Today, we are going to check out the Maximus camera floodlight from Kuna. A lot of you have requested for me to check it out and to compare it with the Ring Floodlight…which is not going to happen on this video…not yet anyways…I will but it will be on a different versus video. So, today we are going to unbox, check out the features and settings, setup, installation and video footage. (28)
First, let’s check out the features.
It is a 1080p HD camera with 155 degrees FOV
The floodlight is a 5000 kelvin temperature which is a white light and is programmable and dimmable. It has a light output of 2400 lumens at max setting.
It can detect motion up to 70 feet and can use either the PIR motion sensor or with subscription, you can use the Kuna AI which uses algorithms and can differentiate between cars or people and also can tell you how many were detected. You can also customize and set areas where you want motion to be detected.
It has 2 way talk.
Also has a manually activated 115 decibel siren which is pretty loud. It also has 911 access via the app.
Now, it doesn’t have night vision but because of the floodlight, it will illuminate the scene when it detects motion giving you full color video at night…
It has prerecorded messages which you can play manually or automatically when it detects motion.
It connects to a 2.4 and also 5 GHz WiFi.
You can also use amazon alexa and google assistant to control the lights…not able to view the camera yet though.
So, let’s open up the box….
We have a flyer here..
and an installation guide
We have some installation hardware…
And we have the floodlight camera itself…
The body is made of plastic so hopefully it is durable enough especially here in South Texas. I know I had to replace a couple of plastic floodlights before after a couple of years because of it getting brittle and cracking…
This is the PIR motion detector with the status light at the bottom of it.
The mounting plate can be easily locked and unlocked from the floodlight body by sliding this tab. The part that goes to the wall is lined with a rubber seal for weatherproofing. You can remove the mounting plate from the body by turning the plate clockwise.
The floodlight itself just needs 2 wires to be hooked up from your junction box. Remember, this is a replacement for your floodlight or any other lighting fixture in your home and it will need a junction box.
The floodlight can be installed vertically like in a wall or also horizontally like in a ceiling or eaves of your house. It has a ratcheting type of adjustments which makes it pretty easy.
For me, I’m going to install this above my garage door in a wall about 9 feet high..to replace temporarily my Ring Floodlight. The Floodlights themselves can be adjusted side to side and up or down. The same thing with the PIR sensor, it can be tilted up or down or rotated to position.
The camera lens can also be adjusted by pushing down the sides while moving it in position.
Time for installation.
Make sure the breakers are off and the switch powering the light fixture is also ff… and after I removed my Ring Floodlight, I’m going to install the cross bracket with the machine screws that were included in the hardware packet.
I’m going to connect the 2 wires – black to black; white to white to the wires in the mounting plate.
And I’ll screw in the mounting plate to the bracket which is already screwed in to the junction box. Make sure that the rubber gasket seals the mounting plate to the wall.
Now just align the tabs of maximus floodlight to the corresponding holes in the mounting plate then turn it clockwise to secure it.
Slide the lock button to lock the floodlight cam in place…and that’s it, the maximus floodlight is installed.
You can then easily position each of the lights, the camera and the sensor in place.
If you haven’t done it yet, download and open the Kuna app from the app store or google play..signup and register…
Click “allow” to notifications and click setup new device.
Swipe to find the Maximus floodlight…
Click new device…
I’ll select garage to name the camera.
Click the WiFi network that it will be connected to…
and type in the password…
Change the time zone and set your location..
All done! and click Start using my camera floodlight…
Check out the live view… you can turn your phone to get landscape mode..
Pinch in or out to zoom in or out..
We have the mic here for 2 way talk and also the light switch and the middle option we have play message, record video, sound the alarm and also the option to call 911.
Now, let’s try out the prerecorded messages.
Now, let’s test the motion alert notification speed. I have the chime on and we will know when the camera detects the motion..will see if there is a delay when it notifies my phone.
Notification is almost instant…
We will now check out some footage…
Video quality is pretty good and I haven’t seen any choppiness or lag..overall the video is smooth.
In this footage you will see that the Maximus floodlight will begin recording 10 seconds before an event has been detected. It might be an overkill but it is better than missing important parts of the footage.
How about at night. The Maximus floodlight doesn’t have night vision and it will rely on the floodlight to light up the area so that it can take full color footage.
This will negate the 10 sec preview recording because all it will record is dark footage. You can always set the dusk til dawn light option so the floodlight will always be on at night.
Let’s check out the 2 way communication.
The recorded footage only records the camera’s audio and not the person talking in the phone.
Another cool feature of this camera is the notification preview which you push and hold the alert notification and an animated thumbnail will show together with options to snooze the alerts or to play a message.
Now, I’ll show you how bright the floodlights are. It has a total of 2400 lumens of 5,000 kelvin white light and are also dimmable. Just use the slider on the app to control the brightness of the LED lights.
So how about subscription? Well, they have different options from totally free to $240 dollars a year. First, they have a 14 day trial so that you can try out the premium features. So, it starts at 5 dollars a month billed annually which is 60 bucks a year for 7 day video history, lifetime theft protection, Kuna AI and also 5% off future purchases. Then they have the 120 a year plan which you now have 14 days video history and good to up to 4 cameras and 10% off future purchases…and lastly there is the $240 a year for up to 8 cameras, 30 day lookback and 15% off future purchases.
So, the more cameras you have the more benefits and discounts…
If you only have one camera and don’t want to pay any subscription, you can do that also…you will still get the features but just limited like you will only have a 2 hour window for your recorded footage and limited to 3 downloads a month but you will still get the animated gif thumbnails. You will also only have the PIR motion detection instead of the Kuna AI. So some people will just be content with these features and not having to pay extra per month.
One gripe about this camera is that it is mostly plastic which I will not really know the longevity especially the moving parts to adjust the lights.
The camera also doesn’t have night vision and is dependent on the lights to have usable color footage. There are instances during my testing that when the lights are off, and the sensitivity of the lights are set to low the motion detection doesn’t trigger.
Also, this might be a bug in the firmware but when I set the the lights to turn on when motion is detected to nights only, the lights will not turn on at night. Please note that I have some ambient lighting from my neighbors so it is not totally dark. So, when the lights don’t turn on, then the camera will not detect any motion in both Kuna AI and PIR modes.
To make everything work, I have to set the light’s setting on motion on, to always. I just hate to have the lights on during daytime when motion is detected…it’s just waste of electricity.
I’ll definitely do another video comparing the Maximus light with my Ring floodlight cam in the next few weeks.
Maximus Floodlight Camera by Kuna – amzn.to/2t4hzEy