Guardzilla's sales pitch is tough to beat. A sub $100 sales price. No monthly fees. One minute set up. What is there not to like?
The set up process does take a bit longer than just one minute but it is intuitive and simple enough for novices. The only hiccup is that you need to manually enter your standard WiFi network name, password, and security protocol.
Guardzilla is managed primarily from a very basic admin screen on your phone, with just five options arranged in Skittles colored buttons. Most are self explanatory letting you arm or disarm the system, check a live feed, and review the history of activity in the room you are monitoring. There is one unique option, the panic button which allows you to set off the built in alarm. It can scare off would be predators.
The Guardzilla keeps an eye out for motion and then captures a snapshot when movement is detected. When that movement is detected a series of three photos are taken and they are saved in the Guardzilla app. Night vision mode is also available but can be disabled by the user.
All this is great except some bugs have been found. First, the motion sensitivity is erratic. There are five sensitivity levels available, but even on the maximum level some movement was not detected unless the individual was right by the unit. Also, early on simple actions like arming the system or saving a snapshot from the live video feed resulted in the app hanging and having to be restarted. Fortunately after a few days of regular use, these problems seemed to disappear. Three ways are offered to get notifications that motion is detected; text, email and push. The system was never able to send a text notification.
Guardzilla is a very new product, and the company says it is continuing to revamp its app as sales get underway. Those needing a very simple security setup and who have appropriate expectations should find it acceptable.
