Smart Doorbell Camera suggestions.

Emjay86

Emjay86

Emjay86

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Hi folks,

For various reasons we are finding we want to get a doorbell camera installed in the house, but i am having a headache in finding something that is actually decent, or at least looks decent enough to get.

I currently have a CCTV setup in the house that is utilising a number of TP-link, or TAPO, cameras. These are all controlled on the one app and work great for what we want. They also plug into my Google home, which would be great if i wanted to get a screen or something i guess. We have quite a long house and will need to get some sort of extended chimes, so presumably this will be wireless. We want to get something that wont require a subscription fee, will allow us to playback footage and preferably send us notifications, like they have on the adverts!

Any suggestions?

I would go for the TAPO one, but it appears they only sell in USA, so theres that...

Thanks in advance!
 
Thanks for the suggestion.

After taking a good look I have purchased one of their models. Amazon had some nice discount voucher on it so why not!

Thanks again!
 
Got a Eufy, would say it's pretty good for camera and build quality and features considering (heavily discounted) cost. But I've found Alexa/Google integration is basic with devices essentially being glorified chimes with no video* (like Ring and Alexa); and, external access is a little slow due to how Eufy proxy connections, there are few posts about this on their forums.

Personally, a Ring doorbell was a better performer all-around but then you're paying a lot more for it.

* On a Google hub you can get it to show a live video feed, albeit it's stupidly slow to load to the point it's a bit pointless, but it won't automatically show when the doorbell is rang or it detects motion etc unlike other doorbells. Supposedly Eufy are "working" on it but it's been a while so i wouldn't hold out for it.
 
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Jumping on this as we were just looking at Nest doorbells (we use Google Home a lot). What wiring does the wired one need? We have an old school ‘wired’ doorbell. As in there’s a big round old school bell and two big batteries in a case :p Or do you actually have to run full power out for it?
 
I have a nest doorbell.
Along with other nest stuff.

If I was doing it again I'd go for eufy simply for the cheaper hardware and no subscription


However something is odd with my account. I've now had 10x 1 month free trials of nest aware!
 
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We had the Eufy 2K but switched to the Ring Pro 2 wired.

Sure, it’s more expensive, but I think the improved motion detection, faster load time, pre-roll and the ability to take a snapshot every 30 seconds which you can scroll through between clips is worth the extra.
 
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I use a Ubiquiti door bell camera, it records back to a proper hard drive 24/7 and is wired up to a normal ‘ding dong’ chime unit. Notifications are also very fast.

That said, I’d only recommend going that this route you if you already have Ubiquiti networking kit or plan on getting it. It’s expensive, the door bell is £200 and you need a controller unit that runs their CCTV application, the cheapest is another £200. I already had a controller so adding the door bell wasn’t a huge outlay. They also have a range of cameras you can add to the system.

Prosumer kit with prosumer prices at the end of the day. Their WiFi access points are second to none at their respective price points though.

Another option for an all in one locally recording door bell is Netatmo
 
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IvanDobskey said:
Micro SD card in the chime unit.
Click to expand...

b0rn2sk8 said:
I use a Ubiquiti door bell camera, it records back to a proper hard drive 24/7 and is wired up to a normal ‘ding dong’ chime unit.
Click to expand...
And do both of these units allow you to see via your phone who's at the door when for example you're at work or otherwise out of the house? What's the app experience like?

Actually, on the subject of a normal chime can anyone tel me if the Nest wired does exactly that; chimes your existing doorbell as well? :confused:
 
Scam said:
And do both of these units allow you to see via your phone who's at the door when for example you're at work or otherwise out of the house? What's the app experience like?

Actually, on the subject of a normal chime can anyone tel me if the Nest wired does exactly that; chimes your existing doorbell as well? :confused:
Click to expand...

It does chime your doorbell but only mains powered doorbells.

I have a Google nest doorbell that's wired. Works well and the zones allow it so that it doesn't go off all the time.
 
Scam said:
And do both of these units allow you to see via your phone who's at the door when for example you're at work or otherwise out of the house? What's the app experience like?
Click to expand...
Yes, when someone dings the bell you get a notification, you can load up the camera and have a 2 way conversation. You can also have notifications for motion, people and vehicle detection. You can set motion zones etc.

The app experience is pretty good, it does everything you need it to do.
 
We've had the Ring Video Doorbell 2 since 2020 and although OK, it is far from perfect in video quality (on passing, door rings are fine image wise) and alerts which can often be completely missed+ the recent £10 a year increase has got us thinking of moving to another system that doesn't require subscription.

Eufy has been on a our consideration list for a while now.
 
I have the Ring. I think its great personally, cant fault it. I don't mind the subscription charges, I think its worth it for the security and peace of mind. It's way less than I'd blow on a night out.
 
I wouldnt touch Nest again. The build quality is poor (the camera is 'peeling' after 2 years) and the software is atrocious. Since we got it installed i've rolled out Unifi so looking to ditch the Nest doorbell asap for the Unifi pro one, once its back in stock.
 
I use a Logitech Circle View one as it works with HomeKit. No fees etc, camera is fantastic but the only thing that lets it down is the length of recording time. It’ll detect motion and record but will only do it for like 20-30 seconds.
 
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