Reolink - Battery Video Doorbell

Don’t get the battery one. I bought it and returned it. It doesn’t have ONVIF, RTSP, or any of the things that would make integrate with HA or Scrypted, and the battery constantly goes dead even though I had it connected to my transformer. Just sucked all around for this purpose. I replaced it with the hardwired wi-fi version and it’s 100x better. I use it mostly with Scrypted and Homekit, but it is added to my HA instance as well. The difference in image quality is negligible to my eyes although the battery version did have a wider FOV.

Reolink battery version does not work with HA unless you also buy their DVR.

With 230v running through the chime and button (which sounds crazy to me) you could probably get away with using a Zigbee dry contact sensor like a Shelly for chime events. Anything else is going to require a transformer to step down to a “normal” level of 12-24 volts. The Reolink WiFi will work fine with this but won’t drive a mechanical chime. You have to use the one it came with. It also comes with a transformer, at least the US version does, (a small power brick) that you might be able to use the existing wiring in your wall for after it’s disconnected from the mains. That’s exactly what I did. My existing doorbell transformer wasn’t adequate so I just used the one that came with it instead. It came with a wireless chime that I use inside the house. The WiFi + battery version can drive a mechanical chime typical in USA applications but it sucks and doesn’t even work with HA anyway.

Thanks for asking this question as I’m looking into options. I think you’re actually asking about the battery doorbell or the wired variants (as they all have AI). As others have said the battery doorbell doesn’t have 24/7 recording, and has a wider 1:1 view. (P.s. I don’t fully understand the 24/7 recording so if someone wants to explain to me that would be great. Do we literally mean 24/7 recording, or does this enable the whole “the doorbell caught some movement so this video recording will also show 10 seconds before the event rather that showing after the event happened”?)

Great thank you! Thought as much… unfortunately we’re struggling with a few aspects that are making the battery doorbell more attractive: 1) very difficult to run wiring for PoE, I am going to try to look into a power cable at least 2) the doorbell is in a porch, and faces the sun so HDR is required and 3) a head to toe view is required. I think it looks like the battery doorbell is the best option…

Thanks for the information! Just need to look into if I can get a wire out now… I bought the battery one but the battery life is pretty poor (we’re talking days, forget months).

The battery doorbell cannot do 24/7 recording. The wired doorbells can. Both have the same AI detectors as far as I know. (But the wired black doorbell (landscape view) don't do packages detection the the white wired ones (portrait view) due to the different camera views. If you want 24/7 recording get the wired doorbells (wifi or poe), and if you want package detection get the wired white doorbell. If you don't care about 24/7 recording the battery should be fine

Were you able to integrate this into google home system to use their speakers as a chime ? I've been back and forward with Reolink support currently with this wifi battery doorbell as there doesn't seem to be any way to turn off sound notifications being sent through to the nest speakers within the house  for motion/people/packages etc unless you disable all push notifications for those items full stop which defeats the purpose of a doorbell giving you notifications when someone approaches.  The google doorbell works well by ringing when pressed and simply sending silent notifications to my phone if the postman walks to the front and just drops off a package without ringing the doorbell. This reolink doorbell however is currently just sending constant sound notifications for every motion.  I've even tried making all notifications " silent " which still doesn't help the situation. 

If I uncheck everything except visitor then when someone approaches the doorbell but doesn't press the button, the camera won't send me a push alert. Google does it well where it sends me the notification, but doesn't play a chime in the house. The only time it plays a chime is when someone actually pushed the doorbell. Reolink however is chiming on all alerts through the google hub. The only way as you mentioned is to turn off everything bar visitor in push schedule, but I want to get alerts when someone comes to the front door but doesn't press the doorbell.

Skip the ring, grab a [Reolink doorbell camera](https://amzn.to/42pUJsa) Has everything you need and zero subscriptions.   Wired (poe) is always best, but they have wifi versions as well.   Been using them for 10 years and extremely happy with Reolink.  Their other cameras blow ring out of the water, and they don't allow anyone you don't want to access your cameras, unlike ring with it's backdoor access.  

I just installed this camera. Learning a lot about the battery on here but have so many questions.  When I installed it was at 29% and maintained on a an 18v transformer, then the cold hit at -5°f and battery depleted quickly and I got a low battery alert.  I then popped the camera out, leaving the bell connected, used my Apple 35w USB charger, the bell gained zero charge in an hour.  I then disconnected the bell, brought inside, same charger and in about 10 hours it only made it to 55%.  Questions on the battery: Does disabling the mechanical chime allow the unit to pull more juice to stay fully charged? Can I leave the camera doorbell wiring on, and charge via USB-C at the same time? (Going to design a custom mount to better fit my situation, owning if I could hid a charge USB-C port in the bottom? What’s the absolute fastest way to charge this via USB-C?  Turn off, leave on, wattage, any other tips?

I created a new post to better understand the battery.  I moved the camera to my BaseUS USB-C charger and I appear to be now gaining over 10% an hour. 

I have a Reolink 2K Battery.  This does support mechanical chime.  Door bell is a battery base, but charged by your doorbell transformer. It steals enough juice to charge, but not activate the chime.  Chime works without issue. Videos sent to my NVR. I get the phone notifications. No subscriptions or fees. 

Reolink Doorbell Battery. Records to an SD card, battery lasts up to 5 months between charges, and you can wire it up later if you choose to

Reolink battery doorbell, It has apps for windows and Android. These are what I use, so I can't comment on other systems.

> RTSP one available still but the RTSP is still unstable and for the most part if you don't want frame skips you still need to use the flv stream for recording.

>Could you explain this more please The RTSP feed (at least with current firmware) loses / skips frames it isn't smooth. https://docs.frigate.video/configuration/camera_specific#reolink-cameras I record off the primary stream using the FLV stream, and only use the RTSP for TWO WAY audio support. streams: doorbell: #Reolink Doorbell - ffmpeg:http://192.168.103.6/flv?port=1935&app=bcs&stream=channel0_main.bcs&user=admin&password={FRIGATE_RTSP_PASSWORD}#video=copy#audio=copy#audio=opus doorbell_sub: #Reolink Doorbell - rtsp://admin:{FRIGATE_RTSP_PASSWORD}@192.168.103.6:554/Preview_01_sub - ffmpeg:doorbell_sub#audio=opus # transcodes audio to opus for webrtc compatibility

As a warning **there are currently 3 DIFFERENT Doorbells**, only the POE and WiFi ones can be used DIRECTLY with Home assistant. - Reolink Video Doorbell PoE - Reolink Video Doorbell WiFi - Reolink Video Doorbell (Battery) The Reolink Video Doorbell (Battery) can't DIRECTLY be used with home assistant. It does NOT have direct RTSP support. The other two can.

I'm having an issue with this thing charging. It randomly charges the battery and it doesn't do it often enough so the battery just dies. I even lowered all my setting to the lowest to reduce battery life and it's still not charging the thing fast enough. I even upgraded my doorbell transformer from 10v to 24v and it helped a little but still not enough. My next step is to redo the wiring to some better ones. If that doesn't work I'm throwing the doorbell away.

