, you can always use your key to unlock the door
  • LED lit keypad

What needs to be improved

  • WiFi signal strength
  • Improved video recording quality
  • Notification sound customization, the default sounds are not loud enough and can’t be customized

Final thoughts

I think if you have this lock installed close enough to your router I think you’ll find it to be a great lock. All of the features worked properly, and the few things that I would like to see improved probably could be addressed with an app or firmware update,  but they aren’t really deal breakers.

Price: $349.00
Where to buy: Gate and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Gate.

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Gate Camera Smart Lock review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 11, 2018 at 11:00 am.

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Remo+ offers the first wireless, over-the-door security camera

NEWS – Outdoor security cameras comes in a variety of formats – doorbell cams, wall-mounted cameras, even peephole cameras, but Remo+ has the first wireless, over-the-door camera that requires no complicated installation.  You simply hang it over the top of the door, just like you’d hang one of those wreath holders at Christmas time.  You can monitor any doorway, inside or outside.

The DoorCam is a smart HD camera with a built-in motion sensor, 2-way talk, and night vision.  It’s battery operated; the 3 D-cell batteries may last 12 months before replacing.  It installs in seconds by simply hanging it over the top of the door.  The antenna and Wi-Fi chipset are placed inside the home to limit Wi-Fi connection interference from thick building materials.

Specifications

  • Stream high quality HD (1280 x 720) or VGA (640 x 480) videos with 160° wide-angle view
  • Speak to and listen to visitors with full duplex audio using the free Remo+ app
  • Cloud recording allows you to access all videos within last 30 days from your phone, including missed activities ($3/mo; $30/yr)
  • PIR sensor – Customize motion sensor sensitivity to detect relevant activities in real time
  • See what’s happening at your door whenever you want with On Demand Live Streaming
  • Link DoorCam with your Alexa or Google Home device for even smarter features
  • DoorCam is weatherproofed to withstand most weather at temperatures 0-122°F
  • iOS app supports iPad or iPhone 4S or above running iOS 7.1 or above
  • Supports Android phone or tablet 4.1 or above

The DoorCam is $199.00 from Remo+.  You may also be able to find it at local retailers.

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Remo+ offers the first wireless, over-the-door security camera originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 6, 2018 at 12:50 pm.

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The CapsuleCam home security camera delivers clear color footage even in the dark


NEWS – Over the past several months, I have been able to test and review a couple of security/alarm systems and surveillance systems. The ones I reviewed are pretty nice and offer pretty darn good video and images even in low light. However, one of the issues I have had with them is that the low light/night images are in black and white. Once you look at the footage, you realize what a difference color makes and how much impact it has on the ability to recognize faces, features and other details.

I just came across the CapsuleCam by Bosma USA that just finished a successful crowdfunding campaign on August 9th. This indoor smart home security camera uses Starlight Vision that allows you to see color and therefore important details like facial features even in low-light conditions. “Compared with traditional security cameras, Starlight sensor-powered cameras deliver full-color images without using artificial lighting (infrared lighting) under low-light environments.” It has a wide dynamic range, a 162-degree wide field of view, and local storage for recordings via a built-in SD card slot.

According to the manufacturer, “With its wide aperture (F1.8), larger size sensor (2.0M pixel image sensor), and 0.01 minimum LUX, CapsuleCam’s Starlight Vision delivers clarity up to 16.4 feet away. Starlight also reduces the camera’s shutter speed to collect enough light for you to see clear human faces in low light.” The camera’s features also include the ability to stream live HD video and to speak and listen using two-way audio.

If you are interested in learning more about the CapsuleCam, you can head over to the Bosma USA website. It is scheduled to be available in September 2018 and should retail for $79. You can also take a look at their completed Indiegogo campaign for more details.

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The CapsuleCam home security camera delivers clear color footage even in the dark originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 5, 2018 at 1:11 pm.

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SpotCam video AI service review

REVIEW – SpotCam, purveyors of Wi-Fi video camera solutions for indoors, outdoors, and doorbell applications is an industry leader for innovative design,  free 24-hour cloud video recording, and connectivity with IFTTT and Conrad Connect. The cloud platform now features optional SpotCam video AI services that actively detect specified events and provide instant notification of the occurrence on your mobile or email. Read on to see what I think!

