Gabe: Hey, folks.
This is Gabe at Security Baron.
Today, we have quite the showdown, LifeShield versus Vivint home security systems.
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Gabe: In today's comparison of LifeShield and Vivint, I'm going to look at their key
similarities and differences, installation processes, professional monitoring options,
customer support, and finally mobile application so you'll have all the information you need
to make the right decision.
If you'd 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 comparison, leave us a comment, and I'll get back to you.
Let's check out the key similarities and differences for LifeShield and Vivint home security systems.
With LifeShield and Vivint, you can self-monitor.
You don't have to get a professional monitoring package.
Additionally, both include cellular backup, so you get that just with the system.
Two ways in which they differ, one, installation.
Vivint requires professional installation, whereas LifeShield allows you do it yourself.
Two, contracting.
Vivid requires at least a three-year contract, whereas LifeShield allows you flexible month-to-month
contracting.
Now that we've gone over the key similarities and differences for LifeShield and Vivint,
let's talk about their installation processes beginning with LifeShield.
LifeShield is a do-it-yourself installation process.
To be honest, when you first open it up, it can be a little intimidating.
It's a large box.
We got the security advantage package, which has a lot of components to it.
There's a big ole hub to start with.
Then you need the big ole ethernet hub to actually plug everything in at the same time.
That means your cameras, your system, your hub, all these elements have to plugged in.
The cable linkage alone is a lot to contend with.
That being said, the sensors, themselves, are pre-programmed, and peel and stick, and
are pretty easy to put up on the wall.
It's not a difficult process.
It's not a difficult set-up, but it is a little time-consuming.
I would say it took us close to an hour to get everything set up with the LifeShield
home security system.
Overall, it's not necessarily ugly, but I wouldn't write home about the system either.
When you look at Vivint, on the other hand, you don't do anything but be home or have
someone you trust be home because Vivint is a professional installation process.
I actually enjoyed our tech.
He came to our house, put on his booties, and got to work, installing everything that
we needed in our home in terms of the home security apparatus, from the doorbell to the
window sensors to the door sensors to the cameras, just a really on-point experience.
It looks great.
I'll be honest with you.
In terms of the aesthetics of the Vivint home security system, I don't mind having it on
my wall.
I am very protective of my wall in my home.
I want it to have what I perceive to be beautiful.
I really appreciate that.
I know that sounds a little extra for a home security system, but that's the truth.
They're very different experiences.
I don't think we can say that one is definitely better than the other.
In terms of time spent, it was pretty equal.
I had to be home for the tech, and I had to be home to install the LifeShield home security
system.
When it comes to the installation process, we're just going to call it draw between LifeShield
and Vivint.
OK, we've gone over key similarities and differences between LifeShield and Vivint and then talked
about the respective installation processes, but let's talk about their professional monitoring
options.
Professional monitoring is great.
It allows you to have 24/7, 365 team of professionals protecting your home.
We will also note that with LifeShield and Vivint, you can self-monitor in both of these
cases.
In both of these security systems, you do get cellular backup.
Let's talk about what those professional monitoring options are for LifeShield and Vivint respectively.
LifeShield offers two professional monitoring options, Security Essentials $29.99 and Security
Advantage $39.99.
Both of these give you crash-and-smash protection, cellular backup, battery backup, and a 24/7
team of professionals there to help you keep control of everything going on around your
home.
The main distinction between the 29.99 and 39.99 package or Security Essentials and Security
Advantage is that Security Advantage gives you an additional camera and an additional
motion sensor.
With Vivint home security, things work a little bit differently than LifeShield.
They essentially charge you by the camera.
If you get the professional monitoring -- that means cellular backup, a team of professional
monitors to watch your home and make sure that everything is OK -- you're going to look
at $49.99 for two cameras, $54.99 for three cameras, and $59.99 for four cameras.
That is how the professional monitoring services work with the Vivint home security system.
Moving on to contracts with LifeShield and Vivint, LifeShield allows for flexible month-to-month
contracting, or you can sign a three-year deal and negotiate your cancellation fees
with the sales agent.
With Vivint, you only have a three and five-year option.
However, you can cancel anytime, but you'll have to pay for the remainder of your equipment,
so three to five years with Vivint, flexible three years with LifeShield.
If you decide to move with either company, those are also very different outcomes.
