ecobee - Smart Doorbell Camera (wired)

Have the ecobee doorbell cam with integrates the HVAC and Home Security. Having everything right in HomeKit is super convenient .

My Ecobee doorbell can work with my existing mechanical chime, I tested it when I hooked everything up and it worked fine. I ended up turning it off in the settings of the ecobee though because it rings my phone and both my up and downstairs thermostats which is plenty of alerting, and the mechanical one was very loud.

I’ve been researching and trying to decide on a HomeKit friendly smart doorbell for almost two years. I was close to buying the Logitech one as I heard that while it’s a bit basic, it works and is reliable. I decided to shell out a bit extra for the Ecobee one that was on sale on Amazon at the time, but before it arrived on my doorstep I realized that it requires a subscription service for the best features. I immediately returned it when it arrived. I researched the Aqara G4 and found that most people like it but also learned that the G410 had been announced and was expected to be much better and remedy many of the annoyances that G4 users had with the product. I became excited for this product. I waited months and months and finally the G410 became available. Unfortunately the upgrades were less than satisfactory. The doorbell still does not integrate with your existing chime and requires you to use their own chime box. The doorbell hardware itself is huge in comparison to most other smart doorbells. The video aspect received a bit of an improvement but the quality, especially in low light is still lacking. I decided to pass on buying the Aqara G410 after waiting so long for it. I won’t get Ecobee due to its paywall. I might settle for the Logitech doorbell, as simple as it may be, but honestly my excitement and appetite for a worthy smart doorbell has diminished. I guess I’ll keep waiting for the day the perfect one is released.

Have the ecobee door bell. Only in HK as a camera and only the Apple TV is set up to get the pop up of who is at the door….. and it’s great. The ecobee app has more features around how the videos are recorded such as a radar sensor to prevent detection of people on the sidewalk in front of my house. Only thing I’d like added is facial recognition in HK.

Also have EcoBee. Used to have e Logitech which just bricked itself. Spent hours with support and eventually just gave up and went with EcoBee. Happy with my choice.

The Ecobee thermostat, when paired with their front doorbell camera can trigger a regular doorbell chime, as well as generate a ring through the thermostat. Ecobee also supports their own security cameras too. They’re my most stable set of home security cams.

I went with Ecobee years ago and never regretted it. When we moved to a new home a couple years ago, I bought one of their indoor cameras too. It works well and seems to be more solidly built than Aqara's. I tried a couple of Aqara locks with built-in cameras, but the housing is made of plastic, and they just seem like they'd be really easy to smash. Ecobee's doorbell camera and indoor cameras, by comparison, are made of a metal body with tough plastic around the camera lens. The picture quality is good, and the camera can do a "virtual swivel" by changing the camera's focus without needing to physically move the entire camera. It's a really clever feature. You may pay a little more for Ecobee, but they're high quality products.

Just switched to EcoBee from Aqara. Loved the Aqara minus 2 things: Didn’t work when it was super cold cause the batteries kept freezing, even though it was hardwired. 2: lack of portrait view. Have to pay for video recording on ecobee which sucks but the camera is better already.

EcoBee has been the best solution for me. My G4 froze every winter and ate batteries. Wired an EcoBee up and it has been perfect. It has live view and rich notifications for HK but recordings go to the app and you have to pay for sub. The sub is $5/month which isn't terrible. Most importantly, it is portrait view. Also will livefeed to an associated Ecobee smart thermostat premium.

The doorbell cam is hard wired to the bell and transformer. But since it’s an ecobee, the ecobee thermostat can also get a signal to play a sound. So technically, the thermostat is not triggering the physical doorbell.

you don't need the thermostat to have the doorbell cam. It will ring the physical bell and provide live video in the ecobee app. If you want to have the doorbell notification and video in homekit, the thermostat acts as a hub. I have a second ecobee camera and both show up on my tv/home app.

I have one in the UP of Michigan and it’s never stopped due to the cold. Not a fan that a lot of the features are behind a paywall but I hardly notice the $5 monthly charge.

My experience of Ecobee’s doorbell camera: Connectivity to wifi was a constant problem (Bell); The video quality is a bit grainy but I can make out faces; The notification is delayed by at least 45 seconds, which has had people in my livingroom by the time I receive notice on my phone; The charge of $7.99/mo and I only use the photo storage/notifications & live view, but no alarm (I don’t trust the alarm), is too expensive (imo); Technicians at Ecobee’s, they try. I’m looking into better cameras.  Note: I’m in Ontario, Canada