Vivint Ping Camera - Review 2022

Virtually domicile security cameras worth their salt support ii-way audio in which you press a button in the app to talk to the person in front of the camera, but the Vivint Ping ($199.99) is the first camera we've tested that allows you to press a push on the camera itself to initiate a video telephone call to a phone or tablet. The 1080p Ping also delivers excellent day and nighttime video, supports event-triggered recording, and interacts with other smart home devices. It's an fantabulous option with one major grab: Information technology can simply be used as role of the Vivint Smart Home organisation.

Pattern and Features

The cylinder-shaped Ping has a white finish, stands 5.2 inches alpine, and is 3.2 inches in diameter. It sits atop a round base of operations with adjustable tilt. The 4-megapixel sensor provides 1080p video, has a 155-degree field of view, and uses three infrared LEDs for night vision. Too embedded in the enclosure are a motion sensor, a speaker, a microphone, and 802.11b/one thousand/northward Wi-Fi circuitry.

An LED ring on the lesser portion is white when the camera is connected, pulses blue when a call is beingness placed, and flashes green and crimson during setup. The summit holds a button used for connecting the camera to your network via WPS (Wireless Protected Setup) and for initiating communication with any mobile device that has the Vivint app installed, but you lot must accept Administrator rights to the Vivint Smart Home organisation to accept calls.

When you press the push button, a chime will sound and the LED ring will begin flashing bluish equally the camera sends a button notification to the mobile device. On the other finish, tapping the notification takes you to a live feed where you can press the microphone icon to behave a video telephone call with the person at the camera. When finished, you can press the button on the camera or in the app to end the phone call. If nobody answers the call, the photographic camera will stop it afterward 45 seconds.

Vivint Ping inline

The Ping uses the same mobile app as other Vivint Smart Home devices. You lot can too admission the photographic camera via the touch-screen console that comes with the system or from your PC using the web panel. With the mobile app you can view live and recorded video, answer a phone call from the photographic camera, receive push notifications, adapt settings, and create rules. For example, you lot can accept the Ping record a prune when it detects movement and store it in the cloud (cloud storage is part of your Vivint plan), or when another device, such as a smoke warning or window sensor, is triggered.

Yous can have the photographic camera send a notification when move is detected and when a video prune is recorded, enable Privacy mode, and enable Hd video for the best possible image quality. A microphone icon beneath the alive feed lets y'all initiate ii-mode sound with the camera, and at that place'south a button for taking a snapshot and another that takes you lot to the system's Arm and Disarm screen. At the bottom of the live feed screen is a Clips push button that takes you to the Activity page where you tin can view all recorded video. You'll have to use the affect-screen panel to adjust motion sensitivity, create motion trigger zones, and install the camera.

Installation and Performance

The Ping is usually professionally installed when you order it with your Vivint system, merely I installed information technology myself quickly and hands using instructions found online on the Vivint support page. I plugged in the camera, waited a few minutes for the LED ring to wink red and green, and navigated to the Settings menu on my control panel. I entered my installer lawmaking (you can phone call back up if y'all don't know yours), tapped the Installer Toolbox choice, and selected Cameras. I tapped Add together Camera and then Apply WPS, and pressed the button on the camera for five seconds. The low-cal turned green, indicating the photographic camera was ready to connect. Dorsum at the panel the screen informed me that the camera was connecting, and after a minute or two it was connected and the LED turned white. I renamed the camera and was done.

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The Ping delivered height-notch 1080p video quality in our tests. Daytime color was rich and saturated, and image detail was fantabulous. Black-and-white night vision video was too highly detailed, with good contrast and balanced lighting. There was none of the pincushion baloney we saw with the Blink Home Security Camera System, and audio quality in two-style communications was clean and easy to sympathize. Moreover, recorded video looked and sounded simply equally practiced as the live stream.

The Ping'south calling characteristic worked beautifully. I received a notification within seconds of pressing the call button, and both video and audio was crisp, with no noticeable lag. The motion sensor worked as advertised, sending a push button notification and initiating a recording without fail.

Conclusions

The Vivint Ping's unique call out feature and overall performance make it an fantabulous addition to the Vivint Smart Habitation security organization. Information technology delivers detailed Hard disk video with rich colors, and its black-and-white night vision is well lit and shows very good dissimilarity. Motion detection was is also quite proficient, and push notifications are immediate. The call out feature works wonderfully, and is responsive and clear.

The only real downside to the Ping is that you tin't use it as an independent Wi-Fi camera like you tin with the Nest Cam and the Icontrol Networks Piper nv; it must be connected to a Vivint Smart Domicile organisation. If you lot're non ready to invest in a comprehensive habitation security arrangement, merely desire a security camera that offers self and professional monitoring options, consider our Editors' Option, the LG Smart Security Wireless Camera LHC5200WI. Like the Ping, information technology offers precipitous 1080p video, motion detection, and solid dark vision, and it'due south a breeze to install and doesn't require contracts. Information technology also controls Z-Wave devices and has temperature and humidity sensors.