I have a Reolink one which runs on battery so doesn't need to be wired into the mains which is a plus. Had it ~8 weeks and still have 50% battery from first charge. Recharges by USB which is handy. Has an internal SD card, playback is better over WiFi than data but works fine over data. No subscription required. 

I am having similar charging issues. It gained like 1 or 2% overnight, on the bell wiring. Does the USB connection charge it more quickly on yours? It is slow as f\* on mine. It's been on a charger for like an hour and hasn't even gained 1% yet.

I stuck it on a 100W fast charger, which got it up to 20% in like an hour, but now seems to be stuck. If it doesn't move to 100% over night, it's going back.

Just checking back in. I finally found a charger that was able to get the doorbell up to 100%. Now to try it out by the door again....

So, even after charging to 100%, my battery still doesn't last more than a day. I don't think the trickle charging from the bell transformer actually works. I even put a new one in that is the max supported voltage/amperage, and it still just drains away through the day. I've got PIR turned off now to see if that helps.

I'm still working through it it managed to charge off the bell circuit, but only after I disabled the PIR sensor. That let it last a few days, but it eventually dropped down past 10%. Since I only started at 24%, I've got it hooked up over USB now. I'll post back after I know more.

I am getting slammed by the cold weather as well. I just pulled my doorbell inside this morning, as it was not charging outside. Answers: You can disable the mechanical chime and charge, but it doesn't seem to gain you anything. It just won't chime the bell. I'm not sure about charging while on the chime wire. I was attempting that yesterday, but it was so cold that I can't say for certain that it was the chime wire preventing it from charging.On it You CANNOT charge the bell over USB-C chargers. You MUST have it hooked up to a USB-A charger that supplies no more than 2V to get it to charge.

I installed two battery doorbells at my house. Installation was very easy, and I am very happy with the video, as well as being able to use my traditional doorbell chime. What I am not happy about is learning that you need their home hub for recording. All of my other reolink cameras we're fairly easy to hook up to QVR Pro for recording on my NAS. I think it's a real Mistake by Reolink, which seems to be very popular in the DIY community, to make a product that requires proprietary equipment to work fully. While I am disappointed, in my case I also installed a dome camera at the front door, and a Duo 3 at our garage door to get wider coverage, so I will be able to record from those. But for anyone who is hoping to use this product with a nas, be aware you are out of luck.

OK, but I guess that means my hopes of a firmware upgrade to fix the issue are not realistic. I may break down and just buy some SD cards. Just wanted it all centralized with my NAS, which is working out great for the wired cameras. I have had no trouble getting that up and running, but it does mean I have to switch back and forth between the reolink app and the qvr app if they are not consolidated. But thanks for your reply, now I understand the issue and at least I won't be holding my breath for a fix

I've got a bunch of reolink cameras, almost all running on POE to a ubiquiti setup then to a larger ups. I have their wifi doorbell battery camera too because I have one door (commercial glass) and nowhere to run wires (leased space). It's been great tbh. Specially compared to the nest battery door bell I had before. Battery lasts much longer and i can actually answer the device before ppl leave unlike the nest.

I wish I knew this b4 I purchased the battery version! I thought since it would be powered w the 24V doorbell wire, it would work like the others. Nope. And I'm not buying the proprietary hub thing. So just recording to internal SD. Really too bad because the camera looks better than the wifi I have on another door.

The poe and plug-in wifi models come with a chime whilst the battery model does not. Part of the reason for that is the battery model is likely to be used with an existing chime mechanism, however you can purchase a chime if required.

Vehicle detection was added to the black/white plug-in wifi or poe doorbell models in a firmware update in November 2024 and animal detection in March 2025. So that crosses out one of your differences. The lack of chime with battery model is on the assumption you will be re-using an existing mechanical chime & wiring when trickle charging. Otherwise you can add a Reolink chime. You will also notice a significant difference in costs between the plug-in and battery doorbells once you add the chime to the battery model. Note the battery model has a better field of view [https://reolink.com/product/reolink-video-doorbell-wifi/#compare](https://reolink.com/product/reolink-video-doorbell-wifi/#compare) If the doorbell is your only camera in the door area, the ability to do 24x7 recording is a massive advantage. You don't need to go poe for continuous recording, the plug-in wifi model also does that. So if you can get power to the door area and don't mind losing an existing chime then I'd recommend a powered doorbell over the battery model. Any of the doorbell models are compatible with a Home Hub or nvr, but of course only the plug-in/poe models support continuous recording to either sdcard and/or hub/nvr.

Right now I have a reolink battery doorbell thing drains faster than hell and only lasts 6 days. Returning sucks since it's good at detecting

I would use the Reolink POE if you can swing it, otherwise use the Reolink battery one...

The Wifi version is part of the battery one. I went with the POE version because it was easy to setup POE from where my switch was to where my doorbell was, and then I knew I would get a solid stable connection...

This one arrived for me about 3 days ago and I will return it. 1. Just now I realized it does not support RTSP, ONVIF... 2. Will not continuously record video, not even plugged in. 3. By the time the camera detects a person or a movement until it fires up and start to record you lost a few movements from that person already, since I live in a apartment complex, that means however pass by my door triggers the camera but it will not record the person because He/She is gone already. Potentially someone can steal an amazon package and don't be recorded at all. 4. Its receives very little power when connected to AC that when you are live streaming the video it will drain power from the battery so you can not connect to HA and make it live stream 24/7 (my goal) because you will run out of battery. Good Things 1. the 1:1 aspect ration is amazing and with a 165º field of view Horizontally and vertically you can see a lot. if you 3D print a base angled down a little bit you can see any amazon package at your door step. 2. The image quality is amazing. 3. Sound quality is also amazing.

You can monitor live, watch recordings of triggered events and get push notifications of events via the phone app with no subscription. All you have to do is install and register it. I have 2, a battery and a doorbell wiring powered one. Love them both. The view from the doorbell powered one is better but the other is not bad. Top is battery powered. https://preview.redd.it/h5xajerkafwe1.jpeg?width=1063&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=78ca628a28be088f966d3d4334f465f46604084b

I'm a fan of Reolink. Their battery powered one has head to toe viewing plus package detection built in. I also like that it supports RTSP/Onvif so you are not isolated to their app and can integrate into home assistant in the future if you wanted. https://m.reolink.com/us/product/reolink-doorbell-battery/ edit: the linked battery powered one does not support RTSP/ONVIF unless you go with the HomeHub model. If you don't need battery powered the standard WiFi or POE support RTSP/ONVIF without issue. https://reolink.com/us/product/reolink-video-doorell-battery-hub-kit/

\+1 for the Reolink PoE doorbell, I love mine. The Reolink battery one also stores to local MicroSD.

