Gabe Turner: Hey, folks.
This is Gabe at Security Baron.
Vivint said they'd be giving us a new concept of what an outdoor camera can do.
Today, we're going to be reviewing the Vivint outdoor camera.
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Gabe: In today's review of the Vivint outdoor camera, I'm going to go over some pros and
cons, its design, its feature set, the installation process, before diving into its mobile app
to make sure you have all the information you need to make the right decision.
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Gabe: If you'd like to see a list of our favorite outdoor cameras, google, "Security Baron,
best outdoor cameras."
If you have a question about today's review, leave us a comment and I'll get back to you.
Let's kick off today's review of the Vivint outdoor camera, going over some pros and cons,
beginning with the pros.
The first thing I have to talk about is the video quality.
It has 4K video quality with HDR.
You're really able to get down incredible detail with whatever it's seeing.
It's seeing everything, from cars and dogs to license plates.
You're really going to be able to see specific features about anything that you're looking
for.
Another element is the Smart Sentry system.
Smart Sentry allows you to arm your Vivint outdoor camera and have it become a proactive
element in deterring crime.
We don't want to be dealing with things after the fact.
Fortunately, it will have LED light come on that's bright red, along with making a sound
like a whistle to deter people that might be lurking around your home.
Just to say, "Hey, you're being watched and this is what's happening," which, I think,
is a really useful element.
When it comes to cons with the Vivint outdoor camera, I have to state that I think it would
benefit a lot from facial recognition technology.
It can distinguish between people, animals and cars, for example, but it cannot tell
who I am.
When you have the Smart Sentry feature enabled, that means that, when I take out my trash,
I'm just sitting on my front stoop, it cannot recognize me.
Therefore, it's going to continue to do the different things that Smart Sentry can do.
Those are some of the pros and cons with the Vivint outdoor camera.
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Gabe: Now that we've gone over some pros and cons with the Vivint outdoor camera, let's
talk about its design.
It has a pretty clean light aesthetic with a little bit of a two-tone effect with that
front face being black.
Of course, it's flush, which I love to see.
I like everything to be recessed into the device itself.
It has the Vivint logo on the bottom.
It has two microphones.
It has a speaker on the bottom.
You're going to be able to hear quite clearly.
You see how big that speaker is?
They're going to hear you.
One thing I like about this is that it does look like a professional security system.
We do want it to be a deterrent in terms of people seeing it and saying, "Whoa, this person
seems like they're protecting their home.
They can see what's happening."
That is the case.
Overall, I'm a fan of both the aesthetics and utility of this device.
That's a look at the design on the Vivint outdoor cam.
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Gabe: Hold on, I hope you're enjoying today's review of the Vivint outdoor camera.
If you can be kept up-to-date on the newest in outdoor cameras, Smart Home Security, cybersecurity
and more, subscribe to our channel at Security Baron.
We're dropping new content weekly.
All right, let's get back to the video.
Now that we've gone over some pros and cons in the design of the Vivint outdoor cam, let's
talk about its feature set beginning with its video quality which is tremendous.
We're talking about a 4K sensor with HDR.
You're really able to see things in granular detail, really get into the nitty-gritty.
Everything from license plates, to seeing exactly how cute that puppy was that passed
in front of your home.
When it comes in night vision, it has infrared LEDs to really make sure you're seeing what's
taking place in the dark.
Remember, for all of this day and night vision, you're going to capture a lot of what's taking
place because it has a 140-degree field of view.
Overall, very impressed with the video quality in both day and night vision on the Vivint
outdoor cam.
Moving on from the superb video quality on the Vivint outdoor camera, we want to talk
about its two-way audio, which is also excellent.
So excellent in fact, that, with the equipped microphone and speaker, I was able to hear
a conversation I had on my sidewalk.
Not my stoop, mind you, on my sidewalk with my next-door neighbor.
It's almost creepy that I was able to go back and watch that video and hear the conversation
in exact detail.
Hey buddy, here testing out the sound quality on the two-way audio for the Vivint outdoor
cam.
How do I sound?
Neighbor: Loud and clear.
Gabe: Excellent, thanks a lot.
The two-way audio on the Vivint outdoor camera is phenomenal.
Now that we've gone over your video and audio with your Vivint outdoor camera, we're going
to say, "Where are you going to store that information?"
With the Vivint, you can do either local or cloud storage, or a mix of both, by getting
the Vivint Smart Drive, which is a one terabyte for $249.
You can go with something like the Vivint cloud storage plan, which is going to be $5
a month for 14 days of cloud storage.
Those are some of your options for local and cloud storage with the Vivint outdoor cam.
The final feature I want to go over today in our look at the Vivint outdoor camera,
is the Smart platform integration.
The Vivint outdoor cam integrates with the two major Smart platforms, Amazon and Google.
