20 Best Doorbell Camera Without Monthly Fee (2023 Updated)

I was really looking forward to swapping out my Ring doorbell for this, mainly because of the battery lasting so long and being easy to change and also not having to pay a monthly subscription for the videos.

I managed to set it all up with the app and connect to my wi-fi etc without too much hassle (though it’s not as easy as they make out in the presentation). The motion sensor works very well and sends me a notification beep on my phone every time someone approaches the house.

So far so good. BUT the doorbell itself is more miss than hit. When someone comes towards the door I do get a motion notification and then when they ring the bell the caller hears the actual unit ring (it’s loud but not loud enough to be heard in the house unless you’re right by the door).

The app should make a ringing noise on my phone, the camera chime should, well, chime AND I have it connected to my Echo units so Alexa should tell me there’s someone at the door. But as often as not it doesn’t work, there’s no ringing, although in the list of videos it shows one with a ring symbol next to it (as opposed to a motion symbol) so it knows the bell has rung – it just doesn’t bother to tell me! Unless I immediately check every notification beep on my phone just in case it’s a Blink motion one, I don’t know anyone is there.

It’s not my wi-fi – I have superfast broadband and a strong signal all over the house and besides the motion notification works instantly and reliably so why not the bell? I had a grocery delivery earlier today and the guy had to phone me and say “Are you in? I’m outside your house ringing the bell but you’re not anwering!”.

I was sitting right next to an Echo and my phone was right in front of me. When I checked later, there was a video of him ringing the bell so I know he definitely rang it, but nothing inside the house rang.

I’d heard the motion notification beep but it could have been anything, an email coming in, a calendar reminder etc. and there was no doorbell ring. Even when it does work correctly it’s still problematic because if you’re not in a part of the house within hearing distance of Alexa or the camera chime (or you don’t have those) then you’re reliant on your phone, so if you’ve left it in another room or got it on silent for any reason you wont hear anything.

My previous video bell had a very loud chime unit I could plug in in the hallway and which could be heard all over the house, including in the shower! Although there are some things I do like about this, I’m still only giving it one star because no matter how many fancy things it can do, if it doesn’t fulfil it’s primary function – as a doorbell – then it’s not fit for purpose.

With much regret I think I’m going end up sending this back.

First, if you have inquisitive Beagle this is a fun Gadget! Good laugh as my pup was standing listening to and barking at the Blink Doorbell. Took him all of three minutes to figure out I was speaking into my phone.

The Blink Doorbell with Module 2 is impressive with its simplicity of installing and setting up the wide range of options the product offers. This is my first high tech doorbell/camera system and was sold immediately at going techie at the front door.

Obvious Highlights are the Camera with Video and Photo Capture, Two-Way Audio all of which functions flawlessly. The system can be installed wired or wireless, I opted for the wireless mode over Wi-Fi for convenience.

Setting up the wi-fi worked right out of the box without having to coax the system into connecting. Like that. HD Video and photos are clear with excellent two-way audio. Good stuff. Like that the app supports Biometric Authentication, makes app usage so much easier than passwords.

Doorbell chime is a disappointment when connected wirelessly, it is quite audible and clear outside but barely discernable indoors at my home as it is not wired to an indoor chime. When watching TV, being in other rooms or talking the chime is too low.

Wide-Range of Options: 1. Scheduling 2. Motion detection on or off 3. Zones can be set to facial focus or capture full background 4. Privacy Zone – Like the ability to block areas of video or photo captures 5.

Infrared Night Vision 6. Audio Control 7. Video Quality Likes: 1. Batteries 2 Lithium AA long lasting (non-rechargeable) 2. Clear two-way audio 3. Can activate capturing picture hourly 4. Full HD 5. Answer your door anywhere from your mobile – Security when away 6.

Alexa Skills 7. Ability to save to Local Storage Having outdoor security devices in a cold to hot environment have found that operating range is important, and the Blink Doorbell does well for my area with a range of -4º F to 113º F.

Being my first doorbell camera/audio system have found that it is an exceptional system and I value the extra level of security the Blink provides my family.

The Blink Video Doorbell is a doorbell with HD video capabilities (day and night) and two-way audio. And the Sync Module is the hub required to expand surveillance to other security products from Amazon.

Setup by way of the Blink Home Monitor app is very simple. The doorbell sends alerts whenever motion is detected and when people actually press the button to ring the doorbell – the only two configurations I needed to change (so far) were the sensitivity of the motion detection and the volume of the alert for the doorbell on my phone.

Navigation within the app is intuitive and I like the design and configuration options in the app. The doorbell can operate without the Sync Module 2, but you will need to purchase a subscription plan to save photos or videos.

The Sync Module 2 has a USB port where you can use your own thumb drive to save photos and videos locally without having to purchase a subscription. And the Sync Module allows you to expand your surveillance options to include additional Amazon devices.

The doorbell runs on batteries that they assure us can last up to two years. I have mine mounted independently – which means that the doorbell itself (outside) chimes (outside) and sends a similar chime to my phone.

If you want to mount this doorbell as a replacement of an existing doorbell in your home, you simply connect your existing wires to this device and it will operate your internal chimes like a pushbutton switch.

Daylight photo and video are excellent – nighttime photo and video are very good. I’m impressed with the motion detection capabilities and I like that I can turn on the camera remotely from my phone to look out from my front door.

Make sure you have the tools and the know-how to be able to mount this in whatever material you have outside your door. It took me WAY longer to drill through the brick in front of my house than it took to setup the doorbell and hub and get it configured.

This gives me added peace of mind without needing to pay for a subscription. Highly recommended.

This Eufy 2k doorbell was very easy to install and set up. The Eufy app takes you through the set up and guides you to completion. I had to call Eufy support for help in getting the doorbell and homebase to connect with my wifi.

It took a couple of tries but the technical support was very helpful and stayed with me till it connected. One small detail that was missing from the instructions was to power up the doorbell by pressing the sync button 5 times! I would have never guessed this power on procedure on my own.

Once installed it has been working fine and as advertised. I found the doorbell to be well designed and easily operated, and the Eufy technical support very helpful. The doorbell comes with a built-in battery which gives you the flexibility of installing it in any position that is convenient to you.

But then you need to periodically remove it from its bracket, take it inside and charge it. The doorbell can also be installed using the existing doorbell wiring, which restricts the installation position to where the current doorbell is located.

I chose this option since I have an existing doorbell, and there was enough space at the current location to install the Eufy doorbell. This was made the installation simple and will save me from charging the battery periodically.

The best thing I like about this product is the fact that the Homebase has 32gig storage and saves all alerts on this. You dont have to pay any fees for it. This is plenty of storage space for most private home applications.

When the storage is full, it is supposed to automatically erase the oldest alerts and replace with the new ones. After 3 weeks of alerts (approx 15 a day) I have used 0. 9gig on the storage, so it looks like it should last be enough storage for several months! Also, it is Amazon enabled, so it can be integrated with the Amazon Echo Show, if you have one.

One feature I found lacking was that there is about 8 seconds delay between the time the alert is triggered and the time I actually get the alert on my phone. So, by the time I turn on my phone to check the camera, the person has already left.

However, the video clip actually captures everything from the time of the alert, so you view it after the fact. Overall, a very good product!.

