The iSmartAlarm Review from a Browser

On paper, the iSmartAlarm security system and the iCamera KEEP are an attractive system. Here are some key features:

• Completely DIY with no monthly fee
• Optional, integrated camera to verify a problem when an alert is sent
• All of the security sensors you need to get started monitoring your house (entry and motion)
• PLUS, some nice extras that not all of the competitors have like remotes/presence sensors to tell when family members are home
• An affordable entry point at $200 for 2 entry sensors, 1 motion sensor, 2 remote/presence indicators, and the hub.
• IFTTT integration

And, there are some great ones in the works.

• External siren integration
• Recording video clips when the camera is triggered
• Z-wave compatibility

As you can see, it's clearly do it yourself security system meant for the consumer who has consistent cellular service and doesn't want to pay a monitoring service.

What does the iSmartAlarm system cost?

The system we're reviewing currently retails for $390 and consists of:

• iSmartAlarm Preferred Package - 2 entry sensors, 1 motion sensor, 2 remotes and presence indicators, 2 window stickers, and the control unit ($200 from iSmartAlarm site or a bit less at Amazon)
  • No monthly fees and no contract
  • Multiple modes for armed, disarmed, home, and panic
  • Customizable alarm and notification settings
  • >100 dB alarm built into the hub
• iCamera Keep - a pan and tilt, HD, indoor camera with motion and audio sensors that works with the iSmartAlarm system or as a stand-alone WiFi camera ($150 from iSmartAlarm)
  • 1280x720 resolution
  • Pan and tilt
  • Motion and sound detection
  • Receive push notifications
  • Store 10 second video clips for free (unreleased feature)
• iSmartAlarm Smart Switch - a connected outlet switch ($40 from iSmartAlarm)
  • Control lamps or appliances remotely or via schedules
  • Manual control for when your phone isn't nearby

You can jump over to our security system sensor comparison page to see what else you can pick up from iSmartAlarm. They offer a la carte pricing, so you can add to your system as needed to get the setup that's right for you.

First Impressions

Out of the box, the iSmartAlarm is a nice looking system. The sensors are subtle yet pleasing to look at and certainly don't look like they're 30 years old like some systems out there.

The first thing to do is to get the app installed and set up an account. Here's where we hit our first hiccup. We got the app installed on our Android phone and quickly ran into a mysterious error code when trying to register a new account. After browsing on the troubleshooting section and forum at their site with no luck, we proceeded to a workaround. We got a reply from tech support later and learned that they don't support Android tablets at this time. We got a quick acknowledgement (2 hours) that they were looking into the issue. Meanwhile the next day, we tried again and were able to register without any errors. Hmm, it seems there are a few kinks to work out! But, I don't mind an extended installation process (waiting on support) as long as the system works when it's set up.

Setting up the iSmartAlarm Security System

Once the registration was complete, the app looks for the hub and initiates a firmware update. We hung out waiting for the progress bar to do something for about 10 minutes before I decided to restart the app. Once I did, the app found the cube (now with the latest firmware) and let us proceed with adding the sensors. The app walks you through the process of adding devices by pulling tabs out of the battery compartment to activate all of the sensors. Once scanning was finished, the app found all of the devices. But, it promptly hung up when trying to go back one screen and had to be restarted to proceed. On the next try, all of the sensors were added with no issue, and it was just a matter of using the included double sided tape to attach the entry sensors to our doors and the motion sensor in a central location. All of that would have taken less than 30 minutes if everything had gone smoothly the first time.

