What smart Doorbell?

GSXRMovistar · 4 Mar 2019 at 12:57

So thinking of adding one of these at home and wanted to see what opinions people here had on the various devices. Ring are obviously the most adopted brand to date but many others now provide devices at varying levels of cost.

So OcUK what do you have and what would you recommend (or avoid)?

krooton · 4 Mar 2019 at 13:04

I have been researching for a good month, and after loads of reviews and youtube videos, I have settled on the Nest Hello.

On the more expensive side, but the quality is just noriceably better than Ring and the rest.

SMN · 4 Mar 2019 at 14:12

krooton said:
I have been researching for a good month, and after loads of reviews and youtube videos, I have settled on the Nest Hello.

On the more expensive side, but the quality is just noriceably better than Ring and the rest.

I'm getting the Nest one installed, also, however its just a bit more of a faff as I need a sparky to wire in a transformer, etc which i wouldnt need if I had gone for the Ring (non-pro).

GSXRMovistar · 4 Mar 2019 at 14:19

Another issue I have to consider is I don't have a 8-24v feed in place currently so would need to think about wiring carefully as I don't want cables being run along walls/around door frames.

xb8browney · 4 Mar 2019 at 14:20

I've had the ring 2 and now I have the nest hello.

Nest hello absolutely hands down is better in every way.

Psycho Sonny · 4 Mar 2019 at 14:23

Nest hello

BongoHunter · 4 Mar 2019 at 14:29

I use a Ring 2 - found it to be easy to install, works well enough, and battery lasts a long time. No wiring needed for our install; just drilled some holes in the wall by the front door and screwed the plate on, job done.

GSXRMovistar · 4 Mar 2019 at 22:55

For those with the Nest can it be integrated with Echo devices so they announce visitors?

HungryHippos · 4 Mar 2019 at 23:44

I have a Ring 2 and it's not amazing, just "OK". I find it takes a bit of time to spin up if it detects motion (even wired in), and seems to detect a lot of false positives too.

I think the Ring Pro is better, or the Nest as some people have suggested would be worth considering.

roboamigo · 5 Mar 2019 at 08:41

First post - long time lurker!

Ive just bought a Ring Doorbell, main criteria was easy install due to the age of our house (30s, solid brick) which is a pain to route cables and a lot of tiled floors/fresh plaster didnt make this feasible. Also reviews for the 2 and the Pro seem to show these as being a bit less reliable than the original, but obviously this is subjective.

So far very happy, battery lasts well, 10% in 2 weeks with Live View active.

Motion can be a bit hit and miss until you get it set right. We live on a busy road and have quite a few trees. Ive found setting it reasonably close to the bell itself stops false alerts but still picks up people walking on the drive.

Video quality is fine, can make out a reg plate if the car is stationary, can easily see peoples faces if they are close enough, the 2 way talk is very good and has helped a few times with parcels/confused salespeople and also rogue cats sitting on cars!

Wifi range I havent really tested as our routers in the next room. Fibre is a must, we had ADSL up to about a week ago and it took a while for the video feed to come live, with fibre its almost instant.

The other thing to note is accessories are expensive. We have just bought a chime (£25 or so, more for the wifi extender one), as we dont usually keep our phones on loud. We also had to buy a wedge kit to angle ours better due to our porch location. This was 3 bits of plastic, unpainted, that costed around £25 quid delivered! Couldnt find any cheaper alternatives.

Support seems good and its good that they will replace a stolen unit if reported.

My mum and sister have since purchased the same with similar results although my sisters has scaling issues with the video feed, so they are sending a replacement. Will report back on this!

In summary, if you dont want to hardwire and have a strong wifi connection, I would recommend the original Ring Doorbell.

kinobestew123 · 5 Mar 2019 at 08:50

We were bought a ring doorbell a couple of years ago for Christmas. I decided to hard wire it including to a mechanical bell so ultimately it works as a "dumb" doorbell too and never needs charging. I much prefer this because although the Chime and phone notifications work most of the time, there can be occasions when phones aren't close, on silent or there is an unexplained delay. This makes the "smart" features just an extra.

The biggest flaw by an absolute mile with the Ring doorbell is that it only records for ~30 seconds. If any activity is happening for longer than this, it just cuts off. Makes it pretty much useless as a security device.

The most common time I use it is if I'm waiting for a parcel and I'm at work. I can check the activity to see if a delivery guy has been and see in the recordings what he has done with the parcel just to settle my mind.

TheDean · 5 Mar 2019 at 08:52

Can power come off a light switch? We have a Ring 2, but if I can somehow get power to the doorbell in a sensible way, I'll swap it out for the Hello given positive comments in this thread

sigma · 5 Mar 2019 at 08:58

I looked into these and came to the conclusion that all of the models are still too early in the product life-cycle for them to tick all the required boxes for me. A discreet CCTV camera is much cheaper and much better in terms of quality and functionality although clearly not as well disguised/integrated as a 'smart' doorbell.

roboamigo · 5 Mar 2019 at 10:41

sigma said:
I looked into these and came to the conclusion that all of the models are still too early in the product life-cycle for them to tick all the required boxes for me. A discreet CCTV camera is much cheaper and much better in terms of quality and functionality although clearly not as well disguised/integrated as a 'smart' doorbell.

Agreed - thats why I went for the cheapest one until they move on a bit. Its still a doorbell at the end of the day though!

Regarding the visibility, I think its actually useful as a deterrant as it clearly has a camera on it so might put off people, who knows!

Marky · 5 Mar 2019 at 15:01

I have the Ring Pro - It's been OK... but I find it pretty slow to use. I've read that the Nest Hello is better - And I am considering swapping out to be honest...

Half the time when someone rings the bell, by the time the picture has loaded on my phone to see who it is, they're halfway down the path walking away

Felix · 5 Mar 2019 at 15:29

If you have hikvision cctv there is a hikvision doorbell too.

MG42Maniac · 6 Mar 2019 at 08:23

We have a Nest Hello, the installation was a pain as we needed a transformer but once it was installed it's been great. We have it hooked up to our Google Home devices and it works perfectly.

GSXRMovistar · 6 Mar 2019 at 09:43

I'm leaning towards the Nest Hello but need to figure out a way of getting a low voltage feed to it.

Trying to see if I can find a small step down transformer which I can place inside one of the existing outdoor light fittings and then run a feed from that.

krooton · 6 Mar 2019 at 10:04

Felix said:
If you have hikvision cctv there is a hikvision doorbell too.

I looked in to this, but for how great their cameras are, their doorbell is pretty poor.

Dave85 · 9 Mar 2019 at 18:53

I have a ring pro and it's okay but not great. I use a plug in transformer as didn't have enough space for the transformer in the consumer unit. Also thinking of swapping it out for a nest hello.