Moving with LifeShield is easy.
You just move, tell LifeShield you moved, make sure you get your proper permits and
whatnot for your home security system.
That's it.
With Vivint, you're going to have to pay again for the professional installation which can
be $129.
When it comes to a top system for monitoring between LifeShield and Vivint, I'm going to
go with LifeShield.
They are more flexible and more affordable than Vivint when it comes to professional
monitoring.
All right, hold on, quick break.
I hope you're enjoying our comparison of LifeShield and Vivint home security systems.
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All right, let's get back to the video.
Let's check out customer support for LifeShield and Vivint.
Both of these companies give you access to online tutorials, FAQs, and general support
on their websites.
You can also call each of these companies or engage in a live chat with a representative
to have the questions you have answered.
I'll be honest, we didn't have particularly positive experiences in any of our calls with
LifeShield and Vivint.
We were kept on hold by each company for quite a while and then didn't find that the customer
service representatives were that good at answering our particular questions, which
is a bit of a concern.
Apparently, that's just anecdotal because LifeShield has a five out of five-star rating
on Google with most people being supportive of the customer support that they received.
Vivint, while not a 5, does get 3.8 out of 5 stars where, once again, people felt the
customer support was more than adequate.
That's something to keep in mind.
Our experience wasn't that great, but people on the Internet, the general public, seem
to think differently.
When it comes to picking a top system for customer support, we're going to go with the
numbers here and give it to LifeShield.
The final element that we will delve in today in our comparison of LifeShield and Vivint
is the mobile application.
Mobile applications are important especially when self-monitoring because it's here that
you control everything going on in your home.
You want it to be an intuitive, fun, and comprehensive experience.
With LifeShield, it does pretty well.
It has a 3.7 and 3.9 in the Google Play and Apple App Store respectively.
Even in my own experience, I thought it to be pretty intuitive and easy to use, and didn't
have any trouble getting what I needed from the system in terms of arming, disarming or
watching any of my video cameras.
However, when you look at the Vivint home security system, which gives a 4.5 in the
Apple App Store and a 4.6 in the Google Play Store, you're kind of blown away.
That entire experience is both as aesthetically pleasing as the actual home security system,
itself, is and just as intuitive.
It's a very easy system to get around.
It's great to use, looks great.
You feel completely in control of your home the moment you log in.
When it comes to a top system for a mobile application, today we're going to go with
Vivint home security.
Let's do a review now of all the elements we compared today between LifeShield and Vivint
home security systems.
Installation, we called this one a draw.
LifeShield requires you to install it, yourself, whereas Vivint is a professional installation.
It's hard for us to compare in these experiences.
Professional monitoring, here we gave the win to LifeShield.
LifeShield has more affordable and flexible professional monitoring options.
Customer support, here we gave the nod to LifeShield.
LifeShield and Vivint both didn't impress us anecdotally in our customer experiences,
but on terms of the numbers, Google reviews for LifeShield are stronger than those for
Vivint.
Mobile application, here we give the win to Vivint.
Vivint is really strong when it comes to mobile application, not only in our own experience
but also in how people feel about it in both the Google Play and Apple App Store.
All right.
We've come a long way in this comparison of LifeShield and Vivint, and you're wondering,
"Gabe, which one should I go with?"
Well, if you're a math person, you'll note that LifeShield has edged out Vivint.
They tied when it came to installation, but LifeShield won for customer support and professional
monitoring options, whereas Vivint won for mobile application.
LifeShield is great if you're a do-it-yourselfer that has a lot of time and wants to put together
a very comprehensive system for not too much money.
Additionally, if you don't want to be locked into a long contract, then LifeShield is a
really attractive option.
For the person who can't be bothered to put together anything Vivint is a great option
because it's only professional installation.
Then when you talk about setting up that mobile application, it's just super smooth, home
security living.
Vivint definitely gives the advantage there.
Now, I will have to say I'm a little biased because I had Vivint installed in my home.
It's still up.
It's still beautiful.
That being said, both are solid, attractive options for someone trying to protect their
home, just depends on what you need.
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Gabe: That concludes our comparison of LifeShield and Vivint home security systems.
If you appreciated today's video, give us a like and hit that subscribe button.
As always, this is Gabe at Security Barron.
Be secure.