Vivint Security Review

Vivint Review Video

Want to see Vivint in action? Watch our full video review below.

Vivint Basic Security System Components

For this review, we wanted to test as many Vivint components as we could with our limited budget – $1,200. Here’s what we ended up with:

• Vivint Smart Hub
• Motion sensors
• Glass break sensors
• Entry sensors
• Smoke and CO detectors
• Kwikset smart lock
• Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro

If you’re wondering how that standard package cost us $1,200, that’s because of the outdoor camera. That one camera set us back $399. We know; it’s expensive even compared to the likes of Nest Cams that can cost as much as $279. But if you’re buying a Vivint system, we recommend the outdoor camera. It’s Vivint’s flagship product that offers a feature called Active Deterrence, which deters burglars before they enter your home. That alone can make the camera a valuable addition to your home security.

We’re going to take a look at the Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro in a bit, but for now, let’s talk about Vivint’s standard equipment. Let’s start with the device required for all Vivint packages – the Vivint Smart Hub.

Vivint Smart Hub

The Vivint Smart Hub was at the center of it all. It’s a touch-screen, tablet-like keypad that kept everything connected, from sensors to security cameras. It was our main point of control and access. It was where we armed and disarmed Vivint, controlled connected smart devices, and even watched security camera footage like a small CCTV monitor. It was really high-tech next to ADT’s touch screen control panel. While that one was pretty good, too, Vivint’s was loaded with more useful tech. (See our ADT review for more on its touch screen control panel.)

Speaking of technology, there were a few Smart Hub features that stood out. For example, two-way talk enabled us to speak with Vivint’s monitoring center via the hub. That came in handy the several times we entered the house without disarming Vivint. We were able to cancel the alarm then and there by providing our verbal passcode.

We also appreciate that the Smart Hub can function through power and internet outages. Keep in mind that all Vivint sensors run on batteries so they can still sense intrusion when power to your house is cut. To match that, the plugged-in Smart Hub comes with a 24-hour battery backup. As for communication, it uses dual-path technology. It can send signals via your home internet when it’s available, but when your ISP is acting up again, it can also use cellular signals. It’s actually one of the best cellular security systems out there.

Security Sensors

When it comes to home security, the main sensors we’ve seen are typically motion sensors, door sensors, window sensors, and glass break sensors, all of which we received from Vivint. Vivint’s sensors wirelessly connected to our Smart Hub. And being the brains of the system, the Smart Hub alerted our smartphones and Vivint’s monitoring centers when our sensors were tripped.

The security sensors worked quite well, but we have one quick note on the design: They weren’t as sleek-looking as we expected from a premium brand like Vivint. We were expecting Apple-standards design, but all we got were boxy looking pieces of equipment. They weren’t ugly, but they didn’t exactly blend in easily.

With that in mind, we recommend the recessed door sensor in place of the regular door sensor. The recessed door sensors are installed flush with the doorframe, so they won’t affect your door’s aesthetics. And since Vivint offers professional installation, you won’t have to worry about drilling your doorframe yourself.

Ping Indoor Camera

In addition to the equipment we bought from Vivint, we also dusted off a Vivint component we’ve been keeping in a box for years – the Ping Indoor Camera. Vivint no longer offers it, but it still worked. And since we didn’t have enough budget to buy the new Vivint Indoor Camera Pro, we settled for the Ping camera for now.

Even by today’s standards, Vivint Ping is a decent camera. It has a 1080p HD resolution and a wide field of view (155-degrees). It also has a unique two-way talk feature. If someone on the camera side – say, your child or a babysitter – wants to talk to you, they simply press the button on the topside of the camera to “call” your phone. That shows how innovative Vivint has always been.

As for night vision, Ping allowed us to see clearly at night, albeit with a limited range. The infrared illuminated a small part of the room, creating a vignette style picture. It’s not bad for indoor video monitoring, but we had to keep a few nightlights on to aid it.

We busted out the Ping indoor camera to prove one point: That Vivint equipment is future-proof. It has been eight years since Vivint launched Ping, and if it weren’t replaced by the Indoor Camera Pro, it would still be a good purchase today.

That said, let’s talk briefly about the Indoor Camera Pro. It retained and improved on some of Ping’s best features. It boasts a 1080p resolution (but now with HDR), it has a 150-degree viewing angle, and the “call” button is still there. The biggest improvements though, were the local storage and A.I. detection.

With the Indoor Camera Pro, you can save videos locally when you’re having a spotty internet connection through the on-board memory. It saves videos locally for about 10 days, in addition to the cloud storage that comes with the Vivint monitoring plan.

