Cove Home Security Review

Cove Cost and Monitoring Plans

One of the things that makes Cove attractive is the affordable price tag. I picked up a full system for about $250, and they threw in a free security camera. Depending on the equipment you purchase, you can get out the door for under $200, or you could spend as much as $400. Cove prices are right in line with — maybe even slightly cheaper than — Ring Alarm prices. You can read our full guide to Cove home security plans and costs, but here’s a quick snapshot of how much their equipment will run you.

Cove Equipment Options and Prices

Now, Cove doesn’t offer self-monitoring like some other companies, so you’ll have to pay for their professional monitoring service. But don’t worry, it’s cheap, and it works like a charm. If someone breaks into your house, Cove will send the help you need (as evidenced by that cop on my doorstep).

That said, professional monitoring is only a backup feature. The Cove system itself has built-in measures for scaring away would-be burglars, including a loud siren in the Cove Hub and the Alarm Panel. You can place up to four Alarm Panels around your house for convenient control, and they’ll also sound their sirens when the system is tripped; two birds with one stone. It’s still nice to know that Cove’s monitoring center has our back in case those features fail. This way you and your family will still remain protected from intruders.

Prices start at $17.99 per month, which is much cheaper than the industry average of $39.99. Cove has two monitoring plans: Basic and Plus. We’ll talk more about monitoring plans later, but here’s a look at what they include.

Cove Professional Monitoring Plans

Unboxing Cove and First Impressions

You can expect your Cove equipment to arrive on your doorstep about two to three days after you order it. When you open your package, you might be surprised by how organized everything is. The equipment boxes each have a number indicating the exact order in which to open them. And personally, I find the turquoise branding to be slick. Good design inspires confidence.

Cove Packaging

The equipment is sturdy, especially the control panel. In fact, on day three of testing, my toddler knocked the control panel onto the hardwood floor (oops!), and it took the beating like a champ.

That sounds like a minor thing, but the truth is, there are burglars who do exactly that (or worse) to control panels to try and deactivate security systems. Known as crash-and-smash burglars, their goal is to destroy your system before it has a chance to alert you. And if the control panel surviving a three-foot fall is any indication, Cove should be able to keep crash-and-smash burglars at bay.

Another great thing about Cove’s setup is that the hub and controllers are separate. The controller (Alarm Panel) is usually placed near the front door for convenient access, making them easy to find. But since the hub (Cove Hub) – the device responsible for communications – is separate from the controller, it doesn’t matter if the Alarm Panel is destroyed. The hub can still send alert signals.

By the way, you can leave the Alarm Panel freestanding, or you can mount it to the wall. We recommend the latter if you want it more secure, but either way, you’ll need to plug it into a wall outlet.

Closeup of Door/Window Sensor

As for Cove’s sensors, they’re a little on the large side. They’re not obnoxiously big, but I’d prefer a slimmer profile. The more discreet, the better, right? Though when mounted above our old Vivint sensors, the Cove sensors weren’t too far off in size. Here, have a look…

Cove Sensors (top) and Vivint Sensors (bottom)

This brings us to Cove’s motion sensor, which is one of the smallest motion sensors out there. It’s about the size of a lemon, so I was able to tuck it discreetly into the corner of my living room, where it could cover a large swath of the living area.

Cove Motion Detector

Overall, Cove makes a positive first impression. Next up: Installing the system and really getting acquainted.

Cove DIY Installation

In the box, you’ll find a tiny booklet titled “Start Here.” In it are four easy steps for do-it-yourself installation. Now, you’re right to be skeptical of a four-step setup for something as complex as a home security system. DIY systems can often take an hour or more to set up, and it’s not uncommon to find yourself on hold with tech support to get past hiccups. But — not so with Cove! The setup took only 10-12 minutes from start to finish.

Cove Installation Steps 1-2

First, plug in the Cove Hub and connect it to your router using an Ethernet cable. Next, plug in the Alarm Panel. When you plug in the Alarm Panel, the screen will turn blue while the device configures its factory settings. (Mine took about two minutes). When that’s done, it will display a greeting: “Hi, welcome to Cove.”

