[Review] CleverLoop Smart Home Security System
[Updated 14-6-16: The price shown previously of $279 is in USD. The correct pricing and website have been updated, and pricing for a CleverLoop system starts from $449 NZD.]
With recent burglaries happening in our surrounding streets, it was the perfect opportunity to install a smart wireless security cameras in and out of the house for added proof of theft if one were to occur. The folks over at CleverLoop were kind enough to send me a sample of their product for me to review.
My CleverLoop Smart Security System consisted of a base station, one wireless/wired indoor camera and one wireless/wired outdoor camera. Both cameras can record up to 720p HD. Thankfully these cameras were also able to connect to our home network wirelessly, so that eliminated the need to have two cables running with each camera; I just needed one for the power cable.
If you wanted the assurance of having quality footage all the time, you can also plug in a PoE splitter into both cameras, and still have one cable connected, as the power is run over the ethernet cable instead. It is essentially a two-in-one cable! Just be sure that on the other end, your router/switch, has a PoE Injector to provide the extra power to the cameras.
Having said that, both cameras are working pretty well on WiFi, as both cameras support 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi. On the mobile app to view the footage, you also have the option of three quality settings: Low definition, standard definition and high definition. For me, high definition has a slightly lower refresh rate per second due to the extra bandwidth required, but still viewable. Depending on your network connection at your premises, choose the appropriate quality setting, depending on the quality of your network.
Setting up the CleverLoop system requires your phone and the CleverLoop devices. You have to download the iOS or Android app for your phone (sorry Windows Phone folks) and follow the simple on screen instructions. When it tells you that it can ‘take up to 90 seconds’ to find and locate your camera, it can take up to 90 seconds. You have to be patient.
Whilst people like the idea of being alerted if their house is being robbed, some don’t like the idea of having the camera record them when they are at home. You are able to set up a geo-fence to tell the cameras when to arm/disarm themselves automatically. Once you (your phone) is in range, the cameras will auto-disarm themselves, if you have set them to. Likewise, the cameras will auto-arm themselves when you leave the geo-fenced area i.e leaving your house.
The CleverLoop Base Station can only support up to four indoor/outdoor cameras, so if you have a bigger house, you may have to obtain several base stations.
The indoor camera has a 115-degree field of view lens, while the outdoor camera has a smaller 60-degree field of view lens, as seen in the above picture. Both cameras have infra-red night vision as well. The outdoor camera should also be mentioned that it is very rugged and water-proof. It’s a very solid outdoor camera!
A cool feature on the indoor camera is that it has a built-in microphone and speaker. This means you are able to hear directly what is going on in the room the camera is in, and also be able to talk through the camera to the occupants or thieves in the room, to scare them away.
Overall, the CleverLoop Smart Home Security System is a very nice security addition to the home, while keeping up with the 21st century. No old CCTV systems that isn’t smart enough to notify you directly on your smartphone if something unusual is detected. Once something unusual is detected on the CleverLoop system, it will automatically save a backup of it in the cloud for future reference. The best part of this is that the cloud storage feature is free! There are no additional monthly fees, just that the clip will be deleted from the cloud after 7 days. You can always save it back onto your local storage to keep for future reference.
All footage is stored directly onto the 8GB on-board memory of the base station, or you can store up to 45 days of HD footage if you connect a 1TB external hard drive to the base station.
The basic CleverLoop system starts from $449 which includes an indoor camera and a base station. Plus the ability to back up critical events to the cloud for free!
For more information, please visit: http://www.cleverloop.co.nz/
