Smart doorbell earns ringing endorsement
Is it me you’re looking for?
Nest’s Hello serves the same purpose as the Ring Video Doorbell 2 (see Issue 534). It alerts you when anyone approaches your door, even before they’ve pressed the bell, and you can see and speak to them before you let them in. It doesn’t offer remote unlocking, but its app works whether you’re at home or out of the house. You can even pre-record a message before you go out. The Nest Hello connects to your home Wi-fi and, unlike the Ring product, it has no battery, so it also needs a mains power connection.
If you already have a doorbell wired to a 16-24V transformer, you can easily replace its button with the Nest Hello. Alternatively, Nest can carry out the replacement for you for a rather steep £100. If your existing doorbell is batterypowered or has a low-power transformer, Nest’s installer will add a transformer free of charge. However, installation isn’t available if you currently have no wired doorbell. In that case, you need to buy a compatible chime – oddly, unlike Ring, Nest doesn’t sell one – and a transformer. You’ll also need to drill a hole for the wires. Nest doesn’t sell a transformer either, but they are easy to find (such as this £17 model from Amazon, www. snipca.com/28931). It’s not a particularly hard DIY job, or you could pay a local handyman or electrician to do it.
While the Ring Video Doorbell 2 starts recording only when it detects motion, the Nest Hello can record to Nest’s servers all day. This uses 50 to 300GB of your broadband data per month and requires a Nest Aware subscription, which starts at £30 per year and keeps your video for a week. If you prefer, you can do without a subscription and simply receive a live feed when someone approaches your door, although Nest Aware adds face recognition, so the Hello can tell you who’s at your door, provided it’s someone you’ve previously identified. We found that the system worked well with a Google Home speaker (sold separately), but was less reliable in Nest’s app.
This smart, videoenabled security device is a neat replacement for a wired doorbell