Why You Can Trust CNET Ion the Home review: Ion's new Wi-Fi security camera needs to do more
The Ion the Home Wi-Fi camera challenges the fee-based cloud storage status quo with a free, rolling 24-hour video-clip-saving option.
Ion began selling action cameras in 2012 -- you know, the GoPro kind that you tether to yourself or to your gear to capture first-person footage. But after a couple years of helping folks record daring stunts, the company has expanded into home security. That's where the Ion the Home Wi-Fi camera comes in.
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
This entry-level DIY camera will be available at Walmart and on Ion's online store in early November for $130 and in the UK in 2015 for £150 (Australian availability has not yet been announced, but pricing would convert to about AU$150).
While its free cloud storage option is very appealing and its other features, like night vision and two-way talk, put it in-line with competitors, the app isn't currently able to send push or email alerts and the live stream doesn't display correctly in a horizontal, landscape view in the iOS app. Since real-time alerts and quality live streaming are critical components of an app-enabled DIY security camera, it's very difficult to recommend Ion the Home right now.
Most of the cameras we've reviewed have fee-based cloud storage that starts around $10 per month. The $200, £200 champions this system (but only in North America): you can pay Dropcam $10 per month for seven days of continuous footage or $30 per month for 30 days. Even Ion the Home's identically priced competitor, the (£130 in the UK, and AU$170 in Australia), charges $10, £6, or about AU$12 per month for its basic cloud service.
has a lower monthly storage option, but few are ever free.
Icontrol's US-only $200 Piper and Foscam's $220, £135, AU$230 F19826P are two exceptions; Icontrol will save 1,000 clips and Foscam will save 30 clips or 100 photos for free.
Ion appears to be following suit with its base-level storage option: free, rolling 24-hour cloud service. That is, after storing 24 hours of footage, the first hour will be deleted to make space for new video clips. And, if 24-hour video storage isn't enough, Ion will also offer payment tiers identical to Dropcam's for seven days and per month for 30 days.
Here's a chart comparing Ion the Home to some of its competitors:
| Belkin NetCam HD+ | Dropcam Pro | Ion the Home | Samsung SmartCam HD Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $130, £130, AU$170 | $199, £200 | $130, £150 | $189, £160 |
| Color | White | Black | Black or White | White |
| Field of view (diagonal) | 95 degrees | 130 degrees | 102 degrees | 128 degrees |
| Video resolution (pixels) | 1,280x720 | 1,920x1,080 | 1,280x720 | 1,920x1,080 |
| Cloud storage | Yes, $10/month or $100/year for 14 days (also available in the UK and AU) | Yes, $10/month or $99/year for 7 days or $30/month or $299/year for 30 days | Yes, starts with free 24-hour rolling storage | No |
| Local storage | No | No | No | Yes, SD card |
| Glass lens | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Night vision | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes, Android and iOS | Yes, Android and iOS | Yes, Android and iOS | Yes, Android and iOS |
| Web app | Yes | Yes | Currently unavailable, but expected to be live on October 31 | Yes |
| Bluetooth | No | Yes | No | No |
| 2-way audio | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Alerts | Motion only, and limited to email alerts unless you subscribe to Cloud+ | Motion and sound | No | Motion and sound |
In addition to Ion the Home's free cloud storage option, I was impressed by its entry-level price point, 720p image quality, night vision and two-way talk. Unfortunately, its lack of push and email alerts severely limit its functionality. What is the benefit of on-the-go app access if you can't receive alerts as potential security breaches take place?
Ion the Home does a fantastic job recording clips whenever motion, sound and "tamper" activity is detected (tamper activity refers to any perceived attempts to disable the camera, such as moving the camera itself), but it simply saves the clips, rather than notifying you that an event has occurred. Ion says it is working on "adding alerts outside of the app (email/text)" by the end of 2014, but said nothing about in-app push alerts being en route.
This limitation is fine if you just want to periodically check in on Fido, but even the live stream was problematic. I used a Samsung Galaxy S5 and an iPhone 5 to test out the mobile apps, after trying the app on a first-gen , only to find out that it wasn't compatible with tablets. The Android app's live feed was very good in both portrait and landscape view. Not so with the iOS app. It looked fine in portrait view, but was completely unusable in landscape view.
The 720p resolution did deliver a decent image in both day and night vision modes, although, that doesn't mean much if you want to use the iOS app. Its portrait orientation was fine, as you can see below, but the horizontal view is obviously important if you want to see more details on-the-go.
I like that the mobile app lets you record a video clip, take a photo or use two-way talk straight from the video feed. This was simple to use and worked extremely well. Press the record button once to start recording and again to stop. When it's done, it will save your clip alongside all of the motion, sound and tamper-related clips. Photos are saved to your phone's photo library.
The camera itself looks nice, with a white (or black) plastic finish and a base that moves inward toward the camera for optional wall mounting. This design is similar to Arcsoft's Simplicam, although you can't pivot the Ion the Camera's base in the same way.
Setup was mostly painless. I plugged in the power adapter -- the power input on the camera is located in a slightly awkward spot, making it unnecessarily difficult to plug in -- downloaded the mobile app and created a username and password. From there, the step-by-step process lasted less than 10 minutes.
It walked me through entering my local Wi-Fi username and password, pressing the "set" button on the side of the camera, sticking the app in front of the camera to scan a QR code (this took a couple of tries) and waiting for it to connect. It connected after about a minute and I was able to access the app and its live stream.
Ion the Home doesn't have an IFTTT channel and it doesn't work with any third-party smart home products. Belkin's NetCam HD+ is the same price, but works with WeMo products. The NetCam HD+ doesn't have a free cloud storage option, but it's definitely a more compete entry-level DIY camera, and equally affordable if you don't pay the monthly cloud storage fee and simply want to watch the live stream on occasion.
The $130, £150 Ion the Home security camera, bound for Walmart stores and Ion's online store in early November and the UK in 2015 has some good things going for it. The free cloud storage option is a huge plus, a vast improvement on the Belkin NetCam HD+'s cloud service, which starts at $10 (or about £6 or AU$12) per month. It also has features that you'd only find on pricier models -- 720p, night vision, two-way talk -- but the lack of push and email alerts is a definite deal-breaker. Add to that its wonky live streaming view in iOS and Ion the Home isn't an home security camera I can recommend.