Canary Security Review: All-in-One, View, and Flex

Overview

Canary is a DIY home security system that uses solely cameras to monitor your home. You can watch a live feed, receive alerts about detected motion, alert the police if something is amiss, and even monitor the temperature and air quality in your house on up to four cameras in the app. After testing the Canary system ourselves, we think there’s a camera here for most people, and we’ve got all the details to help you decide if it’s a good fit for you.

Canary pros and cons

Canary cameras: Canary Pro vs. View vs. Flex

The Canary Pro (All-in-One), Canary View, and Canary Flex cameras all have 1080p HD camera resolution, a 90-decibel siren, sensitive motion detection, and automatic night vision. There are a few differences between them that make each one best for different smart home security situations.

Canary Pro (All-in-One)

The Canary Pro camera not only provides HD picture and motion detection, but it also monitors the temperature, humidity, and air quality in your home and will alert you if anything goes wrong. That way you’ll know if there’s smoke, if your furnace stops working, or if there’s a water leak, even from far away.

In the app, you can see the climate levels for the last 24 hours and adjust the alert ranges. In testing, we noticed a temperature difference of about three to five degrees compared to what the thermostat said, so a too-narrow range might give you false alarms.

Canary View

The Canary View is similar to the Canary Pro but without climate monitoring. The wide-angle HD camera, motion detection, siren, and night vision are all the same.

The biggest advantage to the Canary View is the price. It costs significantly less than the Pro and about half as much as the Canary Flex, making it the best product for budget-conscious customers.

Canary Flex

The Canary Flex is smaller than the other cameras and can be used as either an indoor or weatherproof outdoor security camera. It can be either wireless or wired, and once the battery charge lasts a week or more. The camera angle isn’t as wide as the other two Canary cameras, but it can be set upright or mounted on a wall for the best angle with the magnetic base.

We noticed more lag time with this camera than the others, especially when reconnecting after a long period.

ASecureLife’s recommendation: For flexibility in positioning inside or out, this is the best Canary camera. Give yourself options with the indoor/outdoor Flex camera. Get it on Amazon.

>>Learn more: Find out how it compares to other wireless security cameras.

Price: Free access vs. Premium service

Data effective 8/28/2019. Offers subject to change.

Basic access

The Canary home security app comes free with Canary cameras. It has essential features like motion detection alerts with video clips and climate monitoring for the All-in-One. Basic access gets you 24 hours of video history, live video feed access, and immediate access to emergency services.

You can add up to four cameras with Basic access, and each one can be adjusted to detect all motion, just people, or nothing. From the app, you can contact emergency services from anywhere. Even with Basic access, the Canary cameras are a viable DIY, self-monitored home security system.

Premium service

For $9.99 per month (or $99 per year), the Premium service subscription adds extra features like incident support, additional video access, and an extended warranty.

If you upgrade your subscription, you get two-way audio between your smartphone and the cameras, 30-day video history, and unlimited video downloads. You also get the full videos of detected motion—from the time the motion starts until it stops—rather than 30-second clips.

The Premium service also comes with an extended warranty for your cameras—two years instead of one—and can support up to five cameras instead of four.

Canary mobile app

The free Canary app is the center of the Canary home security system and is available for iOS and Android smartphones and Apple Watches. You can do all of the following from the app:

• Switch between Home, Away, and Night modes manually or set it to switch automatically.
• Adjust geofencing diameter for Away mode.
• Customize detection settings (all motion versus person detection) for each mode and each camera.
• Turn on Privacy mode to disable all video and audio.
• Swipe between cameras to view the live feed.
• Sound the 90-decibel siren.
• Use the two-way communication button to talk through the cameras on the Premium service only.
• Make emergency calls.
• View the timeline of recorded events (motion detected, switching modes, etc.) and download videos.
• Adjust climate monitoring settings on the Canary Pro only.

Customized motion detection

One of our favorite features was the ability to set masks, or areas where you want the camera to ignore any motion. In testing, we occasionally got motion alerts triggered by light reflecting off of a moving car. But the false notifications stopped after placing a mask over an area high up on a wall where no real motion would occur.

You can set more than one mask per camera and the masks stretch to almost any straight-edged shape anywhere in the camera’s view. Moving the camera at all will change the placement of the mask.

Safety button

The Canary app also has a safety button included with the Premium service. If you feel unsafe, you simply hold down the button. When you release, the app will ask for a four-digit PIN. If you don’t put the PIN in, the app will immediately contact your local emergency services.

Smart home integration

All three of the Canary cameras can integrate with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, as well as IFTTT and Wink. Apple HomeKit integration is not available yet.

Installation

Setting up and installing your Canary cameras couldn’t be easier. Simply plug the camera in, open the Canary app on your smartphone, and follow the directions to pair the camera with your smartphone. Each camera is equipped with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, so you don’t need a hub. This makes them easier to install and less expensive than some of the competition, including iSmartAlarm and Arlo.

Canary app screenshot | Photo source: ASecureLife

Canary app screenshot | Photo source: ASecureLife

Customer service

In the past, customers were frustrated with changes in the terms of service and pricing, especially after they’d already paid for a subscription. But those issues seem to have been resolved. The biggest complaints now center around the lack of 24/7 customer service and delays in notifications.

Canary vs. the competition

Our recommendation

The Canary system relies primarily on security cameras and the app to let you self-monitor your home. The HD cameras provide good quality picture and the adjustable settings give you control over when and what kind of notifications you receive. Though we generally recommend using a professionally monitored system, the Canary is a fine DIY security device, especially for small homes or apartments.

• For complete home monitoring, check out the Canary Pro (All-in-One).
• For the budget-conscious, choose the Canary View.
• For an outdoor or wireless HD camera, choose the Canary Flex.

*Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable, at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.

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