Swann – Enforcer 8-Channel, 8-Camera Indoor/Outdoor 1080p 1TB DVR Serucity Surveillance System – White

This system replaced an older non-HD camera system at my aunt’s house and was a huge upgrade (her first words were: “is that my house, it is so clear”). It is a great affordable option – videos are sharp, push motion alerts via app, easy setup, and the lights built into the cameras work well.
Pros
– Complete kit includes everything you need for a smaller house.
– HDMI connection to TV.
– DVR is compact, quiet, and has a clean design.
– 1080p image is sharp and clear.
– Swann Security app works well and was easy to connect. Motion alerts are received quickly and seeing a live view of your cameras takes only a few seconds. It also allows you to trigger both the bright white and red/blue lights remotely.
– Adjustable motion zones and schedules for recording, alerts and lights.
– Red/Blue lights on each camera work great to draw attention to the system (when needed) – I have this set so that they only come on when I trigger them from the app (I didn’t want my guest thinking I was calling the police on them).
– Bright white light works both to get your attention and to illuminate dark areas (allowing limited color viewing at night).
– Cameras use standard BNC/power cables (I was able to reuse the cables from my existing system).
– Heat detection really helps to reduce false motion triggers (like the wind blowing the leaves of my aunt’s plants on her porch).
Things to Consider
– Requires running wires to each camera and a LAN cable (Cat 5/6) to directly connect to your network router. Depending on the size of your house the included video cables (BNC) may not be long enough especially if you plan on having your cameras on multiple levels.
– The Swann app cannot be used to adjust settings like schedules or motion zones. You have to set these at the DVR. The DVR interface works well and is fine once you get the hang of it but is not as user friendly as it could be. Tip – Once you have changed a setting you have to hit apply, before moving on to another menu tab (I had already set 2 motions zones perfectly before I figured out it was not saving them!).

Wires,wires and more wires, this is a wired system but one important thing to know is the hard drive has to be hard wired to your router as it doesn’t have WiFi. Having it hardwired though will generally give you a stronger connection and less latency on the video feed. The setup process is fairly straightforward though there is a decent amount of steps you have to do to get everything up and running.
Video quality for the cameras are about what you would expect from 1080p during the day. The video quality at night is decent to good but it all depends on the lighting. If you have the cameras placed where there is sufficient lighting the video quality is good. If there is not sufficient lighting the video quality will not be good until you turn the spotlight on. The one thing missing for the cameras is the ability to add zones for motion detecting. This can be a big deal if the cameras are placed in areas with a lot of activity as you may get notifications for stuff you don’t want. The app allows you to turn off the notifications, but this is all you can do with the notifications. Though the app has limited functionality, the functionality it does have is very good. The app gives you the ability to connect to your cameras remotely and is definitely a plus for Swann as its proven stable and reliable.
The big factor in me recommending the system is how you plan to use it. If you need a system to make out little details (especially @ night) like the details of a car, person or needing to read a license plate number when zooming in, I don’t think you’ll be happy. If you just need a cheap system to monitor and know when someone or something is there, I think you’ll be happy.

Overall
The Swann Enforcer surveillance system is a good mix of hardware and features. It’s probably one of the simpler systems to setup as the wizard practically holds your hand the entire time. There isn’t any setting configuration along the way that the average computer user would need to look up a tutorial or online definition for an internet protocol. It’s all provided in a simple to understand, easy to follow guide. That goes for both DVR and mobile app. Installation will probably be the biggest obstacle for the average user. With that said, my only complaint in this area is that the cables are a little too short for outdoor use unless you live in a tiny home. It’s pretty well detailed in the product description however, so I wont take any stars for that. Configuring your notification preferences is a simple task. Simply select your detection areas from the grid, mask whatever you don’t want the camera to see, and toggle a few boxes for the type of monitoring/notification you want from your system. I will point out that while going through this process I realized the software was pulled from a different system. There’s a field for “siren” while the enforcer does not actually offer that. The siren check box activates the strobing red/blue light setting. Picture quality, even for a 1080p system, is fantastic. The low light color mode blows my older system out of the water. At night, my street facing camera activates IR, but if a car sits on the street, it gives it enough light to enter color mode.

Cons
Perhaps the biggest issue with this system. The heat activated motion detection feels more like smoke and mirrors. Activate the feature, walk in front of the camera and watch it respond. Next drive or wait for someone to drive in front and watch it respond. Same thing with animals, dogs, cats, and I’d suspect anything within that size

I have had BnC type of units for almost 10 years now. I started with 480 then 720 then 1080 now 4k all BnC.
Installation can be tough because you need to install cables. Thank goodness I already have upgraded BnC in my open garage ceiling so I just needed to plug and play this system. If you are going to run this in your house and you have either crawl or attic space and don’t know how to run the cables just hire someone. It can be a pain and take several days or weeks to run. Also before you start to run the cable put everything on your dining room table and setup all the cameras and NVR prior to doing anything physical. You don’t want to run cable to find out your cable is bad and then your are screwed. NVR was already up to date with firmware so did not have to waste time with that. Mobile app was easy. Scanned QR code and I was all set.
Performance. Lag is noticeable from mobile app to cameras. It’s about 20 seconds. Motion detect is nice. Light alert is ok. Flashing lights get someone’s attention but this system does it have an audible alarm.
Night vision is decent for 1080 resolution. Color night vision is good. Infrared night vision is decent. Day vision is good. Field of vision is also good too although I wished it was a bit wider both horizontal and vertical.
App was simple to use. Straight forward. Easy playback. Easy to turn on lights. Motion detect easy to review.
The cameras themselves are ok. Plastic and simple to adjust with typical 3 screws.
This is my I think now my 5th system. Swann has always been had good budget system. This would be a good one if you are looking for a budget entry level system.
Swann has always been a solid choice.
Alexa and Google assistant I could not get to work. I have had problems with all of the DVR/NVR systems to work with these platforms because Google and Alexa are just a pain to setup.
Anyway don’t hesitate to buy this system. This is a must for security cameras.
Also not monthly payments for storage and access.