Vivitar IPC 117: Smart Home Camera

These days security is a big concern for people. With commutes, work, social life, family obligations, and travel; people find themselves away from home more than ever. Sadly those who have looked to take advantage of this have grown in recent years and while home alarms do a great job of protecting the home; a new threat has emerged in the form of “Porch Pirates”.

With more and more consumers shopping online and the rise of fast shipping via Amazon Prime; packages arrive at homes and are often left unprotected for hours at a time. With more and more people finding items lifted from their premises, the rise of personal security cameras has been greater than ever.

During our coverage of CES 2019; we saw many companies showing off their versions of the camera and we were impressed with what we saw and the added level of security they offered. The Vivitar IPC 117 is an easy to use camera that offers ease of use with versatility to make things easier for consumers and add peace of mind.

The unit setup easily as it paired with my Smartphone and allowed me to capture images, sound, and video to a Micro SD card. Users can also purchase a plan to store data via Cloud Storage should they wish. The camera offers HD video and allows me to zoom in, pan up and down, listen or broadcast my voice, and capture footage.

Using the Vivitar app; I am able to notify the device when I am home or away as motion detection alerts come into play and are very handy when you are away from home. A fast motion alert allows me to pull up the camera and see if there is someone on the porch, if a delivery was made, or if any of the neighborhood pets are paying a visit.

Setup was very easy and the unit came with a long enough power cable that we had plenty of options to place it around the home.

The biggest issue we had was that the unit could only be paired with one device and we had hoped that my wife would be able to access it as well so we could both monitor the house when we are away. That being said; the Vivitar IPC 117 is an easy to use and enjoyable unit that is not only affordable but versatile and easy to use.