I purchased this doorbell because I was concerned about packages being stolen and for security, so automtic video recording with motion detection was important to me. I also do not want to pay a monthly subscription for access to my videos, so this doorbell storing the video locally on the HomeBase was a big draw.

Overall the motion detection works well. Initially I was having problems with it detecting motion at night time, and when people leave the house. After changing the detection zone so that a person’s entire upper body, including their head, is within the detection zone, it seems to be working better.

This results in the detection zone extending onto the sidewalk in front of our house, so occasionally there are some false calls, but no too bad. But still having issues with it not always detecting us when we leave the house.

Also the 2K battery version allows you to hook up existing doorbell wiring to it to keep the battery charged. This is really helpful. We thought we needed a battery doorbell since we thought we didn’t have doorbell wires, then eventually found out that we did (it’s an old house).

Being connected to the wiring keeps it consistently charged between 80%-90%. Which is great, because I don’t think the battery would last anywhere near the 6 months that it’s supposed to, especially if you have to change the settings that use more power in order to get the motion detection to work properly.

I also have to mention that this is the FOURTH doorbell I had to get in order to get one that works properly. I started with the 1080p model. The first one never connected to wi-fi. The second one worked great for 3 months, then died.

At this point we upgraded to the 2K version. The third one frequently went offline. Now, the fourth one seems to be working well after over 5 months now, although the motion detection isn’t as good as it was on the previous ones.

So I’m a little worried about how long this one will last. That being said, Eufy’s customer support is really good, and the replaced/returned the previous ones that didn’t work correctly without hassle.

Overall I would recommend it.

First the flaws I’ve found in the setup: 1. while creating an account, I discovered they truncate longer passwords without informing you of this and they do not truncate a longer password when you login.

If you use a password manager this may lead to you entering the incorrect password and having to reset the password multiple times before you realize this is what they are doing. I have sent suggestions for improving this to them.

2. when joining a wifi network, there should be no password requirements on the password entered. The password should accept any acceptable password for the wifi standard used. I had to create a separate wifi network just to add this device to my network.

I have submitted this to them as well as this should be fixed. (specifically they disallow the space character. which can be allowed if you do proper sanitization of strings. ) If you are sensitive to security issues that adding a device like this to your network presents, you may want to look elsewhere or wait until these are fixed.

That said, I am happy so far despite the flaws I found (hope they are fixed in a short amount of time). It was easy to install and aside from the flaws I found, a pretty painless setup process. The options you have to control its detection surprised me.

I have mine dialed in so that only people approaching the door will trigger it. Me walking across my driveway doesn’t trigger it (despite being in full view). I have had no false detections yet. The video recording start does lag a little bit with picking up package delivery people coming to the door, as they are usually pretty quick, so I see them leaving mostly.

The package detection is hit and miss (could easily be the nature of our porch where packages are set most of the time), but the human detection is usually enough to let me know something is there. It has worked well enough for me since I installed it.

One thing I don’t like on it is that it will not use my gigabit network. It is the only device (specifically the home base 2) on the network which runs at 100 Mbps. If this were improved it would probably help with video loading times, which are a little slow.

I will try to update as I use it or as updates are released to fix the issues I have.

Recently, my neighborhood has experienced missing packages or no delivery. So I was looking to install a video doorbell that can track packages and front door security. And then I found the Eufy Doorbell Dual -which is the new product that just came out couple weeks ago! The biggest benefit of Eufy Doorbell Dual is that Eufy offers local storage to safely store the data and NO monthly fee for cloud service! Basically, I bought this doorbell and was able to use it right away without any additional cost 🙂 This is definitely a big win compared to other brands who do charge monthly fee for their cloud storage services.

After using the doorbell for almost a month, I am really happy with the product and benefits that it offered! It was easy to install, and I could choose the power options between wire connection or battery powered.

The image and video are clear and sharp (2K). Dual cam helps to track my packages not only when they are being delivered but also monitor the packages until they are being picked up. The app always send me notifications for package status.

Motion detection is perfect and the doorbell does not miss any activity at the front door. There are also a lot of options in the app for customization. Btw, 15 degree mounting wedge is so helpful to adjust the doorbell angle (see picture).

I love how Eufy has considered the design usability in its product. Very thoughtful! I highly recommend to purchase Eufy doorbell that is just incomparable and stands out the most in the market! You will not regret with the purchase :).

I have now had this for for 9 months. I would not purchase it again. Despite the claim that it has extremely long battery life, mine died with regular use (if not less than regular) after 6 months. Just now they have died again and my cam is offline again.

I have all of the settings on average and don’t get a ton of visitors or deliveries so there’s no reason for them to be dying so quickly. The app leaves a lot to be desired as well – I often get delayed notifications or none at all, and I’ll only notice there was a recorded movement when I check the app manually.

When I do get notifications, it is pointless to click on it. The app takes forever to load the video or sometimes just ends in an error, so the whole point of being able to check who is at the door or talk to them is lost.

I also have a blink mini for my back deck, which has all of the same issues. Video quality is great during the day, but night vision is awful. You can adjust the sensitivity but it’s still bad. Often I can’t even tell what type of critter came in my yard or why it went off.

Finally, the feature for blocking out small areas of where your camera can see does NOT work. It goes off 20-25 times when I let my dogs outside despite the fact I blocked the entire floor of the deck and the bottom half of the door where you would be able to detect them.

It’s annoying having to go in and manually clear out all of those videos every day.

I was looking specifically for an all- or mostly- white video bell, but I’m also thrifty, so I wanted local the storage option. Blink was on super Black Friday sale, so gave it a try. Immediately I had some mixed feelings: 1) solid build and feel, nice looks.

2) works with existing mechanical chime (1950s) and I could even manipulate length of the chiming. 3) App was intuitive. 4) mounting unnecessarily finicky; sliced my knuckle open trying to force the device down into the track, when it refused and gave out.

5) because couldn’t get to “click” (many many tries), not completely weatherproof and easy for a burglar to pop off if they so wanted. 6) Module requirement inconvenient, but whatever. After living with it for 4 weeks, experiencing many issues (below), having it and module replaced for free, then still experiencing all the same issues, and finally comparing directly to a competitor, I conclude the Blink doorbell is simply not ready for prime time: 7) Video resolution subpar and audio is absolutely terrible.

Intermittent high pitched warbling/interference, like a freight train riding its brakes, pervaded every video. Audio would cut out altogether for seconds at a time. 8) Live video feed took 10 or more seconds to pull up, even if I were at home on the same network.

Made it impossible to catch anyone for two-way talk. 9) clips very rarely recorded for the time I had set. Set to 20, 25, 30- didn’t matter; only recorded people (important) for a few seconds but would give me a car going by plus 28 seconds of nothing.

This was easily its most damning failure. 10) No previewing in notifications list like with my other camera (much older tech from Costco). 11) any doorbell press interrupted recording so would not get a full video.

12) awful “Continue?” Prompt in live feed which didnt respond if phone was landscape 13) significant halo effect blurred the night vision 14) zones did not work. Had street blocked out, but still recorded cars anyway if sensitivity was anything above a 5 (out of 9).

15) low battery alert after only 3. 5 weeks. Mind you, this was all on the trial premium subscription, and the same results observed on two brand new sets of the doorbell+module. Theoretically the “performance” would get even worse once off the trial and shifted to local (but outdated) USB-A.