Specifically the Reolink Battery Doorbell, if you want a doorbell. It has no subscriptions, has all the alerts you could want, local storage so it can record even without Wifi, and it's not crazy expensive. If you already have a wired doorbell, even better - you can wire it directly into that and use that for the chime. If you would prefer a more capable and versatile camera, the Argus Pro 4 is ideal. Super wide range of vision, comes with a solar panel so no need to ever charge it, and has all of the features of the doorbell except package detection and chime compatibility. It's not exactly cheap though.

If you can possibly manage the wiring, Reolink PoE is easily the best value performance/dollar and among the better choices overall. Pick the black model if you want landscape picture, or the white model if you want portrait picture and package detection. If PoE is out of the question due to wiring, the Reolink battery WiFi version (portrait only from memory) has the same performance but is more expensive. Pair with a Reolink Hub for the easiest out of the box solution, but can be used standalone with just an SD card. Either option is fully local out of the box, and the Reolink integration is probably the most complete and comprehensive camera integration available in Home Assistant, and it has heaps of options for customisation with automations.

>I was set on the G4 Pro but seems like Reolink is heavily preferred here. Not only is the Reolink doorbell less than 1/3rd of the price of the G4 Pro, but in side-by-side comparison the Reolink also has better picture quality in every scenario. The only sensible reason for choosing the Unifi doorbell is if you already have a bunch of Unifi cameras.

Oh okay. I tried the Reolink battery doorbell, but wasn't happy with it. My issue with it was, that I use Alexa in my home and chimes and video intercoms. The Reolink would take forever to load, where the Tapo works much quicker. I do however use the Reolink security cameras around my home with the NVR, and for that, they're perfect for me. If you want to go with the Reolink, look into the [Home Hub](https://www.amazon.com/REOLINK-Home-Hub-Expandable-Encryption/dp/B0CZRS318K) for recordings, it's much cheaper than the NVR

Yes, I'm pretty happy with the Tapo. The Reolink for some reason, took over a minute to notify my phone that a person was detected. But on r/reolinkcam most people seem to be happy with theirs though.

Depends on what you value. I've used both and I chose the battery version for 2 reasons. The fact that it has a larger vertical field of view and can therefore see the foot of the door better for packages (although I still wish it could see more). Second is the fact that it can ring my old mechanical chime. I'm a huge proponent of 24/7 recording and would normally say that that's the most important thing, but I already have a POE cam watching the front of my house and recording 24/7. If I didn't have that then 24/7 would be the most important thing and I would use one of the powered doorbells instead. If you don't have any 24/7 cameras watching that area, then that should be your #1 priority.

Agreed. They've told me that they plan to come out with a dual lens doorbell camera, but that was like over a year ago, so who knows what the status of it is. The battery doorbell has been a good alternative for me in the meantime since it has 150° vertical FOV. The current doorbells are about to be 3 years old in October, so it's definitely time for a refresh.

Had the battery version installed - the experience was awful. Ripped it out and installed the Wi-Fi version.

Very slow to detect a person and notify me. The view for package detection directly under the camera (1m) does not exist. Package detection was a very low hit rate. The Battery only version does not interface with Home Assistant without a separate Reolink Hub (not their regular NVRs). If possible, I would suggest the POE version if you can get an ethernet (Cat 5e ok) there. Otherwise, get the Wi-Fi version if you have a regular doorbell wiring to a transformer there.

I’m having issues where everyday it goes down 1% of battery. It’s hard wired into the transformer and chime. My home is a new construction home too. It doesn’t even get that many motion triggered weekly or daily to drain battery. I get a motion event maybe twice a week at most. So I don’t know what the issue is. I really love the video quality compared to their old WiFi version, and would prefer to keep it and not go back to the older model. But I can see it can be annoying if I have to remove it once every other month to charge it and re-install it.

I reached out to support and they also mentioned something about the PIR sensor as well. I think it is at default, which is 100, maxed out. I’m not sure. I’ll try what you recommended and disable the PIR sensor for a full day and not go into the app to see if it goes back to 90-100%. What would you recommend for the level of the PIR sensitivity? I was thinking as a Plan B to get those plug in 24V wall adapter and run it through to the doorbell or a long USB-C cable. I really love the doorbell and wouldn’t want to get something else so I’ve been searching for alternative solutions so I can keep using their doorbell.

I'll run some tests and give that a try, it's just crazy with this doorbell and the trickle charging. their other battery and solar panel cameras don't have this issue with PIR being maxed out, but the trickle charging is killing this product.

at first, I thought it was the transformer and chime, so I bought a new one, 24v 40 vac, same with chime. that didn't fix it, so I thought it was the wiring since I wired it straight from the existing wires instead of using their included wires, so I changed it and used theirs, and that didn't fix it. so now I guess it's just PIR and trickle charging combo that I need to figure out. that, or plan b and run a USB c cable in there or some wall plug adapter.

But I would hold on the Reolink Battery. I have it and it has some issues that I can’t recommend yet. Mainly the motion sensor sensitivity vs battery consumption.

Aside from asking for features that don't exist such as your preference in battery (that wouldn't even fit in the device). I like my Reolink. It's available in battery wireless and POE.

I'm a fan of Reolink, but the problem with all wireless doorbells is 99.9999% bad wifi.

I have this, but I’m unable to get this working with my existing mechanical chime here in the Uk. Has any one been able to get this working with an existing mechanical chime with the recommended DC voltage?

It seems if you buy the reolink one with hub you can maximise the battery life because it uses its own protocol to communicate with the hub rather than WiFi. This supposedly uses less power. TP link have one in China (TL-DB54H) that claims a massive battery time, but I don't think this will work on a local app. It claims 130 days.

I have recently made the switch from Eufy to Reolink and found that the integration with Home Assistant is far easier and stable for my simple needs. You do appear to need the hub. I have the Reolink battery doorbell (with hub) which is working great and now thinking about some solar cameras and if I can get some cabling sorted even POE. I would love to have a POE doorbell but making those kinds of changes to property not possible.

Makes sense. Was also looking at the tapo d225. Just ordered the battery reolink version. I’m sure it will be a lot better

Does it record when someone is walking up? Was also looking at getting them a reolink

The Reolink Video Doorbell WiFi (battery model) is another good pick. Local microSD recording, RTSP support, and no subscription needed. They’ve got a compatible solar panel, but any panel that outputs 5V/2A via USB-C should technically work. You might need to mod a cable or grab an adapter to use your existing panel.

The battery ones are working just with the reolink hub

If just tried, while setting up the camera and found out it's not possible to hook up with HA directly from the doorbell. Might just keep it with the Google Chime for now. See: [https://support.reolink.com/hc/en-us/articles/900000621783-How-to-Set-up-Reolink-Ports-Settings/](https://support.reolink.com/hc/en-us/articles/900000621783-How-to-Set-up-Reolink-Ports-Settings/) Should have done more research instead of the blunt assumption.

The battery one doesn't come with a chime though, since it can use the existing chime wiring. That's how I installed it.

I added the doorbell to Google Home so I could use my Hubs as a chime, but there's a lag of several minutes. I blame Google for this. My Nest Doorbell experienced delays as well, which is why I switched to Reolink among other things. The Reolink Doorbell is much quicker with notifications with about 3 sec delay. Very good for a battery doorbell I gather.

