Security is important when in your home. I like to know that there is nothing that can happen to me when I’m here, and I would love to know that something couldn’t happen to it while away. But for some of us, we’re not always that lucky. Home intrusions happen, and yes, while they absolutely suck, it would be nice to know that I could deter, or even capture the perpetrator who’s welcomed themselves to my stuff while I’m not there. So this is what they Somfy One is. An all-in-one security alarm and CCTV camera, that uses your WiFi network to run.
So today we’re taking a look at a few products that make up the Somfy Range, and I will mention them all throughout the review rather than one by one to make things easier. The first is the actual CCTV camera unit, which is a sleek black cylinder which houses the camera in the front and an alarm system in the bottom. The second is a door or window sensor, which sends a signal between two devices and if broken, will set off a horrific sounding alarm. The third is a key fob, which is used to deactivate the alarm system once you’re detected near the property.
So, opening up the packaging I’m greeted with a black camera on top, with the power cable underneath. The camera is extremely light, made from what feels like plastic, so there’s no need to worry about putting it on a shelf, and the USB cable to reach the plug is extremely long, so has enough slack on it to neatly trail it to the nearest plug socket because of course, no one wants nasty cables visible in the home.
Setting up the camera itself was easy. I downloaded the Somfy app and followed the on-screen instructions to get the camera to talk to my router. This step took far longer than I wanted, and had a hard time getting my router to notice there was a camera in the area. I wanted it connected to my 5.0Ghz connection, but ended having to use the 2.4Ghz network.
Once connected to the router, I was told to update the app which took no time at all. Once installed, you’re left to your own demise on the Somfy dashboard. Lucky enough, Somfy has done a great job in designing their app, making each menu simple to understand and specific options easy to locate.
So as any normal tech addict would, I jumped straight into the camera preview. Now the Somfy One by default records in 1080p, but because my home broadband is so bad (I live in a digital dead zone) I had to opt for the standard definition streaming, which still wasn’t that bad previewing it on a phone. Again, because my upload speed is so bad, even when I was in a great broadband location, I could still only receive standard definition images.
On each camera you have the option to set it to monitor for movement, and also to turn private mode on, which shuts the camera door. There are plenty of settings to get stuck into such as automatic privatisation and getting the Somfy app to remind you to set and disable your alarm system when you leave the house or come home.
What is great about the Somfy One is the fact you can set multiple users to one system using their mobile phones, or giving each person their own keyfob. Think of your Somfy camera as the hub. It’s the alarm after all. The key fob acts as the alarm’s disabler, meaning that when someone comes into the house, all they need to do is click their fob to make sure the alarm doesn’t go off.
When an intruder enters the home, of course their smart phone isn’t registered with the system, and they have no key fob. So when there is motion detected, the alarm will sound, acting as a deterrent. Footage will automatically start capturing the intruder’s moments, storing it in Somfy’s cloud based storage. It’s so if the intruder feels like stealing the camera, the footage can still be recovered.
The Somfy One is an easy to install, easy to use WiFi security system that would be welcome in anybody’s home. Although we only had it for a couple of weeks, I can say that the system worked well and as it was supposed to. We didn’t have any misfires of alarms, and everyone who I registered with the camera were picked up before entering the home anyway so range is pretty good.