As for Blink support: the team once effectively handled my call, a few times made me wait 15 or so minutes only for me to hear “all agents busy, please try again later, goodbye! *CLICK*,” and once an agent answered but then hung up on me before I finished my first sentence.

Mixed but mostly frustrating bag there. I then bought a Nest Doorbell (battery) to make sure I wasn’t shortchanging the Blink. In a direct comparison—same location, network (and 2. 4 band), direct wiring, etc etc—no issues AT ALL with the Nest.

Feed comes up right away, videos clearer, and clips actually record for more than a few seconds, and capture the entire even from walk-up to walk-away… you know, like they’re supposed to. It is a real shame this product didn’t deliver basic functionality enough to be worth even the Black Friday price that I paid.

The Blink Video doorbell is a very decent doorbell. The installation process and adding the devices to the app is fairly easy. The quality of the video is very decent as well. It is very clear during the day and good visibility even in black and white during the night.

It gets a little pixelated though for a few seconds when you turn the lights on to answer the door but it clears up right after. The two way audio is great and clear. For the settings, There are many in there to can play around.

One of the function that I like is setting the zone. That is important to me because we have cars driving by all the time. I definitely don’t want my phone dinging all the time alerting me. The module that came with it is also very handy.

I like that I am able to stick a usb drive in there and it will save my videos. The 30-trial is nice too. I think this video doorbell has a lot more room for improvements though especially if they want to compete with other brands.

I would like to see a more sleek and modern design casing. A faster video loading when answering a call would be so much nicer- this one is decent. Overall, it is good video camera.

This device does what my it says it does. You get to the door, ring the bell, and people inside the house will hear it (if they get the ringer device), but also they will receive phone notifications.

A smart doorbell! It will register when your mailman or delivery guy arrive. If someone comes home you can answer them from your phone and tell them to wait for you or go away. It’s a very convenient way of managing visits and even watching for package bandits.

There’s a lot of videos on YouTube showing how this doorbells caught people stealing stuff from porches. This is a very useful device that any modern home should have. It saves a lot of guessing and offer some sense of protection.

I was looking for a smart doorbell that was compatible with POE(power over Ethernet). After doing my research it came down to this doorbell and the door-bird. I ended up choosing ring because their user interface is much better.

This doorbell is not as easy to install as the regular ring doorbell because it does require a flush mount install. Ring does provide everything you need in the box including a junction box if you do not already have one installed.

Once you get the junction box installed all you have to do is plug in your Ethernet cable and existing doorbell wire(if you plan on using your existing doorbell chime) and follow the setup instructions in the app.

You are not required to have a POE switch because ring does provide a power kit for a POE install. Many people complain of getting to many false motion alerts however you can easily adjust the motion zone and sensitivity in the app to help eliminate false alerts.

I had a question about the Ring chime so I contacted RING support through their toll free number and I was able to get a live support specialist who was able to answer my question within 5 minutes.

This is easy to install, easy to use, the app notifies you when it’s time to recharge and the video quality is very good. It certainly gives you peace of mind, and I’ve also noticed since getting one that delivery drivers actually attempt to knock on the door and wait for an answer rather than coming to the door and putting a ‘sorry you were out.

Collect at depot’ note through the letterbox. However, what I wasn’t aware of when I bought it is to be able to record and access archived footage you need to pay a monthly subscription fee. So now I can only view live footage, it’s a little bit pointless.

The Wyze Video Doorbell Pro is an easy to install, no-frills video doorbell that is a great value. It has most of the essential features expected from a video doorbell and offers more. Pros: Great value Easy to install Can be used both wired (with existing doorbell connection) or wireless (rechargeable battery).

This makes it a very versatile solution and makes it easy to choose over other competitors Can be mounted both with screws or with included adhesive tape Comes with all the mounting hardware. For screwless install nothing is needed Horizontal wedge is included, which is a common need for installing near the front door 150-degrees “square” view offers good coverage.

After adjusting the placement I was able to see almost to the bottom part of my porch which is great for noticing packages Video quality is quite good Two way audio works quite well. The speaker is small but does its job.

The microphone is decent enough Chime piece works as a Wifi extender and provides great coverage. On top of this it supports both 2. 5GHz and 5GHz, which is rare at this price-point. Also, there a quite a selection of interesting chimes that can be chosen Smartphone notification popped up pretty quickly Comes with cloud storage, albeit with some paywalled features Integrates well with Google Home and Alexa Cons: Only 1440 (HD) resolution Bracket feels a bit flimsy.

Even with the security screw, I felt that the doorbell could be taken out without much force No local storage, everything is sent to the cloud Free tier is very limited. The Basic plan only provides snapshot, and then also has a 5-minute cooldown period which may be unsuitable for many folks.

There is a CamPlus Lite with name-your-price option (so can be $0, but you have to jump through some hoops for that), which has 12-sec video clip storage but still with the 5-min cooldown period. The CamPlus plan unlocks everything Still used micro-USB port in this day and age For increased motion detection time, wired connection is needed (which enables “pre-recording”) Person and package detection is behind the CamPlus subscription paywall Does not offer selecting “zones” for motion detection, sometimes causing unnecessary alerts The Wyze Video Doorbell Pro is a good choice on a tight budget, and offers an easy to install and use setup.

If local storage is not a prime concern, and the CamPlus subscription is not a big issue, this is a very good choice in the value-for-money segment. I’m quite happy with it so far.

The Wyze Doorbell Pro is definitely a step up from the older wyze doorbell, if you’re debating one or the other, or an upgrade, you should probably go with the Pro version. But that doesn’t mean it’s the best doorbell in it’s class.

There’s plenty of good and plenty of bad to say about this doorbell making it a solid “average, just ok” but budget friendly doorbell option. THE GOOD: – Battery operated – no existing doorbell needed – wide angle of view – decent video quality – chime included – no subscription required The doorbell really can be installed in about 5 minutes or less, especially if you’re choosing to use the 3M sticking method, but even if you’re drilling it into place, it’s not the most difficult install.

However, I did have an issue when I quickly clicked through the tutorial for “no wedge piece” and then later decided I wanted to use the wedge and found out there is no way to go back and watch the install steps without removing the camera from the app and starting fully over.

This is a major fault by wyze and coupled with the fact that I couldn’t find the tutorial steps anywhere on their website or in any paperwork that came with the doorbell means we have truly reached an age where we just simply quit bothering to give consumers a proper manual with ALL the steps.

This really disappointed me and even though I was able to figure it out through trial and error, a proper manual with installation steps for ALL install types would have been appreciated so I knew I was doing it correctly.

(I was not sure which screws to use and ended up drilling holes in the wrong part of the wedge before realizing there were smaller screws I could use. ) BUT, assuming you follow the installation tutorial correctly, you should be fine and it shouldn’t take long.

Once I was up and going, (I already had a wyze account and app so that was not figured into my install time) I found the doorbell operations in the app very similar to any other wyze camera controls.

There’s some basic settings and controls and overall I was able to have the doorbell set to my preferred settings and operational in just a few minutes. I live on a fairly non busy street with little motion and after 5 days the battery has dropped 10%.

I’m not getting a whole lot of motion alerts but I do have the cool off set to 1 minute. (I’m not a cam plus subscriber so I’m using the basic settings only. ) The battery did drop about 7% during the setup and probably drained a lot while it was one when I was putting it on the wall.

I can’t say much to how long the battery will truly last but I do know it takes a while to charge which is somewhat upsetting. Around 5 hours to charge means you have to take the doorbell down for 5 hours and not have any useable doorbell or camera during that time.