You can use your voice to throw the video stream from your Vivint outdoor camera to
your Google Chromecast, or your Amazon Echo Show.
You get beyond just looking at that video on your Smart panel, or your mobile device,
and can see it on the Smart displays or TVs throughout your home.
Let's look at the major features on the Vivint outdoor cam.
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Gabe: Now that we've gone over the feature set for the Vivint outdoor camera, let's talk
about the installation process.
One thing to note with Vivint, is that you're not going to be doing any of it yourself.
It's professional installation only.
All new installations are free right now through Vivint, which is great.
They are very professional.
Vivint does not hire a third party to come and install this.
This is all Vivint employees -- that only do Vivint products -- that come to your home
and install the system.
One thing about that, is they're doing all the drilling, all the cabling, all the testing
to make sure that it sets ups correctly with your Internet connection.
What's great about this process is that you're going to be there and you can ask them any
number of questions about your system right off the bat.
You're new to it, you have questions, you want to see how it works, and they will walk
you through that entire process.
Overall, it is a painless, professional and honestly, informative installation process
with the Vivint outdoor camera.
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Gabe: Final thing we want to delve into today is the mobile application with the Vivint
outdoor camera, the Vivint app.
Here you're going to be live-streaming your footage, reviewing past events and setting
up features like Smart Sentry.
Fortunately, it seems to be an intuitive and straightforward application.
People like it.
It has a 4.4 in the Google Play Store and a 4.6 in the Apple App Store.
Let's go ahead and check it out on my iPhone 7 Plus.
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Gabe: Let's dive directly into the mobile application for the Vivint outdoor cam.
Let's go ahead and check out the live view.
This is in front of my house.
Right from the get-go, you can see how things are.
If we go and zoom in, you can see pretty well.
In the top left-hand corner, they actually keep that full vision, which is a really nice
touch, I think, that Vivint has done for this product.
If I want to take a picture, like a car going by or something, I can do so just by tapping
on the photo button.
All those photos will be found on my phone.
If I want to talk, I can just speak by tapping on the microphone.
Of course, if I want to jump directly into my locks because maybe I see someone coming
and I want to lock the door.
They made sure I can do that to the left.
Let's go ahead and look at the events.
These are all the people that have been detected going by my home today.
You can see there are a lot of people around the neighborhood going by.
This is just all throughout the day.
We can even go check me out this morning.
There I am, backpack.
Let's go ahead and watch that video.
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Gabe: That's me, throwing away my pizza box.
I'd gotten some Prince Street Pizza.
Throwing it away.
Taking a look around.
Coming back in my house, take my phone out.
You see you get a lot of really good action right here.
Even last night, we could go further back and see what happened when I left, where I
was going.
Here you are.
We can go check it out here.
You can see how great this night vision is.
This is me grabbing my bike, taking it down the stairs.
Look how clearly you can make out everything that I'm doing.
Really impressed with the night vision on this cam.
You see me jumping on my bike.
I promise, I don't actually ride on the sidewalks.
I'm going to go off at the next driveway, the next accessible.
Really into the clarity, the facility of moving around.
Just an overall intuitive mobile application.
If I wanted to go deeper, look more at other cameras, I can do so.
I'm going to go look at the settings.
I can go into front yard notification.
I can ask if a person's detected by my front yard.
I want to be notified.
If I want Smart Sentry to be triggered, I can look at record, when it's going to record
people, like a person detected.
I can even look at the quality and the bandwidth.
Right now I have it at the highest quality, highest bandwidth.
You can look at the various elements.
That's our look at the mobile application on the Vivint outdoor cam.
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Gabe: We've come a long way with the Vivint outdoor cam.
You're saying, "Gabe, what really sets this camera apart from the others?"
The first thing I have to say is that 4K HDR video quality.
You're really going to be getting down to the nitty-gritty of the granular details of
what's going on in the vicinity of your home.
It's capturing a lot with the 140-degree field of view in lush detail.
Fortunately, the audio quality reflects that video quality.
You're going to be able to hear exactly what's taking place anywhere near this camera.
That's really excellent with the speaker and microphone that it comes equipped with.
Finally, there is nothing between you and the experience of seeing what's happening
on your camera.
Generally, the mobile application experience is that intermediary.
Fortunately, it is a boon to the experience.
The Vivint mobile app is great on both Androids and iPhones.
You should be able to get everything out of the outdoor camera that you expect.
Although it is a bit spendy at $399, this is one of the best cameras that we have seen
at Security Baron and feel as if it should definitely be in contention for protecting
you and your family.
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Gabe: That concludes our review of the Vivint outdoor camera.
If you appreciate today's video, give us a like and hit that subscribe button.
As always, this is Gabe at Security Baron, be secure.