Cove Review: Smart Home Security

Cove Security System Devices

Our Cove security system included a hub (Cove Hub) and a touchscreen controller (Alarm Panel), a door sensor, a motion sensor, a key remote, and the Cove Indoor camera. Cove also offers window sensors plus environmental monitors like smoke, CO, and flood sensors as well as medical alert buttons, which we did not test out.

Cove Hub and Alarm Panel

The Cove Hub and Alarm Panel work together as two separate devices: the Hub is the brains of the system, and the Alarm Panel is the touchscreen you use to control it.

As the brain, the Cove Hub connects your Cove devices and communicates with Cove’s monitoring center. You can place it in a more obscure location, since it doesn’t need to be visible or within reach the way a touchscreen controller does. That said, we recommend placing it near your router as it uses the internet as primary communication. It doesn’t support Wi-Fi, so it must be plugged in using an Ethernet cable.

On the bright side, the Cove Hub offers cellular backup in case your internet connection is spotty. It also comes with a 24-hour battery backup that keeps the system communicating during outages. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average home experienced about eight hours of power interruptions in 2023, not counting major natural events like ice storms or hurricanes.1 Having a reliable battery backup isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a must.

The other component, the Alarm Panel, is merely a controller. It’s a tablet-like device you can place anywhere within the Cove Hub’s range. You can actually have up to four Alarm Panels, which is another advantage of Cove’s two-device approach for the hub and controller. You can place the panel in areas most convenient to you. Each Alarm Panel has an 85 dB siren, too.

Unfortunately, the Alarm Panel’s battery backup lasts only four hours. In case of a prolonged outage, the Cove Hub will keep the system running for up to 24 hours, but you won’t be able to use the Alarm Panel to manage your devices once it shuts off. It’s a minor drawback, but something to consider if your area is prone to power outages.

Door Sensor

The door sensor, as you may have suspected, is a two-part sensor that can tell when a door opens. One really cool thing about Cove is that the entire security system comes pre-programmed with the Cove Hub, which makes installation a lot easier (but we’ll get to that in a bit). Each door sensor has a 300-foot wireless range and a five-year battery life.

In terms of design, Cove door sensors are impressively tiny. They are nearly half the size of the door sensors from our ADT review. They are less than half an inch thick and only about two inches tall. They also come with minimal branding and a plain but subtle design, which is always nice to see in security equipment.

Motion Sensor

We installed Cove’s motion sensor in our downstairs hallway, as it is a high-traffic and central location. Again, the motion sensor was wireless with a battery life of five years, another “set it and forget it” type of device. And although we don’t have any pets of our own, pet parents will be happy to hear that the sensor won’t detect furry friends under 35 to 50 pounds, which should dramatically reduce the number of false notifications you receive.

With all of the sensors, Cove let us arm certain ones and not others, like if we were watching a movie upstairs but wanted the downstairs sensors on. This made us feel safe whether we were home or not.

Key Remote

Not near your phone or the Alarm Panel? We used the key remote to arm and disarm our system from up to 100 yards away from home. Although we didn’t have to click on it, the key remote also has a panic button to connect directly with the police in an emergency. And the best part that we should also mention? That five-year battery life carries on to the key remote as it does the sensors.

Cove Indoor Camera

The Cove Indoor Camera provides clear 2K footage. Those extra pixels allowed us to identify faces even when using the 3x zoom. The camera can also pan 360 degrees while keeping track of motion, ensuring any intruders stay in frame at all times. To top it off, we could clearly see anything that happened in the dark with the camera’s eight infrared LED sensors.

For storage, Cove offers cloud For storage, Cove offers cloud storage through its Plus and Premium plans. If you’d rather skip the subscription altogether, you can store footage locally on a microSD card instead — a handy option that keeps your video on-site and accessible even without an internet connection.
through its Plus and Premium plans. That’s the easy option, but it comes with a monthly fee. If you want to avoid subscriptions, you can store footage locally on a microSD card instead. It’s a nice option since it keeps your footage on-site rather than depending on an internet connection to access it.

For comparison, cloud storage subscriptions for the Wyze Cam start at $2.99 per month. They also offer local storage with a microSD card, so you’ll still have that flexibility. Wyze’s pricing makes it a good alternative if you’d rather not pay for a full Cove monitoring subscription just for cloud backup.

While the Cove Indoor camera also lacks the facial recognition capabilities of the Google Nest Camera we reviewed, it can still identify humans. That helps cut down on false alerts caused by pets, vehicles, or any other motion happening inside your house. The human-detection also powers the Cove camera’s tracking capabilities so it follows only human movement.

Cove Outdoor Camera

Cove’s outdoor camera, the Solar Cam, connects to Wi-Fi easily, delivers clear 2K video quality, and includes two-way talk. It even features a built-in solar panel that keeps it charged without needing to be plugged in.

It has that imposing look that we typically see in Lorex outdoor cameras (see our Lorex camera review for an example), but it maintains a sleek aesthetic. Most notably, there’s a black rectangular patch on top of the camera, which is actually its solar panel that keeps the camera charged up. It only takes three hours of daylight to keep the battery charged, and it’ll last up to four months on a full charge. That keeps the camera running even through long stretches of overcast days.

As for features, the camera offers 2K resolution like the indoor camera. It also has a built-in 90 dB siren you can trigger remotely. We use it anytime we see someone lurking on our front lawn to scare them off. As for night vision, it’s full-color by using ambient light instead of a spotlight, keeping the camera hidden from burglars.