Cove Panel – Setup Process

Next, you’ll set your four-digit master code, which you’ll use daily to access your system in the app or from the control panel. (Once you’re all set up, you’ll be able to add additional users, so everyone in the house can use the system.)

Then, you’ll need to mount the sensors. The equipment package includes instructions for doing that. Here’s that unassuming motion sensor installed on my wall. It’s barely noticeable.

Cove Motion Detector

The sensor-mounting instructions are straightforward. Like all of the best DIY home security systems, Cove includes peel-and-stick adhesive on the back of their sensors. So you can just stick ’em up and move on to the next step. But here’s a pro tip: Mount your door/window sensors using Velcro strips so they’re ultra-easy to take down when it comes time to change batteries or move.

Back of Cove Door/Window Sensor

Given the substantial size of Cove’s sensors, they can be a bit difficult to fit in tight spaces. For instance, I used every centimeter available to mount a sensor on my sliding glass door. It almost didn’t fit! It would definitely be great to see Cove move toward smaller entry sensors.

Cove Door/Window Sensor

If you spring for environmental sensors like a smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) detector, the setup wizard will ask you to “test” these as you install them. Brace yourself for a burst of loud, high-pitched beeps at close range. It’s enough to make you jump out of your skin if you’re not prepared for it. The wizard doesn’t warn you, but I learned the hard way and thought you should know.

Finally, Cove will have you go around your house and test the sensors by opening and closing your doors and windows. This is to ensure a connection with the control panel, and thus, the monitoring center when you activate the system. Same thing with the keyfob and panic pendant. With a DIY system like Cove, those are necessary, as you want your system to be set up properly to be able to actually protect you and deter criminals from breaking into your home. By making the tests compulsory, Cove is ensuring proper set up of every system.

And just like that — your Cove system will be up and running.

Cove – Installation Complete

When I reached this point in the process, I looked down at my watch and realized only 10 minutes had passed from the moment I opened the box. All things considered, this install was at least as fast as SimpliSafe’s installation, and maybe even faster. That’s a big deal. After all, SimpliSafe has built its reputation on fast DIY install and user-friendliness. This is definitely a feather in Cove’s cap.

Comparing Cove to Other Top Home Security Systems

24/7 Professional Monitoring with RapidSOS

Whether you choose Cove Basic or Cove Plus, your system will have around-the-clock professional monitoring using the fastest, most reliable connection in the business — a cellular connection. What does that mean? Well, most other DIY home security systems use a Wi-Fi signal to connect to the monitoring center. While this is a good connection, cellular is simply more reliable because it won’t slow down or drop off due to a poor Wi-Fi signal.

It’s impressive that Cove offers cellular monitoring for only $17.99 per month. And in case you’re interested, Cove uses AT&T’s 4G LTE cellular network. Now, this is important. 4G networks are fast, and as long as there’s good coverage inside your home, Cove will be able to alert you and the monitoring center quickly, and that increases the system’s chances of thwarting break-ins and burglaries.

So … does it work?

Yes! Here’s the process: Let’s say someone tries to pick your lock, or climb in through a window. The sensors will trip and you’ll get an instant alert sent to your smartphone. When I tested this, my alert came through as a text message, but you can customize how you receive alerts if you have the Cove Plus plan.

Cove Text Alerts

In the meantime, your Cove panel will send a distress signal to the professional monitoring center. And within 30 seconds, you should have a response agent calling you.

RapidSOS & Ultra-Fast Response

Expert Examined

From Rob Gabriele, Managing Editor & Home Security Expert

“Cove Home Security is the only home security system which utilizes the RapidSOS technology. This unique feature sends dispatchers detailed information regarding your emergency. From a law enforcement perspective, there is a big difference between a routine ‘alarm’ call versus a detailed alarm description with notifications such as ‘rear glass broken and interior motion detected.’ Crimes occurring in real time are given much higher priority, and RapidSOS can greatly improve response times.”

