I hate the feeling of testing some new piece of technology only for a few days.

As a journalist now for almost 15 years, I tend to be over-analytical. I always want to go beyond the normal “power it on and see if it work” testing process. With smartphones, I’ll usually live with the phone for a while and use it as my primary form of communication. With laptops, I won’t just write one article for an afternoon at Caribou; I’ll use the notebook for a week or two and see how it performs playing games, posting to social media, editing photos, and many other tasks.

That’s why, for the past few weeks, I’ve been testing the Vivint Sky security system, one that promises to make home security a bit smarter and easier. This version distinguishes itself with some extra automation. For example, you can set it to lock all of the doors and turn off all of the lights at 11PM each night, or to warn you if a door is unlocked during a set period. A new Doorbell Cam introduced a few months ago can detect when someone comes to the door and record a video clip or snap a photo, which then pops up on your phone or tablet. You can also have a two-way conversation using the app just by pressing a button. (Yes, it is easy to scare people.)

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