If you have an existing doorbell, you can use those wires to trickle charge the doorbell and assuming you don’t have a lot of motion, you probably won’t need to charge the unit. HOWEVER, Wyze says you can NOT use the doorbell with your existing doorbell chime.

I’m not sure if that’s true, but if you’re wanting to do that, I would double check with wyze first. So far after a few days, the doorbell has done a good job of detecting things like amazon delivery and other packages being dropped off, I’m able to see the faces and make sure no pirates come along and steal my boxes.

Getting the delivery people to actually ring the doorbell is another issue, but when I have been testing the bell and ringing it, it seems to work pretty well. There is quiet a delay between pressing the button and getting the notification though.

I have a fast wifi and the bell is within 20 feet of the router. I’ve seen most people have similar results with 5 seconds up to 20 seconds delay, so don’t expect to see a notification right away. Most of the time the person who rang the bell is already walking away by the time I get a notification and the app opens and loads.

THE BAD: – installation instructions are lacking – delay in notification response – 2 way talking sounded gargled – no SD card for local recording/subscription required for longer recordings – battery charge time – recorded clips are short (without cam+) – extra plugin chimes are not for sale or available at this time (sept 2022) There’s not a whole lot of bad issues with this doorbell and so far none of them have been deal breakers for me, more just frustrating.

My unique situation that I am using it in also makes the negative issues less annoying. For example, having short recordings and slow responses is not a huge deal for me because I also have a wyze cam pointing out the window covering the front yard so anything the doorbell misses or cuts short I can see on another camera.

I would suggest anyone looking into this doorbell to do the same. Cover your areas with at least 2 different cameras, that way if one fails you have a backup plus multiple angles helps. Not having local SD storage is probably the biggest bummer for me.

I understand being a battery powered doorbell it can’t handle 24/7 recording to a SD card anyway but it would be nice to have local recordings even just for shorter recordings and not needing to rely on a cloud recording on a server somewhere else.

Wyze claims it’s a security issue but I think we all know it’s to get more people to sign up for the cam plus. Which is fine, but also means some people may choose to buy a different product that provides local recording.

OVERALL: Overall this is a decent doorbell that provides you with a budget friendly option to still get minimum features without a subscription and the benefit of not needing to drill one hole in the house if you can’t or don’t want to.

I imagine renters or those with little to know DIY skills would love to be able to stick this doorbell to the wall and be done. I don’t know how well the 3M stick will hold over time, but I assume it would last a decent amount of time.

You may want to look into buying replacements with your doorbell though if you choose to go that route. The wyze doorbell pro is easy on the wallet, easy to install and easy to operate. If you’re looking for a quick and cheap doorbell fix, you may want to try out this one.

I appreciated the detailed installation instructions, both in the included booklet and in the app, and easy set-up. The Ring Pro 2 video doorbell has some nice features. I like that I could talk to and/or listen to whoever is at the door.

I like that I can snooze alerts after being notified. (This is helpful for me when my spouse comes back from running and stretches outside. ) There is a way to adjust the motion sensitivity, but there seems to be only four settings to choose.

I don’t have a need for it with my doorbell location but you can set up motion zones. It’s great that the video shows what happens just prior to motion being detected. I also like that the videos are encrypted and that I can control how long they are stored via a browser.

There are other features that I don’t need to use, like Alexa Greetings. I didn’t notice any colors in the night vision. I wish that the history feature in the app had a filter or another way to choose the date and time instead of having to scroll through numerous events.

We use the front door a lot so there are many events during the day. I like that I can filter by type of event, favorite videos and download videos. If I login via the website on a PC I can filter by date but still not by time.

If I view the video full screen I can’t stop or pause it. I also can’t zoom in via the browser. I can download videos via the website. I need to be able to filter events that occur during specified time periods, like overnight or while I am away.

Without this feature it takes forever to find specific events. I hope that Ring adds this feature soon. The live video quality could be pixelated. Apparently this is by design in order to get the video to us ASAP.

I expected the videos I access from history to be better quality but it is mixed – some are good, some aren’t. The device health portion of the app doesn’t really help – it only tells you what to do if you get a poor signal notification without really telling you what the signal quality number means, although it is displayed in color (mine is green).

Apparently the closer the number is to zero the better the signal quality is.

I replaced my standard doorbell with the Ring doorbell pro 2 and couldn’t be happier. Installation was simple even without having electrical knowledge. The Ring app walked me through installation. It’s fully compatible with my existing doorbell wiring and included the part to chime inside my home.

This model is hardwired so you don’t have to remember to charge the batteries. The video quality is amazing and it does a great job at detecting people and objects if you choose that option in the app.

This particular model has the head to toe feature which is nice because it allows you to see close up areas at your door. The built-in Alexa Greeting is fancy! I’m always asked how does your doorbell do that?! Alexa will even let delivery drivers know where to leave my packages.

Notifications come through to my phone instantly even when I’m not home. I love being able to answer the door without having to be home using the two way talking feature. The neighbors community that’s built into the app is nice way to alert neighbors of suspicious activity.

I’ve had ring service for two years and it’s worth every penny. I’m very satisfied and highly recommend it to everyone!.

I absolutely love all my RING products. I started out with the Ring Doorbell (wired – first generation) & when the RING VIDEO DOORBELL PRO I immediately upgraded mine. Everything is much better. I also have a RING SPOTLIGHT CAMERA WITH A SOLAR PANEL above my porch (alerts are turned off) that records everything in the front of my house including the street so I can refer back to those videos if I need to.

I was able to see how a delivery guy got my package out of his truck which answered a lot of questions why my package looked like it did – my door bell camera didn’t pick that part up. I ALSO RECOMMEND GETTING THE RING SOLAR SIGN – I believe people that capture crooks or porch pirates on their camera wouldn’t even have them come up to their house if they advised them they were going to be recorded.

Also, so nice to know ahead of time who’s at my door (wether I’m home or not) – prevents awkward conversations or confrontations & I can talk through the doorbell or not. I usually do let them know someone is home but not interested or – don’t bother breaking in.

The 2nd gen wired Nest Doorbell is a great improvement over the previous generation of Nest doorbells. My sister has the wireless gen 1 doorbell and the picture, audio, and night vision quality on this new gen 2 wired doorbell are greatly improved over the earlier version.

The new smaller size of the doorbell and the included wedge kit make it easy to install this doorbell in most doorways quickly and easily. The step-by-step instructions for installing the doorbell are easy to follow and are available inside of the Google Home app when adding the doorbell as a device.

It takes you through all of the steps for installing the doorbell including the steps required for wiring up the chime adapter depending on the configuration of your homes chime. One thing to note is that unlike other wired video doorbells that completely bypass your home chime and make it necessary to have an external chime, the Nest Doorbell just hooks into your existing chime allowing you to power the doorbell and still have your original house chime still working.

This is not entirely clear in the instructions as it states that you need either a Nest Hub or one of the Nest speakers to have notifications, this is not entirely true as long as your existing house chime works you can still get the doorbell sound, however, if you want the smart notifications where the doorbell announces who is at the door, you will need either the Hub or a speaker for that functionality.

The best thing about the Google Nest Doorbell is the fact that basic functionality is NOT locked behind a paywall, all of the smart features are included out of the box with the only exception being familiar face detection and the length of video history that you can save varying on which Nest Aware subscription you have.

