Lights, Camera and don’t miss the action with this indoor security camera from Hive

I am proud to once again work with Hive to bring you this Hive View Review. As usual, all opinions are 100% my own:

I was out in Las Vegas at CES when my phone buzzed with a worrying message.

The message was a notification from the Hive Door Sensor at home in Dallas which meant that someone opened my front door. It was 10am in Dallas which meant that my kids were at school and my wife was out with a friend….

Normally, this would have resulted in a frantic call to my wife followed by a call to my security company, however I had installed a new cool device that allowed me to regain my calm composure – the Hive View.

The Hive View is an indoor security camera, and the newest addition to the Hive smart home range of connected devices. I calmly opened the app and saw a live streaming video of my home where I saw that the reason for the mysterious door opening was actually a friend who came to collect a package I left for her.

Coming from South Africa where crime is rife, I had become accustomed to setting up many indoor security cameras, but none were like the Hive View.

Here is why I love the Hive View indoor camera:

1. In Style

Usually when you want to set up an indoor security camera, you have that “discussion” with your significant other as you try to convince him/ her that this dome-shaped camera is not “the ugliest thing ever” (even though it is…)

No need to have that conversation as the Hive View is a design masterpiece. The Hive View was designed by renowned designer and fuseproject founder Yves Béhar so that the camera blends in rather than stick out. You even have the option to choose between the Black and Brushed Copper or the White and Champagne Gold color scheme.

2. Installation Options

When you install a security camera, you set it up in such a way so that you can keep your eye on the most valuable part of the property. However the ideal camera location is not always practical.

With the Hive View you have the flexibility when it comes to choosing the ideal location to install the unit. In the kit, you have the ability to wall mount it, or place it on a shelf or use the magnetic mount. With the View’s wide 130° field of view, a single camera can cover a large area.

3. Setting up the Hive View

The beauty about Hive smart products is that everything is plug-and-play. To add the Hive View, all I needed to do was power it up and the Hive app detected and added it.  That was it. No IP addresses to configure, no gateways to install, no VPN, and no complications.

4. The Features

The Hive View camera records up to 1080p HD video and has a 16ft night vision so you can get clear images, even if the lights are switched off.

All footage is encrypted with AEC-128 encryption and kept by default for 24 hours. There is also an option to extend that storage time to 30 days if you feel you need to have access to that much footage. You can access that footage from anywhere if you have an internet connection.

The camera can be set to ignore your pets too which reduces the heart-attack notification every time your cat or dog take a nap on your sofa!

The Hive view has people and sound detection capability, so it will send an alert to your phone as soon as it “hears” a sound even before it “sees” any motion. So a burglar breaking a window out of view of the camera will send an alert before the would-be thief walks into the camera’s view.

You have the ability to log into the camera and watch a live steam so you can check in on your home when you are away.

The Hive View has a Privacy Mode so you can set the camera to record based on a schedule and only when you want.

5. Grab and Go

The most unique element about this camera is the grab and go facility. As all this clever tech is housed in the square body of the camera, Hive has designed the camera so that you can grab the unit without the stand it is mounted on and without the power cable allowing you to move it to another location that you want to keep an eye on.

For example If your kids are playing outside and you want to keep an eye on them while you prepare lunch, simply grab the camera from the mount, take it outside and watch the livesteam on your phone.

I use grab and go when I am expecting a delivery. I grab the Hive View camera, mount it by the window facing the driveway and whenever someone drives up, I am notified. Once my package arrives, I place the camera back on its mount.

So in summary:

The reason I love to work with Hive is because of their constant innovation and attention to detail. Hive prides itself on listening to their customer’s feedback and the Hive View is a prime example of that. It was a product that customers wanted and now its available. I wonder what else they have in their design lab???

For more info, or if you would like a smart connected home at a touch of a button, head over to https://www.hivehome.com

Check out my other Hive Smarthome review and why a smarthome with Hive is smart!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Hive. The opinions and text are all mine.