We’re reviewing the Panasonic HomeHawk Front Door Camera. If you hate not knowing who is at your door and don’t want to pay a subscription fee to a home monitoring service, this front door camera could be your answer!
You guys… remember when you had to actually get up from the couch – peek thru the peek hole to see who was at your front door? Getting up from the couch is so yesterday.
Our friends at Panasonic recently sent us a HomeHawk front door camera to review. If you are one of those likes to know specifics, this is the new HomeHawk™ by Panasonic KX-HN7000 Series of HD cameras. The specific model I am reviewing is the KX-HN7001W. It comes comes equipped with 1 front door HD camera and wireless access point base.
Panasonic Home Hawk Front Door Camera Review
Let’s talk HomeHawk features, what I am loving about this and how to install it.
Camera Features
Everything is in Color
Sure, color cameras have been around for like ever – but what about COLOR night vision! That’s right, the KX-HN7001W model features Panasonic’s exclusive color night vision technology allows you to monitor your front door with color night vision. This technology eliminates a common home monitoring security camera problem, making it easier to identify someone at night.
Wide Angle Lens
The front door cameras’ 172° angle of view fully covers front door top to bottom and porch left to right in full-color day or night.
Wireless
Look Mom, no wires! Panasonic’s built-in, long-life rechargeable battery technology allows you to easily install the Home Hawk camera without having to worry about wiring.
Things I Am LOVING and More DEETS
LISTEN AND TALK: Rather than answering the door, just talk to your guests thru the camera. That’s right, with the speaker – if you can’t come to the door (or if you don’t want to – we don’t judge) – you can simply communicate thru the Home Hawk app.
NO ADDITIONAL FEES: There are no monthly subscriptions or additional fees with this camera! You buy the camera and a microSD – that’s it.
CLEAR PICTURE: HD baby, for real though. The video is legit clear.
AMAZON ALEXA AND GOOGLE HOME INTEGRATION: I have not fully explored these options yet, but how cool is it that it can interface with Alexa and Home!
NOT A DOORBELL CAM: LOVE that it’s not a doorbell camera. With the camera being above your door – the view is wide and allows you to see your entire porch – not just a finger ringing the doorbell following by a view mostly of someone’s mid-section.
KEEPING YOUR HOME SECURE: We live in the country. I like knowing whats delivered to my porch is going to be there when I get home. Having this front door cam allows for a 24/7 access view to make sure no one who shouldn’t be at our house isn’t there.
NOTIFICATIONS: You can setup the HomeHawk app to notify you when the camera detects motion.
KNOW WHO IS AT YOUR HOUSE: Having 4 kids that are now no longer babies (moment of silence, I miss those days!) – that means often the kids are home alone. This camera ensures that they arrive home safely, that no one is leaving unexpectedly (teenagers…), and that if there are guests or deliveries – I know about them.
EXPANDABLE: You can connect up to 15 Panasonic cameras for more home monitoring (up to 16 cameras, total!)
WEATHER-RESISTANT: Weather-resistant means that you don’t have to worry what the weatherman says. These cameras hold up with a IP65 rating. If you are like me and have NO idea what an IP65 rating is – it means it’s operating temps are -4F degrees to 122F.
VERSATILE: While this is designed for your front door, you can also use in other high-traffic locations that are entry points to your home – such as a garage or back patio door.
Enough about stats, let’s talk installation. There is nothing more frustrating than getting a cool new device and then it being a pain in the butt to install. Here’s a spoiler – it’s so easy to install. Let’s talk installation.
Installing the HomeHawk Camera
Since I have a house full of kids at home this summer, and the husband is down for the count – I decided what if I let the kids install this. Well, specifically the 13-year-old. He needed some downtime from his Fortnite non-stop game play – and thought let’s just see how easy (or hard) this front door camera is to install.
A few things to note before installing your camera. The Panasonic Home Hawk front door camera runs off of a rechargeable battery. This is awesome and this makes installation super duper easy. That said, you will need to charge your new front door camera for 7 hours ensuring that the camera’s battery is fully charged and ready to roll!
This pause in installation is something my son loved this as this gave him 7 more hours of Fortnight game play before doing the actual installation.
Setup Access Point
So you charged the Home Hawk front door camera and you are ready to install it. Okay guys, when I say this is EASY – seriously installation is easy. First, the Access Point. You will want to connect the AC adaptor and the Ethernet cable to the access point. You will want to make sure you have a spare microSD card (not included.) Insert the microSD into the unit’s microSD slot.
Once installed and on – the access point’s LED indicator will blink quickly in amber or lit in green.
Camera Install
I told you the Home Hawk camera is easy to install, right? Yes, so easy a 13-year-old can do it. Once you have fully charged your camera, attach the wall mounting adaptor to a porch wall. Slide the lock key of the interface cover on the bottom of the camera and open the interface cover.
Make sure that you don’t attach the wall mounting adaptor at an angle or vertically. Slide the lock key of the interface cover on the bottom of the camera and open the interface cover.
Slide the power slide switch to ON. Close the interface over and lock key. Match the position of the hooks and rotate the camera until you hear a click and the camera is securely mounted.
Panasonic HomeHawk App
The Panasonic HomeHawk app is required to view your new camera.
Download the Panasonic HomeHawk app. IOS | ANDROID
Here’s a quick run-thru on how you will setup the camera.
- Once your camera and access point are on and your app in installed – launch the HomeHawk app.
- Agree to the end user agreement (this just shows the first time you start the app.)
- Follow in the on-screen instructions.
- Tap ACCESS POINT, wait and then follow on-screen instructions.
- When prompted, press SETUP on the access point.
- Setup the password that you will use to log in to the access point when you are away from home.
- Enter a name for your access point and for your mobile device.
For more information or assistance installing your camera, visit shop.panasonic.com/support.
Pricing and Availability
The Panasonic HomeHawk camera is available at Amazon for $249.95 with free shipping!
Click here to learn more or purchase.
So there you have it. The Panasonic HomeHawk front door camera is a great option for providing security for your front door.