What is it?

The SpotCam video AI service has six different subscription-based components that can be added to a user’s account in order to increase the automated surveillance capabilities of the camera.  The plans reviewed in this post include Missing Object Detection, Virtual Fence, Human Detection, and Vehicle Detection. There are also Pet Detection and Fall Detection components available that are not reviewed. All of these solutions are cloud-based. No change to the installed hardware is required to enable these features.

Design and features

Each of the video AI components is configured independently. The Video AI system is configured on the web by clicking on the green gear icon below the subscribed SpotCam preview image on the My SpotCam tab of the My Account menu.

The web browser must support javascript, but since all configuration is on a static image, flash is not required (as it is in order to view movies).

If configuring this using the mobile app, click the gear icon on the subscribed SpotCam preview image and scroll to the bottom of the screen.

Once you click the Video AI item the following menu appears

Each type of detection includes an AI parameter menu. The AI parameters include setting if the camera is mounted inside or outside, indicating if the camera is mounted horizontally, vertically, or slanted, and, in some cases, setting the minimum and maximum object size that can be interpreted.

When the Video AI registers a detection it lists it in the events tab and it places a marker on the timeline of the subscribed camera.

The image below is the “Human Detection” of me taking a picture of the camera for this post.

On the web, the AI markers sit above the audio and motion event markers on the video timeline.

The review is based on a SpotCam that I have mounted outside in my front yard. The camera is mounted upside-down below the front soffit of my roof and faces almost exactly due west. For several days of the review, the family was on vacation so the cars in the driveway didn’t move at all.

In addition to making a notification in the timeline of the subscribed camera video record, the Video AI can be configured to send an email with a link to an image that corresponds to the detected event. A green box indicates the area that triggered the event in the image.  You can see a green box surrounding me walking towards my car.

The image is unfortunately only a link to an image on a google server and not an attachment. The image expires as soon as the subscribed network video recording period expires.

The latency for the emails varied considerably. For example, The Human detection emails I received on one day (my son was having friends over so there was above average traffic) were received within minutes or hours later. Also, for what it is worth, I do not believe there is a way to Americanize the date format.

received at 9:13 AM (10 hours ago), “Human Detected” at "09:05:26 AM, 25/08/2018 ”.
received at 9:27 AM (10 hours ago), “Human Detected” at "09:07:08 AM, 25/08/2018 ”.
received at 9:31 AM (10 hours ago), “Human Detected” at "08:13:26 AM, 25/08/2018 ”.
received at 9:32 AM (10 hours ago), “Human Detected” at "09:14:17 AM, 25/08/2018 ”.
received at 10:18 AM (9 hours ago), "Human Detected” at "10:16:44 AM, 25/08/2018 ”.
received at 10:42 AM (9 hours ago), “Human Detected” at "10:03:56 AM, 25/08/2018 ”.
received at 11:02 AM (8 hours ago), “Human Detected” at "10:22:54 AM, 25/08/2018 ”.
received at 11:35 AM (8 hours ago), “Human Detected” at "11:32:10 AM, 25/08/2018 ”.
received at 12:40 PM (7 hours ago), “Human Detected” at "12:39:48 PM, 25/08/2018 ”.
received at 12:42 PM (7 hours ago), “Human Detected” at "12:32:03 PM, 25/08/2018 ”.
received at 12:47 PM (7 hours ago), “Human Detected” at "12:38:05 PM, 25/08/2018 ”.
received at 1:00 PM (6 hours ago), “Human Detected” at "12:59:39 PM, 25/08/2018 ”.
received at 2:36 PM (5 hours ago), “Human Detected” at "01:17:02 PM, 25/08/2018 ”.
received at 2:46 PM (5 hours ago), "Human Detected” at "09:59:18 AM, 25/08/2018 ”.
received at 3:32 PM (4 hours ago), "Human Detected” at "02:10:06 PM, 25/08/2018 ”.
received at 4:07 PM (3 hours ago), “Human Detected” at "08:59:03 AM, 25/08/2018 ”.
received at 4:07 PM (3 hours ago), “Human Detected” at "09:00:52 AM, 25/08/2018 ”.
received at 6:06 PM (1 hour ago), “Human Detected” at "08:37:51 AM, 25/08/2018 ”.
received at 6:37 PM (1 hour ago), “Human Detected” at "09:09:47 AM, 25/08/2018 ”.

