Should you buy the Bosma X1 Security Camera Kit?

Every year the Smart Home exhibition hall at CES just seems to get larger and larger as we move towards having a truly connected home. One of the areas of the smart home that really interests me is home security. Maybe its because I grew up in South Africa where security is always top-of mind.

Anything I can do to protect my family has a particular interest so when I was offered to test out the Bosma X1 kit, I jumped at the opportunity.

Security is no joke, so how will the Bosma X1 kit hold up? I set to find out.

What’s in the Bosma X1 Kit and how do you set it up?

The kit I received had the Bosma camera along with its power adaptor, a doorbell, and a window sensor. Setting it up is simple and essentially involves three parts: an app, an account, and the hardware.

1: The hardware: Simply insert a microSD into the back and power up the camera by connecting it to the supplied power adaptor.

2: Download the Bosma Smart Home app from the app store. There is both an Android and an iOS app version.

3: After the app is installed, you will need to create an account. You can do that right from within the app or you can do that from your computer.

4: Log into your profile and now tap on the Device List and press on the + button to select your Bosma camera.

5: simply follow the prompts, connect to the WiFi, Bluetooth to the device and within minutes you are set up and good to go!

Let’s Talk Notable Features Of The Bosma X1 Kit

The app is simple to use. Just open the app, tap on your camera and you are instantly shown a live feed. You can not only listen in to any noise in the house, but you can also take control of the camera and pan it around.  Panning it is as simple as tapping on the Turn Left button or the Turn Right button.

The X1 has 145-degree field of view and you can tap a button to have it automatically rotate so you get a full 360 degrees. This is brilliant for when you are on vacation and want to pan around your house to make sure all is still ok.

See something that you want to keep? Just tap on the Snapshot button. If you do notice a burglar, just hit on the Siren and scare the living daylights out of him or her! The 110dB siren also works when the window or door sensor is activated (if you set it to do that of course).

You can also use the Bosma app and talk like a phone call which is pretty useful when seeing your kids on the PlayStation when they SHOULD be studying…I may or may not have told them to get back to studying… This feature is also useful if you are looking after an elderly parent, or have pets at home and you want to check in on them.

During the night is when the Bosma really shines. It has color Night Vision so the images are not grainy grey but nice and clear even in low light conditions. There is also the option to switch to “regular” black and white night vision mode if there is zero light.

Let’s Talk Sensors

There are various sensors built into the X1 which allow it to detect motion, sound, and PIR which is essentially the ability to detect anything living. PIR only detects movement of warm bodies like people and pets, so it eliminates false motion alarms – now that is cool!

All footage is stored locally on the micro SD Card but a cloud storage option is coming soon so all footage will be sent offsite giving you extra piece of mind.  The micro SD can be up to 128GB so there is plenty of space to house the recordings.

There is no reason to constantly monitor the app as whenever there is noise or movements, the app will send you an alert to your phone. You can then tap on the alert and see what is all about.

What is also cool is the camera will automatically turn to a predetermined position when a sensor is triggered. This way you know you will get the footage capturing the moment someone opens the door or opens the window.

In the app, there are three Mode functions. In the AWAY mode all the sensors are on. In the HOME mode, the door and window sensors are switched off but the camera is still on guard. In the PRIVATE mode, camera recording is paused and the doors and windows sensors are also off.  Setting the right mode will ensure you don’t get any false alerts every time your kids open the door to play in the back yard.

So in summary:

I like the feature that allows me to share access to the Bosma X1. Now my wife can install the app and access the same facility that I can and if we are traveling, I can grant access to a friend who can keep an eye too.

I also like the fact that I can customize the quality of the image, I can change the video orientation, change the sensitivity and even have it record when a sound is heard.

Being able to pan around from my phone from wherever I am in the world is an excellent feature. The fact that the X1 snaps to specific positions when a sensor is triggered gives me comfort that any “action” will be captured.

Overall having a connected device is another piece of mind and Bosma X1 certainly delivers. I am excited to see how this product evolves as more sensors and accessories are added in the future.

Check out the Bosma X1 kit on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/2DbzdLK (affiliate link) and you can use this code for 20% off: 20techieguy when you check out