Now here’s what really sets Cove apart from the competition: A little something called RapidSOS Ready. Cove uses the same technology that your smartphone uses to digitally transmit info to 911 dispatchers. Rather than having to verbally relay the information like every other home security company, your Cove signal transmits auto-magically (digitally and without error). This, Cove claims, dramatically speeds up dispatch times so you get help FAST.

RapidSOS ensures police, fire, or EMS arrive on scene within minutes, and come prepared to save lives. Again, Cove is an exclusive partner with RapidSOS. I haven’t seen this technology from any other home security company.

When my Cove alarm rang and sent the distress signal, the agent who called me was kind, and she asked for my “safe” code. Long story short, I forgot it in the heat of the moment, and I gave her the wrong code (big mistake). So 15 minutes later, the police were walking up my driveway.

Cove Video Quality – Office Approaching the House

False Alarm Foibles

Thankfully, I wasn’t a victim of burglary, but I had some explaining to do. I did what any respectful home security expert would do: Invited the policeman in for tea. He checked my ID, just to make sure I actually lived there. Then, I staged a mini photo shoot for posterity.

Police Officer Sent to Our House from Cove Monitoring

Did I feel safe with Cove? You bet I did. If this were a real burglary, the police would actually show up. With every other security company I’ve used, I’ve had to blindly assume that monitoring works. With Cove, I have firsthand experience that it works! It’s a trust thing. And it’s nice to know that a police officer will be there when you need them most.

Cove’s Features and Tech

One reason to choose Cove’s Plus plan is to unlock more features. I love the low price of the Basic plan, but I’m not thrilled that it lacks home automation. I can live without it, but if you’re looking to integrate your security system with Alexa or Google Assistant, I strongly recommend spending the extra $10 per month for the premium plan. And since it’s month-to-month (no contracts), you can always downgrade to Basic at any time.

Another thing to note is the app. Cove’s app is accessible to all users who have a subscription. I expected to use the smartphone app on a regular basis to arm and disarm the system, fiddle with features, etc. But honestly, I didn’t love Cove’s app interface and functionality; I found the touch-screen panel to be more my speed.

Cove Hub and Alarm Panel

There’s nothing much to the Cove Hub – the main brains of the system. It actually looks a lot less sleek than other Cove components because of its tile-like shape and the fact that it uses an Ethernet cable to connect to the internet. I like that it has a 24-hour battery backup and cellular backup, which can be useful during outages, but that’s about it for the Hub.

The Alarm Panel, on the other hand, has a much more futuristic design. It’s a seven-inch tablet that controls everything and anything connected to Cove. And as far as touchscreen controllers go, Cove’s is right up there with the best of them. It’s similar to Alder’s control panel (which you can read about in our Alder review), and just a notch beneath Vivint’s Smart Hub panel (as discussed in our Vivint home security review).

Cove Touchscreen – Ready to Arm Screen

You can arm and disarm Cove directly from the home screen. (A single tap “wakes” it.) It has a factory-set delay, which counts down from two minutes to give you time to enter or leave your home. Don’t worry, you can always change the default delay in Settings. I’m not a big fan of delays, so I always reduce mine as much as possible. But you can set yours however suits you best.

Another neat Cove feature is “Nighttime Mode.” This stops all delay countdowns. Why is this important? Well, let’s say it’s 3 a.m. and you’re deep asleep when someone breaks in. If there’s a delay, it could give the intruder 30 seconds or more before sounding the alarm. That’s way too much of a head start! I want my siren to blare like a banshee the moment a door or window cracks open, and “Nighttime Mode” does just that. It’s a nice feature that can keep burglars and thieves out, or get them to scram if they’re already inside.

Another thing to look for in Cove’s control panel is Sensor Settings. You can actually get pretty granular with each sensor. For instance, you can set your motion sensor to “Active in Stay Mode.” This way, even when you’re home, the motion sensor will protect an area of your house — like your basement or attic — that you rarely use. Keep in mind the motion sensors can also be dialed in to account for your furry friend. (They’re pet-sensitive!)

