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Best smart doorbell?


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I’m torn between Ring vs Blink. Both I know are Amazon brands now but when it comes to features, battery capacity, link up to Alexa related screens inside and ease of use Im swaying towards Blink.

Thoughts?

 

I was hoping to have just a wireless doorbell with no video and then have a powered camera up in the corner of the porch ceiling because I have a power cable free there and have that connect to the doorbell and then to an inside Amazon Echo screen but I don’t think this exists. I will definitely have a few outdoor cameras for added security to monitor driveway etc.

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I worked for Ring so naturally got a load of freebies including a Doorbell Pro v2 and their Alarm v2, both of which work pretty well. I never fully understood the dynamic of Amazon acquiring two competing products (and not shutting one down). I'd certainly hedge my bets on Ring. 

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From what I understand you need to pay a subscription to use all the features of both. That might not bother you much but make sure the basic free features suit your use case when comparing them. 

Edited by Kelvin
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I'm waiting for the reolink as well as I have a load of their cameras already. I asked on twitter and they have no planned date to bring to the UK. Was originally Sept last year. I'm going to see if you can get one from Amazon in Europe. Might be comparability issues as I know some of their services are region based... And UK is not included in some.

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I can't imagine that the actual camera / push button part is any different - it must be the plug-in sounder which would presumably have a UK-style plug built in. Nothing that a EU-UK adapter wouldn't fix.

 

Silly really, there are lots of well-trodden ways of designing that country-specific bit out.

 

Actually I'm getting 'not available' for US and German customers too.

 

Sorry, to keep editing this - available from Amazon US for £99 (US version of course) and Amazon DE (European version of course) for £113 - both prices include VAT, duty, shipping etc.

Edited by Alan Ambrose
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46 minutes ago, Alan Ambrose said:

I can't imagine that the actual camera / push button part is any different - it must be the plug-in sounder which would presumably have a UK-style plug built in. Nothing that a EU-UK adapter wouldn't fix.

 

Silly really, there are lots of well-trodden ways of designing that country-specific bit out.

 

Actually I'm getting 'not available' for US and German customers too.

 

Sorry, to keep editing this - available from Amazon US for £99 (US version of course) and Amazon DE (European version of course) for £113 - both prices include VAT, duty, shipping etc.

Temped to punt on the euro version 

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Reolink seems to the most cost effective way to do camera/NVR. Cameras are good. The NVR options includes variants that have the PoE switch built in. No subscription. Sorting the door camera out would make it a fairly complete system. 

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12 hours ago, pocster said:

I’ve got doorbird but I’m eyeing the yet unreleased reotek 5k one ….

Wasn't it you that wanted to put a camera down your lavatory bowl to activate the only fan.

DoorBird is already water proof.

Edited by SteamyTea
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I’ve got an EZ-VIZ DB1. It works natively with the Hikvision CCTV system I have. Has been pretty decent even if I did have to extend the wifi down the drive to cope with it. Subscription available but has a SD Card and records direct to the NVR I already had for local control and no subscriptions.

 

 

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On 25/01/2023 at 08:49, Alan Ambrose said:

My vote is for the new Reolink - no subscription and PoE, so no problems with WiFi or power. And Reolink stuff is cheap (not that I'm cheap).

Looks really good, PoE and RTSP steam at a good price.

 

Only niggle is there's no way to get a notification signal (neither in SW or HW event) when the button is pressed. So you can't use it with existing chime, or trigger any other home automation when the button is pressed. Seems to me in all the excitement of video they forgot the main function of a doorbell button is to be a button...

 

Edited by joth
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11 hours ago, joth said:

Looks really good, PoE and RTSP steam at a good price.

 

Only niggle is there's no way to get a notification signal (neither in SW or HW event) when the button is pressed. So you can't use it with existing chime, or trigger any other home automation when the button is pressed. Seems to me in all the excitement of video they forgot the main function of a doorbell button is to be a button...

 

I noticed that and I need it for HA.

Might be able to hot wire the chimer ??

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11 minutes ago, Conor said:

So what happens when somebody pushes the doorbell button? A notification on your phone?! 

Guess so

i plan to put a zigbee socket on the chimer . This should be able to register load - so chime activated is a recognisable state .

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33 minutes ago, pocster said:

Guess so

i plan to put a zigbee socket on the chimer . This should be able to register load - so chime activated is a recognisable state .

Looks like we'll be keeping our £10 B&Q ding dong unit then.

Edited by Conor
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