Abode Reviews 2,902

Bad experience from start to finish. Ordered the alarm system and it arrived in a timely manner on Apr 8th. Tried to install it that day, and two sensors were very intermittent, so I moved the base station to a more central local and still they would intermittently work. I decided to send the unit back and use my previous system, and abode did offer to diagnose the two sensors, but I requested a refund. Waited almost a week to get a return approved and am still waiting (apr 27th) for a refund for items that have been returned apr 18th.

Unreliable - this completely broke after 3 years. It just stopped working. Worse yet, it still reported that it was working - so I armed the system from my phone, but none of the sensors were actually turned on.

Spent several hours across 2 days talking with a series of helpful, but completely useless customer support reps to eventually establish the hub was busted, for which they provide no servicing options at all. Pretty annoying after 2 years of paying subscriptions and purchasing > $1000 of sensors and cameras for this.

Rather than replacing it at my cost, I'm switching to a more reliable system.

The smart detect features are basically useless and customer service avoids the problem at all costs and gives me solutions that do nothing. Also they hide bad reviews from their site.

I have installed 3 Abode doorbells and all 3 have not worked! Now Abode says they will not refund me because it is beyond the 30 days.

When we were deciding on what we needed for our house the person assisting us was not pushy at all. He educated us on everything but ultimately let us decide on what we needed.
When the items came, it was easy to install by ourselves & we love that we can personalize the monitoring to our needs based on when we need it.

Easy to order and fast delivery. Install is a breeze. Unfortunately, not a lot of confidence in the motion sensor--not sure it's working all of the time. The camera also doesn't give any motion alerts--which is the whole reason I purchased the system. The audio is also horrible on the camera--transmitting and receiving.

Customer service was OK, not great though.

Smart detect on all cameras rarely work. Especially front door camera and doorbell camera which never register people of packages. Doorbell camera has also been problematic ever since installation.

The equipment is amazing and super easy to install. The fact that it is HomeKit compatible makes it even better! The app is pretty self-explanatory and user friendly. Customer service, however is a pain in the butt. I’ve been trying to change the law enforcement agency that the monitoring company would contact in case of the alarm going off and they’re asking me to provide a phone number for the monitoring company to call. Isn’t that their job to find out what number it is? It’s frivolous to expect me to provide that number.

I chose Abode because I was trying not to give Google or Amazon more of my money and access to cameras/microphones in my home. I also appreciated the ability to switch between a low-cost monthly plan without live monitoring, and a higher-cost monthly plan with live monitoring. Since I started my subscription 2 years ago, subscription cost has gone up. That's to be expected, and I was given proper notice of the price changes. While I think I'll stay with Abode for my current home with 3 cameras and 4 door/window sensors, I won't be using them again for any additional properties or businesses. I have had two cameras, one Outdoor Smart Cam and one Wireless Video Doorbell die recently after purchase. Support was tough to get help from, and I ended up buying another Wireless Video Doorbell out of pocket. While the door sensors seem to send proper notifications consistently every time, my cameras do not give me a notification every time there is movement or people in view of the cams. I understand the Smart Detect feature is in beta or used to be, but I'd say it's just over 60%accurate. If you need a very accurate system that sends the proper notifications to your devices, I would look somewhere else. I think Abode is working on their issues and has a a lot of potential, I just hope they have the resources to continue to improve.

I've had issues with the video doorbell and Customer Service has stayed with me all the way to resolve the problem. Once it was assessed that the unit was faulty, they promptly ordered and mailed me another one. This is one of the big reasons why I stick with Abode for my security needs.

I would have provided 5 stars if my Z wave Schlage connect Deadbolt would work on my system. It once did work but an apparent upgrade disconnected it and I cannot reconnect it. Also my GE z wave thermostat will not connect to your system. Another issue is your light bulbs. Once power is lost they do not reconnect to the system. This is inconvenient for a vacation home since no one is there to manually reconnect them. Other than those three items everything else works fine including your cameras.

James and the Abode team worked steadily to resolve a confusing issue with several cameras. We did a homeowner level amount of testing ourselves, but James had us try several additional things, which ultimately led to discovering the issue with the cameras. They are now back up and operating as expected. James will be continuing to research the root cause for the issue, which is also good to know.

The quality isn’t there. The image isn’t clear enough. You cannot zoom in on the footage. The system goes offline more than I think is acceptable and the interface is clunky and could use some additional refinement. I wish I never purchased the system. I would warn future buyer to do your homework and get them to follow through on their word to send samples/live link before buying. I asked and they never sent it. Their 50% off sale is bait tactic. Take your time in reviewing.

The products are good, but here is my negative experience. Compatibility shortcomings with Homekit should have been mentioned before purchase. Only after purchasing we found out that the cameras are not compatible with Homekit.
The other negative (which I think is big) is the kit did not contain any decals or a sign for the front yard. You have to pay to get these, after spending more than $600.
The customer service is excellent.

Reliability, ease of installation, good responsive customer service.

Prompt shipping.
Knowledgeable associates .
spoke clear English, was able to understand what my problem was .
Polite.

I've been with Abode for about five years now (i.e. both the security system and monitoring), and overall they have been a great company. I choose Abode for their capacity to interface with IFTTT protocol, which has worked out OK. Lately they have lauched their own brand of a automated products. As long as you have a rock solid network, they work well. The camera system is truly a bargain but they are NOT 100% effective, meaning they are NOT part of a true security system. Also, Abode should be selling a system where videos are saved locally, instread of on their server. I'd happily pay for this capability. They have given me no reason to replace my base station. And finally, they force you to accept their new application when they upgrade, whether or not all the functions actually work during the time of release (i.e. the ability to take a picture with my motion detector/ camera during the last app release; now fixed).

Prices are great, but reliability of some components is low. The Abode Cam 2 is still working out issues. I’m very pleased with the performance of the system getting me notified about events near and in the house.