CONCLUSION

   If you’ve been following NikKTech since the beginning then you should know that we were among the very first media to support Canary and their Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign but at the end of the day due to some marketing hiccups it took us roughly 2 years to get a working sample from them. Of course as expected from one such device Canary had quite a few bugs at launch so I guess in the end that was for the best. Well today and after 3 months of testing both at the lab and at home i truly feel that Canary has no serious bugs left and is currently a very solid home security system. Now personally I’d like slightly better image/video quality than what it offers (probably influenced by all the surveillance cameras I’ve used and reviewed over the years) but on one hand as I already mentioned it’s still very good while on the other the built-in microphone is actually one of the best I’ve encountered over the years (you can even listen to people whispering). Unfortunately Canary doesn’t have audio alerts so if let’s say someone breaks your door or window and it’s not within its viewing angle it will not alert you of it and from what I see that’s a feature many people would like to see implemented. The geofencing feature is also very convenient as long as you always keep the registered devices on you and not were Canary is at. I did leave my smartphone once and since Canary detected it was still at the lab it obviously thought I was too so it didn’t get armed. The ambient sensors are also a very interesting aspect of the Canary and can certainly be used in cases of a fire or gas leaks (via the alerts). I was also glad to see that the Canary comes with not one but 12 small IR LEDs which easily illuminate a large room at night. Finally thanks to the Cloud recording you don’t need local storage and for people who may need more than just 24 hours (I really think Canary should provide extra hours for people with more than one instead of reducing them) or video history you can always purchase one or more months to cover your needs.

   So how much for a Canary All-In-One Smart Home Security System? Well currently you can find it for just USD157.38 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 178Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) a price tag which is roughly 10-15% down compared to even just 1 year ago. So although you can’t “expand” the Canary with door/window sensors and extra motion sensors like some other models in the market currently we all believe that it’s a very good home security system thanks to its audio/video quality, night-vision mode, cloud recording and available sensors and that’s why it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Design
- Available Colors (Black, White, Silver)
- Full HD 1080p CMOS Sensor With Night Vision
- Built-In Microphone Clarity
- 90+ dB Panic Siren
- 24Hr Cloud Recording (Up To 30 Days With Extra Membership)
- Available Sensors (Motion/Light/Air)
- Automatic Arm/Disarm Via Geofencing
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Not Compatible With 3^rd Party Devices
- Reduced Cloud Recording Time If You Get More Than One Canary
- Can Only Be Placed On Flat Surfaces
- No Audio Based Alerts
- Cloud Recording Only No Local Storage