Cove Home Security Review

Cove is right for you if you want an affordable, fairly basic home security system and you don’t mind installing it yourself. 

Cove isn’t for the smart home tech fanatics, or for people who want a professional to come in and install their security equipment. Cove also doesn’t have a self-monitoring plan, so if you want to monitor your security system yourself, you’ll need to go with a different system.

To cover your bases, be sure to take a look at our comparison articles where we compare SimpliSafe vs. Cove and Cove vs. Ring Alarm. You never know what solution will be best for your home until you take a deeper look.

When it comes to home monitoring, Cove Plus is our top recommendation if you decide to go with a Cove home security system. 

To start, this top tier plan offers everything that Cove Basic includes, such as 24/7 Live Alarm Monitoring for keeping an eye on intruders, Environmental Monitoring for fires and leaks, and Cove InstaText and LiveAssist for instant notifications and access to help.

However, the Cove Plus plan also adds on a lifetime equipment warranty, smartphone control, smart home voice control (Alexa and Google Home), and a lifetime monitoring rate-lock guarantee.

Cove Plus will cost you an extra $10/mo., but we believe that the investment is well worth it to create a home environment that is safe and easily to interact with when needed.

Cove offers two different monitoring plans, Cove Basic and Cove Plus. While Cove Basic handles, well, the basics, Cove Plus adds on a few extra features to make living with your new system all the easier.

Let’s review each plan to see which is best for your home.

Cove Basic and Cove Plus both offer 24/7 Live Alarm Monitoring, as well as Environmental monitoring to keep an eye on intruders and other dangers, such as fires or water leaks.

Both plans also include TripleTouch Communications, Cove InstaText, and Cove LiveAssist, which help to ensure that you are notified when there is an issue and you can reach out if you need assistance.

Other integrated features such as Smash and Grab Protection, a 100% AT&T 4G LTE connection, hourly automated system checks, and a 24-hour battery backup, all work around the clock to ensure your system is functioning properly.

We particularly like the battery backup and AT&T 4G LTE connection, which means that even when the power goes out, you remain protected.

If you want to take a step up to Cove Plus, you’ll get all the above features, as well as smartphone control, smart home voice control via Alexa and Google Home, a $5/month equipment reward, and a lifetime monitoring rate-lock guarantee.

If you just want the basics, then Cove Basic will likely work well for you. But, if you want to be able to check in on your home and easily command it via voice control, you’ll likely find the Cove Plus upgrade well worth the money.

When it comes to home security, Cove has you covered with its vast array of equipment, meaning that your home can stay well monitored and thus better protected.

Unlike some home security providers that advertise starter equipment bundles, Cove’s website has you take a quiz to determine exactly what security equipment is recommended for your dwelling.

The quiz makes decisions based on what type of building you are protecting (home, apartment, or business), if you have an existing security system, if you have pets, how many exterior doors you have, how many easy access windows you have, and more.

Of course, if you already know what you want, you can skip the quiz and begin adding items to your cart for purchase.

To set up an effective home security system, you’ll want to ensure that you have enough security equipment to properly monitor your space. 

Failing to install enough equipment could result in areas of your home not being protected, or an intrusion going undetected.

Let’s start with the essentials that you’ll need. You’ll want to place a door sensor on every entry-way into your home—that will cost $5.25 per door with Cove. 

Next, you’ll want to consider placing window sensors, also $5.25 per unit, on any ground floor windows.

However, if you have a room with lots of windows (because who doesn’t love fresh sunlight), you can instead install a motion sensor that will oversee a larger amount of space. With Cove, these motion detectors cost $10.50 each.

Additional security equipment is available from Cove, including glass break detectors, smoke detectors, and water leak detectors. 

We love that the Cove Smoke Detector also has the ability to sense carbon monoxide, making it a good solution to keep an eye on your home.

Overall, the equipment we tested from Cove did seem to be well-constructed and we didn’t have any concerns about quality.

Cove offers a few features that help to keep your security equipment up and running without issue, reducing worry on your end. Features include:

Cellular connections: Cove security equipment is connected to the internet via both home WiFi and AT&T 4G LTE, so if you ever lose your WiFi connection, your equipment can continue communicating with Cove HQ.

Backup battery: The main base station, the Cove Touch Screen Panel, can continue working for up to 24-hours without AC power. So, if your area is prone to power outages, you won’t need to worry.

SmashSafe: Lastly, Cove offers a feature known as SmashSafe. Essentially, if an intruder decides to destroy your Cove base station, your system will still send out an alarm to the monitoring center.

Cove offers quite a few features that help to keep your home safe, even if it’s without power or internet access. Your home may be off the grid, but Cove isn’t.

In today’s age, you want to keep a close eye on your home, and Cove allows you to do so thanks to its security camera offerings.

While Cove doesn’t offer as many camera options as some companies, the company provides the basics you need for monitoring your home, inside and out.

The Cove Indoor Camera is a motion-activated offering with a 1080p HD video resolution and a two-way communication feature if you want to talk through it to scare off intruders or communicate with those in your home.

