Gabe: Hi folks.
This is Gabe at Security Baron.
Today, we're looking at the iSmartAlarm Premier Home Security Package.
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Gabe: If you would like to see a list of our favorite home security systems, Google "Security
Baron Best Home Security Systems."
If you have a question about today's review, give us a comment and I'll get back to you.
In today's review of the iSmartAlarm Premier Home Security Package, we're going to go over
what are the components of the package, how easy they are to install, the professional
monitoring options, the customer support.
Finally, the mobile application to make sure that you have everything you need to make
the right decision for you and your family.
Looking at the first component in our iSmartAlarm Home Security System is the CubeOne.
This is your hub, your command center, everything that's going to control the rest of the peripheral
devices with your iSmartAlarm Home Security System.
Now, it doesn't have battery or cellular back up, so you will be out of luck if your WiFi
goes out, or your power goes out.
On the positive side, it does come with a 110 decibel siren, so you could be sure to
be heard in the case of an emergency.
The next components to be discussed with the iSmartAlarm Home Security System are the contact
sensors.
Contact sensors work by placing them in the frame of a door or window, and the magnets
inside will notify your mobile application if that door or window is opened or closed.
They sense to which they are separated or brought together and lets you know what's
going on in your home.
This is what they look like with the iSmartAlarm Home Security System.
The next component that I want to go over with the iSmartAlarm Home Security System
is the motion sensor.
The motion sensor's pretty reminiscent of all the other ones that we've seen on the
market with that wide aesthetic.
It's generally pretty flush from the top to the bottom, but there are a couple of things
we wanted to note.
One being that, if you have a pet, you could get a barrage of notifications if your pet
likes to run around, because the 20-foot range on the iSmartAlarm motion sensor cannot distinguish
between pets and humans.
The second thing has to do with this build quality.
I actually pressed into this device one time, and it seemed to have been irreparably damaged.
I've not been able to get this part to pop back out and look the way it did when we first
bought it.
That's a couple of things to keep in mind when looking at the iSmartAlarm motion sensor.
The final component that we're going to talk about today with the iSmartAlarm Home Security
System is the spot camera.
Now, there is an iCamera KEEP Pro camera looks like the big bro to this, but this is what
comes with the premier package.
We want to see how well it can do.
In terms of aesthetics, it's a cute little camera.
Not too much going forward.
It can rotate.
It can tilt.
It could even stretch a little bit here.
In order to see how well it functions, let's put it the Security Baron Necessary Features
test.
In our Necessary Features test, we look for every camera to have stellar video quality,
two-way audio, night vision, local and cloud storage, smart platform integration, and artificial
intelligence.
When it comes to the Security Baron Necessary Feature of stellar video quality, the iSmartAlarm
Spot camera does not meet the mark.
It only has 720 high definition and we'd like to see, at least, the industry's standard
of 1080p.
On the other hand, it does have 130-degree field of view.
When it comes to the Security Baron Necessary Feature of video quality, we give it half
marks.
Two-way audio is a Security Baron Necessary Feature, and the iSmartAlarm Spot camera does
come with two-way audio.
For that, we give it full marks.
Night vision is a Security Baron Necessary Feature.
When it comes to the iSmartAlarm Spot home security camera, we give it full marks for
its four infrared LED sensors and clear night vision picture.
Local and cloud storage are a Security Baron Necessary Feature.
With the iSmartAlarm Spot camera, you get both.
You get 10-second increments for your cloud storage, or you could throw in a micro SD
card and get local storage.
When it comes to Security Baron Necessary Features test of local and cloud storage,
we give the iSmartAlarm Spot camera full marks.
Smart platform integration is a Security Baron Necessary Feature.
When it comes to the iSmartAlarm Spot camera and its integration with both ITTT and Amazon
Alexa, we have to give it full marks for the Security Baron Necessary Features test of
smart platform integration.
Artificial intelligence is a Security Baron Necessary Feature.
It typically refers to the capacity of a camera to recognize people, pet, or packages.
The iSmartAlarm Spot camera does not recognize any of these things.
However, it is capable of listening to CO2, smoke alarms, and warning you to those effects.
When it comes to artificial intelligence in the iSmartAlarm Spot camera, we give it half
marks.
Now that we've taken out each of the components of our iSmartAlarm Premier Home Security System,
let's talk about that installation process.
You're going to want to begin with the mobile application where you make your account at
your CubeOne.
You'll take out your CubeOne, plug in the Ethernet adapter, plug in your power adapter,
and you're ready to go.
Once you sync those two devices, the CubeOne and your mobile phone, you're going to attach
each peripheral device.
You're going to want to begin with your contact sensors.
You'll add a contact sensor right there in the mobile application.
Then you'll pull out the slip.
When you pull out the slip, it'll activate that battery.
Your CubeOne will recognize it almost immediately.
It's a pretty straightforward process that you go through with each one of your contact
sensors and your motion sensor.
Then you will, of course, finally attach your Spot camera.
All in all, a very easy process.
I like the way the mobile application facilitates it.
I would say that it took me, all in all, fewer than 45 minutes.
Now that we've gone over the installation process for your iSmartAlarm Home Security
System, let's talk about professional monitoring.
You know, at Security Baron, we love to see that 24/7 professional monitoring that makes
sure that someone's watching your home at all times.
Unfortunately, that is not an option with the iSmartAlarm Home Security System.
You'll be doing self-monitoring through your mobile application.