So if you don’t want to pay an additional monthly cost after buying this doorbell you will have the included intelligent alerts, activity zones, and 3 hour event history. If you want additional event history length as well as the familiar face detection you will need to pay for a subscription but as long as you are fine without those you can buy this doorbell and be happy knowing that it works straight out the box (after installing) with no subscription required.

My husband and I purchased this doorbell because our apartment didn’t come with one already installed. (Well, it did, but was from the prior tenants and was some crap bluetooth device that kept breaking.

) We chose the Google doorbell because it would link to our Google Home Minis on the 1st and 2nd floors so we could “hear” the doorbell anywhere from inside, not just via notifications on our phones.

Installing it took a bit of effort — we watched YouTube videos about drilling into brick, which is the material we were trying to mount the doorbell into outside. For that, we also needed a masonry drillbit.

Once we got the mount installed, setup was a breeze. I like the way the video in the Google Home setup walks you through it all step-by-step. That said, the battery life is pretty terrible. We live in the city (Philadelphia) and there are constantly people going by our door.

We wanted to keep the area that would trigger recording large, but ultimately had to reduce it to just our immediate doorstep because we had to charge the device every other day with multiple “events” per hour.

We also turned off sound recording because 1. we weren’t sure of the legality of it in Pennsylvania (we think it’s not legal unless you provide some sort of indication so a person can “consent” and the little provided sticker didn’t seem enough to us), and 2.

it also seemed to be a battery drain. After making those two changes, we’re able to get 7-10 days out of a charge. This is drastically shorter than the “months” of battery life advertised. I think if you turn off the camera, maybe you’ll get “months” of life, but what fun is it to pay this much money for a video doorbell and not use the video? How else will I know that my neighbor’s dog is getting all of his walks in? Linking it to the Minis was easy as well.

We get notifications on our phones any time there is an “event” regardless of whether anyone presses the button to ring the doorbell, and then we hear the chime via the Minis (it says, “ding! someone’s at the [location of your doorbell in the Google Home app; “front door” for us]”).

It’s nice to have the phone notifications as back-up because not every delivery person rings the doorbell and so if I get a notification I can run out and grab something before it gets stolen by porch pirates.

Overall, it’s a good doorbell but if I owned my home, I’d have just had someone install the hardwired version. It sucks having to take this thing down for 3-4 hours each week to charge it.

This is my first doorbell camera and being already invested somewhat in the Nest ecosystem (3 Thermostats, Chromecast, Google Home Speaker) I decided to pay the premium for this unit. I thought that the versatility of the doorbell working with the internal battery or with wires would be worth the price.

However, Google decided for some absolutely unexplainable compromises that drastically reduce the value of this doorbell. First, this is a large device. it is somewhat obnoxious, although installation is easy and as previously mentioned the versatility of working powered by your doorbell wiring (if supported) or by the internal battery is definitively a plus.

Video quality is good and the wide-angle camera has an appropriate field-of-view for a doorbell camera. The notification system through the google home app is robust and configurable – you can customize notifications of activity inside and/or outside one custom pre-defined zone.

So far so good. My grudge with the Nest Doorbell Wired is really because of some frustrating decisions by Google which in my opinion are probably NOT the result of hardware limitations. The most absurd of them all is that the doorbell only registers 3 hours of activity.

So if there is activity while you are sleeping (let’s be honest, when probably it is most important for you to monitor) you are out of luck – you will have a notification but won’t be able to see the recording of that notification unless if you happen to check the google home app within these 3 hours.

The other issue I have with this doorbell is that there is no way to cast the feed to your TV or computer or any other device outside your phone (=small image). It should be a no brainer to see the feed on your TV as that sometimes is the most convenient screen – the device can stream to your phone, so why would not be possible to stream to a chromecast for instance? All in all it is just an OK device that could be potentially a winner had not Google choose to software-limit its abilities.

Full disclosure- this is really more an indictment of Google and its inability to support the Nest ecosystem it assimilated in 2014 than a review of (mostly excellent) legacy Nest products themselves.

What remains of the support team evidently has *no* idea how these products work or how to troubleshoot them. They’re assigned to individual device categories, so you’ll find yourself completely without meaningful support if you have multiple devices (e.

g. Nest thermostat, doorbell, smoke detectors) and they fail, in my case, to assist each other in setup as they’re designed to do. What you’ll get instead is the same round of basic suggestions (try resetting, updating, making sure it’s plugged in, etc.

) and finally a promise (after being stuck on hold for at least half an hour) to escalate, which- for me- after several weeks and multiple cases logged- has yet to happen. Despite their use of what seems to be a case management system, there’s zero continuity- so you’re stuck at square one every time you try to reconnect.

All of this is pretty disappointing, if you consider that Google is one of the few Megacompanies with enough human and financial leverage to accomplish literally just about anything- certainly including adequate support of the technologies it consumes.

If you’re reading this, Big G, I wish you the best of luck in uniting everything you can reach under your malevolent umbrella of tracking and advertising technology masquerading as security and resources for consumers.

For prospective users: Caveat Emptor. Your list of other good options is rapidly growing.

TDLR: Internal Battery on the WIRED Nest Doorbell will eventually go bad and doorbell will not function properly. Sadly, Google Nest doesn’t tell you that there is a non-user serviceable battery inside the wired Nest Doorbell.

This battery acts kind of like a capacitor that gives extra juice to power the speaker inside the unit as well providing protection from voltage drops if you use a physical door chime. It’s a very small LiPo battery that unfortunately, overtime, will slowly degrade and fail.

It’s an incredibly poor design decision by Nest. I honestly loved owning this doorbell as it works well, has some of the better features among video doorbell providers, and was pretty cool to own when it first came out.

However, just a few months after my 2 year warranty passed. I noticed some strange behavior. When the doorbell is pressed, the unit will emit a sound simulating a chime. If the battery is going bad, the virtual chime will cut off mid ring and the led lights will go dark.

Essentially, the Nest is rebooting itself because the weak LiPo battery can no longer keep up. When this happens, you won’t get notifications and videos won’t record upon button press. Motion sensor triggered video and live view will work fine as those depend upon the constant power provided by the transformer to the doorbell.

Do a search online. this problem is beginning to pick up steam as a lot of semi-early adopters purchased these doorbells in 2018-2019. Maybe my expectations for a doorbell (that cost me $249) to last way more than 2 years is high (since it’s not supposed to be reliant on a battery), but I don’t think so.

TDLR: Internal Battery on the WIRED Nest Doorbell will eventually go bad and doorbell will not function properly.

IšverstiShow in original languageRing partially works It missed people walking across my lawn. There is a delay in notification. Worse is their communication with others. You are supposed to be able to contribute to the community by notifying neighbors around you of criminal acts.

I have posted no trespassing signs and no soliciting signs on my door. I had people pass these signs and criminally trespass. They had no car on the street or other vehicle to denote that they had legitimate business at my property.

I’ve caught them walking from house to house past the no trespassing signs in both directions and knocking on the door with a no soliciting sign. I reported the event and ring customer support stated that it violated their guidelines and would refuse to post.

I asked them to review the following below document page for section 5. They still refused to post the document. The persons passing through my property are guilty of criminal trespassing which is a misdemeanor and carries a $50-$500 fine.

