Hot on the heels of my last post, I can now share the first look at the hardware, in app experience and pricing for the new smart home alarm system from Hive.

The Hardware

The first images of the hardware reveal that the HomeShield service will utilise the same Hub, Sensors and Signal Boosters that have been part of the Hive ecosystem for a number of years. These elements will be supplemented by the Hive Siren, seen in my original post, and the Hive Keypad, seen here for the first time.

The (presumably) wireless keypad is a small rectangular device which appears to have a display or indicator lights at the top likely to indicate the current system status. To the right hand side of the device appears to be a speaker grill, presumably for audible feedback and for the entry delay warning.

The keypad features the usual assortment of digits running from 0 – 9 as well as a dedicated button for each of the three modes, these being home, away and night. Finally, to the bottom right of the keypad, you will find an SOS button, which will presumably be a panic button instantly sounding the alarm and notifying all parties registered to receive alerts.

The App

A smart home alarm system is nothing without its app and I now have images of this for the first time. The HomeShield service will be accessed from the slide out menu in the existing app and when selected, will prominently display the current status of the system at the top. Below this are buttons to quickly view the feed from any of the connected cameras and, finally, the sensors and their current state are shown at the bottom. A second menu will show a timeline screen which, unsurprisingly, will display a timeline of all events that have been triggered.

When a user receives a notification, they can access the app where they will see a summary detailing what device has been triggered. They will be able to view any clips that captured activity or jump straight to live view. There are also options to stop the alarm or call the emergency services.

Pricing

Hive is offering four different bundles of which all but the cheapest include at least one Hive View Outdoor camera. All of the bundles include the Hive Hub, the Hive Keypad, the Hive Siren and a ever expanding number door and window sensors. The two largest bundles, designed for those with the largest of homes, also include a Signal Booster to ensure all sensors have access to a reliable signal.

Current pricing is a little odd to say the least with prices for the bundles ranging from the nice round figure of £203.40 up to the equally odd £785.70. Likewise, pricing of the subscription plan also seems to range from £9.99 per month on the cheapest package to £15.99 a month on the most expensive package.

The price of the subscription packages is dependent on the number of cameras in the system and, for the Medium Home Pack, represents a slight discount over the cost of individual camera history subscriptions outside of HomeShield. The Large Home Pack offers 30 day video history for an unlimited number of cameras.

Starter Home Pack Small Home Pack Medium Home Pack Large Home Pack Hive Hub Y Y Y Y Keypad Y Y Y Y Siren Y Y Y Y Door & Window Sensors 2 2 3 4 Motion Sensors 1 1 2 3 Outdoor Cameras N 1 2 3 Signal Booster N N 1 1 Installation Cost (Optional) £59.50 £89.50 £114.50 £139.50 Hardware Cost £203.40 £364.50 £579.60 £785.70 Subscription Cost £9.99 £9.99 £11.99 £15.99 No of Cameras Included in Subscription 1 1 2 Unlimited

The Unanswered Questions

Whilst this information is not intended for general consumers, it is the information being provided to Centrica employees who can register to purchase the products, and the subscription service, at a significant discount. This being the case, it is likely to be broadly in line with what we can expect from Hive on release.

At this time it is not know whether Hive intends to have the option available to purchase the keypad and siren independent from these bundles. For those already invested in the Hive ecosystem, they may not necessarily need the hub, sensors or indeed any cameras.

Finally, there is no indication as yet as to whether we can expect to see any integrations with Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa. Hive has never added support for either of the digital assistants for its View cameras and it remains to be seen what path they choose to take here.

Sources

This information was found on pages of Hive website accessible only from the direct URL as opposed to any links found on the main website. At the time of publishing, the main HomeShield page could be found here.