In the past, Nest DoorbellIt has proven to be a popular choice due to its versatility and excellent image quality. However, the battery was always an issue. The new video doorbell eliminates the need for a battery. Instead, it uses a hardwired connection. You will never worry about your battery running low. Another feature is the onboard backup of video storage for an hour. This means that if your Wi-Fi drops, you’ll still be able to see anything that happens (for an hour, anyway), and the footage will automatically be uploaded to your cloud storage as soon as the connection resumes.
Like other Nest products, you’ll only get three hours of event video history on the free tier. To get 30 days of footage, you’ll need to upgrade to Nest Aware at $6 per month or $60 per year.
Google shared that DXOMark, the new Nest Doorbell is “the best camera doorbell we have tested so far in terms of image quality.” Whether that’s true or not in the real world remains to be seen, but Nest has spent a lot of time tweaking this doorbell to make sure it offers a clear image no matter the situation. Nest has also made more investments in privacy. All image processing is done on-device, which means your footage isn’t going to some far-off cloud server to be processed and then returned to you. That also means faster results and alerts, since you don’t have to account for latency, cloudy weather, or any of the other factors that can affect data speed.
One of the best features is the pre-recorded messages that you can choose to quickly reply to visitors. It’s an ideal option if you’re stuck in a meeting and can’t use the two-way audio feature to answer someone; plus, it’s reminiscent of the Alexa Smart Responses feature on Ring doorbells. To monitor a specific area of your porch only, you can create Activity Zones.
Nest Doorbells can identify people, pets, cars, and other forms. They also detect familiar faces or unfamiliar faces. It’s definitely Nest’s most advanced doorbell yet, especially when you factor in the Household Routines feature. You can have it set up so that a person pressing the doorbell after sunset activates your porch lights.
The Nest Doorbell starts at $180 in the U.S. and is available in four colors: snow (linen), ash (ash), and ivy.
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