Cove Motion Settings

Cove Emergency Call

You’ll also have access to your activity log on Cove’s panel. You’ll find this in the Settings tab under “History.” It’ll keep a running record of when your system was armed or disarmed, which doors/windows were opened and at what time, and more. This is a pretty standard feature, but still, it’s nice to have.

Now, at this point, I was pretty happy with Cove’s functionality — especially considering how affordable the system is. On the other hand, I really didn’t discover any groundbreaking technology. So let’s have a look at the mobile app features to see if Cove can make up some ground there.

A Quick Tour of the Cove App

The Cove app offers a lot of control features. The obvious one is remote access and control, from virtually anywhere in the world. This is a big deal, especially if you want to arm or disarm your Cove system while away, check your activity log on-the-go, and generally have more control over your home security.

As far as design goes, the mobile app dashboard isn’t much to look at. Compared to other apps I’ve used, Cove’s app could use a facelift. Then again … this isn’t a beauty contest.

Cove App Dashboard

There is a really neat feature in the Cove app called Routines. This is like having a built-in IFTTT (If This, Then That), which really showcases Cove’s intelligence. Of course, I’ve seen this feature with other brands. (I wrote about it in my abode security review.). But you don’t often see this sort of customization with DIY systems as affordable as this one.

You’ll be able to set Routines — also called “recipes” or “rules” — to automate your home security system. For example, I scheduled one Routine that automatically armed my system at 10:30 p.m. every night. (No more forgetting to set the alarm before bed!) I set another routine to disarm at sunrise each morning, which translated to fewer false alarms when I let the dog out in the wee hours, before my morning coffee. And finally, I set one to send a push notification whenever my front door opened.

Cove Routines

You’ll really like the customizations that you get here, except, perhaps, for one thing. While the routines themselves are very customizable, you’re limited by the devices you can integrate with Cove. I’m not thrilled that it doesn’t work with my Z-Wave smart lights, which seems like a missed opportunity. It would have been nice if my lights turned on whenever someone opened the front door at 2 A.M. Also, remember that you can only enjoy the Routines feature with the Cove Plus plan.

In Cove’s app, you’ll also be able to access a live video stream from your Cove indoor and outdoor cameras. This is common functionality with most brands, but until recently, Cove didn’t offer it. (Their previous camera model — the one I tested — was made by a third party, and you could only view video footage in the third-party app.) But more about cameras in just a bit.

Smart Home Automation

Other than the Routines feature noted above, Cove is also compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant for hands-free voice control. I have an Amazon Echo device, so a quick “Alexa, tell Cove to arm my system” is all it takes to lock up. And I don’t even have to get up from my cozy spot on the couch!

If you don’t already have one, it might even be worth going out to buy an Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant device just to enjoy these voice controls. But keep in mind, this feature is only supported by the Plus plan.

One thing lacking in Cove’s smart home arsenal is an integration with Z-Wave or another smart platform. Currently, the Cove system doesn’t support third-party devices like smart locks, lights, or thermostats. This is something they’ll hopefully add in the future.

Cove Cameras

One aspect for which I give Cove huge credit is their video offering. When Cove was just starting up, it had a really limited video monitoring reach. Over the years, though, Cove showed tremendous improvements.

Cove now offers a complete set of indoor cameras, outdoor cameras, and video doorbells. During my first encounter with Cove back in 2019, they only had an outdoor camera.

Cove also made a move to use camera equipment from reliable third-party brands like eufy and SkyBell. That’s progress compared to the whitebox cameras Cove used to offer. For instance, the eufy Outdoor Camera offers advanced features like a 2K video quality, a built-in solar panel, a siren, an integrated motion-activated spotlight, and local video storage.

All these new cameras integrate with Cove’s app directly, so you can watch live footage right from the app. By contrast, when I first tested the system, they didn’t yet have an outdoor camera and video doorbells, and their indoor camera didn’t connect to the Cove app.

Cove Camera Features and Prices

Cove’s new security cameras have only recently been announced, and I haven’t tested them yet. However, I did test an older model previously offered by Cove called the Yi indoor camera.

