The Somfy One is an all-in-one home security device with a full HD video camera, 90+ dB siren, motion detector and active privacy shutter. It is easy to install: simply place the Somfy One in the desired location and plug it in, download the app and with a few clicks it is installed and ready to go! You will only need to set it up once, so if you decided to move the Somfy One it will be ready to work straight away.

The HD camera has a 130° wide-angle lens with night vision and an 8X digital zoom. The motion detector sensor activates and starts recording as soon as it detects movement, and the intruder-deterrent siren will activate if someone enters your home uninvited, with the 90+ dB acting as a warning to scare off the intruder, or you can set the siren off manually from your smart phone. The sensor is activated when two changes in your home occurs at the same time: a significant temperature change (body heat) and movement. This means it won’t be triggered by movement outside or when the central heating comes on. As soon as an intruder is detected the Somfy One takes a photo and records a few seconds to capture the moment of break in for evidence.

One of the things I immediately liked about the Somfy One is the privacy shutter, this is a motorised shutter that automatically closes when you return home and opens when you leave, so you don’t have to worry about you being watched in your own home. You can also open and close it at will from the app. In the event of power failure, the Somfy One has a six-hour backup battery and is compatible with alarm accessories to better protect your home including the ‘IntelliTAG’, an indoor motion sensor, an indoor and outdoor siren, key fob and security camera. Although Somfy claims that the One has “Accurate detection. No false alarms”, we did have one false alarm in the short time we have been using it, and nothing will ruin a lunch out as your phone telling you your home is under attack! When we checked the feed absolutely nothing was happening and when we got home we still couldn’t identify the issue - hopefully it was a one off. On the plus side, we have two cats that occasionally like to treat the house like the Ninja Warrior assault course and this didn’t trigger false alarms. This is thanks to the selective detection which allows you to define which areas you want to protect and which ones to ignore.

If someone moves or attempts to destroy your device the Somfy One will activate the alarm. You can speak and listen to your home through the app, which is good for saying goodnight to children left with a babysitter or telling your dog to get off the sofa. The Somfy One recognises the sound of your smoke detector and sends a warning directly on your smartphone, there is even access sharing available which means your neighbours, friends or family can also help protect your house. It is also compatible with Amazon Echo (Nest and IFTTT), allowing you to tell Alexa to activate the alarm on your way out of the house.

Except for the one false alarm the Somfy One worked well, the picture quality was clear, and it did a good job picking up motion, automatically activating and my god that alarm will scare off intruders, neighbours and invading countries; it is that loud! However, for this price tag it is rather limited; I think it is being deliberately awkward to encourage you to upgrade to the subscription service. For example: if you forget to download the video footage, which is highly possible if you have suffered the stress of a break-in, it will be automatically erased after 24 hours - losing your evidence forever! The app is still intermittent and not very user friendly, which isn’t ideal if you are trying to turn the alarm off at the time. It needs work before it is worth the money but has good potential of becoming an awesome product. RRP £229.00

3.8 out of 5

Buy now

Pros

Full HD video sensor 1080p / 30 fps with wide angle 130 lenses (diagonal)

Night vision (6m) with mechanical infrared filter

Digital zoom x8

SomfyVision motion detection (5 m)

Built-in speaker and microphone

90+ dB siren

Cons

One false alarm incident

Limited features

App only holds video for 24hr

Expensive

App isn’t user friendly