Deep Sentinel DS2 review: Security cams backed by live guards

At a glance

Expert's Rating

Pros

• Live agents monitor your camera feeds, warn intruders, and can summon law enforcement
• Local AI distinguishes between benign and suspicious activity
• Multi-camera kits let you create a security perimeter around your home

Cons

• Subscription with a 12-month commitment: $100/mo for one camera, plus $50/mo for each additional camera
• Outdoor monitoring only
• Security is limited to deterring criminal activity, there’s no coverage for fire or medical emergencies

Our Verdict

Deep Sentinel’s DS2 security camera system is a significant investment, but it offers proactive threat deterrence you can’t get from many other DIY security camera.

Deep Sentinel’s product and service offering was unique when I reviewed the first-generation Deep Sentinel system back in 2019. This camera-based home security system doesn’t just document potential criminal activity, it can actively thwart it, thanks to live guards who monitor the cameras in real time.

Product offerings that pair Wi-Fi security cameras with round-the-clock professional monitoring have burgeoned since then, with leading camera brands like Ring, Arlo, Wyze, and others putting their own spin on the concept.

After reviewing Deep Sentinel’s second-generation system, Deep Sentinel DS2, I can say it’s the most sophisticated, least-intrusive camera-based security system on the market.

How does the Deep Sentinel DS2 system work?

The Deep Sentinel DS2 system usea artificial intelligence to monitor the activity outside your home. When movement is detected, the camera wakes up and begins recording video to a hub connected to your home network. AI analyzes the incoming video to distinguish potential threats, such as a prowler looking for a way into your home, and benign events like a car passing by or the neighbor’s cat wandering into your yard.

Michael Ansaldo/Foundry

Michael Ansaldo/Foundry

Michael Ansaldo/Foundry

If the system identifies a potential intruder on your property, a red LED ring around the face of the camera activates as a visual warning, and the hub begins streaming the camera’s live video feed to Deep Sentinel’s secure cloud. A guard at the company’s monitoring center views the live video stream and determines if an intervention is warranted.

If it is, the guard can sound the camera’s onboard siren and/or speak with the person via the camera’s two-way audio. If those measures aren’t sufficient to determine whether the person has a legitimate reason for being on your property or is a potential threat to your home’s security and won’t leave, the guard can notify both you and local law enforcement.

What’s included with a Deep Sentinel DS2 system?

A Deep Sentinel DS2 kit includes between one and six security cameras, with mounting brackets and rechargeable batteries for each one; a single AI hub, and a lawn sign and window stickers that warn your property is protected by Deep Sentinel.

The second-generation cameras have been upgraded to record in 1920 x 1080 resolution (the originals downscaled to 480p resolution for transmission speed), and a small motion-activated spotlight has been added to to improve the camera’s passive infrared night vision. The company also added an onboard USB port, so you can add a user-provided solar panel to keep the camera’s battery topped off.

The AI processor inside the system’s hub has also been improved.

Apart from those improvements, the cameras feature the same 130-degree field of view, a built-in speaker and microphone for two-way audio, a 102db onboard siren, and they’re rated IP65 for protection from the elements. That means they’re impervious to dust ingress and that they can withstand water jets projected from any direction.

Is the Deep Sentinel DS2 system easy to use?

The Deep Sentinel app does a good job of guiding you through the hub and camera setup. Once the camera(s) are paired with the hub, you’ll take each one to the location you wish to monitor and verify its signal strength in the app before mounting it. It’s also important that the cameras are positioned so that side-to-side traffic crosses their field of view, as their sensors are more sensitive to this type of motion and will respond more quickly.

Each camera mount requires just a single screw (provided); sliding the mount’s arm up exposes its screw hole. The camera slides onto the mount and locks in place with a click. Once a camera is in place, the app will prompt you to set a “protection zone” of up to 30 feet by shaping a boundary box around the area you want the system’s AI to monitor. Any activity detected in this area could alert Deep Sentinel agents, so you’ll want to be judicious about coverage. If you’re monitoring the walkway from your front door, for example, you’ll want to be sure the protection zone doesn’t extend down to the sidewalk, where any pedestrian could trigger the camera.

Michael Ansaldo/Foundry

Michael Ansaldo/Foundry

Michael Ansaldo/Foundry

The final step is to test your connection with a Deep Sentinel guard. You’ll stand in front of one of the cameras and make an “A” formation with your arms over your head. An agent will respond over the camera’s speaker to confirm your system is up and running.

Once the system is activated, you can manage it using the app. The home tab is your main check-in point, displaying a carousel of recent video events, along with the name and badge number of the guard who reviewed each one and an icon denoting what action they took. A green checkmark indicates they verified everything was OK, while a yellow flag means they intervened. You can search all your recorded clips by event type, guard action, or camera location on the History tab.

Deep Sentinel’s guards are polite and professional and mostly leave you to your business. That said, Deep Sentinel users have been known to get friendly with their guards, greeting them when they arrive home like another family member. No matter how gregarious you might be, however, there will be times when you don’t want a third party seeing your camera feeds. With the Deep Sentinel system, you can make those feeds private at any time without turning them off. In this mode, the system will function more like a conventional Wi-Fi security camera, sending push notifications to your phone when warranted.

Michael Ansaldo/Foundry

Michael Ansaldo/Foundry

Michael Ansaldo/Foundry

Should you buy a Deep Sentinel DS2?

Deep Sentinel DS2 offers better protection than any off-the-shelf Wi-Fi security camera I’ve tested. Humans are still better equipped to contextualize and assess potential threats than the most advanced AI algorithm. And because human guards call law enforcement and verify active situations—providing suspect descriptions and details of suspicious behavior—they’re taken more seriously. This should also eliminate false alarms.

On the other hand, this is also the most expensive security camera system I’ve reviewed, especially if you’re looking to monitor your home’s entire perimeter. You’ll probably need more than one camera. There’s no coverage for the interior of your home, either; so, you’ll probably also want a more conventional security system to protect you from an intruder who evades detection and breaks into your home.

All that said, the Deep Sentinel DS2 is the most sophisticated camera-based security system TechHive has tested, and it earns our strongest recommendation.