Ajax Alarm System Review: Ajax MotionCam Sensor

We’ve been waiting for this since 2016. A majority of Alarm Systems’ manufacturers are having this for quite a time. And here is it – the launch of Ajax MotionCam sensor, that tiny piece of a puzzle that was missing, is finally here to finish the entire picture. Ajax Systems’ device #26 discloses its intend right in the name, where “Motion” stands for PIR sensor and “Cam”… well, for camera ? Here we’re going to tell what is this MotionCam sensor, how does it works, test it and show you a results, and answer a question – do you need it? And of course, you can get this MotionCam and other 25 Ajax Sensors the Pipl Systems Store.

The Appearance / Design

Well, there’s nothing extraordinary about a box or its contents except well, a different type of a description markup on a back, that highlights a top specs on the upper part, but we’ll get back to this later, let’s talk about the looks now, and as you can tell, comparing to a regular MotionProtect, MotionCam did grow in height, due to 2 new elements added.

The infrared lights to light up a scene at night and the camera module itself, capable of taking a series of 5 photos with a 320×240 resolution, or three photos with a 640×480 resolution maximum at a time and then, this photos are displayed to you as an animation in the app, but we’ll get to demonstration a bit later. And also, you can’t take photos from a sensor if you wish, that happens only if a sensor is in armed state and was triggered by a motion. Above them we’ve got the infrared sensor behind the Fresnel lens. The Ajax inscription moved closer to a bottom edge, ruining a perfect middle-located composition, but here I’m just being picky. To finish up with with the appearance, Ajax have changed a button behind a cover on a back from a switch to a press-type, as they do with all sensors, released in 2019 and after. But enough about the looks, I know you want to know how does that works.

Specifications / Hardware

Along with the MotionCam launch, Ajax also brings to the market 2 new versions of Kits, featuring MotionCam, Hub 2, DoorProtect and SpaceControl Key Fob in white and black colors. Because, at the moment, MotionCam sensor is compatible with a Hub 2 only. And it ain’t because Ajax want to sell you a newer version of their device, but because it is necessary. You see, the communication between sensors in Ajax ecosystem happens completely via radio-waves under Ajax Jeweller radio protocol, but it is not enough to transfer images. To specify, Ajax stumbled upon the fact that images transmission conflicts with the alarm signal transmission. That is why new Ajax Hub 2 has 2 more antennas to ensure that both alarm signal and the images are transfered. I mean, we’re talking about a transmission of multiple images via radio-waves at a distance of up to 1 700 meters, which is the operational range for Ajax MotionCam. And the name of this new protocol is Wings. Thus, Jeweller is used for the alarm signal transmission, while a Wings protocol ensures images delivery. A few more things I want to Highlight before we test it. A motion detection distance remains the same that MotionProtect has – 12 meters, and it has a pet-immunity here as well for a pets under 20 kilograms in weight and 50 centimeters tall. A declared built-in batteries lifelong is up to 3 years due to 2 protocols used here simultaneously, and the infrared lights with the camera on top of that. Honestly I’m surprised with 3 years of battery life, considering new power high-consuming elements.

Demonstration

To mention, the higher a resolution of photos, the longer it takes to deliver them to you. What you see below is a photos taken in a maximum 640×480 resolution, below it you see a night mode footage in the same resolution. Then we have 320×240 and the night one for it. The last one is 160×120 photo during daytime, and the night mode ones for it.

Watch Our Video On Youtube For More Details And The Full Review!

Conclusion

To conclude, the MotionCam is intended to quickly take a glance at what happened during event, when a sensor in your home spotted an intruder, and to make sure that was or wasn’t a false alarm. Anyway, now Ajax lets us to see what happened by a means of a photos and not just the notifications, which is awesome. On the Pipl Systems Store you can always grab one Ajax MotionCam for yourself or any other Ajax device our of 25 sensors and kits that we’ve got for you here ?