SimpliSafe's DIY home security system looks better than ever

[MUSIC] Simplisafe is a popular do it yourself home security system. You pick from a number of different packages with different configuration of censors. Or you build your own custom packages. Then you stick everything up around your home. Packages start around $259 and you get 24/7 live monitoring for 15 bucks a month or 25 a month if you want to be able to monitor everything from your phone too. There's no contracts, no installation fees. Just simple home security. SimplySafe first won me over back in 2014 with its simple and affordable approach to DIY monitored security. The problem was that the devices, themselves, were ugly as hell, really dated designs. Now SimplySafe is trying to fix that this year, with third-gen devices that look a lot better and also promise better battery life. There's also a better variety of sensors to choose from. in addition to the usual suspects like motion detectors, contact sensors and the keypad, you can also add in things like leak detectors, freeze sensors, and glass break sensors. Everything comes with sticky pads and detachable backs making it really easy to move sensors around as needed and you can fine tune all of it right from your phone. There's a lot of thought put into this system. And it's really easy to use. The base station talks to everything and then connects with your phone over WiFi. For security, it also includes a battery backup and a fee-free cellular connection with the company's monitoring service. Even if the WiFi or the power goes out, it can still call for help. Soon you'll be able to arm your system with Alexa voice commands too. Those are all strongpoints in SimpliSafe's favor, but the system isn't perfect. The contact sensors and leak detector worked perfectly in my test. And the motion detector did a great job at distinguishing between people and pets. But the freeze sensor was too slow to recognize temperature swings. And the glass break sensor, though it does work, was a bit finicky. You can add the motion sensing SimpliCam to your setup for $99. But we didn't like that one as much as competitors like the Nest Cam or NETGEAR Arlo. And you can add cameras like that to the system. The system also doesn't do quite as much as competitors like ADT to bring home animation into play. And let you incorporate things like smart lights into your system. That might soon change though, along with that upcoming Alexa integration and an integration with the Nest thermostat, simply saves us [UNKNOWN] has it's own smartlock coming soon. Simply to say it has a lot of new competition now but it's still a very good home security system. And a budget option that doesn't feel like a budget option the bounty of features and options for customization give you plenty of control over how you use it. And in the end, it worked reliably enough to provide peace of mind against fire, flood and a variety of home invasion scenarios. I liked it in 2014 and I like it now too. [BLANK_AUDIO]