When I tested the Yi indoor camera previously offered by Cove, it was quite impressive. As far as video quality, I was extremely happy with the 1080p HD resolution. That’s the same high resolution you’ll get with Cove’s current indoor cameras. You can also expect two-way talk, night vision, livestream video, video recording, and 24/7 emergency response. (The last couple of features require an additional fee.)

These are strong, though fairly standard, features for indoor cameras in the $70-$100 range. We talked about these features in our SimpliSafe camera review and our Ring Indoor Cam review, too. So check those out if you want to do a comparison.

But here’s the icing on the cake with Cove: Their indoor camera only costs $49.50! Heck, you might even get it for free, as Cove often throws one in with the purchase of a home security system.

One more thing to note: When I tested the Yi camera, I wasn’t thrilled with the subscription fees required for recording. But Cove has made some nice changes with their current camera offerings. You now get seven days of unlimited cloud recording for free if you get the Cove Plus monitoring plan.

Environmental Sensors

If you buy a Cove flood sensor, or a smoke and carbon monoxide detector, you can access and test those from the Cove control panel. And you can enjoy Cove’s environmental protection regardless of the monitoring plan you choose; it’s included in both tiers. Also, at about $20-$50 per device, the prices on these sensors are competitive.

Other Cove Devices and Features

InstaText — No, this isn’t the latest social media craze. This is Cove’s method of texting an instant alert that lets you deal with an emergency or alarm from right within your text messages.

LiveAssist — LiveAssist is another name for the control panel’s two-way talk feature. There’s a built-in microphone and speaker, so you can communicate with emergency response agents directly through the touch-screen panel.

RapidSOS — With RapidSOS Ready technology, the Cove monitoring center can speed up the dispatch process with an electronic integration to 911 centers. Once an alarm is verified, the Cove monitoring agents can send the alarm details directly to 911. According to Cove, this feature can save three to four minutes in the dispatch process.

Cove’s Specs

The Customer Service Experience

In all of my interactions with Cove’s customer service team, I walked away feeling taken care of. And that isn’t always the case with home security companies. Sometimes the service can be a mixed bag.

But Cove was responsive to my needs, and the staff seemed to go out of their way to help. For instance, after speaking on the phone with tech support, the gentleman I spoke with sent a text message, just to follow up. Here’s how that went …

Texting with Cove Support

Final Words on Cove Home Security

What can I say? Cove took me by surprise with their feature-rich systems that are simple to install, easy to use, and ultra-affordable. The system protected my home and family — and I have the photographic evidence of a policeman to prove it! But is Cove really “changing the way home security is done,” as their President Robert Shelley claims?3 Well, in some ways, they are.

You won’t typically see AT&T 4G LTE cellular monitoring from other low-cost DIY brands — especially not for $17.99 per month. And while other brands might offer Alexa compatibility, I like that Cove is “smart” enough to support custom automations, too.

Cove Security Equipment

Now, Cove isn’t the smartest home security system out there. (For that, check out our guide to the best home automation security systems.) But you really can’t beat Cove for the price. And I’m all about Cove’s 60-day, money-back guarantee; most companies only offer a 30-day trial.

All things considered, there’s lots to love about Cove. Just be sure to go with Cove’s Plus plan, as their basic plan is too bare-bones. I also recommend getting their indoor camera. It’s powerful for the price. And Cove’s camera game is even stronger now than when I tested them.

Our Review and Rating Methodology

Cove is just one of the dozens of security products we’ve reviewed, so to keep our reviews uniform and unbiased, we developed a testing process that we apply to each and every security system.

The process starts with thorough research of the available options in the market. Our team of seasoned home security researchers look for brands and systems that offer reliable and effective security equipment and monitoring service. Next, we buy the ones we want to test, going through the normal buying process for an authentic user experience.

Once the systems are installed, we put them under a microscope. We test all available components (control panels, security sensors, cameras, etc.) and their features, and we even simulate security breaches to see how effectively they react. We also test every company’s customer service, app, and monitoring service.

We set aside enough time to really go deep into each system’s features and tech, testing each security system for at least a week (sometimes up to a month). That way, we can provide recommendations not just on the technical aspects but the actual user experience as well.

Cove FAQs