The past five years has been a period of significant maturity in the home security market, paved by the likes of Swann Communications, as well as Arlo and Amazon, all driving innovation across several fronts from the front door to the inside of house system to a new generation of 2K and 4K models.
Recently Swann released a new AllSecure650 2K wireless security kit which delivers on several fronts with the added advantage that it is wireless, has its own router and at this stage excellent battery life.
If you are going to install security for a house and you want more than the front door area covered this product is an excellent solution with owners of this system able to hook up several cameras in multiple locations for 24/7 coverage.
While the box it comes in may look intimidating on the outside, out of the box this system is easy to set up however Swann do need to improve their documentation as it is a tad confusing.
All you have to do is unpack all the goods that come in the box and set them out on a table.
Then you need to add the batteries to the cameras and then plug the cameras into power to charge until they all turn to green meaning they are fully charged.
The cameras feature 2K Quad HD resolution across a 105-degree wide viewing angle, which capture a lot of detail.
While this is happening, you can make a decision as to whether you are going to connect via a cable (Ethernet) network or via wireless.
I chose wireless, and after plugging in the router to a power point and a TV I then downloaded the Swann Communications app.
You can connect the router to a monitor or an any display screen that comes with a HDMI connection.
What’s important is getting access to the Swann Admin software that allows you to configure your security system.
The process is not dissimilar to setting up a network configuration for a PC.
To do this you need to create a username and password and then log into the system software.
Scroll down to networking and log into your Wi Fi network or you can connect to the network via an Ethernet cable.
The AllSecure650 2K wireless security kit is a true Wi Fi NVR offering and once I had connected myself into the network set up some parameters, which all up took about 15 minutes, I was ready to install the cameras.
Checking that the cameras were fully charged I then removed the batteries and the blue strip across the bottom of the battery.
Each camera connects to the base station wirelessly and runs from removable batteries with a spare battery built into the back of the router, this battery constantly charges and is a good back up if your power happens to fail and you want to keep the router powered up.
As for adding the cameras to the network all you do is press the activation button on the top of the camera and streaming appears within seconds, to the display screen.
On the top of the camera is an antenna which I suggest you do use especially if you don’t have a current model Wi Fi router such as a W6 version.
What I noticed instantly was that the image quality was excellent however I do advice that you pick the locations for the cameras carefully taking into consideration the direction of the sun as you have to be careful that bright light does not impact the quality of video content the system is able to capture.
Another one to watch for if installing in an office, is fluorescent lights with a new generation of LED creating flair for some brands of security cameras.
Another big plus was that after hooking up four cameras we saw no degradation in the quality of the streamed video.
Two weeks after setting up the Swann AllSecure cameras that were running 24/7 and were constantly being polled for notifications, we saw no reduction in the battery power.
Several Chinese security camera brands that we have reviewed in the past were already showing a 20% reduction after two weeks.
Another impressive feature is the True Detect heat & motion detection sensors which allowed us to detect entry to a premises by a cleaner.
In a home environment you can also set the cameras up to detect pets or animals and set the system to recognise them, you can also set it to detect a car pulling into a garage on a regular occasion.
True Detect requires both movement and heat to trigger a motion as opposed to slight movement in a courtyard or front or back garden.
If you subscribe to the Swann Secure+ subscription, you get True Detect Plus, pet & vehicle detection longer storage for your security footage, 36 months extended warranty and replacement with confirmed Police report when an incident has taken place.
With this camera you can also set it up for a spotlight or siren to come on and there is also 2-way audio.
Powerful night vision up to 30m and Night2Day colour night vision up to 10m is also part of this package.
Also, in the pack are mounting brackets allowing the system to be installed securely within minutes rather than in hours.
The 2K Quad HD resolution across a 105-degree wide viewing angle is ideal for aq multitude of environments.
When True Detect senses movement or heat, you are instantly notified via a notification from the Swann Security App, allowing you to easily monitor activity without false alarm.
You can also use the digital zoom to see details such as faces and number plates.
For the review I set up a 1TB drive that I connected to the router to record activities. You can also subscribe to Swann’s system or connect to an online Dropbox account to record activities.
The Swann AllSecure650 2K Wireless Security Kit is now available for purchase from Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys, Amazon and Swann.com. The system is available in three and four camera systems, which are priced at $1,099.95 for the four-camera kit.
Verdict
As security system go this is a very stable security system that’s ideal for an office, both indoors and outdoors with all the cameras being water resistant. The use of a router and the option of Wi Fi or Ethernet cable connect makes a big difference to the quality and where at first, I was concerned over the 2K streaming Vs 4K the picture quality is excellent.
Pros
I was really impressed as to how Swann had got 2K audio to look so good. You can zoom in and even in a dark area you can pick up images and movement. Installation was easy and the battery life is are among the best we have seen in a security system of this type.
Cons
Access in and out of the management software was made difficult by the constant need to reenter a username and password. It was time consuming and unnecessary as we only had to walk away from the screen after logging in to then have to re log in between things like admin and setup.
Rating: 9/10