What is the use of a security cam video if you cannot share this with others. It is useful for speaking to people that you would like to communicate with; however, as for security you never get adequate view of the persons face and if they are stealing off your porch or breaking and entering someone can easily destroy the cam and you will lose all footage.

I would recommend for security purposes putting up continual monitoring cameras and not purchasing ring. Although ring states they have continuous monitoring I have had multiple people enter my property in line of the camera site and the ring camera not capture the event.

http://www. oklegislature. gov/cf_pdf/1995-96%20INT/hb/HB1413%20INT. pdf.

IšverstiShow in original languageDon’t buy Ring Doorbell. This product has known flaws by the company, and they refuse to do anything to fix the product. Do not buy Ring Doorbell if you live in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Parts of New York, Iowa, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Alaska, All Canada, Upper Illinois, Ohio, Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and anywhere else in the world where the temperature gets cold.

10 Degree or colder and Ring Doorbell will not work. I called Ring Doorbell and they said their batteries do not work in the cold and they refuse to do anything to address the problem. They tell you your just out of luck wait until the temperature warms up and the Ring Doorbell should work again.

Also, the battery should charge when wired to your old doorbell, but it doesn’t. Ring doorbell says you must bring the battery inside and charge the battery because it won’t charge if hard wired to your existing doorbell.

What a poorly designed product. Ring Doorbell should be held accountable for selling a known defective and poor product that they know will not work if it gets cold. They should not be allowed to sell the product in any of the states listed above since they know the product will not work when it gets cold.

Ring Doorbell are criminals and need to be held accountable for selling products that they know will not work.

IšverstiShow in original languageSo glad my mom and daughter got me a Ring Doorbell for my birthday! It has a great camera, quality is very clear. You download an app and it notifies you whenever someone is there.

You can set the motion area to catch a large or small area. Ours catches every vehicle that goes down the street, and every person that comes in the yard and to our door. It has a doorbell which rings on your phone.

There’s a speaker that allows you to hear everything outside and also to talk to someone. It has a cloud storage option that saves all your videos and it’s only $3/month. You get a monthly or biweekly saftey report that tells you of all the police activity in your area, shows location on a map and tells you the crime committed.

There’s also a neighborhood notice where other Ring Doorbell owners can share found pets, video of stolen items, etc. The battery lasts for 3 to 4 days, then you have to charge it. That’s the only time we run in to problems.

It always has an issue reconnecting to the wifi. It takes several hours to charge, sometimes overnight, and we usually have to restart the wifi in order for the Ring to find it and connect. It’s a minor pain in the butt, but well worth it.

You can buy a kit that hardwires your Ring, like a regular doorbell, so you don’t have to worry about charging ever 3 to 4 days. We don’t have a doorbell so we would have to wire an entire setup and I’m just not ready to do that at this point.

It’s a great product and I highly recommend it!!.

IšverstiShow in original languageI’ve been looking off and on for a video doorbell for a year or so. I’ve also read reviews on the ones I was interested in. Then Blink announces their first video doorbell.

GREAT ! I already have a Blink security system with cameras outside and the Blink mini’s inside. And, since the Blink video doorbell was only $49. 99, it sounded great. The doorbell itself looks pretty much like all the other video doorbells out on the market today.

Inside the box, in addition to the doorbell, you’ll get two lithium AA batteries, two wall anchors, two screws, two small wire nuts and a little tool to pry the doorbell off it’s base when it’s time to change the batteries.

If you were to loose this little tool, and yes, I mean little at just under 1 1/2 inches in length, the you could use a small flat blade screwdriver instead. It would be pretty easy to loose this little prying tool.

The lithium AA batteries that are included with the Blink doorbell have a lifespan of up to two years according to Blink. Depending on how active your doorbell will be will really determine how long the lithium batteries last.

Since I have the Blink outdoor cameras, they also use two lithium AA batteries, I just buy them when they’re on sale, so I always have back up lithium AA’s on hand. I hooked up my Blink doorbell using just the batteries for now as I have an older home, and I don’t have any idea on the voltage to my existing doorbell.

A friend is an electrician, so hopefully in the near future he can come over and using his voltmeter, he’ll be able to find out my voltage. From my understanding, using your existing doorbell wiring will allow the Blink to use your home door chimes, but you still will need to have the two lithium AA batteries installed to power the Blink doorbell itself.

Since I already have the Blink app on my phone, syncing the Blink doorbell was fairly easy. It took me four times to get it to sync up to my system, after that all was great. I also have the Amazon Echo smart speaker (4th generation) and I have my Alexa app linked to my Blink app, so I get notifications that someone is at the door on my Echo smart speaker.

The Blink doorbell camera produces 1080p images and they look great on my cell phone. Now you’re talking about an 6 ” display, but it look very good. Feeding that image to a tv should still look pretty good in theory, but I’ve not tried that yet.

Since I’m grandfathered in on my Blink security system, I don’t have to pay for the storage, so I can’t comment on that. But I do use a USB drive hooked up to my Blink sync module to save my security camera footage, and hopefully the doorbell footage will be able to be saved there too.

While I’ve only had the Blink video doorbell hooked up for a week, so far my experience is pretty good. Still tweaking the distance setting a bit to get them to where I want them, but over all, I’ve pretty happy and feel that the $49.

99 I spent has been worth it so far. For the money, I highly recommend buying the new Blink video doorbell.

IšverstiShow in original languageThe Blink Video Doorbell is a very nice device with easy installation and setup, and great integration with the Amazon Alexa ecosystem. In the box are the doorbell/camera assembly, mounting plate, two Energizer Lithium AAA batteries, and hardware, including mounting screws and anchors, wire nuts, and spare screws for the wiring connection.

I am really impressed with the inclusion of the Energizer Lithium batteries. They’re very good batteries that should last for a long time. Setup is as simple as downloading the Blink Home Monitor App (Apple App Store, Google Play Store, & Amazon Appstore), setting up an account, and following the in app instructions.

Blink does require both email and phone number verification, but the verification codes come quickly and these layers add more security to your account. To mount the doorbell, turn off the power to your doorbell transformer, then use the enclosed template to pre-drill the two screw holes, attach the wires to the baseplate, screw the baseplate to the wall, and snap the doorbell onto the baseplate.

Turn the power back on. That’s it. Super easy! Alexa integration is accomplished by enabling the Blink Smarthome skill in the Alexa App on your smartphone, and linking your Blink and Amazon accounts.

Once that’s accomplished, you can use commands like, “Alexa, show the front door. ” to see live video feed from your Blink Doorbell at the front door on you Alexa device. You can also speak to the person ringing the doorbell via your Alexa device (obviously the Alexa device must have video capability).

Finally, if you add the Blink Sync Module 2, you can store all your video clips locally for up to 10 cameras using an SD card, or you can choose to subscribe to Blink’s cloud storage service to store your video offsite.

Blink offers two levels of cloud service, and a handy chart comparing the options is available on the Blink web site. Overall, the Blink video door bell is a solidly built, useful device. And it’s a great value at the current price, as well.

Very good product. Easy to install, and the Eufy Software is some of the best home automation software I’ve used. It just works and the setup is very smooth. Also, the thing that perhaps isn’t advertised as clearly as it could be is that the Homebase is an internal chime as well.

The only minor gotcha when setting up, is making sure the person who sets it up invites other people in the house so the can “see” the devices already setup in the house – the homebase and doorbell once their Eufy account is set up – otherwise they won’t “see” the devices.

