Simultaneously, we got a clear thumbnail image of the person it detected sent directly to our phone, which made it easy to monitor our home. With Smart Sentry, whenever the camera detected someone lurking within our property for too long, the LED ring lit up and the siren played a warning tone. Those two features played a vital role in the Outdoor Camera Pro’s Smart Sentry function. For reference, 85 decibels is about as loud as a passing diesel truck or snowblower.
One of the most unique features of the Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro was the red LED ring around the camera lens, coupled with the camera’s 85-decibel siren. Read more about the security system in our Vivint home security review. The camera also used Wi-Fi to connect to the Smart Hub Panel and the other devices on our Vivint system. However, if we hadn’t happened to have a plug near where we were mounting the camera, this could have made installation a bit more complicated (more on this later). While the base and outside of the camera were a shiny white, the face of the camera was black, square with rounded edges, with the round camera lens dead center.Īs far as power goes, we had to plug in the camera to a power outlet, which meant we never had to worry about batteries. The camera itself was sleek, modern, and minimal in black and white, which seems to be the trend nowadays.
(We’ll mention the differences between the two models throughout.) Also, if you buy a Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro now, what you’ll most likely get is the second-gen model, which hit the shelves in 2022. Is the Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro worth its $399 price tag? We’ll find out.īefore we start, though, we’d like to point out that the unit we reviewed was the first-gen Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro, which was impressive in its own right, but not as nice as the second-gen Outdoor Camera Pro. In this review, we look specifically at the Vivint outdoor camera in terms of video, audio, night vision, and more basically, all the important factors that make for a smart outdoor camera. Of course, in order to use this camera, you must have a Vivint security system, so it’s definitely not for everybody. One of these products is an outdoor camera, aptly named the Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro. Vivint is a well-known name in the home security game, thanks in no small part to its well-rounded range of products. It also shone a red LED light and sounded an 85-decibel siren, which made robbing our house difficult, if not impossible. The Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro didn't just alert us when it detected a person.
DIY installation: This ties in with the price in general, as professional installation makes the camera more expensive than it would’ve been without.
Free storage: While some companies provide both cloud and local storage for free, Vivint will charge $5 a month for 14 days of 30-second video clips- not the most generous offer in the world.Affordable price: At $399 for the camera and professional installation, this is one of the more expensive outdoor cameras that we’ve come across.Person detection: Not only can the Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro detect people, but it can also tell when they’re loitering on your property, prompting the red light ring, warning tones, and a notification for you with the person’s image.