Smart Features with Cove

Cove’s current hub doesn’t support Alexa or Google Assistant, so voice control isn’t part of the experience today. Where Cove does deliver on the smart home front is through its own equipment and app. If voice control is a non-negotiable for you, check out our roundup of the best Alexa security systems or the best Google Home security systems depending on the platform you use.

App-Based Control

Every core function — arming, disarming, checking status, live-viewing cameras — runs through the Cove Connect app. It let us easily manage our system remotely without the help of a voice assistant. The app’s Recipe feature also lets you set up simple “if this, then that” automations, like triggering a recording whenever a door opens.

Camera Intelligence

Cove’s Home Cam handles a lot of the smart detection work on its own. It uses AI-powered tracking to distinguish people from pets or passing cars, and pans to follow motion. That makes alerts more meaningful, so you’re not stuck sorting through false triggers all day. These features require a Cove subscription. However, that’s normal for the industry as we also note in our Ring Alarm review.

Multiple Panels, Your Way

Because the Hub and Alarm Panel are separate devices, you can add up to four Alarm Panels throughout your home — one by the front door, one by the bed, wherever makes sense. That way, you’re never far from a way to arm or disarm the system, voice assistant or not. We had a similar setup with the Google Nest Hubs we tested.

What’s Installing Cove Like?

Cove now offers a professional installation option for a little over $100, but we installed it ourselves for free. Here’s how that went.

Before we even clicked “purchase” on our Cove security system, we gave Cove our address and what components we bought so that they could pre-program our system before delivery. Once we received everything in the mail, we plugged in the Cove Hub and Alarm Panel and went through a few straightforward setup screens before creating our passcode. We also connected the cameras to our home’s Wi-Fi, as Cove’s cameras aren’t 100 percent cellular. If you’re looking for a completely cellular camera, you might consider purchasing the Reolink GO solar-powered security camera.

In our opinion, the sensors were as easy to install as a sticker, with 3M adhesives on the back of each. We tested each component of Cove to make sure it was working properly both on our own and on the phone with the Cove support member, a nice touch. After we set up everything, the testing period actually lasted a full day, as we wanted the most testing possible.

All in all, it was easy to install Cove. The setup process reminded us of SimpliSafe, one of the easiest to install DIY security systems. It took us less than 20 minutes each to install Cove and SimpliSafe, and both companies made the process painless by sending pre-programmed equipment.

The Cove Security App

Think of the Cove Security app as your home away from home. It’s here that we armed and disarmed the security system, received notifications, live-streamed footage, viewed cloud storage, spoke through two-way audio and controlled connected devices whenever we were out of the house.

And let’s be honest, sometimes, when we were in the house but not near the Alarm Panel, having an app that can control our security system was a blessing. We found the app pretty easy to use and free of bugs, most of the time. We did experience a couple of glitches, like the app showing different information than the control panel, but Cove fixed these issues with app updates immediately.

One noteworthy feature of the Cove app was the Recipe function. It’s something we typically only see in the best smart home security systems because this feature is built for automation. Recipes allow users to create automatic actions using the “if this, then that” format. For example, “if a door opens, start recording.”

While the Recipe feature is great in theory, Cove’s execution is still somewhat limited. The actions you can trigger through these rules are largely confined to notifications, since Cove doesn’t yet support deep integrations with third-party smart home devices. If home automation is a priority for you, we’d recommend looking at Vivint or abode instead.

Vivint is a pro-installed system that, unlike Cove, offers integrations with popular smart home brands and devices. Abode, on the other hand, is similar to Vivint, but it’s a DIY system with optional monthly fees. Learn more about those two in our Vivint review and abode review.

Our Video Review of Cove

If you want to see our Cove security system in action, check out our video review.

Cove Monitoring Plan Options

Cove now offers three monitoring tiers, each building on 24/7 professional monitoring and cellular backup. Basic covers the essentials, while Cove Plus adds camera support, cloud storage, and two-way voice. The premium plan expands the cloud storage and adds AI-powered alerts. Here’s an overview of each Cove plan:

Now, as far as response times go, Cove is one of the fastest companies around. Its dispatch process, in which it uses RapidSOS, saves three to four minutes from the average dispatch process. For reference, the average dispatch process takes a whopping six to 13 minutes.2

Cove’s professional monitoring rates aren’t the lowest in the market, even with the new tier structure. Ring Alarm’s pricing for professional monitoring, for instance, is just $19.99 a month, which also includes voice assistant integrations and cloud storage for cameras. Cove+, the tier that unlocks camera support, runs $32.99 a month, putting it $13 above Ring’s all-in price.

That said, if you can live without camera access, Cove Basic at $22.99 a month is still one of the more competitive monitoring prices out there. And if you want the full package — AI-powered alerts, 30-day cloud storage, and a lifetime equipment warranty — the Premium tier at $42.99 a month undercuts most competitors offering a comparable camera-supported plan, including ADT. Every tier is month-to-month, so you’re never locked into a long-term contract no matter which plan you pick. To learn more about Cove’s pricing, check out our Cove pricing page.

Cove’s Customer Service and Support

We all need help sometimes, and if it’s with your Cove security system, you can check out the company’s online support center or speak to someone via live chat, phone, email, an online form, or even snail mail if you prefer.

Personally, we had a great experience with Cove’s customer support team. We had a few questions about the professional monitoring options, so being the anti-social millennials that we are, we used the live chat feature and received prompt, informative answers that spoke to our question directly. We truly felt like the representative was trying to help us, unlike many other companies which sacrifice customer support for an aggressive sales team. Kudos to Cove for training its customer support team to support customers, not to sell.