Home Security

Black Friday 2021 Deals It is that time of year again. Most companies are offering some big discounts and this could likely swing your opinion for one of the below systems I have compared. Yale Black Friday All the Yale Sync systems on Amazon currently have a discount. The Yale IA-320 Sync Smart Home Alarm …

Most of the CCTV / home surveillance reviews I have done have been for affordable consumer products. However, after being impressed with the night time performance of the H.View HV-500G2V5 5MP colour night vision camera and installing BlueIris, I have become a little obsessed with wanting to upgrade my cameras. The Hikvision DS-2CD2386G2-I is one …

Are you looking to build a smart home? Creating a modern living space starts with ensuring safe, secure entry. Contemporary access control systems (also known as keyless entry systems) secure your private space from unwanted visitors while providing a smooth and pleasing entry experience to your friends and family. They also deliver a great first …

I reviewed the Netatmo Smart Outdoor Camera (formerly Netatmo Presence) just over a year ago, and it has been one of the best surveillance cameras I have reviewed, and I still use it today. Netatmo was one of, if not the first companies to offer AI object detection with their camera, the indoor one is …

The D-Link Smart Full HD Wi-Fi Camera is the latest smart home camera from D-Link that can be integrated with the mydlink app. mydlink is compatible with a growing number of devices, I have already reviewed the mini smart plug at the end of last year and also the wire-free outdoor camera kit almost a …

I am a big fan of outdoor IP home surveillance cameras; I personally think they are one of the best deterrents for thieves and criminal behaviour on your property, and in the event of something happening, you have some video footage to show the police or insurance companies. Many of the wire-free surveillance cameras I …

In recent years, one of the big improvements in home surveillance is the availability of cameras that can record video at night in full colour Starlight Vs Darkfighter Darkfighter is specific to Hikvision cameras and these are able to provide full-colour images up to 0.002 lux, and black and white up to 0.0002. Starlight is …

Annke is a popular, affordable IP CCTV brand that you can buy on Amazon. They generally sell their hardware as a system and you can pick up four of these cameras, an 8-channel NVR and 2TB hard drive for £489.99 on Amazon with an option for an additional £56 off. Alternatively, you can buy this …

Netatmo is the latest company to enter the smart lock market with the innovatively named Smart Door Lock and Keys. While there are a lot of products on the market, the big names such as August are designed for deadlocks only, but in the UK for our uPVC doors, we use multi-point locks with a …

Apart from security cameras, smart home security products have been slow to take off, in particular in the UK we have had a very limited selection of devices. Yale is the main company that sells both smart locks and a smart home security system. Simplisafe launched their home security system a few months ago in …

It is safe to say that the home security camera market is a little saturated nowadays. Things seemed to escalate quickly when cheap IP CCTV cameras came to the market, and I still use the Ezviz EZ-C3S-Wi-Fi today. Once companies like Arlo introduced wire-free solutions, the market boomed, it was now affordable and easy to …

Smart door locks have been a little slow to take off in the UK. In the US they have had August for years, but that is only compatible with the less secure deadbolt style locks. In the UK, with our multi-point locks, the best solution has been the Yale Conexis L1, which is excellent and …

Recently, Anker’s sub-brand Eufy released a new wire-free outdoor security camera solution which hopes to gain some traction in an increasingly competitive market. Price at £319.99 but currently available with £20 off, the eufyCam E Security Camera claims to be able to achieve 365 days between charges and 3 years in Standby Mode. Off the …

I reviewed the outdoor Kodak PTZ network camera back in July last year, it was a good camera, but it was let down somewhat with the poorly designed software compared to many popular brands such as  Nest, Ring and Arlo. Most recently I have been reviewing their Cherish F685 Home Security Camera which is an indoor PTZ camera …

I have had a traditional Yale alarm fitted in my home for years but I never use it as I generally found burglar alarms annoying. I am not sure of anyone that actually responds to one going off we all just assume it is a false alarm. The new Yale Sync Smart Home Alarm brings …

This year I have reviewed a few different Reolink cameras and found them to be a great affordable alternative to popular cloud-based security camera solutions such as Arlo, Ring, and The Reolink Go recently launched and is yet another affordable option to one of Arlo’s offerings, the Arlo Go. It is a bit of a …