Are you looking for a smart security camera that you can control using your smartphone but do not want to spend a lot? You should check out Guardzilla Indoor HD Wi-Fi Security Camera. This affordable security camera delivers high-definition video streaming to your phone and added in a lot of extra features.
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Design
The Guardzilla Indoor HD Wi-Fi Security Camera looks different from all the other video security cameras you have already seen or from those available in the market now. It has a pyramid-like shape but looks very modern.
Built out of hard plastic, it is very durable and sturdy-looking. It has a wide and stable base that makes it easy for you to place the camera on just about any flat surface. No more mounting and no more playing with screws.
Up front, you have the camera, a status indicator LED that lets you know that the camera is on, a microphone, and the night vision LEDs.
If you want to record security footage, you can put in a microSD into the micro sd card slot located on the side of the camera unit. At the back of the unit, you can find the speaker, the reset button and the power port.
Easy set up
Guardzilla does not need a hub and can be set up just by plugging it in, downloading the smartphone app, and then connecting it to your Wi-Fi. You can customize everything through your smartphone and begin protecting
your home.
You can also set up more than one Guardzilla camera on one smartphone app. This way, you can have a number of cameras monitoring different rooms in your house and manage them all through a single platform. You can also choose to have more than one phone monitoring one Guardzilla camera.
What’s more, you can secure your Guardzilla with a password, making sure that even if you lose your smartphone, unauthorized people would not be able to peek in on you.
Features of the Guardzilla Indoor HD Wi-Fi Security Camera
When the Guardzilla first came out, one of its biggest drawbacks was its low video resolution. Now you can have HD videos streamed to your smartphone any time, wherever you are.
The Guardzilla Indoor HD Wi-Fi Security Camera has motion sensors that detect movement and then sound a 100-decibel alarm. It will also send a push notification to your smartphone alerting you when you are not around or send you an alert via e-mail or text.
You can arm or disarm your Guardzilla easily, too. When you arm it, the motion detector starts working and will sound the 100-decibel alarm when it senses movement. You can also choose to automatically arm the system when you leave your home.
The auto arm feature uses geofencing technology that knows where your smartphone is and will automatically arm your system when you are out of the house. Furthermore, you can set an arming delay, which allows for a certain number of minutes to pass before activating the motion sensors.
Aside from detecting motion, the Guardzilla Indoor HD Wi-Fi Security Camera can also monitor your home at night because of the night vision. It also allows for two-way communication with its microphone and speaker.
The recording function allows you to either record the live feed continuously or to start recording only when an alert is sent.
Mobile app
Download the Guardzilla app for either iOS or Android devices. The mobile app will first take you through the five-step setup, which includes connecting the camera to your Wi-Fi network, creating your account, and assigning a name for your Guardzilla unit.
For each camera connected to the app, you will see a menu screen that has six choices: Arm/Disarm, Monitor, Activity Log, Settings, Panic, and Camera List.
The Arm/Disarm allows you to activate or deactivate the motion sensors in the camera with just one press, while Monitor allows you to view live streams of the footage coming from the camera.
The Activity Log gives you a list of events and their corresponding time stamp. If you click on any event, the mobile app will show you a picture that it took when the motion sensor was triggered. This is an easy way to check whether it is just a family member or a pet, or a would-be burglar.
The Panic option allows you to sound the alarm manually, a feature that provides you with added security.
For instance, if you are home alone and you hear something suspicious downstairs, you can choose the Panic Alert to sound the siren and scare away potential intruders even when your camera is disarmed.
The Setting menu allows you to tweak the camera’s features and customize things the way you want them. For instance, you can select to be notified by e-mail, push notifications, text, or through all of these methods when the motion detector senses movement.
You can also choose the duration of the siren, the sensitivity of the motion sensor, turning the pet immunity on or off, and further, the quality of the video stream.
Other settings and customizations you can tweak include the arming delay, turning the LED indicator on or off, turning the night vision off or having it automatically turn on when low light is detected, and set your time zone.
What you would love about the Guardzilla Indoor HD Wi-Fi Security Camera
For a homeowner or a local business owner, this camera allows you to be protected without having to install or mount the camera; you just place it on a flat surface where it has a good view of the room, doorway, or window you want to keep an eye on.
This kind of security camera is perfect for people who are always moving from one apartment to another, or those that live in apartments where they are prohibited from drilling holes on walls and ceilings or from installing anything without consent from the owner.
It would also be a great security camera for those who want to monitor discreetly because the Guardzilla does not look like a traditional camera and you can turn off the indicator LED as well.
Conversely, if you want to keep would-be intruders away, the camera comes with a window sticker that says, “Protected by Guardzilla.”
That simplicity also extends to pairing it with your smartphone. Everything else is done using the mobile app, so it is self-explanatory and it needs only a couple of taps to get the Guardzilla behave in any way you want it.
The HD video quality is sufficient for your monitoring and security needs, but having the little extras help you be more secure. The auto-arm feature ensures that you will be protected when you get out of the house even without thinking about your security camera.
The video recording capability, the alerts, two-way audio, and the snapshots when the motion detector is tripped all make it a great security device. Additionally, you can use it as more than just a security camera.
The 100-decibel alert helps you ensure that intruders are scared off, and you can even use it as a panic button. You can also talk to the kids using the camera, and have five other people help you monitor the house for you.
Further, you could easily take advantage of all of these features even if you do not subscribe to their cloud storage service. That means that you can take full advantage of Guardzilla without paying any monthly subscription fee.
What could be better
The viewing angle is quite limited, at only 89 degrees. This means that if you want to cover a large room, you might need two or more of this camera. There are security cameras that have a wider viewing angle, which covers more of the room than the Guardzilla.
Making things worse for the Guardzilla is that there is no way for you to pan, tilt, or zoom the camera. You get only one view of the room and if something is happening outside the camera’s field of view, then there is no way to remotely move it to see what it is.
If you have multiple rooms or a large house, you would be needing a number of Guardzillas working for you. At around $100 a pop, fully securing your house may be expensive. Luckily, the mobile app makes it very easy for you to monitor several cameras all in one place.
Having a very loud sound and motion detection capabilities, it would be a lot more useful if there was some way for you to automatically alert the police if any possible intrusion is detected.
Lastly, some degree of automation would be great. The mobile app is well-designed and you have control on different features and customizations.
However, there is no way to automate settings or set up profiles. For instance, it would be nice to be able to set a schedule that lowers the alarm volume when there are people at home and that goes full blast when everybody is out of the house.
Or one that increases the sensitivity of the motion sensors when it is late at night and then lowers them when it’s daytime to help you avoid false alarms.
Final say on the Guardzilla Indoor HD Wi-Fi Security Camera
The Guardzilla Indoor HD Wi-Fi Security Camera gives you all the features that you find on more expensive and higher-end security cameras without hurting your wallet. For less than $100, you get HD videos, mobile app access, and a wide range of features that help give you peace of mind.
Further read:
Patrick Sinclair is a geek; make no mistake about that. He runs All Home Robotics in his spare time so he doesn’t have to think about his depressing cubicle and it gives him an excuse to buy expensive gadgets to review!
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