Many consumers are still skeptical about smart home security and are more confident in traditional solutions than cutting-edge hardware communicating with the World Wide Web, according to a new survey conducted by PCMag. The research itself isn’t based on any representative sample of people, with all of its data being presented as an overview of thoughts some 1,500 PCMag readers have on home automation technologies and related fields, though it’s still perceived to have value in the context of showing how a portion of tech-savvy consumers feels about the idea of connected homes. Only 34-percent of respondents said they deem smart home devices suitable for keeping their households safe, whereas almost everyone else placed more faith in traditional solutions such as neighborhood watch patrols, conventional alarm systems, and police activity.
Nearly half of all respondents still believe the main selling point of smart home security systems is the perceived peace of mind they offer to their owners, regardless of how effective they may actually be at securing one’s household. Most consumers who took the survey also said they weren’t prepared to commit any significant sums to purchasing contemporary home security hardware, with over a third of them not being willing to spend more than $250 on such solutions. On average, $490 is as far as they would go when it comes to acquiring Internet-enabled security offerings for their homes, as per the same source.
Highly advanced solutions such as motion sensors and smart locks or doorbells also aren’t a priority for over three-quarters of all respondents, 42-percent of whom said they’re primarily interested in smart outdoor cameras when it comes to such technologies. 30-percent of people participating in the survey said they are afraid of the possibility of their gadgets being hacked and actually having an opposite effect of the one advertised, whereas 37-percent cited cost as their number one concern regarding smart home security systems. The industry as a whole is still growing, with a rising number of manufacturers now entering the Internet-enabled home protection market. The incoming 5G commercialization is also expected to contribute to popularizing such technologies, especially in regards to motion sensors and other hardware that can run on batteries for a prolonged period of time.