Another thing to add is there is no cellular backup for the iSmartAlarm Home Security System.
If your Internet goes out or your power goes out, unfortunately, you'll be out of luck
in terms of protecting your home.
Moving on from the monitoring options with the iSmartAlarm Home Security System, let's
look at that customer support.
The way you should get in touch with iSmartAlarm are through their general online help center,
on online form, on email.
You can even call them between the hours of 8:00 and 6:00 Pacific Standard Time.
Something we want to note is that while this tells us how to get in touch with iSmartAlarm,
it doesn't tell us about the quality.
For that, we looked at Amazon first.
Amazon gives the iSmartAlarm Home Security System a 3.4 out of 5 star rating, which is
OK.
If you look at the specific reviews mentioning customer support, you'll note that five out
of the seven were negative with people saying that, one, they were calling and not even
able to get in touch in the hours the iSmartAlarm said that they would be in office, which is,
honestly, something we've run into here at Security Baron.
Then people stating that those customer service representatives were not particularly knowledgeable,
which is something to keep in mind.
We were like, "Let's look at Google."
Now, Google is actually even worse.
They have a 2.6 out of 5 star rating on Google.
Of the five reviews that specifically mention customer support, four of those are negative
with many of those reviewers also stating the same issues related to not being able
to get in touch with customer support and them not being particularly knowledgeable.
The final element that I'll delve into in our review today of the iSmartAlarm Home Security
System is the mobile application.
After looking at its customer support, I was really hoping that iSmartAlarm could persevere
here and do a better job, but looking at the reviews in the Apple App Store and Google
Play Store, I have not much faith left in me.
The Apple App Store reviewers gave the iSmartAlarm an average of 2.1 out of 5 star ratings.
Then the Google Play Store Android users gave it a 2.7 out of 5 stars.
That is pretty terrible, to be completely frank with you.
However, it's important for you to see it for yourself.
Let's check it out on my iPhone 10.
Here I am checking out the iSmartAlarm mobile application.
On the control page, you'll note that you have four common modes to look at.
You have arm, disarm, home, and panic.
If I hit the arm button, you'll hear that it starts to arm.
It gives you some time, so let me tap on that.
[beeping] I can just as quickly disarm it.
You can add new modes to that if you like.
They'll be placed underneath, like so.
Generally, you'll have your arm, disarm, home, and panic mode.
If I look at monitoring, you can look at the various family members, and you can look at
what's going on in your home.
You'll note that my contacts are closed, and my Baron Spot motion detector is on.
If I go look at my cameras, I have two cameras from iSmartAlarm, but we're going to focus
on the one that comes with the package, which is the Spot alarm.
Here you are checking out me on the Spot with your iSmartAlarm in the mobile application.
It's pretty decent.
You can note that it doesn't take a long time for it to come up.
There is a little bit of lag, but that could just be a reflection of what's going on here
today.
It's a pretty good view considering it's just a 720 camera.
It's got that 130-degree field of view.
It's overall pretty nice.
Finally, I go look at the devices.
The devices let you see all of the different things that you have connected to your home
security system.
My home security system is called Castle Baron.
I could add even more devices if I wanted to.
I have a couple of cameras.
I've got the Baron Spot motion detector and two of my contact sensors set up along with
the hub.
There you are with the log of what I've done with the hub today.
If I go hit the settings button, you can look at your notifications.
You can look at the members attached.
I haven't added any more members to my system.
You got your home info.
I can look at my integrations.
I've integrated with Amazon Alexa.
It's useful to have Amazon Alexa integrations
That's me checking out iSmartAlarm's mobile application.
All right.
Here I am checking out the iSmartAlarm Spot camera's daytime video quality.
It's only 720, but it does look pretty good.
I wouldn't give it a globe test.
You'll note that it does see things pretty well.
There's actually very little lag on our system.
Here I am checking it out.
I can go.
I can zoom.
I can see what's going on pretty well.
Overall, I'm pretty impressed with the 720 high definition video and the 130-degree field
of view on the iSmartAlarm Spot camera.
Here I am checking out the night vision on the iSmartAlarm Spot camera.
It's, honestly, pretty impressive.
It's got four infrared LEDs that really liven up that 720 video quality.
I'll go ahead a give it a little globe test.
You can see what's going on pretty well.
This is me checking out the iSmartAlarm Spot camera in night vision.
All right.
Now it's time to learn the fate of our beloved iSmartAlarm Premier Home Security Package.
If you've been paying attention, I think you know where I'm going with this because I'm
a pretty positive person.
I like to see the good in everything, but I do not think I can, in good faith, recommend
that you buy the iSmartAlarm Premier Home Security Package.
If you read some of the customer reviews, people's experiences with the customer support
team seem to be pretty uniformly negative.
It doesn't seem to do the smart part of smart security all that well.
What could make me say that, yeah, this is right for you, or maybe if you're just trying
to buy about a $150 home security system, that is quite robust with contact sensors,
motion sensors, then camera, and your CubeOne hub, it can do that.
Especially if you're someone who wants to integrate with Amazon Alexa, or even if you
have the iCamera KEEP Pro home security camera already, which works really well.
That being said, upon reflection, I would state that you may want to just take a moment,
sit back, and really think about if you want iSmartAlarm security system and if it can
meet the needs of you and your family.
That concludes our review of the iSmartAlarm Premier Home Security Package.
If you appreciate today's video, give us a like and hit that subscribe button.
As always, this is Gabe at Security Baron.
[snaps fingers] Be secure.
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