Philips Hue Secure Flood Light Camera Review

#sponsored #freeproduct Bright light, clear video/audio, requires hue hub & subscription plan to get the most use from it. Amazon Affiliate Product Link: https://geni.us/TBPACA As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned The floodlight consists of an 8.5” x 5” and 2” thick weather-resistant metal housing which has a rubber magnetic mount for the camera. The light panel itself measures 5” x 8.5” and is 1” thick and it’s attached to the housing on an adjustable bracket that tilts up and down about 45° and swivels side-to-side. At the back of the housing is a round cutout with a universal light fixture mounting plate. You’ll need three wire caps to complete the hardwire connection to your home’s power, which are not included. The camera is interesting because it’s separate from the floodlight’s housing. To attach the camera to the floodlight, simply place the back of it on the rubber pad, and it will adhere quite firmly to the magnet. This design allows you to freely rotate, turn, and tilt the camera to point in a wide range of positions without using any tools. It’s not likely to fall off the mount by accident, however, you’ll still want to screw in the security cable as a backup to catch the camera in case it is knocked off the magnet. The power cable is also magnetic and can only be fitted into the slot in one direction. I replaced an old floodlight which no longer works and wiring it up was simple and straightforward. To make the wiring easier, you can attach the security cable to the mounting point adjacent to the LED driver so you don’t have to hold the unit up. To set up the device you’ll need to download and install the Philips Hue app to a mobile device, then sign up or log into a Hue account. To unlock the full potential of the unit, you’ll need a Hue Bridge but it's not required for setup. Just be aware that the light and camera will need to be added, controlled, and operated as separate devices. Since its recorded videos are only stored in the cloud and encrypted you’ll be provided with a passphrase that can be used to unlock the files to view on another device. A new Philips Hue security device comes with a 30-day free trial of Philip Hue’s Secure subscription, which gives you access to video clips up to 60 days, advanced alerts that categorizes events based on AI detection of people, packages, animals, or vehicles, and the ability to define specific detection zones. Without a plan, you’ll only have access to the last 24 hours of video clip history. Clip length can be set from 15 to 60 seconds long. Your security system can be set to three modes, armed home, armed away, and disarmed. You’ll also be able to receive activity or issue push notifications via the app, and the device can trigger an alarm that flashes lights in the Hue ecosystem and sound a siren played through your cameras’ speaker. Emergency calling of a specific contact or emergency services is available as well but must be manually triggered. In the app you can arm your system to either mode with one tap, view a timeline of events, and tapping on the camera brings up its live view. In full screen you can see that the 1080p quality is crisp and clear with natural looking colors, good saturation, and adequate brightness. It has a nice wide angle and it’s easy to adjust its position on the magnet mount. At night, IR night vision kicks in and produces a very clear grayscale image with a level of detail similar to daytime footage. You can also listen to audio captured by the camera, take a snapshot, start a manual recording, and engage in two-way audio communication via the app. With the Hue hub you can take advantage of automations that trigger the light with motion. You can even set different colors and brightness depending on the time of the day it’s triggered. Overall, as a security device, without the hub this “system” falls a little short since the camera and floodlight are not fully integrated as a single device. With the hub, however, I think it works pretty well and has all the features I would expect from a floodlight security camera. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases Amazon Affiliate Product Link: https://geni.us/TBPACA