Which brand of smart doorbell do you prefer?

[Pink Jazz]

Mods: Please move to Off-Topic

I was wondering, which brand of smart doorbell do you prefer?

We got Eufy because it doesn't require a subscription and we already had an existing Eufy security system.

[JayhawkCO]

I have a Nest and like it just fine. We don't use any of the subscription services.

[doorknob60]

I recently got a Nest and it's pretty good. The functionality is good enough for me without paying the subscription (from what I can tell, the free option is better than Ring's). I'm running it off battery. My only complaint is the battery life is way below what's advertised. It seems like it's about 2-3 weeks or so before I need to recharge it. It is cold outside which affects battery life, but it's not that cold, and that's a dramatic difference from the advertised "typical" 2.5 months. If it doesn't settle down, I might contact Google in case it's defective. Though charging it is pretty straightforward so not the end of the world.

[Max Rockatansky]

Whatever the cheapest one that rings is.  My wife did buy a ring camera about a year ago and it has a secondary doorbell function apparently.

[JoePCool14]

None. An old-fashioned doorbell with a separate camera works just fine for us.

[jeffandnicole]

For my mom I got her the Nest. 1 wired; 2 wireless. What's nice is I get the alerts, which lets me know she's up and moving around.

As far as battery life goes, regarding Doorknob's issue, it greatly depends on how much activity the camera detects. If it's constantly activated due to people walking near it, cars going by, etc, that will dramatically decrease battery life. For my mom's, the battery lasts a few months on the one which activates daily, and several months on the other which doesn't get activated often.

For myself, I have an NVR (network video recorder) with several dome cameras. I like the clearness of the footage, although the NVR skips a few seconds on occasion. The cameras are powered via Cat cables.

[Pink Jazz]

For outdoors, we have a Eufy security system including the doorbell, as well as a crappy Zmodo system. Indoors we have Wyze, and we signed up during their promotional Cam Plus Lite signup period. Our smart lock is Schlage.

[doorknob60]

As far as battery life goes, regarding Doorknob's issue, it greatly depends on how much activity the camera detects. If it's constantly activated due to people walking near it, cars going by, etc, that will dramatically decrease battery life. For my mom's, the battery lasts a few months on the one which activates daily, and several months on the other which doesn't get activated often.

Yeah, mine should be pretty typical as far as I can tell. We have 3 people in the house, so it activates whenever someone enters or leaves. Plus daily when the mailman comes, plus if UPS/Fedex/Amazon come. I can see the event history, it never saves any cars, people walking by on the street, or anything like that. Just people at the door. Google says "Typical - About 2.5 months battery life (about 13 - 16 recorded events per day)", I think we might actually be under that number on most days.

[Pink Jazz]

As far as battery life goes, regarding Doorknob's issue, it greatly depends on how much activity the camera detects. If it's constantly activated due to people walking near it, cars going by, etc, that will dramatically decrease battery life. For my mom's, the battery lasts a few months on the one which activates daily, and several months on the other which doesn't get activated often.

Yeah, mine should be pretty typical as far as I can tell. We have 3 people in the house, so it activates whenever someone enters or leaves. Plus daily when the mailman comes, plus if UPS/Fedex/Amazon come. I can see the event history, it never saves any cars, people walking by on the street, or anything like that. Just people at the door. Google says "Typical - About 2.5 months battery life (about 13 - 16 recorded events per day)", I think we might actually be under that number on most days.

One cool feature of the Eufy Video Doorbell Dual is that it has a second camera on the bottom for package detection.

[Scott5114]

I have a button outside my house and whenever someone presses it we hear a ding inside. That's all. I think it's part of the 1980s-style NuTone intercom system my house has that we never use.

I personally will never have a smart doorbell since I don't trust any for-profit company with the data it generates. The only smart doorbell I would be interested in is one that transmits data to a computer in my own house and doesn't send it out over the network at all. However, because every company that makes these things is run by a capitalist asswipe tie-wearer who cares more about squeezing customers' data for every dime than making an actually useful product, I won't buy any of them.

So if you added a "I think smart doorbells should be banned" option to the poll, I'd vote for that. For now, "other", I guess.

[jeffandnicole]

I have a button outside my house and whenever someone presses it we hear a ding inside. That's all. I think it's part of the 1980s-style NuTone intercom system my house has that we never use.

