Disclosure: I received free product to facilitate this post. Post contains affiliate links. The opinions are my own.
Today I have a very special review and giveaway for you! If you love technology and the idea of a smarter home, and if you have a family or property you wish to protect, please read on.
For the last few years our dog Shadow has served as our home monitoring system. At the smallest sound, Shadow will spring in to action, run to the nearest window or door, and bark very loudly to let us know she sees something. The problem is that she cannot tell us at what or at whom she is barking. Enter the HomeHawk Front Door Home Monitoring Camera.
Just as it sounds, this product is used to monitor the front of your home. (Additional units may also be used to monitor the rear other areas of your property.) You simply mount your camera over your front door, set the product up on your wi-fi network, and download the HomeHawk app on to your smart phone or other mobile device. And you are ready to go! You can view a live feed of the front of your home any time, and if you install an SD card into your unit, the camera will actually record and save the feed for future viewing.
What I Love
When I hear something outside (or hear a dog bark) I’m in a habit of running to a window to look out, and with the HomeHawk I don’t have to do that anymore. No matter what room I am in, I just pull the app up on my phone, and I can see if there’s someone outside. As a new mom, I find this so convenient. When you’re feeding a baby or rocking a baby, the last thing you want to do is run to a window or door only to find it was a false alarm, or else a stranger, whom you have no time or desire to deal with.
Favorite Features
The product has several notable features that I enjoy and find helpful.
- Panoramic View – I was amazed at the viewing area you get with this small camera. As you can see in the photo above, I am able to view my entire porch, yard, and driveway, as well as the street in front of our house. (This is great because I can see someone pull up well before they actually reach our front door.)
- Two-Way Audio Communication -Using the app, I can hear what’s going on outside our front door, and I can hit the microphone on my device to talk to the person. (This is great because I’m often tied up and in a hurry to answer the door, and now I can tell people, “Be right there.” Or I can use this to say something to my husband while he is outside.)
- View from Anywhere – I love that we can view the app even when we are not home. When my husband is at work, he can check the app anytime to see that we are at home and that everything appears to be in order. If something seems amiss, he can just give me a call.
- Alerts – You can also set it up so that you can get alerted anytime someone is near the camera. The alerts come to you whether you are at home or away, and each person who has the app will get an alert. At this same time, a light comes on the unit and a speaker lets anyone outside know that the premises is being monitored. I love the extra-added security this feature provides!
- Night Viewing – The camera also gets a great view of the outside even at night.
- Time Stamps – Obviously if an incident or suspicious activity is going on around your home, it is good to have a time stamp. But on a less serious note, the timestamp could help you to know when family members come and go. This is a real plus if you are trying to track someone down or you are away from home and want to make sure the teenager is at home.
- Snapshot – As you can view the live feed you can also hit the camera and take a still snapshot with timestamp.
All in all, I think this is a great product. I love the extra-added security and peace of mind that it gives us, and I feel like it’s helping us to move forward into the in to the 21st century.
Giveaway: One Simply Sweet Home reader will win a Panasonic HomeHawk Front Door Home Monitoring Camera.
To enter, please use the Rafflecopter below.
