Stuff UK — June 2017

TEST

WINNER

BEST

FOR

VERSATILE

VIEWS

BEST

FOR

SOLID

SECURITY

GROUP TEST SECURITY CAMERAS

£199 / stuff.tv/CanaryFlex

CANARY FLEX

£300 / stuff.tv/ArloPro

NETGEAR ARLO PRO

What’s the story?
A good outdoor security
system needs to be lots of
things: stealthy enough to lurk
out of sight if you want it to
catch intruders unawares;
hardy enough to withstand
whatever the elements throw
at it; and smart enough to
monitor its surroundings and
report back swiftly. In short, to
do things properly, you need
to hire Chuck Norris.
Unfortunately, Chuck still
doesn’t come cheap even
these days, so you’re probably
better off going for a Netgear
Arlo Pro instead. This little
white camera is weatherproof,
wireless and battery-powered,
records in 720p HD and comes
with seven days of free rolling
video stored in the cloud. Which,

now that we think of it, is

probably more than even

Chuck Norris can manage.

Is it any good?

The Pro is easy to set up and has

a robust Wi-Fi connection. The

lack of wires is a big bonus, and

the rechargeable battery still had

100 % charge four days in.

As a camera, it’s pretty good:

no Full HD, but the night vision

mode worked well and it has a

wide 130° view. It’s not as smart

as some rivals, but geofencing is

easy to set up and there’s IFTTT

integration so you can hook it up

to other smart things such as

Philips Hue and Amazon Alexa.

STUFF SAYS +++++

A 

ood home cam that excels

when used outdoors

What’s the story?

Security cameras can be fussy

about where they live, but not

the nomadic Flex. If you want

to experiment with vantage

points, its range of mounts

and weatherproof build could

make it your perfect cam.

The Flex’s pill-shaped form

snaps into a wall-mountable,

magnetic base, which lets you

manually swivel it around to

help find the right angle. It can

be powered by mains or from

its rechargeable battery (which

lasts a couple of months), and

there are a range of mounts for

placing it in the garden.

Is it any good?

The Flex can’t be beaten for

simplicity. Screw the base to

your wall, connect to your Wi-Fi,

and you’re up and running.

Video quality is good enough

for zooming in on any Feathers

McGraws, even in night vision.

And the app’s geofencing

means you can set it to down

tools when you’re home, only

sending you alerts when you

leave the house.

The flipside is that the Flex

isn’t quite as techy as its rivals.

It can’t distinguish between

types of moving object like the

Netatmo, and won’t connect

to the likes of IFTTT or Apple

HomeKit. Without its Secure

Mount (£30), it’s also a bit

vulnerable to being snatched by

the thieves you’re trying to foil.

STUFF SAYS ++++,

A versatile, user-friendly 

arden

cam, thou

h others are smarter

Q THE APP

 e polished app works particularly well

when you have multiple Canary cameras.

You get 24 hours of saved clips for free,

but shelling out for the £7.99/month

membership boosts this to 30 days.

Q THE APP

 e Arlo app is simple and eff ective. You can

easily arm your cameras, watch a live feed,

replay footage and download clips to your

phone. Plus you can freak out visitors by

speaking to them via your phone’s mic.