I personally will never have a smart doorbell since I don't trust any for-profit company with the data it generates. The only smart doorbell I would be interested in is one that transmits data to a computer in my own house and doesn't send it out over the network at all. However, because every company that makes these things is run by a capitalist asswipe tie-wearer who cares more about squeezing customers' data for every dime than making an actually useful product, I won't buy any of them.

So if you added a "I think smart doorbells should be banned" option to the poll, I'd vote for that. For now, "other", I guess.

But no issues using a phone made by a for-profit company using a for-profit network with a camera that faces you at all times you're using the phone, with the ability to track your location constantly?

[skluth]

None. Don't see the point of buying a doorbell with built-in planned obsolescence on a mobile home built in the mid-60s.

[Scott5114]

I have a button outside my house and whenever someone presses it we hear a ding inside. That's all. I think it's part of the 1980s-style NuTone intercom system my house has that we never use.

I personally will never have a smart doorbell since I don't trust any for-profit company with the data it generates. The only smart doorbell I would be interested in is one that transmits data to a computer in my own house and doesn't send it out over the network at all. However, because every company that makes these things is run by a capitalist asswipe tie-wearer who cares more about squeezing customers' data for every dime than making an actually useful product, I won't buy any of them.

So if you added a "I think smart doorbells should be banned" option to the poll, I'd vote for that. For now, "other", I guess.

But no issues using a phone made by a for-profit company using a for-profit network with a camera that faces you at all times you're using the phone, with the ability to track your location constantly?

Oh I have ALL SORTS OF FUCKING ISSUES with my phone. To the point I barely use the damn thing.

[J N Winkler]

We don't use a smart doorbell or any video monitoring systems.  Our reasons:

*  Negligible deterrence value (cf. all the Facebook and Nextdoor posts with "Look at the video of this scum stealing my packages/catalytic converter/whatever")

*  Providers that store video footage remotely cannot credibly guarantee privacy (even if they destroy the decryption key, like Apple does with iPhone filestore images)

*  Any form of remote access is a cybersecurity vulnerability that threatens data stored on computers, phones, etc. within the house

*  The expense and aesthetic impact of making holes in finished surfaces to install cameras and other hardware

*  Ongoing upkeep (replacing batteries, ensuring subscription plans are paid, etc.)

*  Lack of use cases where remote monitoring is valuable (e.g., ensuring elderly relatives are not in medical distress)

[Takumi]

I don't even have a doorbell. Just knock. Or preferably leave me alone.

[triplemultiplex]

All those things are good for is capturing the moment you fall on your ass in front of your own damn house.

Unless you're one of those Karens looking for something to bitch about in the neighborhood.  Then the camera doorbell is your wet dream.

[doorknob60]

2 main reasons I decided to get one.

1. My house doesn't have a doorbell. I can see where it used to have one, but there isn't one. Decided I finally want to get one. Might as well get a smart one. And the wireless battery one doesn't require any additional wires or equipment, and I could install if myself.

2. I've gotten annoyed with door to door salespeople. Once I physically open the door, I am too nice and have a hard time saying no. But with a smart doorbell I can just hit the "auto response" to tell them "I can't come to the door", then they leave, it's easy and less stressful for me.

Also, I've found the package detection a nice quality of life feature. Nothing too important, since Amazon and UPS usually email me when I get a package regardless, but it's still a useful feature.

[tchafe1978]

Who needs a smart doorbell when you have 2 smart pitbulls who can sense the moment someone steps foot on the driveway and begin barking before anybody even has a chance to ring the old fashioned doorbell?

[XamotCGC]

None. The people I know just sends me a text. I tend to refuse answer to anyone that knocks. 

[1995hoo]

Last Christmas my wife got me a Brookstone video doorbell. It was a bit difficult to install due to a tiny screw on the bottom that was hard to manipulate without dropping it. Then the ring was spotty, usually didn't work, which I discovered was due to the doorbell transformer not being strong enough. Apparently that's a fairly common problem with video doorbells. Replacing it did the job, but for whatever reason the doorbell still periodically drops the wifi.

We both wound up disabling notifications from it, however, because it proved to be too sensitive. It would ping our phones every time a car drove by, and on rainy nights the rain reflecting the outside lights would cause it to sense motion and ping us. I suppose I should take the time to see whether there's a way to adjust that because not getting notifications kind of defeats the purpose of a video doorbell.

If I had bought one myself, I likely would have bought a Ring based on positive comments from other neighbors who have them.