Philips Hue Secure Battery Powered Smart 1080p Home Security Camera, Indoor or Outdoor, Easy to Install, Two-Way Talk, Works with Security Center in the Hue App, Black

Incredibly easy setup and great video 📹 but many issues.
This review is the Philips Hue Secure battery powered camera 🔋This is the first battery powered camera that I’ve owned, but I’ve had 2 Hue wired cameras for almost a year.I’ve bought this battery powered camera to use outside.This camera had 75% charge when I first plugged it in.The automatic setup was unbelievably easy and worked flawlessly.After connecting to my WiFi and the Philips Hue Hub, a firmware update was downloaded, and after the camera restarted itself.I was then able to view the video feed and listen to the audio as expected.The quality of the audio and video is very good.The WiFi signal strength is reported as being ‘good’ in the app, and the connection seems stable and has been solid so far.Charging the camera to 100% from the 75% that it started with took around 90 minutes.I bought this camera in the black Friday sale for £119.99 which was the same price as listed on the Philips Hue website at the time.I will update the 5 stars that I’ve awarded this camera in the event that I encounter any problems 🌟Update – 1 day after initial setup;Alerts don’t appear to be working properly.My camera covers my driveway and should alert me of any movement there, but I’ve had 2 visitors to my house today, and no alerts from my camera 😑I’ve carefully checked that the camera and the recording settings are correct.I’ll continue to monitor this, and adjust my review as necessary.1 star removed for the failing alerts today 😕Update – 2 days after initial setup.After spending some time troubleshooting, testing, restarting my network and devices, and pulling some hair out, the alerts are now working properly, and as expected.The battery life appears to be good, with just 1% or 2% of the charge used up overnight.So I’m delighted with this camera, and the integration with my lights and plug sockets.5 star rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟Update – 3 days after initial setup.My new hue secure battery camera, which was working yesterday has now reverted to uploading a still image when alerts are triggered.At least I’m being alerted if motion is detected, but I’m paying £85 per annum for video clips and want them!My other two hue secure cameras are working properly, and they’re on the same network.2 stars removed for the lack of video clips.Update – 4 days after initial setup.I had to disable the alerts from my new camera because it wouldn’t stop alerting with false alarms.I was unable to change the sensitivity of the camera in the settings as it appeared to not be connecting.I could view the live feed however.Still no recording of the video clips that I’m paying £85 per annum for.Very disappointed with this camera and looking at returning for refund.Bad product 😕Rating changed to 1 star 🌟 😕Update – 15 days after initial setup.The camera has started to produce the expected video clips when alerts are triggered, so I’m very pleased.Battery life seems acceptable.Video and audio is very good.Connection seems to be stable and reliable, even when out of home.But my confidence in the camera is badly shaken by the problems I’ve had.So I’ll update my review with 3 stars to reflect this, and I’ll update the review again after more time has passed.7 weeks since buying – I’ve had no further problems with the camera, which is a relief.I’ve also only charged it once, about 5 weeks ago, and it’s still got 40% charge remaining, which seems good to me.So I’m glad that I didn’t return it, even though my confidence in it still hasn’t quite recovered yet.If it doesn’t mess up anymore before it needs charging again, I’ll add more stars to my rating. 😀

AVOID
Absolute crap. You can’t turn off notifications without turning off the recording features so if you have a room that you want to be recording but don’t want the notifications though luck.Although to be fair, they can never be bothered giving notifications anyway as they’re never connected!Useless.Avoid at all costs. Buy Arlo.

Unacceptable connection and battery life issues
Very disappointed in this product based on the price and the expectation that goes with the Hue brand because of the quality that Philips usually provide.When everything is working the camera is fine, picture quality good in low light, and the feed is viewable in the Hue app on multiple devices. However the connection issues and battery life make this camera a must avoid.Connection wise it is so temperamental. We are using this as a baby monitor and we’ve set it up in multiple rooms in the house, even right next to our router, but nothing makes a difference, even splitting 2.4g + 5g. The main issue seems to be it can’t reconnect after losing connection, as hitting the reset button on the back of the device always seems to work by reconnecting. This just isn’t good enough, as we can’t be going to the physical device multiple times a day when it loses connection, It would be even less feasible for someone who uses this as a scurity camera and has it mounted on an external wall.And battery wise I don’t understand why they put a 30 day advertisment on it, it usually lasts a day or 2, we’ve given up with the battery and leave it plugged in now.A really disappointing product.

Quality product
Does quite a lot and integrates well into the Hue ecosystem especially so if you have Hue Bridge and bulbs. Hue support pages offer solutions when you are trying to set up different scenarios and integrating lights, cameras, sensors etc for your needs. I have had some disconnects from WiFi with this battery camera to contend with solved by themselves or seemingly by me restarting the battery camera using a 5 second depress of the 3mm diameter recessed button on the back of the camera on its case above the power connector.