Kevin stays home alone for you
25.7.2019
Translation: machine translated
You're on holiday and tanning your skin while burglars throw your grandmother's pearls into their loot bag at home. Not a nice idea. The Kevin burglar alarm is designed to protect you from this.
I haven't thought about home security yet. Thank God I'm blessed with a certain calmness. Although my friends would describe my behaviour as negligent: My bag is left unattended in the shop, the front door is often left unlocked and my valuables are lying around openly in my hotel room. I'm hoping for good karma, which has worked pretty well so far.
The fact is that I don't own anything incredibly valuable. If my room was full of designer goods and expensive jewellery, things would probably look very different. What is not, can still be. That's why I have no objection to taking "Kevin" home and testing him out. The virtual flatmate makes my home look lively and should reduce the risk of burglary. Will he be able to do this as well as Kevin McCallister in "Home Alone"?
The external values are right
Kevin is beautifully packaged. The inside of the cardboard box is also high-quality and, above all, clearly laid out. It contains the burglar alarm itself, a cable and three different plugs: one for Switzerland, the USA and the UK. Kevin has a simple design and only has three buttons: on/off, volume up and volume down. The accompanying app is also quick to install. Even pairing - which I often have problems with with other products - works great.
After setting up, I first let Kevin play a demonstration. It includes everything from birdsong to the sound of the sea and (Swiss German!) dialogue. It's a little disconcerting at first, albeit reassuring. And the voices actually sound authentic from a distance. I was briefly struck by the thought that the Simulant could also be used to combat loneliness. Interaction and physical closeness cannot be replaced, but the feeling of having people around you can. Item.
Kevin, simulate!
Now I'm ready to customise Kevin's simulation to my needs. You can do this very easily in the app by using a slider to select your scenario based on various questions. For example, there are no children in my simulation, but there is regular cooking. As soon as I start Kevin with the on/off button, he begins to simulate the situation. Sometimes someone speaks, sometimes teeth are brushed or the tap is turned on. Sounds good, but I'm still in the same room. So I leave the bedroom, close the door and stand in the corridor. Suddenly I can hardly hear anything. I can hear voices at full volume, but even then I can hardly hear any "activity noises". This raises the question: At what point should the burglar hear the noises? As soon as he is standing in the room, it's no use. Because the criminal is hardly blind in most cases.
The lighting effects are easier to perceive from outside. Just make sure that there is a window near Kevin. The light and shadow effects seem quite real to me as they don't alternate too quickly. In my previous ground floor flat, the light simulation would have been a real eye-catcher. Now on the 3rd floor, in the centre of Zurich, I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes. Especially because it's always on around me anyway.
Can be used during your absence and presence
Since the recently launched update, it has been possible to set up a schedule for the person at home. In a weekly overview, you can choose on which days Kevin should simulate and for how long. A very useful function, if you ask me. This eliminates the need to switch on and off manually every day, so you can really relax on holiday.
What I particularly like about Kevin are its secondary functions. You can use it as a lamp and Bluetooth speaker. This works brilliantly and comes in very handy in my current life between boxes of trains. Because neither bedside lamp nor Böxli are yet to be found. But the features are also practical in other respects, as Kevin fulfils a purpose while you're away.
Conclusion
First things first: Kevin works as described and has a high-quality finish. The app has a simple and understated design. However, I haven't quite figured out the sound simulation yet, as you have to be inside - at least in my flat - to hear it. If I were to place the burglar alarm directly behind the front door, the light effects would be redundant as there is no window nearby. But as a resident of one of the upper city blocks in a busy neighbourhood, I'm hardly the target group.
Kevin is better off in a ground floor flat or a detached house. The residents' fears of burglary are probably also greater there. I can't say whether the combination of sound and light will actually deter intruders. But Kevin is certainly good for your peace of mind. And that's worth its weight in gold, especially on holiday.
My life in a nutshell? On a quest to broaden my horizon. I love discovering and learning new skills and I see a chance to experience something new in everything – be it travelling, reading, cooking, movies or DIY.
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