Philips Hue made it clear during IFA: it comes with a line of smart home cameras. Special, because it is the first time that the company has moved further into the smart home world than with lamps alone. But, in addition to the purchase price of the camera, there is another cost item to look at: the subscription. Also new for Philips Hue (or rather Signify, the company behind it). What are the pros and cons of such a subscription to a smart home camera?
Pro: You can review footage
The biggest advantage of a subscription to your smart home camera is that you can review the images. After all, people are curious by nature and it is extremely annoying if you see a message that someone was at the door, but you cannot look back at those images. Especially if something happened at night. You can even feel a bit unsafe if you can’t see the images again. So yes, it is not for nothing that many people go overboard for this and take out a subscription.
Con: It costs money
We immediately throw in the biggest disadvantage: it costs money. You spend a monthly (or annually) amount on your camera that you may not have calculated in the first place. In addition, it can also add up quite a bit. The most expensive subscriptions are about 10 euros per month for one camera, but there are also manufacturers who charge you money per camera. And yes, it can add up.
Pro: You can give footage to the police
The benefit of looking back at footage isn’t just that you feel a little safer when you discover it was just a cat walking in front of the camera at night. But it can also turn out less positive: perhaps there was a burglar on the images. Although that is not fun, there is an advantage to being able to look back at images to hopefully find the perpetrator: you can give your images to the police. They can then track down the perpetrator better, because there is an image. And that doesn’t just apply to things that happen to you: maybe you can also help your neighbors with your camera images if something has happened.
Con: You know you’re going to have to keep paying
So it’s worth paying for, but it’s not very cool. You know that you have to keep paying for all those months or years that you use that product. And cameras generally do not break down quickly, so that continued payment will probably continue for a very long time. Maybe you can afford it now, but there will be a moment in a year when you can afford it less. Fortunately, you can often cancel the subscriptions whenever you want, but you know that you have to keep paying if you want the same level of protection.
Pro: Your camera will be supported longer
But yes, that long use and continued payment of your subscription also means that the supplier will do its best again to support your product. It can of course ‘force’ you to buy a new product if you really have an old barrel, but in general that old camera will be supported for a bit longer: what if you have to switch cameras and perhaps switch to another brand? ? Then the supplier loses income.
Con: Without a subscription, your smart home camera is of little use
It is of course not a must to take out a subscription, but it is very pushed to do so. If you do not opt for it, you will still be harassed in the app with notifications and sections in the app that try to tempt you into that subscription. Moreover, you can often do little without that subscription: then you can only watch live, for example.
Pro: Thanks to cloud storage, you can view the footage from anywhere
Those subscriptions ensure that the images hang in the cloud for an x number of days, which means that even if you install the security app on a new phone, you can still consult the images: they are, after all, in the cloud. It can also be experienced as a con, namely by people who prefer not to risk their privacy via the internet.
Finally, there is actually another pro, namely that those subscriptions often come with more security options. For example, at Ring you can be called by an exchange if something strange is detected, and there are more options. Anyway, the disadvantage that it entails a lot of costs also weighs heavily at the same time. On the other hand, a camera on which you cannot review the images is not very useful as a security camera, is it?