Setting up the iCamera KEEP

Now, on to the camera. Adding the iCamera KEEP was a breeze. Again, the app walks you through the process. The camera was immediately found, looked anywhere we wanted, and delivered nice pictures over WiFi. Now, the only challenge is to find a central location for it to watch where it won't creep the family out. For us, that was the kitchen and den area. Not so fast, when we armed the alarm and tried to test it, the camera wasn't setting it off. After jumping over to the user's manual, we found the culprit. The iCamera KEEP had not been automatically linked with the iSmartAlarm system when it was added in the app. Once we navigated to the right spot (More -> Link Devices), the iCamera was connected to the rest of the system so that it could trigger alerts with its motion and audio sensors. Unfortunately, it just didn't work. After unlinking and then relinking the iCamera KEEP AFTER enabling the audio and motion detection at the suggestion of tech support, we were finally able to get the camera to trigger the alarm. But, it promptly quit communicating with the system and flashed a red light which seemed a lot like a flag of surrender. Only, instead of laying down weapons, the iCamera KEEP made me want to resort to violence. UPDATE: According to tech support, the red light lets you know when the camera can't connect to the network. When the camera is within a couple of meters of the router, it works like a champ. But as soon as we move it into another room (that has acceptable WiFi coverage with other devices) the camera intermittently has connectivity problems. It's hard to say what the issue is, but hopefully, it's a firmware problem rather than a poorly performing WiFi radio in the camera itself. That way, the prospects for getting the range increased in a timely manner will be much better. We'll keep you updated if any new fixes come out. The picture quality on the camera is about what you would expect from an HD wireless camera. While the resolution is delivered as HD, sending video over the wireless network practically insures that you'll see artifacts that the image has been compressed and slightly pixelated. Those problems are exacerbated when there are quickly moving objects in the camera's view. It could have been related to the network connectivity problems that we were working through with tech support, but the images were sometime pixelated even when we were connected to the same WiFi network as the camera. That being said, the quality was certainly good enough to identify a problem (fire or burglary) and would likely be good enough to identify a person's face if the lighting and distance were favorable.

The night vision was sufficient for the distances that we checked in our home (no more than 15' across the room), but I'm sure you could find situations where it wasn't bright enough off to the side and at a distance. And, be prepared for a saturated picture with a dark background if the subject is too close to the camera. For now, when an alarm is triggered from the camera, you won't get a video clip along with your notification. Instead, you'll have to manually pull up the camera to see what's going on. From there, you can take a snapshot just like you would on you phone's camera. We've been assured that feature is on the way, but it wasn't in place as the time of the review. Once that changes, we'll come back and add an update to this article. The pan and tilt features worked great, working with a simple swipe of the finger in any direction. With that ability , you can expect near 360 degree coverage around the camera from floor to ceiling. In the camera's settings page of the app, you can control the notifications you get as well as the sensitivity of the motion and audio sensors. That way, you can account for pets that may be home even when you're away from the house.

The App

The default screen of the app gives you four large tiles for Armed, Disarmed, Home, and Panic modes. They're the same options that you get on your keychain fob. The modes are pretty typical of alarm systems, where the "Home" version activates the entry sensors but disables the motion detectors while you're inside the house. You can even customize the Panic mode tile for a custom mode, if you like. You can also navigate to the device settings and rename each sensor so that it's more intuitive for your setup, e.g. "Front door", "Garage", etc. Linking another phone to the master account was also easy, you just bring up a QR code on the master phone and then scan it with the phone that you want to add. After that's all set up, the secondary phone can change alarm modes and access the camera. But, there are some limitations in changing alarm (timers, volume, etc.) and device settings (names, pictures) for the second account. After you're all set up, any trigger of the system (or every event, if you choose) will get pushed as a notification on your phone with name of the sensor that's involved.

Tweaking the Setup

Out of the box, the iSmartAlarm offers the types of customizations that you would hope for in an alarm system:

• Enable or disable a countdown before the alarm changes between disarmed and armed states to give you time to leave
• Disable or adjust the delay before the system is armed from 30 seconds to 5 minutes
• Disable or adjust the delay between triggering an alarm and the system going off (10 seconds to 3 minutes)
• Adjust the alarm siren volume
• Turn a door chime (even when the system is disarmed) on or off
• Send push notifications for all events, regardless of alarm state
• Create custom names sensors and controls (front door, garage, mom's remote, etc.)
• Create custom modes and activate certain sensors

We would have liked to have had the option of setting different delays for different sensor types. For instance, have a door sensor on an entry that isn't typically used go off immediately while any windows are triggered immediately. And, it isn't currently possible to have the Smart Switch turn on or off in response to any changes in the state of the system. I could imagine that those kinds of "nice to have" features will be coming with later versions of the software.

Vulnerability Assessments

Now, on to the most critical question, "Will the system help you secure your home?". Here are a few thoughts you should consider.