The Cove Outdoor Camera is similar to the indoor model, but features IP-65 weather resistance to survive the outdoors, a 140-degree wide-angle lens for a better view of your property, and infrared capability for seeing in the dark.

When it comes to seeing who is at your front-door, Cove offers the Eufy Doorbell Camera and the Skybell Doorbell Camera. Both options are similar, with a 1080p HD resolution and night vision, but the power source for each camera is a bit different.

The Eufy Doorbell Camera can be powered via battery, USB, or your current doorbell wiring. The Skybell Doorbell Camera, on the other hand, can only be powered by your existing doorbell wiring—no battery or USB options.

So, you may be asking yourself, why would I want the Skybell option if the Eufy can do more? Honestly, that’s a good question. You can buy an adapter for the Skybell, allowing it to work with more modern digital doorbell systems, but beyond that—we have no idea.

We are getting closer everyday to procuring that Jetsons home of the future, so how close are we when it comes to using Cove?

Cove home security is compatible with smart home integration, so it can be controlled via either Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. Sometimes barking commands at your system is easier than pressing a button.

But, what about smarter home integration? Such as the ability to control the lights or set up complex routines? Welp, Cove doesn’t offer any of that sadly. The system doesn’t sport Z-Wave or Zigbee integration, and it doesn’t work with systems like IFTTT.

In short, Cove is great when it comes to protecting your home, but it isn’t so smart.

Oh, by the way, did we mention that for voice assistant control you’ll need to subscribe to Cove Plus? Sometimes it costs more money to yell at your voice assistant.

The Cove mobile app is available for those who decide to fork-over the cash for Cove Plus. We wish that cove would include this functionality in the Basic tier, but, alas, you’ll need to spend a few more of your hard earned dollars.

Once you upgrade to Cove Plus, you’ll be able to monitor and control your system from afar. Good for checking in on the kids and pets via cameras, or ensuring that an alarm is sincere and not false.

Do note that currently, on both the Apple App Store for iOS and Google Play Store for Android, the Cove app scores 1.8 out of 5 stars—certainly not impressive based on customer reviews.

Even in our testing, we found the app to be extremely basic. Come on, Cove, update that app and wow us with some 21st-century features.

Installing our Cove security system in our test home was extremely easy. 

Once the Cove base station was installed, it walked us through the entire setup process doing all the hard work.

We were especially impressed that we didn’t need to log into the Cove mobile app or read the physical instructions to get setup.

As such, Cove is an excellent option for those who want to avoid the price of professional installation with a simple DIY experience and want to leave the drill in the closet.

Cove has a bunch of instructional videos on YouTube that tell you how to set up everything from the panel to the key fob. We think the system’s easy enough to install that you won’t even need videos, but they’re there if you do.

During the entirety of our Cove home security review process, we did not need to call customer support once. The system was that easy and painless to get started.

However, if you find that you need a bit of help, you can contact Cove through the mobile app, via email, or the website. There is also a Call button on the Cove base station if you need to quickly reach Cove HQ.

Within a minute of a false alarm being set-off, we received both text and email messages from Cove. We were then able to call the monitoring center with ease and cancel the alarm so that first-responders were not dispatched.

Cove is an excellent home security option, but it isn’t the only option on the market. 

We’ve compiled a list of a few other DIY home security solutions that you might want to consider—this way, you can compare what works best for you.

If you want to take a deeper dive, we’ve written a guide comparing the offerings from Cove and SimpliSafe. Also be sure to take a look at our in-depth review of Ring.

Cove is a bit of an underdog when it comes to the DIY home security market, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore it. Cove offers some surprisingly robust equipment, along with enticing monthly monitoring plans.

While Cove excels in pricing, equipment, and installation, we would like to see greater compatibility with smart homes. After all, having smart lights to control is no longer something only sought after by the most tech crazy.

• Pricing: With Cove, you have the option of selecting between two plans, Basic and Plus, both are generally affordable compared to the competition. We just wish that some of the more basic features, such as smart voice assistant control, weren’t locked to the more expensive CovePlus tier.
• Equipment: Cove offers a healthy selection of well-built equipment to keep your house safe, and we love the touch screen base station that makes setup a breeze.
• Home automation: There isn’t much to say when it comes to Cove and home automation. You can control your security system via Alexa or Google if you are paying for the Cove Plus tier. Otherwise, there isn’t much integration.
• Installation: Cove easily gets high marks when it comes to the installation process. The included base station walks you through everything you need to know in a clear and concise manner.
• Customer experience: Generally, customers seem to rate Cove well overall. We didn't need to contact the customer support team, but we can say that Cove offers quite a few methods to get-in-touch if needed.

When testing home security systems, we hone in on five essential factors.

We check to ensure that the company offers a wide range of competent security hardware to protect your home, and feature-rich monitoring plans with a solid value.

Next, we take a closer look at the installation process and how well the system integrates into your home with features such as home automation. The easier it is to use and integrate the system, the higher marks are scored.

Lastly, we collect data from past customers, as well as our own experience, to rate the security company’s overall customer experience. Good security isn’t worth much without a strong support team backing it up.

1. Security hardware
2. Monitoring plan pricing
3. Ease of installation
4. Home automation integration
5. Overall customer experience

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