When it comes to home security, not many of us take it very serious, we get lost in the thought of how complicated it is to get a product and then the installation process etc. But what if I told you, all you need is the Piper nv, WiFi connection and your smartphone? With those three things, you can monitor your house, business or office when you are not there. Let’s take a closer look:
A quick look on their website, Piper is described a device that lets you manage and connect with your home in an entirely new way. It’s the perfect balance of security, video monitoring, and automation that will make life safer and more convenient for you and your family. A very accurate description of the security device; Piper comes in two versions and the one we have here is the Piper nv, which I guess the nv stands for night vision as it allows you to also see things clearly in the dark.
Designwise, it is very simple and doesn’t have much to it; taking it out of its packaging, you get a power-pack, the device and the setup manual, but the manual is not needed to get set up. You just need to download the free app, connect it to a power socket and follow the setup instructions on your smartphone. It’s available on the iOS and Android platforms and we tested it on both. Elsewhere on the device, you have a 3.4MP HD camera capable of showing your a 180 degree view of your room, you can pan, tilt and view split screen (useful when you have a big space). You also have a two-way audio system so you can use it as an intercom device, an extra feature that I see as an extra icing on the cake.
The Sensors:
- Motion
- Temperature
- Humidity
- Light
- Sound
For such a small and simple looking device, it has a lot of features that would normally require multiple devices to achieve the same goal, you have an intruder siren (alarm), motion and sound detector, so you can even set off alerts if noise is detected. It also offer you the ability to monitor room temperature changes, useful for fire detection and wind detection for when you leave the windows locked or open. The device is also designed to deliver notifications in up to four formats, you can receive push messages , texts, emails and even phone calls. You can also receive a combination of all the four notification methods.
The App is also very simple to use, with big icons that are clearly illustrated to match what they mean, for example, a house icon for home and airplane for away mode. When you open up the app, you will be required to create an account for the first time. Once you have an account, the app will automatically log you in every other time that you load the app. On the main dashboard you will see a circle in the center, it’s divided into four sections for different modes, and to the left you have your home vital options and a drawer for activating a panic alarm; the placement of the panic alarm is quite strange as you’d want that somewhere that is easily accessible. On the right is your settings icon, notifications and your recorded videos. Moving below are your status messages and more icons right at the bottom showing vitals, live video view, controls and rules which you can edit as you like.
When it comes to the Piper nv’s performance, I was very impressed with how quick the connectivity is, even when on a 3G connection, I was still able to connect to the camera, pan and tilt with no lag. The visuals are clear and you can see what’s happening. The sound quality is also very good and all in all a good package. If you want it to be as discrete as possible, I’d recommend purchasing the black version. The only negative point using the Piper nv is that it makes an annoying clicking noise, especially at night time when it’s using its sensors, besides that, I had no problems with it. You can also have a complete home automation system with the accessories available like the Z-Wave door/window sensor, smart-dimmer, smart switch and more.