On top of that, you can set up recording parameters that trigger the camera to record. For example, you can set it to record when it sees your pet (making it a good pet camera), or a person. We saw a glimpse of how these recording rules work when we tested the Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro (more on that below), and the level of customizations you can make is impressive.

>> Learn More: The Best Security Systems for Pet Owners

Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro

We’ve been building up to this – Vivint’s flagship camera, the Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro. At $400, it’ll probably be the most expensive Vivint equipment you’ll buy, so let’s talk in detail about what we got from it.

For starters, it has impressive video quality. It has a clear, 1080p HD resolution, but on top of that, it has a 4K image sensor. This improves the video quality, clarity, and color contrast. With so much going on outdoors, we appreciate the improved video quality.

The camera also features HDR, which helps with light distortion outside. In the snapshot above, you can see that there are no glary or shadowy areas despite the high lighting contrast. That’s largely thanks to HDR.

Throw in the camera’s wide, 140-degree viewing angle, three times optical zoom, 10 times digital zoom, and powerful night vision, and you get an impressively clear camera quality day and night. It also had local storage, much like the Indoor Camera Pro.

What really impressed us was the Active Deterrence feature. Using AI and by following the parameters we set, it detected intruders as well as prowlers. We set this up by creating a virtual fence around our property and setting how long people are allowed to stay within it. If someone lurks around for longer than that, it will flash its LED lights and sound an audible alarm.

If you have extra $250 lying around, you can even buy a Vivint Spotlight Pro to connect to the camera. If the camera detects a lurker or intruder, the spotlight shines its light in their direction, and thanks to the camera’s AI, it can even follow the intruder as they move around your yard.

That’s a nifty feature, but it wasn’t a huge sell to us because of the limited frontage of our Brooklyn apartment. We definitely see it being useful to those with a wide front yard, though.

Another thing the AI can do is differentiate between humans, pets, and vehicles. This was more useful to us because there’s a busy street right in front of our home. Unlike cheaper outdoor cameras we tested with no AI that got triggered by just about any movement, the Vivint camera alerted us only at the sight of real humans.

On the flip side, one drawback of the Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro was the fact that it’s a plugged-in camera. While this meant we didn’t have to worry about the battery running out, it certainly made our placement options a lot more limited, as it had to be near an outlet. However, once we got the proper extension cord, it didn’t end up being a problem. Overall, we’re more than happy with the Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro, although it’s pretty expensive at $399.99.

The Nest Cam Battery we reviewed, for instance, cost $179, more than half the price of the Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro. However, the Vivint outdoor camera comes with person detection built-in, plus a smart feature that detects and deters loiterers. The Nest Cam Outdoor, on the other hand, requires a Nest Aware subscription starting at $8 per month to be able to use its smartest feature, facial recognition, although the person detection comes built-in as well. That being said, the Nest Cam Battery can completely run on battery power, so it has a leg up on Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro in some areas.

Vivint Doorbell Camera

One easy way to make it seem like you’re home when you’re not is to get a doorbell camera that lets you “answer” your door remotely. You can do that with a Vivint video doorbell.

We also didn’t purchase the Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro, but we did test an older model a few years ago. That one retailed for $249.99 at the time.

For its price then, the Vivint Doorbell Camera was definitely a bit expensive compared to the industry average of around $190, especially when we saw that the camera’s video display was only 720p HD, not 1080p HD. When you consider the fact that something like the Ring Video Doorbell 2 costs $169 and has 1080p HD video, the Vivint Doorbell Camera seems even more overpriced. On the bright side, it had person detection, which the cheaper Ring Video Doorbell 2 lacks. In Ring’s lineup, only the Ring Video Doorbell Pro, Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2, and Ring Video Doorbell Elite have the same feature, and they all cost $249.99 or higher. So in terms of artificial intelligence, the Vivint Doorbell Camera’s value is on par with the competition.

In our opinion, person detection is an essential doorbell camera feature, especially since our front door faces the street. Thanks to person detection, we didn’t get alerted of every car passing or every squirrel running by. Instead, we only received alerts when there were actual people at our door.

Although the video quality wasn’t as clear as we would’ve liked, the 180-degree field of view gave us the widest possible image of our front yard, which we appreciated. Of course, it had pretty clear infrared night vision and the same storage options as Vivint’s other cameras.

When we reviewed the Vivint Doorbell Camera, we went ahead and hardwired it to our existing doorbell setup. However, for those who want to go wireless, it can run on batteries, too, for three to five years.

