Cove Home Security System Review for 2023 (2023)

Cove may be new to the home security market, but it is becoming one of the most popular security vendors in the DIY home security system industry. Cove started in the spring of 2018 and is slowly but surely becoming a big contender for DIY home security. The company prides itself on its lack of long-term contracts and high-pressure salespeople.
Choosing our security system was as easy as taking an online survey, but what was the system itself like? In this review, our experts put the Cove security system to the test to see if it was worth it or not. Let's begin!

Cove monitoring costs

Editor's Rating

Cove security system devices

Our Cove security system included a touchscreen panel, adoor sensor, a motion sensor, a remote control and the Cove Indoor camera. The Cove also offers window sensors and environmental monitors like smoke, CO, and flood sensors, as well as medical alert buttons, which we didn't test.

touch screen panel

We think of the touchscreen panel as our mobile command center. Unlike more traditional security companies, we didn't need to wall-mount the Cove's touchscreen panel. Instead, we use it as a standalone device, more like a tablet than a regular keyboard. This is where we arm and disarm the system, adding up to 20 user codes for our friends and family.

Note that the touchscreen panel comes with cellular backup, meaning it stayed connected to Cove's monitoring equipment even during power and internet outages. Plus, 24-hour battery backup ensured the system stayed on during blackouts.

Another great backup feature was the Smash and Crash protection. If someone tries to tamper with the panel, it will alert your phone immediately and contact the monitoring center. The siren will also sound. All in all, the alarm panel did a wonderful job.

door sensor

The door sensor, as you might have suspected, is a two-part sensor that can tell when a door is open. One really cool thing about the Cove is that the entire security system comes pre-programmed with the touchscreen panel, which made installation a lot easier (more on that in a moment).

Like all Cove sensors, the door sensor is wireless and has a five-year battery life; so when we put it on the port and name it in our app, we don't pay attention to it; until we get a notification about the activity, of course!

Motion sensor

We installed the Cove motion sensor in our downstairs hallway as it is a central, high-traffic location. Again, the motion sensor was wireless with a five-year battery life, another "set it and forget it" type of device. And while we don't have our own pets, pet parents will be happy to know that the sensor won't detect furry friends under 45 pounds, which should drastically reduce the number of false notifications you get.

With all the sensors, Cove allowed us to arm some and not others, like we were watching a movie upstairs, but we wanted the sensors downstairs to be on. It made us feel safe whether we were at home or not.

remote key

Not near your phone or touchscreen panel? We use the remote key to arm and disarm our system from up to 100 meters away from home. While we didn't have to click on it, the remote also has a panic button to connect directly to the police in an emergency. And the best part we should also mention? The five-year battery life carries over to the key fob as well as the sensors.

inner chamber cove

As for video, the Cove's internal camera is definitely clear enough for our viewing, with a 1080p HD display and the ability to zoom in four times. This was really great for capturing details like what a potential intruder's face would look like, although the field of view was a little narrow for our liking at 112 degrees.

We also saw clearly at night thanks to the camera's eight infrared LED sensors. Additionally, we could use the Cove touchscreen panel to talk through the camera's two-way audio, a great way to communicate between floors in a house without having to shout. Storing our footage was easy. We have 30 days of cloud storage or $2.99 ​​per month per camera.

cameras like thewyze camerait offers local storage and 14 days of cloud storage at home, so the Cove was a little pricey, but nothing outrageous. but heyWyze Pricingit's one of the lowest on the market, and the fact that the Cove isn't far behind in terms of affordability shows that the Cove continues to be a great value security system.

One drawback was the Cove Indoor camera's artificial intelligence or lack thereof. DifferentNest Cam battery that we test, which has people detection and facial recognition, Cove Indoor cannot differentiate between people and other moving objects such as pets, cars and so on. For us, that meant being notified about irrelevant things, like when a motorized toy car whizzed by.

However, for parents, the camera has cry detection, which means it could double as a baby monitor, potentially. Finally, you should know that the Cove Indoor camera is pluggable, not wireless.

outdoor cove camera

The Cove Outdoor Camera came with a variety of features that we found useful. Like the indoor camera, the outdoor camera connects to the dash via a Wi-Fi connection, not radio or cellular. It was therefore essential to ensure that our camera was connected to the correct Wi-Fi network. Connecting the camera to our Wi-Fi network was easy; we just scanned the QR code on the camera and everything was set. We screwed the camera into place and then logged into our app to see the live camera feed.

The camera's image was clear even in total darkness, but the two-way voice communication feature was particularly impressive. We could hear everything going on around our camera through the app. And when we spoke to our phones' camera, the audio was just as clear. When something triggered the PIR motion detector, the camera automatically recorded for five to ten seconds, providing a video of the event.

The external camera still doesn't integrate with Google Assistant or Alexa, but that's coming and for the price the camera didn't disappoint.

