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The Myfox is yet another smart home security camera, designed to help us keep an eye on our living room, front door, pets, neighborhoods and other areas, via the power of smart technology.
In a crowded market, it tries to claim a unique feature in the form of a motorized shutter to guarantee privacy when needed.
For the security conscious that seems like a decent feature, and is better than sticking bits of tape over the device’s lens when you want to ensure no one
is watching.
Otherwise it has similar specifications to most home models on the market, but can that shield make a difference in daily use?
Contents (Jump to)
Key Features of the MyFox
- Can Be Placed Anywhere Inside: Recommended for indoor use only, the Myfox is a neatly designed curved box, available in white, that can be placed anywhere around the home. It is mains powered, but there is a battery for recording when the power goes out.
- Remote App Controlled Shutter: As mentioned, the Myfox features a motorized shutter controlled from your smartphone, so you can turn it on and off when you wish, and ensure privacy if needed.
- HD Quality + Night Vision: Otherwise it seems largely comparable with many similar products offering a HD quality view on wherever you place it, night vision, a 130-degree wide angle lens and quad
digital zoom.
- Two-Way Speaker: It features a speaker for two way audio chat, so you can talk to pets or other people at home and a motion sensor to generate alerts, which it can send to the app or by email. The battery backup provides one hour internal video storage should the power go down, so it will work without the cloud – but you won’t have live access to that footage as your router will be down.
- Eventually Requires Monthly Subscription for Cloud Storage: Finally there’s one free month of cloud video recording, with subscription options for one week or one month of back up from $4.99 when the free trial runs out.
Pros of the Myfox Security Camera
1. Easy to Set up: The 70MB iOS or 52MB Android app allows you to setup up the Myfox Security Camera in minutes, using a QR code on the phone to speed up install.
You can also operate the Myfox Home Alarm from the app if you want to create a Myfox home security system.
- Can Share Access: The app allows you to share access to the camera with friends, family and community members. Users can arm, disarm and control the camera zoom as well as receive push notifications and email alerts.
- Active Viewing and Playback: Users can watch what’s going on through the camera lens, view and review events
- Continuous Recording Available: Or enable the optional continuous video recording. The video quality is pretty good, and night vision is clear and stable.
Cons of the Myfox Security Camera
1. Why Close the Shutter? The obvious flaw in the camera is, if you are the owner wanting to watch what’s going on, then you will always want the camera open. It seems to us that it is other people who would want it shut, and they are unlikely to have the app installed.
Even then, if you see the shutter is down, human nature suggests you’d take a peek to see what’s going on.
- Overly Sensitive Motion Sensor: Otherwise, it does a decent job of acting as a room monitor, but the motion sensor, as with many other models, seems overly sensitive and will happily report many a false positive. A problem here is that you can’t adjust the sensitivity or the amount of alerts you get, so if you have a house cat on the prowl, expect plenty of alerts every time it wanders if front of the lens. Of course, you could shut the lens but that renders the whole
thing useless.
- Apps Need Some Work: There is iOS & Android support for most users, but Windows Mobile owners are out of luck and there’s no browser support as a workaround. While the app works reasonably well, plenty of users are reporting poor WiFi connections from the Myfox, and that the app is far from helpful when it comes to dealing with errors or issues with the camera. On the plus side, the app is updated regularly, so hopefully those issues get fixed quickly.
- Subscription Service Required: Also, after the free month, you will need to subscribe to access the cloud data service at $4.99 for starters. While this is par for the course, there are many users who would expect a better offer having spend $179 (For the latest prices and discounts, check here).
- Lower Quality HD: As a final con, the Myfox claims HD at every turn. But, the fact that it is only 720p HD is never mentioned, so this isn’t as high-spec as some cheaper 1080p camera systems, while the image looks clear enough that could a difference to some users, especially if it came to trying to establish some evidence.
Final Recommendation – Worth it, or Not?
There are so many of these home monitoring devices on the market that it is becoming increasingly hard to tell them apart. They all try to hit the same budget points, so have similar specifications.
While the Myfox tries to distinguish itself with the lens cover, we think you have to be fairly paranoid to worry about using it, although in these strange times perhaps the paranoid folks have the right idea.
Perhaps it makes more sense as part of the larger Myfox Home Security Kit (with alarm, sensors and fobs for $549). That way you could only trigger the camera when an alarm goes off, but that’s a pretty tenuous use case and you’d need several cameras to cover most homes.
However, when considered on its own, there are more compelling, better functioning, or just cheaper options out there.
On the plus side, it has a good design, a lot better than the stalky Nestcam or more bulbous models, but looks won’t win it many fans until the functionality is top notch, which may take more work by the company.
Overall, the Myfox Security Camera is just a bit much money for not quite enough product, leaving us waiting either for a new improved version or a price cut before considering it.
Other Options – MyFox Alternatives
With the above being said, here are some other reviews we’ve done on security cams, worth checking out.
- Canary Smart Camera – Read full review here.
- Belkin WeMo NetCam – Read full take here.
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