Are Honeywell's Total Connect Cameras Too Ugly?
I unwrapped this Honeywell Wifi outdoor camera just now (part of our upcoming Total Connect test):
This is Honeywell's main outdoor wifi camera used with their 'smarthome' Total Connect service.
Higher-end residential customers, those in the market for Total Connect - a smarthome integrated video/security/z-wave platform - are expected to find this awkward looking white cube on the end of a bracket appealing? Yikes.
And the entire Total Connect series is not attractive either. No standard looking cameras in the group:
Competitors like Alarm.com sell cameras too, but they seem to stick with traditional form factors like bullets that look sleeker:
I cannot help but think some property owners balk at the prospect of mounting these awkward-looking Total Connect cameras on the outside and prominent places inside their houses.
Why not just offer the same camera functionality in a minidome or small bullet? It would be much more visually appealing, or make appearance less of a factor to customers.
Do you think these cameras are ugly? In general, do your customers complain about the appearance of their cameras?
yes... they look like something out of the '60's.
I actually got some for my house having never installed one. I returned them all.
I have seen that camera in a real deployment and was genuinely startled about how ugly it was. It's not as if it has some special technology or feature set that requires such size. It's strange. But then it's Honeywell....
Yes very ugly and low end looking. The bigger issue is the super high res 1CIF image quality.
Honeywell is saying that a new generation of HD cams is coming soon. Hopefully the form factor changes.
[UPDATE]
Mirroring David's comment above, the Total Connect website is hinting at new HD cameras:
Honeywell has apparently opted for outdoor bullet form factors in the next generation.
I am shocked, shocked, that there are those among us that expect aesthetic design from Honeywell. Devices festooned with cosmetic accoutrements do not add value! Clearly the camera's circuit board is rectangular, so it only makes sense the enclosure should also be rectangular. This is called "engineering elegance".
The classic thermostat was circular because the mercury switch and anticipator lever pretty much required it, but no one complained then!
I agree Brian, that thing looks outdated and terrible. Aesthetics are important because a lot of us are also in the 'selling' part of the business. We can not assume that all customers will fully appreciate what Undisclosed Manufacturer #3 points calls engineering elegance.
To be able to make people more safe, for example in the domestic market, we need products that are of great quality (perfectly engineered) but also add value on the aesthetics, at least to the maximum possible. People often spend a lot of money on the aesthetics of their homes, and the security industry must try to add value to that as well.
U-G-L-Y you ain't got no alibi you UGLY!
I once sold this same model branded under a different company and had it running for many years in outdoor environment as a demo for clients. I agree it's not the nicest camera on the block but it's been a reliable workhorse for me and many of my current/past customers.
It has preformed well and still working after many years of non-stop use and Canadian winters - despite on paper cold temp specs of 32F/0C.
I recently moved the camera to the cottage and installed it under the porch as "critter cam" (below).
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