Wireless Reolink. Just using FTP and homeassistat though I could do a lot more with it.

The reolink just has an option on it's web interface to upload footage when something happens to an FTP server. So I just installed an FTP server on the NAS. Homeassitant also has support for reolink stuff as well so live footage is just visible on my homeassistant dashboard.

[https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CYGVPLLT?ref=ppx\_yo2ov\_dt\_b\_fed\_asin\_title](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CYGVPLLT?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title) Reolink 2k with ratio of 1:1 for full view.. normally $145 for the battery one, but they are selling for $22 off right now. I have 5 of their security cameras all over my house and they work great.

I just bought mine yesterday and has a 1:1 ratio.. they have a few options out there. This is their 2k version that goes for $145 but they are doing $22 off right now. [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CYGVPLLT?ref=ppx\_yo2ov\_dt\_b\_fed\_asin\_title](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CYGVPLLT?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title)

I recently got a Reolink battery doorbell along with an NVR. I have many PoE cameras as well. The battery doorbell has been good so far. It’s taking a little time to fine tune the settings (person/car/package detection, sensitivity, etc.) but I like it. The camera view does look like a fisheye lense. If I didn’t have the NVR, the doorbell can record to a local microSD card. No subscriptions needed.

I just got one yesterday but I have to stick to the battery as I have no way of getting power to a doorbell. Wonder how long its going to last, took an age to charge it yesterday and it's at 96% now.

Battery model needs the additional hub, fyi

Unsure but the battery one absolutely does. I bought it not knowing, returned it.

So just to confirm, I can buy the 2k wifi version, this can be wired in with my existing wiring that I’m using for the nest hello and then use the SD card for storage?

Perfect thanks We’re getting there So, I’m going to pull the trigger just now on the reolink 2k wifi doorbell. I’ll sort out a 256gb card for it Cameras wise, I could see from my post the other day that there was some negativity towards using a bundled kit. I’ve been hovering around a Costco bundle which is currently a hundred quid off and uses the P334 cameras which (according to Costco) are legit cameras AND have the SD card slots! SO Would I still be able to run the config you’ve suggested with the PoE switch? Is there any limitations cos I’m using Costco reolink bundle? Still not entirely sure if I can rotate the image 90 degrees if I mount those cams on a vertical wall to look down the side of the house. Some say you can, others claim you can’t. Some even say it’s not required, as the whole camera lens itself can turn to point the right way. Never thought this would be so tasking but have to get it right I guess.

FWIW I just made the move from a Gen 1 Nest Hello to the 2K wifi Reolink yesterday. Everything works as it should. I have it linked to my Google Home for notifications via my minis and my hub. I also have it hooked up to Blue Iris recording 24/7 locally in addition to whatever the SD is recording. My 24 hour review of the WiFi doorbell is that it is excellent and presents tremendous value. The internal battery on my Nest was failing after 5 years and the cost of the Reolink was about the same as a 1 year subscription to Nest but I get way more functionality from the Reolink.

Yes. Make sure the one you get comes with the wireless chime, although I think they all do at this point. I didn't have to remove my Nest chime wiring either. I just installed the Reolink and plugged the wireless chime into the wall and it worked.

The clips are indeed 5 mins long, so a bit different than the Nest setup. However you do still get 24/7 recording albeit in the 5 min chunks. You can sort by notification (person, car, button press) to help narrow down which specific clip you are looking for. I don't find the 5 min clips to be a deal breaker at all. I have the doorbell recording 24/7 to my non Reolink NVR so I can go through that if I feel the need to. As long as the notifications work reliably and the video works then I'm more than happy. I've got 3 other cameras near the front door, all with much better resolution than the doorbell.

My simple reolink doorbell works with two way audio. The doorbell is connected to Frigate, and frigate is integrated in home assistant. As an added bonus, you also get an NVR with cool object recognition, and you can trigger automations based on that

Reolink unless you already have a unifi protect console. I swapped from amcrest to unifi, it wasn't really needed but I wanted the finger print reader.

Reolink was already recommended but I’m here to second it. You can do local storage on your own wifi or store video in an sd card in the camera. Got it because I didn’t want a subscription and wanted exclusive access to the video, not stored on someone else’s servers

In the middle of ditching nest for Reolink as well. Done with nest after their last price increase to Aware. Reolinks are recoding to the SD card, as well as a QNAP NAS in the house. And using scrypted to pipe things to Apple HomeKit to have events still recorded in the cloud (you know, in case the bad guys steal the camera and the NAS). Google Nest can kick rocks.

All Google Assistant doorbells do this. Open Google Home app, go to live view for the doorbell, ‘…’ icon top right, Settings, then turn on Voice Announcements. It explains exactly what what this option does on that page, which is produce visitor announcements on GA speakers which of course includes the Google Home Mini. Not really sure what the point of “proving” this is but here are some screenshots of this setting for the Reolink doorbell. It works exactly as OP wants, ie chime on a Google Home Mini when the doorbell button is pressed. https://preview.redd.it/ljjk8i5ddp8e1.jpeg?width=2358&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7adfd732599ad20e40fb70566a177af3b821aac0 I also have Arlo and Aosu doorbells on other properties which work in exactly the same way, also chiming to one or more Google Home Minis. This has worked for many years.

Same. I made my Reolink doorbell HKSV compatible via Scrypted, but the Reolink randomly croaked this week. Decided to try the G410 cause of native HKSV, but now the G400 seems like a more reliable option, even though it's a lower model? Who the heck makes a doorbell that's not fully weather resistant? I want an HKSV doorbell that works with my existing doorbell wiring that is reliable. That's it. Maybe Apple will make one eventually.

Home Assistant + Frigate & my Reolink Doorbell do this perfectly.

Home Assistant is a smart home platform which handles the UI of all that stuff. Frigate is the NVR software that the camera connects to. I get doorbell press events, 2 way audio etc. All while the Reolink doorbell only has LAN access and is connected via HTTP FLV and RTSP/ONVIF.

Reolink would be the best option. Eufy is ok but they don't integrate well with third party smart home systems.

We have REOLINK. The cameras constantly record and the file is saved to a computer in our home for two weeks. (We can change it to whatever, but that seemed like the best compromise for space requirements.). We initially had a Ring, but it was frustrating that it would start recording as someone walked away from the door.

Feels like I'm the lone warrior here recommending Tapo 😅 I have the D235, and it's great. It does cover head to toe, but you need to be strategic with placing it to ensure it covers the toe area you need. I like the ring-to-call feature — instead of just a notification, I get an actual phone call. A doorbell press is important, so I think a call demands immediate attention, unlike a pop-up that you might miss. The lag is mimimal - it was the fastest among the ones i compared (Eufy e340 and Reolink). I did a similar test like you've done - i bought all three and returned the Eufy and Reolink. Reolink seems to have a lot of fans but it performed so poorly compared to the Tapo. It was significantly laggy and the app was bad. Tapo's app is so much more refined and polished. A few reasons I didn't go with Eufy are 1. No 24x7 recording (You'll need it sometimes if you don’t have a dedicated camera in the front) 2. No RTSP support and 3. Eufy has a history of lying about it's encryption. You can read about it online

If you're buying a Reolink doorbell, here is a tip that isn't immediately obvious. The camera sensor orientation is different based on the color of the doorbell you select. If you get a white doorbell, the sensor is in a portrait orientation and can do package detection. If it is a black doorbell, the sensor is in landscape orientation and it doesn't do package detection.

