7 Smart Doorbell Tricks You Don’t Need

Smart video doorbells can help you keep an eye on the front door and increase home security. But as the market continues to grow, manufacturers are trying to differentiate products with more features you don’t need. Here are some tricks you might want to skip.

4K Video

You might think bigger is better, but 4K resolution isn’t always the case with a video doorbell. Some new models have introduced 4K resolution, but it might be better to avoid it.

Due to the size of the camcorder sensor and its optical quality in a very small housing, increasing the resolution to 4K does not mean improving image quality. Most likely, you’ll be watching video from your doorbell on a smaller smartphone screen that can’t even display 4K footage at full resolution. 4K video also takes up much more space; You need to take this into consideration if you want to store videos locally on a microSD card or hard drive.

If you’re looking for 4K security, you’ll find no shortage of security cameras on the market that provide much higher quality video for much less. Many models offer additional features such as pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) that are not available on a smart video doorbell.

AI Notifications

Another popular feature found on many smart video doorbells is AI-powered notifications. While a video doorbell can notify you when motion is detected, many are using artificial intelligence to better understand who is at your front door. Often these notifications are designed to identify people, pets, vehicles and packages.

In practice, AI notifications are incidental at best. Particularly depending on how your front door is set up, your doorbell may not even be able to detect any vehicles or pets wandering around. While AI can also help you reduce false notifications, there’s also a much easier way to do this by creating an activity area for your video doorbell (now a common feature). As the name suggests, it will only inform you about the movement in the regions you have created.

In most cases, AI notifications are part of costly monthly subscriptions. there is one A few ways to avoid paying for subscriptions all together and continue to access recorded video.

Protection Against Video Doorbell Theft

Some video doorbell manufacturers offer protection against video doorbell theft. Basically, if your doorbell rings, you get a new one for free. This isn’t something you should pay extra for, but don’t base your purchase on the offer alone. It’s basically a gimmick for a few reasons.

Video doorbells attach securely to your front door. It takes more than a few minutes for a criminal to ring your doorbell. There’s another big reason why video doorbells for bad guys aren’t high on the list: While it’s playing, the entire show is recorded, with footage likely to be sent directly to the cloud.

Many doorbells are also tied to your account, making them nearly impossible to resell or use. Criminals tend to gravitate towards things that are quick and easy to steal. The video doorbell is not like that.

Dual Power Options

There are two main ways to power a video doorbellwith existing doorbell wiring or rechargeable battery. The first big hurdle before purchasing is deciding which type of power is best for your situation, as both types offer some advantages and disadvantages.

There are many video doorbells that can use both power options. But don’t overpay or make your choice based on this feature alone. These dual-power models are generally more expensive and physically larger than their rivals due to the extra technology, including a rechargeable battery. You probably won’t be switching between both types of power because the setup takes some time and effort.

Some dual-powered options use both existing cables and a rechargeable battery, so you can always record even in the event of a power outage. However, if your power goes out, your home Wi-Fi will likely not work either. Without an internet connection, the video doorbell will not work, except for local recording options if available.

If you decide how you want to operate the doorbell before purchasing, you don’t have to worry about choosing a dual-option model.

24/7 Recording

Some video doorbells offer 24/7 recording. While the majority of models only start recording video when some type of motion is detected or someone presses the doorbell, you can also find some models that record what’s happening all the time. There are several reasons to avoid this feature.

First, this is only possible for wired video doorbells, as the battery-powered model will only last a few days for full-time recording. Due to the massive amount of video created by 24/7 recording, footage is often stored in the cloud and requires an additional monthly subscription.

A dedicated home security camera for 24/7 recording in your home is a much more flexible and easy-to-use option that can likely capture much more than just the view of your front porch.

3D Motion Detection

More expensive Ring video doorbells also offer 3D Motion Detection. This feature provides more fine-grained motion zones for recording using radar, while also providing a view of where the person came from and where they are going after being videotaped. This is shown on a dotted map.

For daily use, this feature is not worth spending extra money on. Most importantly, the feature uses satellite images of your home. In my experience with other Ring products, there was no view of my home (in a busy suburb of Dallas). If you have a covered patio and a small, enclosed front yard, this feature will probably be of little benefit to you.

Pre-Roll Video

Front video, available on some Ring doorbells, provides several seconds of video before movement detected. This is automatically added to the actual motion clip. It’s mostly a gimmick for a few reasons. Even with a wired video doorbell, you’ll only be able to see 6 seconds of video in full color and high definition.

With battery-operated doorbells and some other wired devices, you’ll only see 4-second black and white and low-resolution videos. These models do not work in low light conditions either.

Now that you know some features in the smart video doorbell market that you don’t really need, there is also a smart video doorbell. Number of questions you need to answer before making a purchase. Be sure to check out some of them for more help. best video doorbells on the market.