Frontpoint has topped my list of best monitored home security systems for a while, but if
you follow my reviews, you probably know that I somewhat compartmentalize it.
I use the Interactive Plan which is for home security and prefer to pair it with my own
third-party security cameras and smart home devices.
If I wanted to integrate them with the system, I would need to subscribe to Ultimate.
Now that Alarm.com has introduced new third-party integrations, I've decided to retest my preference
for compartmentalizing by testing Frontpoint's Ultimate plan with the August Smart Lock and
the new Alarm.com Indoor Camera.
While this review assumes you have some knowledge of Frontpoint, I have dropped a link to my
full written review in the description below if you want to learn more.
Otherwise, we're going to hop right to it.
While August makes a couple of locks, only the August Smart Lock Pro works with Frontpoint.
It uses Z-Wave Plus to connect to the Frontpoint panel and the included August Connect allows
you to control the lock from anywhere.
The August Smart Lock Pro doesn't so much replace your lock as it retrofits your existing
deadbolt.
And that's important to point out as it has different features than you would see if you
paired a keypad style smart lock with your system, but we're gonna get to features in
a minute.
First, let's talk about how to pair it.
To pair it, I suggest you call Frontpoint for help unless you happen to have a touchscreen,
in which case, I'm gonna walk you through the process right now.
First, find an outlet that's within 5 feet of your August Lock, and plug the panel in.
Next, Click Settings, Advanced Settings, Enter Code 6827, Click Installation, Z-Wave, Add
Device, Pair, and then click Add.
At this point, the panel should start searching for available Z-Wave devices, and it should
find the lock.
The first feature we're going to talk about is Location-Based Locking Reminders which
is tied to Frontpoint's geofencing abilities.
If you drive away from home without locking your door, Frontpoint will remind you.
To set this up, open the Frontpoint app, click on the notifications tab, click "+Add," and
then click "Lock Left Unlocked."
This menu allows you to set a specific duration and also set a schedule, for example, only
remind me on weekdays between 10 am and 5 pm.
The second feature we're going to talk about is called One-Touch Remote Locking which sounds
fancy but really just means that you can lock and unlock the door using the app.
And while the feature sounds simple, I did run into a couple of challenges.
Part of the issue is that I have door armor installed which covers the locking mechanism.
While secure, it makes it difficult to close the door in a consistent way.
At times, Frontpoint will say the door is locked, even when it isn't.
If I check the history tab, I can see that there was an issue locking the door, which
I'm assuming is caused by my door armor.
The second issue is that it's slow.
The lock responds quickly when I lock and unlock it using the August app, but Frontpoint
takes longer.
In fact, several times it timed out without doing anything at all.
The final feature we're going to talk about is that integrating your August Smart Lock
with your Frontpoint system will allow you to add the lock into your Frontpoint scenes,
which happens to be my favorite features.
Scenes can be anything you want them to be.
They are multi-step actions that you control with one click.
You might have a good morning scene, good night scene, or sleep scene.
For example, I've set this Sleep Scene to arm my Frontpoint system to Stay and to lock
the door.
While I liked the lock, I liked using it with the August app way more than I liked using
it with the Frontpoint app.
The Frontpoint app kind of slows things down and makes things more confusing, and while
I can see the value of Scenes, it wasn't enough to sway me.
Moving on to the camera, I am not new to the Alarm.com Indoor Fixed Camera.
I tested a previous version and wasn't a fan, but this one is promised to be new and improved
so I decided to give it a try, and quickly compare the two.
The older camera offered a 720p resolution where the newer version is Full HD 1080p.
In addition to a higher resolution, the new camera also offers digital zoom and has a
slightly wider field of view.
My biggest issue with the older camera is that it lacked audio, while you could live
stream, you couldn't hear anything.
The new camera has audio and two-way audio.
While two-way audio sounds pretty good, audio coming from the camera sounds pretty bad.
There's so much background noise that it sounds like I live in an airport or maybe like I'm
obsessed with vacuuming, neither of which are true.
Software wise there is zero difference between the two cameras.
You can record on-demand, view multiple video streams at once, view saved videos, and even
create a recording schedule.
You can set the camera to record when there's an alarm, record when your lock reports activity,
record during an entry delay, record every time a sensor is opened or closed, and record
when the system is armed or disarmed.
The camera also has a motion sensor that you can set to record when it detects activity.
Digging in further, you can create a schedule for your motion recordings and even set parameters
like telling the camera that it shouldn't record when your system is disarmed.
Cloud storage is also included with Frontpoint offering 1,000 clips per month.
If you find that the camera is recording too many events, you can dig into your video settings
and adjust sensitivity, even adjusting the sensitivity assigned to a specific detection
zone.
While I can again see the value of tieing a home security camera to your home security
system, my recommendation is going to remain that you go with Frontpoint's Interactive
plan and manage your smart home devices and your home security cameras separately.
If you decide to plow forward, I support you, and the good news is that if you find it's
not for you, the August Smart Lock is not Alarm.com specific, so you can always manage
that using the August app if you change your mind.
The bad news is, that the Alarm.com camera is Alarm.com specific so if you buy the camera,
you're stuck using it with your Alarm.com system.
So what do you think?
Convenience or performance, which do you prefer?