Spot on. I switched from Nest. Best move I made. Excellent HA integration and very fast. I get 4.5 days of continuous on the SD card in the camera and 6 on the NVR.

I have no problem with the reolink app. It works and is pretty straightforward. It usesy Synology as an NVR which is great. I haven't done much with it inside HA so far.

This is why I bought reolink for our doorbell. It works really good and the chime is pretty loud

Sure. I'd recommend get Reolink doorbell, and then connecting it to their first party NVR solution or something like Frigate or BlueIris.

*I'm looking for a doorbell that is connected to an electrical outlet/electricity and that also has battery as a backup in case there is a power outage.* *This doorbell should be connected to wifi and should also have 4g/5g as a backup in case the wifi stops working due to, for example, a power outage.* These are problems to solve on your infrastructure side. My Reolink can do all of those because it's PoE, on a UPS and my router has WAN failover to 5G.

I mean it's be silly to have my switch on UPS but not the router and modem, yes the whole rack is battery backed. *Can the reolink units be accessed directly via ip* Yes they also work well with the HA plugin.

I'm just using a third party NVR with my Reolink doorbell and it's working fine. I installed it the other day, I haven't yet found out how to make the notification of the doorbell more prominent on my Android phone.

I am not sure about the Google compatible part ... But all my IP cameras have worked without issue in extreme cold temperatures. -55 F is probably the coldest I've seen where I reside. But over the last 15 years really no issues. Current doorbell is a Reolink but I have used other brands in the past. So what I am saying is just get what's best for your situation... I'm pretty sure it will work.

Reolink has been great. Never tried Ubiquiti. Would love to know what makes Ubiquiti worth the cost difference. I can still return my Reolink.

Another vote +1 for Reolink and Scrypted. Been rock solid for years. This combo gives you two way audio, phone alerts, Picture in Picture on the ATV, doorbell notifications on HomePods, etc.

I have the Aqara G410 and it integrates super easily with HomeKit. I used to have a Reolink doorbell and had to mess around with Home Assistant to get it working with HomeKit, but the G410 just works out of the box. One nice bonus is that the G410 also acts as a hub if you ever want to add more Aqara gear later. Since you already have an Apple TV, that will serve as your Thread border router, so you can still access and control everything in the Home app even when you are away from home.

Hardwire to my existing doorbell, work perfect with home assistant, only complain I have is that when paired with home assistant I don’t get the sensors in home assistant for person detection, doorbell press, etc. my replink was really good with that.

Most compatible with HA replink for sure, most compatible with HomeKit, aqara g410, I switched my replink to aqara for my doorbell because I never got the 2 way audio to work, I moved the reolink doorbell to the garage, as a camera or perfect but for the rest of the family and notification and HomeKit, I prefer aqara. Is not perfect but is better

Pretty much the only realistic option is the reolink doorbell, but for this kind of functionality don't go with battery. None will support the exact same 'call' style notification through home assistant that you'd get with their own apps. The home assistant app doesn't have call functionality built in. You can however enable 2 way audio, on mine I setup an actionable notification on doorbell press that takes me to the doorbell dashboard page with the mic already loaded to reduce connection times

Definitely loving my reolink doorbells, can't recommend them enough. For the mechanical chime I'd suggest using an esp32 with esphome and an automation to ring it on doorbell press

Reolink cameras do not need a subscription. The function beautifully without it and in fact if you add their NVR or home hub it even makes less sense to get a subscription. The cameras can also record directly to FTP for example if you have an Nas setup pretty much anywhere in the world. Very versatile cameras with great performance. I've had the doorbell for about a year and a half now and it's been excellent. The beautiful thing about it as well is it has Wi-Fi and Poe options built into the same device. Presently using it with Wi-Fi but this summer I'm going to use its Poe capabilities.

Reolink is fantastic

reolink. super easy as seen here [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qLFyVCi4ck](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qLFyVCi4ck) can connect to a NVR for 24/7 recordings

reolink. super easy as seen here [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qLFyVCi4ck](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qLFyVCi4ck) can connect to a NVR for 24/7 recordings

reolink. super easy as seen here [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qLFyVCi4ck](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qLFyVCi4ck) can connect to a NVR for 24/7 recordings

Reolink (or literally any other smart doorbell) and Home Assistant. Mine announce (over my Google Homes) which doorbell has been pressed and even a quick summary of who is at the door too ;-)

.. Because the sods started to charge the earth for using it. Bye nest hello reolink.

No worries shame as nest was good at one point but swapping to reolink paid for itself in no time given there's no need for a subscription

> Reolink, the only negative is they're not all compatible with mechanical chimes, the workaround is to set up a cheap esp32 with the chime connected to the gpio so you can use an automation to trigger the chime indirectly. That’s what I’ve done, though there’s a delay of a second or so. and I also get it to send a grab of the camera to my phone and watch at the same time.

I’ve just got the Reolink (swapped from a gen 1 Nest), it’s hard wired and I have it recording to a SD card 24/7. The notifications are spot on, it sends a picture and the person is always in it (so far!). It doesn’t do the face recognition like the Nest though

Also transferred from Ring. Generally it's an acceptable replacement for the cost. I'm fine with the change. Here are the downsides I experienced I couldn't get it to work with my existing doorbell chime and had to use the supplied chime. My ring worked with the existing doorbell fine. The sensitivity had to be cranked way down to stop getting false positive notifications. I cant seem to get the detection zone to ignore cars driving down my street well. It's not that intuitive a thing to tune There's no way to snooze notifications in the app like the ring app has when like someone is mowing the lawn and continually triggering alerts

For what it’s worth, the problem is not scrypted. The problem is ring due to its cloud based stream. HomeKit native will obviously be much better but something like Reolink or Amcrest doorbell will work much better with scrypted as they both support ONVIF and RTSP which are local feeds.

\+1 to the Reolink. Has an excellent integration and has been really reliable for me so far.

Reolink can be stored locally. If you set up your netwerk correctly it’s also safe

Reolink is basically plug and play with an NVR, but if you’re worried about privacy, you need more knowledge to set up VLANs

The only thing that might be needed additionally would be a home hub IF you want to be notified in the home without carrying your phone with you. The home hub functions as a "chime". It also acts as another sd-card expansion.

Interesting. Mine didn't come with a chime.

I went from Logi Circle View to the Unifi POE doorbell and it’s been a game changer. Took some work to get the wiring right, but it’s incredibly reliable. I’m done with WiFi cameras, so my vote is Reolink.

