Kuna Camera Review

What Is Kuna?

Kuna got its start back in 2012, when a few Caltech and Stanford Ph.Ds put their artificial intelligence know-how to work in securing the everyman’s home. From what we’ve seen, Kuna is a company where the founders are deeply entrenched in the technology. It’s not just about money. And we like that. In fact, the two cofounders and the COO have illustrious backgrounds in everything from robotics to aerodynamics.1

Needless to say, these guys have what it takes to build high-quality products. But that doesn’t always translate to reasonable prices, a good user experience, and other “soft” but important factors. So let’s see how Kuna holds up when the rubber meets the road.

Kuna Camera Pricing

As this brand does things a bit differently, you won’t find the kind of robust product selection typical in this industry with Kuna. As you’ll see from our sweeping analysis of Ring cameras, which includes several indoor/outdoor security options, and Lorex cameras, with their massive selection of equipment and accessories, Kuna’s selection is quite limited by comparison. This, of course, could come as good news or bad, depending on what type of homeowner you are. Personally, we like options (can you blame us?) and, therefore, would like to see Kuna add more cameras to their menu.

As it stands, they only offer three main camera types: smart security lighting, the Maximus AnswerTM Video Doorbell, and the Maximus Floodlight. But thankfully there aren’t any hidden fees, monthly costs, or contracts to worry about. Just pay for the camera and you’re in business. You can expect this nimble pricing structure with other more affordable cameras, too.

Note that the prices below are slightly higher than the industry average. For instance, you can get the high-performance Nest Cam Outdoor for around $150-$200. Another thing to consider is that you’ll have to upgrade to Kuna Premium (a monthly subscription plan) if you want video history and AI features. Don’t worry, we’ll break this down in a bit. Here are the Kuna camera prices.

Kuna Maximus Answer™ Doorbell

Kuna Premium Subscription

Through Kuna, you can opt for subscription-based monitoring with Kuna Premium or do your own monitoring with the basic motion detection and other features Kuna offers. Kuna Premium adds person/vehicle detection to the camera experience, which more security cameras are offering nowadays. It’s not the same level of precision you’d get in a Nest system, which has software that recognizes people’s faces,3 but we found person detection to be just as useful in many outdoor scenarios.

Now, if you decide to upgrade to Kuna Premium, you can tap into their AI technology that offers intelligent, contextual notifications. You’ll also get up to 30-day video history, which can be helpful if you need to provide evidence after a crime.4 While we typically recommend signing up with a subscription plan, we’re partial to Ring Protect Plans (starting at only $3 per month) and Arlo’s plans. But if you go with Kuna, here’s what you can expect.

Notably, Kuna doesn’t have any built-in home automations like the above-mentioned Arlo’s suite of cameras does, but their lighting fixtures still play nicely in the sandbox with Alexa and Google Assistant.

Unfortunately, even the cheapest Kuna plan ‘Essential Security’ is almost twice the cost of the average subscription plan we’ve tried. However, we like that Kuna offers a 14-day free trial for their Peace of Mind plan (included with every camera).

Also, if you pay annually to cash-in on cost savings, but later find that Kuna isn’t for you, you can cancel and they’ll prorate your payment and send you a refund. Easy peasy. You really don’t have much to lose either way.

Our Experience With Kuna Cameras

We truly enjoyed testing out these security cameras. The installation was fast and easy, and we liked the way they looked on our front porch (very easy on the eyes). But let’s see just how well they protected our home when it mattered most.

Kuna Camera Features

Making a choice was relatively painless. We purchased both camera styles listed below. But remember that Kuna also sells the new Maximus Answer™ Doorbell (a dual-cam video doorbell that’s similar to the Ring Doorbell 2). Here are a handful of features you can expect with Kuna.

Kuna Maximus Camera Floodlight

The Kuna Maximus Camera Floodlight offers 1080p HD resolution, motion sensing up to 70 feet., and app-based controls. We think it’s reasonably priced at $249, and it’s quite similar to the Ring Floodlight Cam. Here are a few other features we think you’ll like:

• Two 2,400-Lumen Floodlights
• 155-Degree Field of View
• Zoom Feature
• Two-Way Talk
• Weatherproof Construction
• Works With Alexa (lighting only)

Kuna Smart Security Light

The Kuna Maximus Smart Security Light is the company’s other main product. We think it’s best for folks who want a more discreet and elegant camera experience, minus the ultra-bright floodlights. It costs $179 and comes with the following features:

• Standard, Craftsman, or Contemporary style
• Traditional (Charles Dickens) style
• 1080p HD Image Quality
• Two-Way Talk
• Weatherproof Build
• Connects to Wi-Fi
• Smart Light Controls/Settings
• Bluetooth-Enabled

Installing Kuna Cameras

Like other DIY camera systems out there (think Blink’s affordable wire-free devices), there’s really nothing to the Kuna installation. The products arrived to us completely configured and ready to go. We just had to download the mobile app and follow the step-by-step setup instructions. It’ll show you best practices on placing/mounting the cameras, and how to drill into your exterior wall.

