The Flir FX is a security camera that's small, robust and capable of working both indoors and outdoors. Is it capable of looking after your home? We've been living with one to find out.
The good
We like the design of the Flir FX. Sure, it's no Jony Ive masterpiece, but it's compact and inoffensive, and it'll tuck neatly out of the way in any household. It's also pretty tough with an external housing that can be used, and a shock-proof casing that means you'll even be able to use it as an action cam.
It can stream video at 720p, and record footage to both a microSD card and straight to the cloud, so if the camera itself gets stolen you'll still be covered. There's a power adapter for when you're using it around the house, and it also has a 4-hour backup battery in case you do decide to take it out and about.
Features include temperature and humidity sensors, along with more traditional motion sensors, and the Flir FX can send out alerts if it does detect somebody in your house.
The bad
Sadly we found that the Flir FX was just as likely to send out phantom alerts, detecting movement when there wasn't any, making it more than a little irritating.
Video quality could be better, at just 720p, and we also found the app was glitchy during use. It wasn't particularly easy to set up, we found lag when accessing alerts, and those phantom warnings just added to the frustration. It can also get pretty expensive when you add the cost of the cloud service to the existing £160 price tag.
The bottom line
Good design and adaptable hardware makes the Flir FX a decent all-in-one, but it can't quite compete with simpler, more effective and much higher quality rivals on the market. Besides, what's watching your house while you're taking it out for a snowboarding run?
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