The other good thing about this combo, is that you can add other Eufy Security devices compatible with the Homebase, such as wireless cameras, which makes this product really good value. Highly recommended.

I had high hopes for this unit but it has not delivered. It has quite a long delay before it starts recording events. 5 or more seconds which means it totally misses someone walking into the driveway and records after they are out of the view of the camera.

It misses multiple events even when on the highest sensitivity setting. So I can walk or drive into my property without being recorded. Funny though it seems to capture me leaving the property. When the doorbell is rung it takes more than 10seconds to come through to my phone.

So no where near quick enough to engage in a conversation with the visitor. And yes my base station is close to the front doorbell. I really wanted to love this product. But am disappointed.

I don’t often have/take the time for reviews but I believe this deserves a few minutes of my time. This is the second Night owl system I have purchased. Over all, the systems work very well, however, remote viewing in the app can be a pain due to buffering and failure to load cameras.

This is likely due to slow internet speeds available on our end Although I do have some issues with my first system which has very fast internet. I installed this system in an aircraft hangar yesterday.

(8 Cameras) the first camera I installed was 32 feet in the air. I mistakenly dropped the camera from about 34 feet onto concrete floor after bouncing off of a beam. I was 100% sure it was destroyed.

I decided to go ahead with the set up and to my amazement, the camera survived that fall with NO visible damage AND connected and still worked perfectly! I have to admit this is a testament to the camera construction.

The setup for the second system was surprisingly simple as it automatically connected to the app already installed on my phone and walked me through from there. That in itself was a real relief. I had to contact tech support for my first system last week and they were quick and responsive.

Had my issue resolved in minutes. I have 5 large aircraft hangars and will likely purchase 3 more systems in the near future!.

Maybe 1080p but definitely NOT producing 4K resolution. The lens inside the camera might be 4K but what you see on your monitor/app/phone is definitely not 4K resolution. It’s easy enough to blame that on your WIFI connection but I have 4K going to and from my router to 3 different streaming devices and 3 times the distance from the router than what the camera was.

And even with all streaming devices off except the camera, it still doesn’t stream 4K. Bought two and returning them both. I really wanted to like these at this price point but so far I haven’t found an IP camera capable of streaming 4K.

I’m guessing it’s downgraded at the sever end. Going back to a hard wired system for now.

I received my system a couple weeks ago and got it installed. The cameras are nice, images are clear and crisp, and there are many things that can be configured with the system giving a lot of flexibility.

Out of the box my cameras were not pre-paired to the receiver, so nothing worked. The install guide and online videos didn’t help. I did an online chat with Support and they walked me through the pairing process.

The Support team was great and the pairing process was easy but it was frustrating that I had to go that step. My other ding on the system is that the configuration interface is very old school. At this point, I would have expected to be able to use a web browser on a laptop to configure the system.

I’ve had one of these for a while, and found that it works great. The biggest thing I can suggest is that before you install this unit, you make sure you put a high capacity Micro SD card in it (I used a 128GB but a 64GB should suffice for most people); what this means is you won’t need to pay some big internet company a monthly fee to record more than a few minutes of video, and if you have a capped internet plan (many lower and middle-tier cable and phone company fiber providers do this), you won’t blow through it if you set the video doorbell to record 24/7.

The unit itself is compact, meaning that it can be placed where most doorbell buttons are located – even in the space between a storm door frame and the wall it’s inset against, if that’s how yours is setup (mine is).

Also, unlike many inexpensive options this competes against, it comes with a “chime kit” (a little box that goes where your indoor chime is) that allows you to use most existing one and two-tone door chimes.

The hardest part for most people will be installation, but unless you have one of those small chime buttons inset into a wall, it shouldn’t be much of a problem – just remember to turn the power to your chime off first.

Also, make sure your chime transformer has enough power to handle this – 16 or 24 volts with a 30VA rating is more than enough. Another nice feature of the Doorscreen is you can view a live stream from the camera using Google Nest and Amazon Alexa devices that are video-enabled.

You can also have a Google Nest/Google Home device stream it to your Chromecast-enabled TV. Geeni’s product support team is also top-notch. I initially had a problem with mine staying connected to a mesh network and we worked through getting that issue solved.

All in all, I can recommend the Doorscreen Video Doorbell to anyone who wants a video doorbell without the monthly fees attached to many of the other guys’ video doorbells.

The picture is a awesome. This does need a plug for mini usb power or you can hard wire to existing doorbell power line. (Connecting to existing chime doorbell, hasn’t worked for me. It’sthe one thing I haven’t figured out yet.

) It has an option for a micro sd to record video. There is also an option to purchase a monthly cloud plan. The size of the card depends on how much is stored. Many options on how to record, and motion detection, motion detection area, night vision, etc.

It conntected to my amazon smart home, but has very limited features. Overall, it does what I want, so I am happy with it.

Good quality video. The app works well and is easy to configure. The 130 degree wide view is great, but can’t see down low enough to know if a package was in front of the door. The chime doesn’t work now because the transformer is too old and not enough voltage (requires at least 16v).

I replaced the transformer, but chime still doesn’t work. I got a new chime (again, too old and possibly incompatible) and will install it to see if all works well after that. Overall a good option for those who want a video doorbell without having to pay a subscription.

Get a 128GB SD card to be able to store lots of video. It only records when there is motion detected, not continuously. The video is automatically managed by the device and older videos are deleted when the SD card is full.

I bought this Ring Video Doorbell 4 along with the Chime Pro since I did not want to deal with possibly needing some special wiring and electrician assistance to ensure the voltage for my home chime was correct for this specific doorbell.

Overall, this camera is useful, but it is somewhat underwhelming for the price. The doorbell recording function is great, especially with the useful option for quick replies. The setup was cumbersome, though, and the motion detection is subpar.

I would recommend SimpliSafe’s items/system over this if you don’t mind paying a tad more per month for storage and/or security (but still at a good price). Pros: I love the in-app options for changing the chime sounds to differentiate between motion detected versus someone ringing the doorbell.

I also like the options to select the motion detection zones, the volume/sound of the doorbell for the person ringing the doorbell, and the frequency of motion detection. I’m glad the battery lasts around 30 days before getting low and that it warns you when it gets to that point.

I’m also glad you can buy a replacement battery on the Ring site for a discount if you have the Ring Protection Plan, which is about $3/month, that way you don’t have to go 12 hours without the doorbell while charging the one battery you have.

Cons: The motion detection notifications lag significantly, especially at night, even though I have lights on in my yard and I have the motion detection field aiming at all the paths people can use to get to my front door as well as where the cars usually park.

Usually, the motion notification occurs 2 seconds max before the doorbell is rung, even though it takes about 10 sec to get to my door from the driveway or road. Furthermore, it’s odd that you have to decide how often the doorbell checks for motion.

This means the doorbell does not necessarily “detect” motion as it happens but rarely/occasionally/frequently (depending on the setting you choose) looks to see if there is motion. I compare this to someone either sitting in their living room with the blinds open all day, always being able to *detect* motion outside their home versus the blinds being closed all day but you occasionally and randomly peeping out of the blinds to “check” and see if there happens to be motion at the time that you’re peeping out (meaning you’re going to miss the motion that occurred during the times you weren’t peeping out of the blinds).