The setup and installation should only take 10-20 minutes, from start to finish. And if you hit a roadblock, you can always call the customer service hotline to get a helping hand. But we’ll get to Kuna’s customer service (which is a whole new can of worms). We thought the installation and placement was flexible enough, but note that these devices aren’t as versatile as, say, Canary’s all-in-one security cameras.

What We Really Liked About Kuna

We think the look of these smart lights is perhaps Kuna’s biggest strength. When installed, the camera in the Smart Security Light sits in a little nest beneath the light, making it ultra-discreet. Although the camera isn’t exactly hidden, the unit definitely doesn’t draw attention to itself (which is exactly what you want). So Kuna gets an A+ for design and dashing good looks.

So what about functionality? Well, we were able to control our Kuna light using the mobile companion app. The moment we received a motion-activated alert, we could react directly from our phone’s lock screen (very nice touch). When we received an activity notification of a visitor at our door — the HD live-video screen popped right up.

It gets better. The live-video screen displays a handful of options allowing you to jump into action. These options include: two-way intercom, play a greeting, record video, sound the siren, and there’s even a quick-call 911 button. As you can see, there’s a lot of intuitive functionality here.

Another thing that stood out to us is that the device automatically starts recording footage starting from 10 seconds before activity occurs. This reminds us of the pre-roll feature in an Arlo camera suite we unpacked recently, and it’s helpful to give you full context of an event. With this in mind, the motion sensing was also pretty solid, especially with the Kuna Premium plans. There’s a motion sensitivity slider within the app, so you can set it and forget it. Just don’t expect it to be very accurate without a subscription plan (as you won’t have AI smart detection).
Paired with a Kuna Premium subscription and smart detection, our cameras came to life and were able to distinguish between people, pets, and cars without a problem. But this isn’t exactly earth-shattering technology. We’re starting to see this AI-powered feature more and more.

What We Didn’t Love About Kuna

Now, mind you, we didn’t love everything about Kuna cameras. We have a couple of bones to pick as far as features go. First off, Kuna claims that their products work with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. But when we paired our devices with Alexa, we were only able to turn the lights on and off. We fully expected to have voice controls over the camera feature, too; but alas, our dreams were dashed. So there’s one strike against Kuna.
Additionally, since Kuna’s platform is app-based, you can’t control Kuna or Maximus cameras using anything other than the Kuna Home Security app. It sure beats the obtrusive extension cords and flimsy switches of cameras past, though, and Kuna does make a pretty robust app. It’s pretty cool being able to control security lights and cameras at one time from one device; it’s definitely giving us major smart home vibes. But, it’s worth mentioning we can get much more smart home automation in a set of Ring cameras.

But our biggest gripe with Kuna was with their night vision — especially on the Smart Security Light. Kuna lights rely on “illuminating the scene” for the camera to function at night. Without that scene illumination, you won’t see much at all in your footage – certainly not the night vision video you can get with another brand on the market, like Reolink. Visit our full Reolink camera review if you’re interested in cameras with much clearer, colorized night vision.

This is all well and good, except that the light washes out the camera shot. So we didn’t get that crisp, clear picture we had hoped for. Without integrated night vision features, recording or viewing live video at night was more like staring at the sun in some ways, so Kuna has some room for improvement here.

Kuna Customer Service

During our initial research of Kuna, we did come across a number of negative reviews. Users mostly complained of faulty cameras and lackluster customer service. Thankfully, we didn’t have any issues in this regard. But we also didn’t need real-time assistance for faulty products.

With Kuna, we had access to phone and email-based customer assistance. The support desk is open Monday-Friday, from 8am to 5:30pm. But note that this is for Kuna Maximus products only.

Final Recommendation

Overall, Kuna offers a straightforward and transparent service with a free plan and three Premium plans to choose from. While the up-front camera cost is more expensive than the industry average, we think you’ll enjoy the form and function that Kuna offers. It’s a great fit if you’re looking for an outdoor camera system that will add a dash of style to the exterior of your home. And with a 60-day money-back guarantee, it’s hard to beat.

Of course, Kuna isn’t perfect. The home automation integrations aren’t so hot, and the company only offers limited camera options. That said, they seem to really obsess over the little details with the products that they do offer. So we must say, Kuna has a lot going for it.
So there you have it. That’s the long-and-short of Kuna. And would you look at that — we made it all this way without making a Kuna Matata joke (what a wonderful phrase).

FAQs about Kuna