Home Security is as important today as ever, with the likes of Ring, Swann & Blink to name a few brands offering a wide range of home security. In this review, we look at Annke who provided us with the 3MP Custos Security camera which is available for only £29.99
Who is Annke?
Annke was established in 2014 and has been providing home & business security solutions. Annke’s mission is to deliver the best solutions to help customers secure their homes and stay connected with their loved ones anywhere. Annke has gained 5 million customers worldwide and has received over 30,000 positive feedback from its consumers.
First Impressions
The Annke Custos Smart security camera is a wireless camera that comes with a budget price tag. The key features of the camera include:
- 2K/3MP Full HD Video Quality
- Ai- Event Detection
- 2-Way Audio
- IP65 rated
- Optional Solar Power
- Free Cloud Storage
- PIR Sensor
- Siren & Strobe Alarm
- Up to 4 additional cameras can connect
Unboxing the custos smart camera is a simple process and offers you everything you require such as the following:
- Annke Custos Smart Security Camera
- Threaded bracket & Drilling template
- Quick Set-up Guide
- Raw Plugs
- USB Type C Cable
- Ejector Pin
What I found a real benefit is when you unbox the camera it’s ready to use and all you need to do is connect the camera to the screw-in mounting platform and connect it to the wall or fence using the mounting screws and raw plugs. I would also install the micro-SD card but just remember this is not provided in the box.
Design
The custos smart camera is well built and comes with a waterproof casing around the camera unit which is IP65 rated allowing you to use it outside. I found the camera to be very lightweight and won’t take up much room measuring 140x123x133mm (LxWxH) when installed.
On the front of the camera, you have a main lens which provides a 110-degree angle of view that comes with 2304 x 1296 pixels. The innovative dual-light design combines white light and built-in infrared light, so day or night, rest assured your custos camera will deliver unparalleled image clarity and fidelity.
This picture was taken using the Annke security camera at around 8 pm. You can see just how sharp the image quality is.
Just under the main lens are a light sensor, LED indicator, microphone and finally the PIR Sensor has a range of 8 meters. The PIR sensor can deliver real-time alerts and push notifications for triggered motion detection. Supporting siren and strobe alarm which is designed to deter potential intruders.
The built-in microphone also enables 2-way audio for seamless two-way audio. Perfect for deterring intruders or conversing with visitors such as delivery drivers in real-time.
Moving to the battery life the Annke custos smart camera comes with a 4400 mAh battery life that offers up to 6 months of battery life on a single charge. There is also an option of buying an additional solar power panel that is seamlessly integrated to harness the power of the sun for continuous operation.
Finally, this security camera is compatible with Alexa so if you want to create a hands-free experience and use voice commands to check live feeds, control camera movements, and activate the alarm Alexa makes your camera easier than ever.
Set-Up
The Setup of the Annke custos smart security camera is very easy to do you will need to download the Vicohome app which is compatible with either iOS or Android. You will need to create an account and connect the camera to your Wi-Fi router. The whole process takes a few minutes to do. In our case, we were also welcomed with a firmware update which also took a few minutes to complete.
The app gives you options of how to set up the camera in the following ways:
- Plug-In
- Solar Panel
- Battery Power
In this review, we used the battery option which then the app provides advice on where to install the camera, tips on motion detection, adjusting the height and angle and even how to mount the camera.
The Vicohome App
Now here is my issue with this camera and with Annke they make the free features so basic that it’s hardly worth using. You only get up to 3 days of rolling history, motion alerts and motion detection up to 20 seconds.
If you want to use more of the features this camera has such as:
- Smart Push
- Activity Zone
- Person detection
- Pet detection
- Vehicle detection
- Package detection
- Zero delay detection
All the above come with a cost of £49.99 for the year or a slight reduction of £3.99 per month. Considering I have reviewed and continue to use the Swann Corecam wireless camera the app from Swann provides most of that for free. I found this disappointing from Annke.
Apart from that the app was easy to navigate and would provide a history of events like you can see in the image below.
Performance
As mentioned in this review the Annke Custos smart camera was very easy to set up and one of the big bonus points in the battery life offering up to 6 months of charge. We have had it live for about 2 weeks not, but I will update this review when we are closer to those 6 months. Purchase the solar panel and you never have to worry about battery life as you will have 24/7 protection.
You are also provided with two-way audio that works well and this allows you to communicate via the camera built-in microphone I will be honest I was not overall impressed with the microphone I did not sound very clear when testing. If you see an intruder, you can also trigger the camera’s siren which is quite loud and will scare a potential intruder.
I was pleased that you can set up motion zones to prevent any unwanted alerts this was quite a simple process and stopped the false alarms I was getting when using the camera in the free mode. Yes, I had to give in an take up the paid options for the camera features.
The motion detection can also be set to monitor people, pets and vehicles. There is also a do not disturb option if you do not want to receive a notification when you’re at home in the garden for example and the chances of you walking past the line of sight are high.
In terms of performance, the custos smart camera delivered a sharp 2K video with well-saturated colours, while the black and white night video also appeared crisp and evenly illuminated. The colour night video was also sharp, but the colours lacked that pop you get from the daytime video which I guess can be expected.
After setting the activity zones you will find motion alerts arrived instantly and were correctly identified. The spotlight did a decent job of illuminating at night.
Verdict
If you are looking for budget budget-friendly security camera Annke has produced a decent offering with a long battery life and simple installation making this an excellent choice for monitoring outdoor areas without the need for any wires. You get 2K/3MP Full HD footage that offers quality video regardless of the time of day.
The big negative when it comes to this camera is that Annke basically pushes you into upgrading to the paid option if you want to use any of the features that are promoted with this security camera. You can see the difference below:
So with that said yes the camera is budget friendly at £29.99 for very basic functions but to get features such as Activity Zone, Person, Pet & Vehicle detection all coming as standard on the Swann alternative but you have to pay for it with this offering from Annke which makes me feel there are just better options out there especially when you factor in the additional £49.99 you need to pay.
Product Rating
Design: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Setup: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0
Performance: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Battery Life: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Value for Money: 2.0 out of 5.0 stars
Overall ranking: 3.8 out of 5.0 stars – 3.8 stars
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