“This doorbell is only $ 30. It's certainly not the best, but it beats its weight class well. "
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The $ 30 cost is extremely affordable
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Fun chime extenders included
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Waterproof construction
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Terrible field of vision
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Building materials feel cheap
If you're interested in affordable smart home technology, there's a name to look out for. That name is Wyze. The company is on the rise with a variety of smart home products that are not only very good but also very inexpensive. That brings us to our review today – the Wyze doorbell, a $ 30 video doorbell. This is not a typo. I'm not missing a decimal place. It's $ 30.
In a world where video doorbells are $ 99 and up, $ 30 is incredibly affordable in this area. There are sure to be compromises. I also have to mention that I tested this device with a beta version of the Wyze app. That puts me in a difficult position as a reviewer. Isn't a feature set great because it's beta or because it costs $ 30? I'm pretty sure I cleared the two up, so let's get started!
A tiny plastic box
The Wyze doorbell camera is one of the smallest video doorbells I've ever seen, let alone worked. The inconspicuous hardware is a plastic box with a height of just eight centimeters, a width of four centimeters and a depth of almost two centimeters. It has a white case with a black camera module in the upper half and a rounded square button for the bell. The Wyze logo in between lights up when people approach, as does the bell icon on the button. It makes it very easy to know where to slide.
The bell also comes with a glockenspiel extender that can be plugged into any power outlet. This is important because the doorbell itself does not ring in the house. The doorbell rings to let your visitors know that it has rung. Then the doorbell rings in the house. It seems like an odd omission not to ring the mechanical chime it is connected to for power, but it's understandable since the chime extender comes with the package.
This won't be the last video doorbell you'll ever buy, but there's no reason it can't be your first.
This carillon extender is gorgeous. It creates a separate connection to the app within the doorbell settings. The glockenspiel extender offers 19 different sounds including normal chimes, door knocking and animal noises that drive my dogs crazy. It's pretty much fun. There is no noticeable delay between pressing the doorbell button and ringing the bell. The Glockenspiel Extender works wherever there is WiFi, so you can plug the Glockenspiel in wherever it's most convenient.
I ran into some problems setting up the carillon extender. Sometimes the change I made in the app didn't carry over to the carillon itself. Sometimes it was like that. It was very random. That could easily be a result of the beta app, or maybe less than ideal Wi-Fi. After a while, I managed to set up the right chimes and the problem never came back.
Restricted view
The camera itself has a very narrow field of view. You can see 120 degrees vertically and only 88 degrees horizontally. Wyze says this is because people are taller than they are wide. I understand, but these specs barely allow me to see an entire person horizontally or vertically. Compared to my normal Vivint Video Doorbell Pro, it almost feels like looking through a toilet paper tube. Did I mention this camera is $ 30?
What you can see is decent quality. You can set the camera to capture and stream in HD, SD, or 480p. During the day the picture is a bit washed out and you lose a lot of definition in cloudy clouds. It does a suitable job of identifying people and movement. At night, this time of the year is hard to tell as my front yard is filled with Christmas lights, making it difficult for the camera to decide whether or not to use infrared.
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Night, lights on - 2.
Night, lights off - 3.
During the day
The above Christmas lights are completely blown out and there are no details at all in the highlights. The camera does a good job and shows my front yard at night, which is reminiscent of the Panasonic Home Hawk camera I tested. However, this was due to the superior optics technology while this doorbell benefits from Griswold-grade Christmas lights.
Night vision, when not dealing with Christmas lights, still struggles to decide whether or not it wants to be on. The Wyze logo also lights up as a kind of mini flood light, which complicates matters. When this light is not on and there are no other light sources in the frame, night vision looks good. When you insert a light source, the doorbell freaks out a little.
installation
The installation is a little less than ideal. The doorbell comes with a mounting plate that you attach to the wall. Then attach the cables to the doorbell. The button slides down and clicks into place in the mounting plate. At first I worried about it. I was wondering if I could take the button off as the locking mechanism is in the mounting plate. As it turns out, the mounting plate is also pretty flexible (read: weak) and I was actually able to pull the doorbell out enough to get the clip back and slide the doorbell off. I don't know if it's supposed to work that way, but that's how it worked.
Then you have to pair the doorbell with your WiFi. It uses the QR code method which is not one of my favorite implementations. If you're not familiar, connect the doorbell to your WiFi by entering your credentials into the app. This will generate a QR code that the camera will scan. It took well over five minutes to hold my phone at varying distances to the doorbell before I finally got a beep indicating everything was okay.
software
As I mentioned earlier, it's a beta, but overall, not much is missing here, despite being a beta product. Connecting to the camera is a little slow, but navigating within the app isn't slow at all. The clip memory is a little hard to find as you have to exit the device settings to get to the event list. I suspect this is an expectation of Wyze's larger home security system that they just released.
You can set times for the camera to record events or just keep recording motion events. You can subscribe to Wyze Cam Plus for a full 24/7 recording. You can share videos and save them locally. I couldn't find a place to take snapshots, which seems like a failure. Overall, however, the app performs well, especially for a beta.
When it comes to detection, it's a bit sensitive and I get bombarded by the notifications a lot. Smaller events trigger the Wyze video doorbell. So expect to see a preview of the footage, which is most likely filled with false warnings. Yes, it's obviously too liberal on surveillance, but I think that's better than completely missing out on an event.
Our opinion
What to watch out for here is the price. For $ 30, you can buy three of them, have two spares, and still not pay as much as the closest competitor. This video doorbell is so cheap that I should reach out to Wyze to make sure they are okay. If this video doorbell had only worked properly, I would have been amazed. The fact that it is actually good at this price is so amazing that I'm glad I had to sit down to write this review. This isn't the best video doorbell in the world, but I'd estimate you can get a $ 75 doorbell here for $ 30.
Is there a better alternative?
Sure! The field of view is ridiculous. The video quality isn't the best, and at night the sensor has to pick a track and stay in it instead of switching back and forth between IR and normal vision. The next cheapest alternative, however, costs more than three times as much. The Ring Video Doorbell (2nd Generation) is one of those alternatives for $ 100.
Wyze is here to make its products as affordable as possible. This means plastic mounts, inexpensive buttons, and camera sensors that perform poorly.
How long it will take?
The doorbell feels cheap. As for the wear and tear, I'm not particularly optimistic that you will be working on this doorbell for years. The doorbell is weatherproof to IP65 and has an operating range of -4 to 122 degrees Fahrenheit. Chicago winters are getting colder, so that's another problem. I suspect that more durable building materials could bring operating temperatures into a more comfortable operating range. But that would likely add to the cost as well.
In the event that something goes wrong, there is a one-year limited warranty that covers any defects.
Should I buy it?
Yes. It's $ 30. It's an extra trip to the ATM. Basically, you should almost buy it. Keep a few in your car as last minute gifts. It's crazy cheap. If that doorbell cost $ 75 or more, I'd say no. For a slightly larger investment, you can purchase a product that is likely to last longer and work better, like the Arlo video doorbell. However, at $ 30, this is almost a training video doorbell to see if you're ready for a real video doorbell. This won't be the last video doorbell you'll ever buy, but there's no reason it can't be your first. Remember, this is a $ 30 doorbell.
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