Missing Object

The Missing Object component is designed to determine if objects within a specified region of the image change over time. Only one region can be configured for a missing object detection and the region must be a simple quadrilateral. (Actually, the program will allow drawing a “bowtie” shape but I did not test how this performs.) For this review, I selected the region of the driveway to test if the camera can correctly determine that the cars have moved. During the five vacation days, I received nine notifications that the cars have moved, all (thankfully) false positives. Most of the detections were based on the changing reflection of the sky on the chrome and windshield of the cars, or sunlight variations on the yard. One of the notifications, at 3 AM, was because a moth flew in front of the camera. Unfortunately, when I finally did move one of the cars at 8:14 am, no missing object event was triggered. The image below illustrates that the Video AI thought that the top of a tree and the bumper of the car had gone missing.

Virtual Fence

The virtual fence allows the user to draw a line separating two areas on the image and designate the AI to monitor and detect any objects that cross the line.  Only one fence can be created for the virtual fence detection. The AI can determine in which direction the travel across the virtual fence occurs; therefore, the virtual fence can provide notification of traffic in the forward, reverse, or both directions across the fence. When I enabled the virtual fence, I received 143 notifications within 9 days. Many of the notifications were for trees or bugs at night. Like the human detection example above, some detections came in very quickly while others took hours to appear in my email.






The system did correctly determine I was cutting the lawn and walking up the driveway late at night. The virtual fence does not have a parameter to limit the size of the detected image, so there doesn’t seem to be a way to lower the number of false-positives.

Human Detection

The purpose of the human detection component, as described by SpotCam, is to identify only those motion activities that are based on the presence of human beings. The AI parameter of this component includes a relative size selection for both height and width. It should be possible to detect people near or far in a scene based on their size and the perspective of the camera but I didn’t test this out. The Video AI did a good job of identifying people in the scenes; only one scene identified a tree as a person. As discussed before, the latency on receiving notifications varied considerably. The Human Detection component doesn’t have a mask to exclude detection within certain areas; if it did then some of the detections that occur high in the trees could be avoided.




Vehicle Detection

The purpose of the Vehicle Detection component, as described by SpotCam, is to notify the user when a vehicle is detected in the video image.  The AI parameter of this component includes a relative size selection for both height and width. It’s unclear if this parameter can be used to detect near and far vehicles based on perspective, or the relative size of the vehicle (say a Smart car versus a garbage truck.)  The Video AI did a good job of identifying vehicles in the scenes; only one scene identified a tree as a vehicle. As discussed before, the latency on receiving notifications varied considerably. Like the Human Detection component, the Vehicle detection doesn’t have a mask which will exclude detection from certain areas; if it did then some of the detections that occur high in the trees could be avoided. SpotCam warns that the accuracy of this detection might be affected by the headlights of the vehicle during night-time. To ensure proper identification the camera should be placed to avoid being aimed at headlights to improve the accuracy in the night. I did see one capture of path light illumination that was mistakenly interpreted as headlights.



What I like

  • Good highlighting of a video stream
  • green boxes identify the image that triggers AI

What needs to be improved

  • Images are links, not attachments.
  • would be beneficial to “train” the system to recognize “missing objects”
  • not more than one “missing object” area per camera
  • should have video masking on multiple Video AI components.
  • virtual fence size would help eliminate false-positives
  • the latency of email alerts is inconsistent

Final thoughts

The SpotCam Video AI service is groundbreaking in its scope but still has a few bugs to figure out. The number of false-positives is too large to reliably use as an email alert system. I can see that this product may become more robust as computing power, programming, and usage increases.

Price: $3.95/mo, $39/year for “missing object”; $9.95/mo, $99/year for “fall detection”; $5.95/mo, $59/year for other plans
Where to buy: SpotCam
Source: The sample for this review was provided by SpotCam.

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SpotCam video AI service review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 31, 2018 at 11:00 am.

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