This isn't directly helpful but I refuse to have any Ring products in my home. The whole using my doorbell to give the police my own footage without my permission really turned me off from ever using ring, despite them ending it at some point.  I use Reolink based on a ton of recommendations and I'm incredibly happy that I went with Reolink. 

This isn't directly helpful but I refuse to have any Ring products in my home. The whole using my doorbell to give the police my own footage without my permission really turned me off from ever using ring, despite them ending it at some point.  I use Reolink based on a ton of recommendations and I'm incredibly happy that I went with Reolink. 

I tried one of the reolink models but decided to return it and wait for this new model that supports mechanical chimes since I have all of that wiring. I did connect it to protect over onvif and it really worked fine. I will said I liked how much more responsive the reolink was to doorbell presses and also usable 2 way conversations.

Reolink. Hands down.

Doorbell works perfectly fine with Frigate. I've had mine going for 2+ years. There were some reolink issues historically (and I've had some issues with my Duo 2) but the doorbell is not an issue in Frigate or BI.

Eufy is not intergrated by default, you need to install the eufy addon for intergration. I had a battery doorbell and it can trigger automations (has binairy sensors). The doorbell i had was a bit slow on updating the sensors in HA, and the live stream was not working (p2p). The doorbell i had was supported by the addon. Not all eufy devices are supported by the addon. Look into the addon if your doorbell is supported: https://github.com/fuatakgun/eufy_security. For great intergration with homeassistant i advice to buy reolinks doorbell, got that recently and it has a platinum intergration on HA, and it all works great :-). Good luck on the doorbell journey Edit: I dont recall having any settings for the chime with eufy. Again Here, Reolink can do this in HA intergration.

The only real reason to go with Amcrest over Reolink is that Amcrest can integrate with an existing doorbell chime. It sounds like that isn't a requirement for you so Reolink would be the way to go.

This! Love all my Reolink gear

Same here. Zero complaints. I also block it from internet access and have no issues at all.

I've got reolink poe cameras and very happy with them. Whenever my ring doorbell breaks I'm getting the reolink doorbell.

Negative. I have the reolink doorbell and record everything locally to my synology. I don't use their cloud, no subscription, no other Reolink gear. I really like the doorbell. The feature set is nice and it was very easy to set up.

I just replaced my dead Nest doorbell with a Reolink doorbell. The video quality isn't quite as good, and I don't get the names of the people at the door, but the doorbell was under $100 and no $80 annual subscription. And honestly, I overall like it better. Announces Announces vehicle motion detection on all my Google Home devices. I can view it on my phone or Chromecast or Nest hub. No complaints!

Doorbell cameras have, generally, been shown to not really have any impact on package thefts because, by and large, that kind of property crime isn't generally investigated by overworked and underfunded police departments. IMO, Reolink is probably the best/easiest/most affordable combination for HA, and can work 100% local if it's not battery-powered. But odds are it won't really make much of a difference.

With Reolink? When did they add Apple compatibility? I have mine hacked together through scrypted to work on the Apple TV but is it native now?

Nothing but issues with mine (WiFi + battery) with and without the home hub.

Reolink all day every day. Works great with HA and doesn't require a subscription, and doesn't save to their cloud by default. I don't think I even set up a Reolink account at any point.

I have two Reolink doorbells and I’m completely happy with them. They’re not HK compatible out of the box but they integrate perfectly well through HA.

Reolink only reliably manages one steam at a time which means if you have it popping up on more than one device when the bell rings it can be hard to open it to answer, meaning you have to go to the door. I use a Reolink doorbell but operated under a policy of it only gets connected via my phone

I'm connected to ch.52 (DFS) on my reolink doorbell.

I have a Reo-link camera above the door and it detects motion and notifies me with Home Assistant Server. I can get to the door before the delivery guy can set down the package. If you have the speaker version you can talk to them and tell the sales people to go away.

That’s what I’m using, too. Zero issues.

I have gone through 3 Logitech circle cameras. Not doorbell. They all broke and they weren’t cheap. My doorbell is a Reolink 2K that has a much better image than the Logitech ones. I run Scrypted to get it in HomeKit for automations.

I just switched from Nest doorbell (slow, cloud based, contains a non-replaceable battery that fails after a few years, and worst yet is the disaster of Google software…) to Reolink. I think it meets all your requirements … had it for a few weeks and really liking it.

\+1 It has an SD Card slot and can also stream on the popular protocols to a local server/NAS Edit: Oh one thing you may not expect is that it comes with a wireless chime you plug in to an outlet. This is because the low voltage line doesn't have enough power to run the reolink and the traditional bell on your wall. It has a dozen or so "ring tones" to pick from though so that's kinda cool and adjustable volume.

Reolink for sure

I think the newer cameras are more flexible. I'm using my doorbell and the floodlight duo with frigate to record 24x7 and it's working fine. But I have heard of incompatibilities in some cases

I have the white doorbell and can see packages in live view and playback, but my camera has not identified one package. I switched from a standalone (Vivint doorbell camera with 180-degree FOV). It had no problem picking up packages, and images were clearer. Everything else is better with the Reolink doorbell camera.

It’s not good, especially in low light.

Reolink products are solid, I currently use there wifi products

Watch Youtube LifeHackster reviews of Reolinnk cams including their doorbell cam models, POE, wired wifi and battery. The wired versions cannot use existing chimes, they use a plug in one that comes with the cam. Also Reolink does not have pics with notifications, just text, but you can buy an app the adds that if you want called Pushover for $5. You can recod to card in the camera, no subscription. For advanced recordings you could buy the Home Hub or an NVR.

My doorbell cam does not have very many false alerts. In top post "welcome to the official..." there's a section how to reduce false alerts, helps a lot to turn off "others" in recording and notification schedules.

I use reolink and like them. I probably would have gone with Unifi if I had known about them when I dis my setup.

Reolink doorbell is solid, been working reliably for about a year no issues. Regularly updated firmware (they just added hdr for example). But I've not tried any others to compare it to.

Reolink is the best one in my opinion. No subscription no account.

Is your router on ups too? Pretty sure my reolink unit has battery built in and connected via a doorbell transformer. So that covers the power loss. WiFi connection? tick. 4g/5g? Not sure if I need that. Can the reolink units be accessed directly via ip? That way as long as you are local you should be fine.

Same. Reolink is sharper and higher nitrate, but the HDR on the Nest was better. Still perfectly functional though, and now I don't have to pay any subscription fees or worry about Google killing it off some day.

My Reolink has been great. Finally got some smart switches and it was simple to set up an automation to turn on the porch lights if my doorbell detects a person. No fiddling even for a super novice. 

The reolink doorbells come with a chime. It's wireless but not hooked into the smart home world per se so i wouldn't say you're relying on your smart home any more than any other non smart wireless doorbell

I agree having an old school chime is the most reliable. I think a lot of new homes don't even come with that wiring, and a lot of old homes have lost it over the years (my 100-year old home had the transformer but everything downstream of that was gone).

And even the reolinks that come with the chime, if you have a front and back door bell, they can't share the chimes, so you have to have two of them. Stupid design imo.

