Sengled Snap review

We liked

This kind of convergence creates a cost-effective and space-saving product that rather neatly delivers both smart lighting and surveillance. The LEDs are energy-efficient and dimmable with a schedule to ensure they only come on at night.

The camera, which fits discretely inside the lamp, records in fairly reliable 1080p quality at a usefully wide angle. The companion app also makes it easy to download recorded clips onto your device in case you need to question the identity of a visitor.

The two-way speakers add functionality too, making this device a suitable baby monitor when screwed into the ceiling fitting of a child’s bedroom. 

We disliked

It’s only when you come to live with the Snap that its limitations, of which there are many, come to light (ahem). Firstly, it’s not compatible with dimmer switches and combined with its surprising girth and weight, your options for installation could be quite limited. 

Without a subscription, you cannot save the day’s recorded clips to the cloud, and with no SD card slot, there’s no local storage option. And with the motion sensors also deactivated without a subscription, you are rather forced into making the relatively high regular payments.

The fact that there’s no IFTTT channel is surprising, but failing to link the motion sensor to the LED means you are not able to use Snap as a handy source of illumination when visitors call after dark.

Final verdict

We found this logical fusion of smart light and IP camera to be an exceedingly convenient solution to a basic security problem. Simply screwing it in place of the pendant light in our reception area gave us not just a controllable energy-efficient smart light, but 24-hour surveillance with an all-around view. 

The price is realistic too, but we cannot fully recommend this version with so many obvious omissions and design flaws. The lack of an IFTTT channel is trivial, but the lack of motion activation for the LED will be a deal-breaker for many. We’ll be very surprised if there isn’t a revised model in the pipeline that addresses all of these issues.

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