As for the new doorbell camera from Vivint, the Doorbell Camera Pro, it fixes a lot of the issues that we had with the original model. For example, it has that clear, 1080p HD video plus HDR, which helps with interference from the sun. It’s totally wireless, and it even has detection for packages as well as people, courtesy of the on-board computer vision chip. Like the new indoor camera and outdoor camera, the new video doorbell also has local storage. And since it sells for $249.99, just like the older doorbell, we think it’s a much better value than the original.

Kwikset Smart Lock

A smart lock is one of those smart home devices that can make your home safer, especially if you tend to be forgetful about locking your doors. We got Kwikset-branded smart locks from Vivint. That wasn’t a surprise. Very few security companies actually make their own smart locks. Most of the time, they partner up with a smart lock brand.

In all fairness, the Kwikset smart lock we got was impressive. We got to control it (lock/unlock) using the Vivint app. We also liked that it has a physical keypad for locking and unlocking without keys. It even gave us the option to share up to 30 temporary codes to other people – from guests staying over to our pet sitter.

And even though the Kwikset lock wasn’t a Vivint product, we had fun connecting it to other home automation devices and creating automated actions. For us, that meant having the doors unlock when the smoke alarm went off, which brings us to our next point…

Smoke Alarm

We’re done with the ‘security’ part of the Vivint system; it’s time for the ‘safety’ part.

One of the most crucial aspects of home safety is fire protection. Vivint can’t prevent fires but it can alert before it gets out of hand using a Wi-Fi connected smoke alarm. It works like a traditional smoke alarm. It can protect a 35-foot radius, comes equipped with an 85-decibel siren, and has a five-year battery life. That said, it’s more than just a regular smoke alarm.

The Vivint smoke alarm was Wi-Fi connected, and although we only bought one, we learned that they also interconnect with each other when you have more than one installed – when one sounds, they all sound.

Connectivity gives the smoke alarm more options for alerting homeowners to smoke. When we accidentally burnt popcorn (which was easy to do, by the way), it sounded its siren and alerted us via the Vivint app. Fires don’t start only when you’re home; if you happen to be outside when fire breaks out, you’ll thank yourself for getting a Wi-Fi connected smoke alarm that can send app alerts.

CO Detector

Vivint offers a nearly identical detector, except that it detects carbon monoxide and not smoke. While we didn’t actually release dangerous levels of CO into the air (as it can be deadly if you ingest enough of it), the detector impressed us with the fact that it linked up with other connected devices. For example, if it goes off, the doors will automatically unlock, the window sensors will automatically disarm and the furnace fan will turn on, allowing for ventilation and an easy escape. Basically, the CO detector does more than beep!

Water Sensor

Finally, Vivint offers a water sensor that prevents leaks, which we placed near our washing machine (although it can be anywhere that leaks can occur). The water sensor is also wireless and has a battery life of three to six years.

Unlike the other sensors, the water sensor won’t trigger an emergency response from Vivint’s monitoring center. You wouldn’t want the cops dispatched to respond to a pipe leak, and Vivint’s monitoring center doesn’t exactly have plumbers on speed dial. Rather, the water sensor sends a soft alert to your phone via the app, so you can repair the leak as quickly as possible.

Vivint and the Smart Home

We’re huge smart home nerds, so imagine our excitement to see that Vivint home automation works with both Alexa1, Amazon’s voice assistant, and Google Assistant, Google’s version. Let’s talk about how we could command our Vivint system with Alexa vs. Google Assistant.

Alexa

Vivint and Alexa worked together seamlessly. We used Alexa to control our Vivint-compatible Philips hue lights, smart thermostat from Nest, and Kwikset smart lock. Additionally, we used Alexa to arm our Vivint security system, although we couldn’t disarm it with our voice for security purposes. Lastly, we had Alexa show our live-streamed footage on our Echo devices, like the Amazon Echo Show 8 we reviewed, along with our Fire TV. It was great to see our footage on the big screen!

Google Assistant

Alexa wasn’t the only voice assistant we commanded. Google Assistant performed the exact same functions as Alexa, except we viewed our footage on our Google Nest Hubs and Google Nest Hub Max instead of the Echo Shows. You can read our Google Nest Hub review and our Nest Hub Max review for more details about these smart displays.

All in all, Vivint fits in really nicely with any smart home, unless of course, you have the rare Apple ecosystem. But for most smart homes, Vivint is a great addition. Not only does it work with Alexa and Google Assistant, but we created automated actions like having our thermostat go down to 60 degrees whenever we armed the security system in away mode. Not only did this prevent us from having to adjust the thermostat every time we left the house, but it also saved us money on heating and cooling, a win-win!