This is why I went with Reolink after everyone else started charging a subscription fee

Id like to say this isnt the case for other manufacturers, but it has become so. My friend and i both got doorbells around the same time, he went with eufy, i went with reolink. Both started out great with native notifications. Both of us, at different unrelated times, noticed a delay in notifications. It got better, then worse, then better, then worse. I think its just Eufy/Reolink/whatever manufacturer you use balancing their AWS subscription. They obviously dont want to pay for more than what they need, so as more users jump on board they have to incrementally upgrade resources to cope. I solved the issue on my end by using homeassistant to provide the notifications instead when someone presses the doorbell, so now the server sending push notifications is my own, and only handles my notifications. I also have it push a live feed to every home assistant tablet in the house so you dont have to get your phone out if you are home. My friend is waiting for Eufy to expose visitor detection/doorbell press with homeassistant, but they seem to have abandoned the homeassistant integration. I hope they revive it oneday and add support for triggers like that. Then to add insult to injury, Google updated android, AND apple updated IOS, (about 6 months ago?) to prevent "network broadcasts" for apps that dont have the permission granted. But, no app had the permission granted, because the permission didn't exist before.. The long and short of that is, when you are at home on your wifi (or connected via a VPN), the feed gets routed via AWS servers anyway instead of connecting directly. A bunch of us found that the fix for ios and android is to just remove and reinstall the app, and grant everything. Now everyones load times after they hit the notification have gone from 15+ seconds to about 3 seconds. It effected Eufy and Reolink, probably others. I think ring routes the feed via AWS regardless. Sorry for the long comment lol

Reolink

Nope I bought a 4 pack of their new e330s had to return all 4 , switched to reolink way better

Yes I have my reo link doorbell in frigate. No voice response yet though I just haven’t really worked on it

Do yourself a huge favor and buy a Reolink.

I have a Reolink one, swapped from Ring about a year ago and never looked back. Like you I refused to pay the subscription and it wouldn't let me hook it up to a nas drive so I binned it. Compared to the Ring camera Reolink is far better response time meaning I can actually answer remotely when someone presses the bell. The app is a little basic compared to the features in ring, but still functional. You can add an SD card to give you playback rather than paying for their cloud, or you can point it at a nas drive locally if you're a bit more tech inclined

Reolink, I also added it to annke nvr to record. Flawless

I switched from Ring to Reolink. I have all video saved locally and I can pass it through Frigate for really good AI detection. It also integrates perfectly with Home Assistant. You can get their NVR to make this simple. My switch started because I had a package stolen and the Ring camera didn’t show it for some reason.

Powered wifi cams for doorbells plus POE. This is Reolink. For Ring my doorbells were battery powered plus a bunch of wifi cams.

Well for my folks I actually went Reolink. They get some criticism but I didn’t need a top of the line system, just something that worked with no extra monthly costs. It’s working perfectly and pulling up feeds on the app is super snappy. No rich notifications for free but I use an app called Pushover for snapshot notifications. Have doorbells and a set of outdoor cams. I especially like the CX line of cams that do full color at night as long as there’s just a little bit of ambient light. Also got a Reolink doorbell for my neighbor. Since that’s all he has no nvr was needed, just a micro sd card that records about a week of footage. So for me, I’m leaning Reolink. I’m just dreading the upfront costs again after spending so much buying into nest. So, for now I’m using my starling home hub and Scrypted to give me something in the meantime that’lo give me notifications and is free.

My Logitech circle view doorbell just died on me after 2 years. I decided not to purchase another one, I instead got a Reolink doorbell and hooked it up to HomeKit through scrypted. It was free and easy enough for me to do, but I understand not wanting to have to do that! If you’re in direct sunlight like I am, expect your Logitech to overheat and go offline often! Mine also delaminated pretty quickly. Good luck in your search!

Honestly - I ended up doing everything through Reolinks app - I popped in an SD card and called it a day. Scrypted was great but my HomeKit kept going offline and I would go in and fix it and it would work for like 4 days and then go back to being offline. If it helps I really like the Reolink doorbell and app🤷🏽‍♀️

100% agreed. Have a situation where I don’t have regular internet and using a hotspot with limited data but still want cameras. Reolink was pretty much only good option where it only needed the internet when it sensed movement.

It depends on the doorbell and how it is added to Scrypted. Reolink are one of the brands that work really well in Scrypted with everything ported over as you’d expect, and motion detection is done on the doorbell so you won’t have to process all motion locally on your Scryted hardware.

+1 for reolink!

Reolink had a great door bell camera, local, no subscription.

You don’t need a home hub - the Reolink doorbell comes with a wireless chime unit that you plug into any power outlet. If you have a larger home, you can buy additional chime units.

The Reolink doorbell is a great option, just know if you plan on using it with Frigate it'll be a crazy ride. The basics are about normal but if you want two way audio learn from me and just use NGINX to force https. WebRTC which is required for two way needs https in order to capture your mic. I fussed around for hours until I found that bit of info and the corresponding fix. Or you can get the reolink hub and all you're problems will be much simpler but I wanted to save $80.

I have got my 3rd Reolink doorbell, after the first two fogged up within one year. No reolink doorbell anymore for me, next will be a ubiquity. All other reolink camera’s I own work well.

Reolink app is ass. If you don't get the NVR and you record 24x7 it's a pain to track down triggered events.

Eufy or tap. Reolink isn't as good as everyone claims. Ubiquiti but buy in is high

Don't get Roku. They're rebranded wyze and lack firmware updates and the better app. Tapo. Eufy. Reolink are the 3 good ones for basic consumers.

POE will always be best if you can run a cable. I’ve never come across a wireless camera that wasn’t just OK at best. And I do believe the reolink doorbell is the best RTSP one available still. Ubiquiti’s doorbell also seems to be great, but I don’t know if it can work with frigate or just their system or not.

The Reolink doorbell will do everything you want. Integrates well with HA. No subscription. Either push notifications thru app or HA. I run everything locally so I setup a HA automation for the notifications to phone & computers. Plus the chime will alert you also when a person is detected (or vehicle or any motion or pet if you want). You can record locally on the micro SD card (or remote NVR) and choose to record continuously or only events. A larger SD card should get you a 2 or 3 days of continuous recording from what I've read. I have all my Reolink cameras and doorbells setup on one of my dashboards for quick viewing. These are my first video doorbells and so far have been very happy with them. Only issue is the chime became unpaired after a power outage. Had to remove it from the app, restart the doorbell and repair the chime. [@starkillerOG](https://github.com/starkillerOG) has done a hell of a job with the integration. [https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/reolink/#automation-ideas](https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/reolink/#automation-ideas)

Been rocking the Reolink doorbell using Home Assistant to make it Homekit compatible for 2 years now flawlessly. Even chimes my homepods

FWIW I had a Unifi G4 doorbell since they released it. It died a couple of weeks back. I didn’t feel like I got my money’s worth. It worked fine for a while but eventually I was always fighting signal issues and dropping out. Eventually it stopped being able to activate the chime, so I just bypassed the chime box. It lasted 4 or 5 years, but I felt it should have lasted longer. One day I noticed that it was offline. I tried other transformers and power supplies, it was toast. So, I replaced it with a Reolink and brought it into HomeKit with Scrypted. So far so good. And it was on sale for $80 on Amazon for pre-BF sale. Works every bit was well with motion detection, and seems to perform a lot better in low light vs my old Unifi G4 doorbell. 

