Swann has released a product that is aiming to bring safety and security into the palm of your hands. The Swann One Smart Home Control Kit uses an app-controlled interface for iOS, Android and PC. With the interface you’ll be able to control cameras, locks, power switches and detect motion. More features can be added as the kit uses a convenient modular system, so adding another camera or even a smart thermostat is an option.
The kit itself comes with a smart hub, two key fobs, motion sensor, window/door sensors, camera and a smart plug. The smart hub is at the centre of it all and will connect all of the aforementioned peripherals to the Internet for you to control.
Setting everything up was a bit of a pain considering that it is supposed to be easy for consumers to use. There are a lot of steps and hoops to jump through in order to get everything set-up. You’ll first have to create an account with Swann, which will then lead you to the set-up instructions. Setting up the camera is challenging but achievable if you know what you’re doing; thankfully there are YouTube video instructions to help.
That said, even with the well-presented YouTube videos it was still a struggle to set up. We questioned our own intelligence as we went through each step slowly to make sure we were doing it right. The smart hub simply refused to pair with a few peripherals. Thankfully the camera was straightforward and worked perfectly fine with 720p HD recording. It doesn’t work as smooth as you’d expect; delays happen pretty much every minute, where seconds of footage will be skipped. That was when we viewed on our iMac with an excellent internet connection; viewing the camera remotely on the smartphone app with 3G data was worse. But the Swann One app is well made, responsive and offers all the controls you need for your peripherals.
Missing from the camera is the ability to store footage, unless you pay a monthly charge of £18.99 for Cloud Video Storage. Upon purchasing Cloud Video Storage you’ll be able to store backups online. To have to pay for a feature that should already be included is a bit sneaky. To also have to pay a monthly charge just to have unlimited push notifications is quite laughable. It’s quite a shame as the kit does have great quality products with unique features that will save you money (the smart plug can turn off sockets remotely) and more importantly, give peace of mind. The camera microphone has unique abilities such as detecting specific glass breakage noises and differentiating it from a baby’s cry. The camera can also recognise the family pet and will not sound the alarm.
At the time of writing the kit is being sold with an RRP of £399.99 at Currys, freeing up some funds to invest on the monthly subscriptions on offer. Using the subscription service is the best way to fully enjoy the benefits of the One Smart Home Control Kit.
Verdict
SwannOne has developed some great ideas to ensure safety in your home, but to fully unlock the potential you will have to pay extra with subscriptions. Without the subscriptions you are still getting good products, though the experience is considerably stripped back.