Smart home integration with Cove

As a smart security system, it's nice to see that we can control the Cove using Alexa or Google Assistant on the Cove Plus plan. If you're already in the Alexa or Google Assistant ecosystems, the integrations make the Cove more valuable in our opinion. We have both voice assistants and this is what we could do with them.

Alexa
We asked Alexa to arm our security system and check its status. Note that thebest Alexa security systemsIt also allowed you to disarm the system with your voice, something we couldn't do with Cove. We also encountered some display limitations. For example, we had fun playing our footage live on our Echo Show devices, except during times when our Echo Shows had trouble connecting to the camera.

google assistant
Google Assistant has a lot more features when it comes to the Cove. In fact, Cove has integrated so well with Google that it made our list ofGoogle's best home security systems. We could not only arm the system in Away mode or request alarm status, but also request event history and control connected devices. Once again, we enjoyed our live stream on ournesting centers, because we always saw ourselves on the big screen.

What is it like to install Cove?

Cove now has a professional install option for $79, but we install it ourselves for free. It was so.

Before we even clicked "buy" on our Cove security system, we gave Cove our address and the components we purchased so they could pre-program our system prior to delivery. Once we got everything in the mail, we hooked up the touchscreen panel and went through a few simple setup screens before creating our password. We also connected to our home Wi-Fi, as the Cove's cameras aren't 100% cellular. If you are looking for a fully cellular camera, you might consider purchasing theReolink GO solar powered security camera.

In our opinion, the sensors were as easy to install as a sticker, with 3M stickers on the back of each one. We tested every component of Cove to make sure it was working properly both ourselves and over the phone with Cove's support member, a nice touch. After setting everything up, the testing period lasted a full day as we wanted to do as much testing as possible.

Overall, Cove was easy to install and we're pretty sure we got it right, although you certainly don't need a security expert to do this. You can generally expect to get Cove set up in half an hour or less if you're short on time and don't want to test as much as we do.

The Cove security app

Think of the Cove Security app as your home away from home. This is where we arm and disarm the security system, receive notifications, stream live footage, view cloud storage, have two-way audio conversations, and control connected devices when away from home.

And let's be honest, sometimes when we were at home but not near the touchscreen panel, having an app that could control our security system was a blessing. We found the app to be quite easy to use and free of bugs, for the most part. We had a few glitches like the app displaying different dashboard information, but Cove fixed these issues with app updates right away.

Review of our Cove video

If you want to see our Cove security system in action, check out our video review.

Inbound monitoring plan options

With Cove, you have two monitorsoptions3, which come with 24/7 professional monitoring and cellphone backup. You can get Cove Basic or Cove Plus, the latter of which has a remote control, smart home integrations, plus a lifetime monitoring rate lock and warranty.

Now, when it comes to response times, Cove is one of the fastest companies. Their shipping process, which uses RapidSOS, saves three to four minutes off the average shipping process. For reference, the average release process takes between six and 13minutes.4

Still, Cove's professional monitoring fees aren't the lowest on the market.ring alarm pricesFor professional monitoring, for example, it's just $20 a month, which also includes smartphone control, voice assistant integrations, and cloud storage for cameras. As you'll notice in the chart above, Cove only includes these features in the Cove Plus membership, a $27.99/month subscription.

Still, if you can live without those extra features, the Cove Basic at $17.99 is one of the lowest prices we've seen for monitoring. $27.99 is a little more average, but overall, these prices are very affordable. Plus, plans are monthly, so we don't have to make any long-term commitments, a huge benefit of Cove. For more information on Cove pricing, check out ourCove pricing page.

Cove customer service and support

We all need help sometimes, and if it's with the Cove security system, you can check the company's online support center or speak to someone via live chat, phone, email, online form, or even a postcard if you prefer.

Personally, we had a great experience with Cove's customer support team. We had a few questions about professional monitoring options, so anti-social millennials that we are, we used the live chat feature and received quick and informative responses that directly answered our question. We really felt the rep was trying to help us, unlike many other companies that sacrifice customer service for pushy sales staff. Kudos to Cove for training their customer support team to help customers, not sell.

Overview of the cove

We definitely recommend Cove as a security system, mainly because of its low monitoring costs, lack of contracts, and easy-to-use app. Even as a relatively new company, Cove made it easy for us to see what was going on back home no matter where we were. Cove has impressed us with their current offerings and we look forward to seeing what they do in the future.

Cove FAQ

• Does Cove security work with Alexa?

  Cove security works with Alexa. You can have Alexa arm your system or tell you the status of your alarms. However, Alexa is only available if you select the Cove Plus plan and the same goes for the Google Assistant integration.

• Does the Cove have external cameras?

  Cove has no external cameras. Its only camera is from YI and is designed for indoor use only.

• O Cove Security precisa de Wi-Fi?

  Cove security systems do not require WiFi. All come with cellular backup via the Cove Touch alarm panel. All Cove customers must pay monthly for cell phone backup and 24/7 professional monitoring, among other features.