Yes but don't get a cloud based video doorbell. Something like Reolink stored the footage locally.

Reolink for sure. Local storage, intergrates very well into HA

I use reolink with scrypted, works great.

Reolink gives you the most flexibility of "plug it in and scan qr code" or "I want to send RSTP via port 3743 instead of the standard and put it on a VLAN with no internet access." Neither option requires a subscription, and the hardware is built really well.

It is very unusual to have mains for your doorbell, hence you having a hard time finding a doorbell. You'll probably have to put a transformer in the box to power the doorbell. I have my Reolink doorbell control my existing chime via HA automation by putting a Zigbee relay in the box that the wiring from the button is routed to. That may be a better option for you.

It can be an AC-AC transformer. Most doorbells (at least in the US) run on 24 or 30VAC, so that's what Reolink expects. It'll be hard finding one that fits inside your box outside, though. You may need to find somewhere accessible but hidden that you can mount it upstream. Then you'd have another device, this one much smaller, to control the chime.

Reolink. The easiest way with no existing wiring is to run network cable and use POE to power it.

Reolink is probably the main one. No subscription, full RTSP support so you can just pull the raw video feed if you want.

How do you quantify garbage? For me, it works fine. I rarely use the app as I have it going in to Frigate and Home Assistant. The app is used for setup and initial configuration, which it does well. Once it is online I can use the built in web server to do a lot of the work. I don't really think anyone can answer that question, because what would seem garbage for you and your needs will be fine for someone else.

Reolink is probably the best option at the moment. The doorbells work well, whether the POE or WiFi version. PoE is best as wired is always preferable. For regular cameras, take your choice of the cameras. Most of them support RTSP which is what Frigate wants. Wired is always best if you can.

Reolink hands down. I have an automation that does exactly what you are looking for.

Unfortunately that's going to be a deal breaker for a huge number of home users, including myself. Ah well. At least the reolink doorbell and other options work great still, and supposedly can be added to unifi protect.

This is true for cameras but less so for doorbells. An awful lot (almost all) of doorbells are 'smart home' products, that don't just have a basic web interface but rather force you to use some shitty app. Take the amcrest one- it'll work locally with a NVR, but you still have to configure it with an app, and if you cut off its internet connection to Amcrest cloud the LED blinks differently. Cameras there's plenty of options that are happy to work locally. Doorbells, not so much. Ubiquiti UniFi is one, I think Dahua also has one. Reolink too although you may need an app to set it up.

Good point. I actually helped someone set up the POE NVR version with their reolink NVR. Worked great.

I have the wifi wired one as well. No issues here.

I really like my Reolink. I have notifications for package, presence and doorbell ring. Activation is fast, and so far, accurate notifications are broadcast on home speakers as well as sent to devices. Highly recommend the Reolink.

Get a reolink imo Nest is good, as long as you have good wifi. But without the nest aware subscription, you are limited to event playback in a 3 hour window. With a reolink you wont be tied to a subscription

I like mine. Sure is prettier than the Ring it replaced. That being said, my Reolink doorbell is also in my Protect.

yeah i'm waiting for the white one to come back in stock, it also has a more vertical lens format which works better for our entryway

i have the nvr so *shrug* most apps are ass, ring sucks, myq too, wyze is barely better

Your other option is Riolink. Was personally the better option for me going with Frigate. If you're sticking in the Ubiquiti ecosystem, then their doorbell is the obvious choice.

My Reolink is powered by normal doorbell wires. Run perfectly fine, and is likely your best bet. You will likely need to drill two screws, unless you use some strong adhesives. If not, I've seen some cameras that can be powered by a light bulb socket. Worth a look into

Reolink. Professional stuff , but decently easy to use by an average person. Stores to SD ( or NAS if you're more techy, so you can remove the risk of the burglar stealing the SD card

+1 Got one last week. Better resolution than the nest. Important note, the white doorbell has additional features the black doorbell does not have. Hopefully this helps someone out there. I didn't know that when I ordered mine. *Package notifications

That would be Reolink....and Reolink! Or, any good camera that supports open protocols. >I'd like, non Chinese models that keep calling home. Have a more realistic safetynet. Chinese doesn't equal bad, bad Chinese equals bad. There's some very high quality Chinese cameras out there and since you're here, you're past the point where you don't grasp that you can simply block and control anything you like. I'd go with Reolink 100% of the time on the doorbell, and their normal cams are great as well, you can also get pro grade Axis cameras (used) many times at a really good rate, usually eBay.

Reolink is my first option. I had a google nest doorbell and replaced it with a Reolink. The nest was slow at warning me when someone was at the door and pressed the bell. I would get a notification 30 seconds to 3 minutes late and could not interact with the person at the door. I’m in Europe and I feel the google/nest servers are lagging enormously. With Reolink and its HA integration things are local (no laggy google server) and it works great.

I’m not OP but there’s a Reolink integration for Home Assistant that you can use in combination with an Apple TV to achieve the chime PiP. I used [this tutorial](https://www.speaktothegeek.co.uk/2025/01/apple-homekit-and-reolink-doorbells-cameras/) to help guide me.

Came from the nest doorbell. Compared to that it's pretty bad. Video is a little less good, i can live with that. Audio is pretty awful. I can't ever have a proper conversation, like it was perfectly well possible with the Nest, there is always a second delay to the doorbell and back from the doorbell as well so always 2 seconds delay and sometimes more. Doesn't matter if I'm on my own network or from 4/5G. I sent a mail to reolink support bit no answer. This thing will be replaced soon.

Reolink, very decent.

No. I moved to reolink and never looked back sincs

I second this, because Reolink's have RTSP streaming if you want use Frigate. But make sure you get the one what supports RTSP if thats what you want

Reolink all the way. Poe to DVR for overkill

Dang, that would have been good to know! I got the black one and then I installed an overhead camera to see the packages.

Reolink like everyone already says Only good option

Sell it and buy a reolink Sold mine for 55,- and bought a reolink for 75,- brand new

I’d recommend against it personally. I’ve got mine setup with a Reolink doorbell cam and I either lose connection regularly (closing home app seems to get it back for some reason) or lose the ability to scrub recordings and that’ll just randomly reappear. I’m seriously considering swapping to a native doorbell setup.

Cannot stress the affordability and flexibility and reliability of reolink enough

I had a eufy doorbell and the wifi stopped working after about a year. When i googled it, tons of people had the exact same problem after the same amount of time. Eufy was also in the news for a security flaw in their devices. I switched to Reolink after that and haven't had any issues. Just had to set up email notifications with human detection pics, since there's no OOTB push notification with pics.