The Vivint App

The Vivint app was our home away from home, a way to arm and disarm our system, control connected devices, speak through two-way audio, live stream footage, view cloud storage, and receive notifications when we weren’t at home. In terms of usability, we had no issues with the Vivint app and other users agreed; it has a 4.1 rating on the Google Play2 store and a 4.7 rating on the Apple store3. Easy to navigate and free of bugs, we enjoyed total access to Vivint using its app.

One of the great things about the app was that it’s basically an extension of the control panel. The controls were similarly intuitive, and although it lagged a bit whenever we streamed live camera feeds, it wasn’t a deal-breaker for us. Just a quick relaunch of the app usually solved the issue.

In addition, the Vivint app has a version for smartwatches. This new twist to home security control proves that Vivint is ahead of the competition, as only a handful of home security systems have smartwatch apps.

Installing Vivint

We were lucky to have timed our purchase with a Vivint deal that gave us free professional installation, but since we’re talking about costs here, we asked the technician and he told us that the service typically costs $199. Again, that’s a little pricier, since most installation services charge about $100. If you look at it, though, you’d be happy that a trained technician will be doing all the work. Vivint security systems are sophisticated, and installing one is definitely not a job any regular Joe can do.

Of course, you could time your purchase to coincide with Vivint special offers, but ultimately, just prepare yourself for the professional installation cost.

Another thing to note is if you’re moving residences, you’ll have to pay $129 to get your system re-installed. That is a bit of a burden, which is why Vivint isn’t very renter-friendly. For those that want DIY installation, check out our review of Ring Alarm.

Did Vivint Work Well?

SSince Vivint’s technicians did the installation for us, let’s talk about how well it worked post-installation. Using our system on a day-to-day basis, we didn’t encounter any problems, and we’ve had it up and running for over a year at this point. The Panel made the system really easy to navigate if you’re home, and the app made it easy if you’re not. Overall, the Vivint system is really painless to install and use. It’s also super durable; not one component has broken in our time using it.

Vivint Monitoring and Pricing

When it comes to monitoring, professional monitoring is a must for Vivint customers. Although you can cancel your security monitoring plan down the line and keep your Vivint system, doing so will deactivate all of Vivint’s smart features. Essentially, it will turn into a local alarm, relying on sirens to alert you. You’ll also have to use the touchscreen panel to control the system every time, since the app will no longer work for you.

You also have to keep in mind that there’s likely going to be a contract, especially if you finance your equipment. The contract can be up to five years, and canceling before the end of the term will result in hefty cancellation fees. You will also have to pay the remaining cost of the equipment.

There is one sliver of good news, though. For the first 72 hours after signing a contract, you have the option to cancel your monitoring agreement without penalties. You’ll receive a full refund provided that you can send back the equipment in good condition. 72 hours is a small window – other companies allow returns for up to 30 days – but it’s better than nothing.

That 72-hour window applies to most Vivint customers, but customers 65 years old and above enjoy a more relaxed return policy. Rather than three days, they are given 60 days to fully test out the system and return it if it doesn’t work out for them.

In any case, pairing Vivint with a monitoring plan is the best route, so let’s talk about pricing.

Monitoring & Pricing Overview for Vivint

Overall, we’d say that in terms of pricing, Vivint is certainly on the higher end. Ring Alarm costs only $10 a month for professional monitoring and cellular backup and even throw in 60 days of cloud storage compared to 14. So for those on a budget, Vivint definitely isn’t for you. On the brighter side, Vivint does offer deals occasionally. Pay special attention to Vivint’s Black Friday deals, as they’ve been impressive in previous years.

Support with Vivint

There’s no harm in asking for help! Vivint offers support4 via phone and live chat. We have had mixed experiences with the customer support team. When we first chatted with a representative, the connection dropped and the conversation ended. The next time we tried to click on the “Support Chat” button, it was not clickable. As we much prefer chatting online over speaking on the phone, this was a bit annoying.

Vivint really wants you to call and speak to their representatives, so we called to ask for some information about Vivint’s discount packages, and 25 minutes later, we still did not have all the information we wanted. All in all, it was not a great experience; we were on hold for a while, then transferred between multiple people, and told to “look at the website”, which has little to no information on it regarding packages. So when it comes to customer support, Vivint wasn’t up to par with Frontpoint, whose representatives were truly helpful when we reviewed Frontpoint’s system. In fact, if you’re looking to find answers to your questions about Vivint, we suggest you check our Vivint FAQ page before calling Vivint.

Conclusion

Although Vivint certainly has its disadvantages, which mostly had to do with pricing, as a security system it worked really well. The Outdoor Camera Pro, in particular, impressed us, and the entire system integrated nicely into our existing smart home ecosystems. We’d recommend it for some people more than others, fully broken down below.