This is a huge letdown, especially since I have the camera set to the most frequent “detection” setting and it still misses a lot of motion, which may explain the delayed motion detection notifications that I mentioned above.

I’ve had the SimpliSafe Video Doorbell at another property for a while, and that one actually *detects* motion as it is happening, so the Ring Video Doorbell was a letdown in comparison. Not only because of how subpar this motion detection is but also because of how troublesome it was to set up! Sorry to keep comparing it to SimpliSafe, but the setup for the SimpliSafe one was much easier even though I actually wired the SimpliSafe one where the old doorbell was.

It took me about 10 minutes to do, and I have 0 electrician or handywoman experience. The Ring Video Doorbell took approximately 2 hours because the Doorbell itself went through several updates and would cycle between not responding and flashing the light to tell you it was ready for setup, only for you to get through the setup and make it to the video testing phase where it would freeze and say there was an issue.

I went through these cycles several times and followed the troubleshooting instructions every time. Eventually, I found a random YouTube video showing how to reset the Ring Doorbell. After the reset, it went through a few more updates and set-up cycles before it was actually ready.

The width of the doorbell proves to be an issue if you don’t have a flat wall next to your front door and you are trying to put the doorbell on the doorframe, as this doorbell is wider than most doorframes I’ve seen (compared to my SimpliSafe one which was the perfect width).

But we were able to work around it by using a longer screw on the side where the supporting wall was further back than the door frame. Overall, I would recommend it only if you are not willing to pay a little extra per month for the SimpliSafe video storage and/or monitoring plan, as I much prefer their Video Doorbell and their indoor/outdoor cameras as well.

I have been pondering getting one of these doorbells for some time, but the cost of the device plus the subscription always put me off. I also wasn’t keen on the physical size of some of the Ring doorbells, some look huge in my opinion.

When I came across this smaller wired version, which came at a competitive price, I was very intrigued. After reading several positive reviews, I purchased it and I am very impressed. The camera footage both day and night is very clear and crisp, the notifications come through very quickly and I have paired it to my Amazon Echo’s which work well too.

The only negative for me (hence 4 stars) is the electrical connections at the back aren’t weather protected. Granted it’s low voltage but as my Ring is mounted to a brick wall, water could drip down the back of the device and onto the contacts.

I have attached a small foam strip above the connectors to try and give it some protection. I would recommend this doorbell to anyone though.

Pros: installed this for an elderly gent to help with his sense of security. – The kit is easy to instal and you can add other devices to the HomeBase2 such as extra Eufy cameras for the back yard. -Also, the app is intuitive and easy to use, even for old folks like us, so you can see on your phone who’s at your door at any time of day.

– the quality of the images is really sharp, even at night. Useful if you need the footage as evidence, which BTW gets stored on the HomeBase 2, much like on a dash cam. You can download the footage if needs be.

-options on sensitivity and recognition of human/any movement is nice. -battery life of the doorbell is good, no need to mess around with having to lay down wiring. You just plug it in with the usb lead to charge it up.

Obviously, the more traffic past your front door, the more battery use. -Best of all: NO monthly fees for cloud storage like some other outfits. The footage is stored on the HomeBase 2, that’s it! Cons: Only a couple of minor points: -the whole system depends on WiFi, so if there are any issues with dodgy WiFi then this may not be the right thing for you.

-If you are out of the house you may still get notifications on your mobile, but there is a delay of ca. 5 seconds. So any courier in a hurry may have dumped the parcel and left by the time you get a chance to answer the call.

-It also helps to check every now and then if there have been any recordings. If you have people jogging past your front door every morning and there is no footage of that then you might want to adjust the settings or check if the system is active.

Great set up as NO never ending subscription to pay as stored on its own homebase safely in my house instead of in icloud waiting for some hacker to hack into it! and can be auto downloaded to my iphone photo album or shared.

Wherever I am I get notifications plus live streaming video of any one stepping foot on my private property or can talk live back to them via my iphone through the very clear doorbell night vision camera.

Plenty of settings to play with plus can plot my detection zone easily. At any time I can switch this to be just a doorbell only and change volume of doorbell ring for outside doorbell button so visitors can tell it has rang.

Also any live notifications can be shared with friends or Family if you send them link for app so they can watch your property as well! Never gave full star rating as although its not a real problem but you have to unclip and take whole doorbell indoors to recharge ( normal usage =once a year) instead of being able to have a battery to swop over although it comes with kit to permanently wire it to house electricity.

Bought this from John Lewis instead of some other websites as firstly is a well respected company, plus they delivered it to our local Waitrose for me to collect as too many parcels have gone missing in past from well known ( and documented online) Couriers telling me they had delivered parcels to my property when they had not !! Our nearest John Lewis store is nearly 50 miles away (from Bude) and is in Exeter but well worth the trip for Quality items as always.

We wanted a video doorbell/cam for a while and this is a 3rd attempt. Each previous brand was better than the last. This one was too sensitive, it tracked every car driving past our house, so I changed the setting to AI/ face recognition.

SO now I get walkers, people on bikes and visitors. Its alot better than 50+ alerts a day for passing cars. The battery does NOT last 120 much less 180 days as advertised, I get between 15-30 days between charges.

the doorbell works great, cam video is excellent, night vision is also fantastic. It is sensitive enough so you cannot rush and remove the cam before it activates. In 5 months I had only 2 “ghost” rings.

The only drawback is I cannot hardwire power to the cam and must use battery power. I would love longer battery life between charges. that is why its not 5 stars.

I love the peace of mind I get from having my Roku Video Doorbell & Chime SE at my front door. It was easy to wire using the wires from my old doorbell and it comes with everything needed to easily mount it.

It is easy to set up and easy to sync to the Roku Home app. The HD video is impressively clear and the two-way audio surprisingly crisp. It has motion and person detection and head to toe view, so I can be aware of who is at my door.

It even has package detection so I can go out and grab my packages rather than leave them sit out and risk being stolen. The night vision ensures I can see who is at my door even when it’s dark outside.

I get instant notifications, via the app, when someone is at my door. I’m able to see who is there even if I’m not at home. This video doorbell is weatherproof, so I don’t have to worry about it getting ruined out in the elements and allowing me to have year-round peace of mind at my front door.

This doorbell offers an extra sense of security. It’s not as easy as I thought it would be to install however, it was able to be completed in a relatively short amount of time. Still shots are all you can retain unless you pay for a subscription for the corresponding app.

(this is still loads cheaper than similar doorbells offered through security companies). I love the nighttime color vision. My house is approximately 12 feet from the road and can sometimes have lots of night time activity.

I feel like a doorbell camera can offer some security and sometimes deterrence. Being this close to the road, it’s nice to know when I have a package on the porch and the device and app can help you determine exactly what is creating motion in view.

All in all, this doorbell offers the same as other similarly priced door bells but with the added name of a brand you already trust.

This Roku Video Doorbell and Chime SE is perfect for our home. I love how it has the Full HD video, motion detection and night vision on it. It works really well anytime of the day and night. It is also weatherproof as well, which makes it perfect for outdoor use as a video doorbell.

It has two-way audio, which makes it so much easier to communicate with outsiders as well. It has a head-to-toe view as well. There are instant notifications for the video doorbell. You can subscribe to get cloud storage, person detection and package detection if wanted.

This Video Doorbell is Wired, but very easy to install. Over all this video doorbell and chime is perfect for our home. We love it.