I paid about the same for Ring, but it doesn't need a SD card for footage recording. They both have the same subscription fee. Pretty obvious to me that Ring wins in this case.
This is sad, some of the TP link stuff is really good, I had heard that we were supposed to be getting Tapo products soon tho with apple home kit integration in North America, but I don't know if or when that's going to happen.
I'm anti-subscription. Love that my Synology NAS has a built-in NVR. Just wish any of the doorbells were compatible with it. I plan on having a IP camera for the front door along with a smart doorbell, so I don't have to sweat 24/7 recording.
I own this item and you can save video from the doorbell. There is a record button on the playback screen now. Maybe it was an update, but you can save footage easily now without a subscription. :)
@NicCrimson -- Same here. Today I replaced my old Ring Pro that went bad on me with this device. It supports 256 GB micro SD cards now, and the record option is available for free. I'm very happy with it. It's far superior to the Ring, and by eliminating the annual $40 fee Ring was charging me it will pay for itself in 1.5 years. It's far more responsive than Ring thanks to local storage. There was also always a frustrating lag with Ring, and this device has none of that problem. For the price and performance I couldn't be happier with it. This doorbell does have one drawback though. The app doesn't have an option to notify you with an actual doorbell ring sound like the Ring did. It only gives a default app notification sound, which could easily go unnoticed. I hope TP-Link / Kasa fixes that in a future app update. That's minor though because the included chime and Alexa integration work great for notifying you when you're home at least. The inconvenience would only be when you're not at home.
I wouldn't pay $3/month for this artificial limitation. Other subscriptions exist because they actually offer features like cloud storage. The kasa footage is locally stored on your own paid SD card, so no excuse!
You can record your videos to our phones and then save them on your phone or send to anyone from your records on the phone. So it's not true what he said or he may not be aware of it
I just tested the recording feature on my indoor Kasa cam and it records directly to my iPhone. I don't have any subscription services. Maybe Kasa removed the paywall.
The recording feature is fully available for free now. I installed this doorbell today, and I didn't sign up for the subscription service. It also support 256 GB micro SD cards now, which I installed in mine.
I dont have the doorbell but i have a couple of the Kasa products and so far I am impressed love their outdoor camera the night time picture quality is great.
This video needs a serious update.I can press a record button while I watch the video and it loads it to my phone, no problem. Video and pics.I don't pay for a service. Pictire is great, even in a dark/bright scenario. Voice sounds good on mine, too. I came the video trying to get it to announce on Google home. It imports into Google Home. This is just new to me.
Subscriptions -- In four years it's an extra $120 added to the retail cost of the doorbell IF Kasa keeps the subscription at $30 a year AND don't arbitrarily brick the doorbell when they launch Doorbell V2 or V3. I do use Kasa lights, switches and plugs. They are great! Unfortunately, this business model for their doorbell though, isn't for me. I've been using the Eufy doorbell for about a year and a half. The doorbell saves to the Homebase 2 and just works. No issues. No subscription. I'd pay a little more upfront for the "no subscription."
The Amcrest AD410 is my preferred doorbell. It easily integrates with Blueiris and there's a docker container that uses MQTT to better integrate it with Home Assistant. The app is fine, but I only really have it for the notifications.
It’s worth noting that currently the eufy doorbells are on sale so you can probably snag one for a little over $100 USD ($130USD ish) Absolutely no paywall unless you want cloud storage and they’re very upfront about it. Good ecosystem too
Recently picked up the 2K Battery doorbell myself (because of said sale on Amazon) and have had it running outside of my home over the last week. Can't complain so far. Only real concern is that flaw where if the doorbell was stolen, there's the potential of not being able to access the local video storage and having it all wiped if the doorbell is reset.
@@flippin_eh I find the best prevention for this is the homebase that’s set up with multiple or one other outdoor camera, cause ripping off a doorbell is pretty easy but even if you make it SEEM like you have a lot of security (with just signs) it can be a great deterrent
Damn, I'm glad I watched this review. I nearly stopped watching this review after you covered the paywall, but I let the video play out so you get the retention analytics. Thank you!
I purchased this doorbell about a week ago and installed it thinking it would integrate with Home Assistant as well as the Kasas lights. Boy was I wrong. Kasa completely dropped the ball on this doorbell and will end up replaced with Shelly in my house. I'm tired of doorbell after doorbell turning out to only work with their app. I think I will get the Reolink and put my Kasa devices (the ones I can't get a refund for) out on the curb for the trash truck to take away. Unless someone has been able to get this doorbell working with Home Assistant. I have been on the forums and done all steps suggested and this doorbell simply won't work with Home Assistant.
Got it for $44 on sale 2/14/24. My porch isn’t shadowed, so it looks good. Better than my old google nest that lasted about a year before the front screen started peeling. The battery died on my google nest after about 2 years, so when someone rung the doorbell, it would cut out to nothing until the doorbell rebooted. The big plus is no subscription. If I really need the footage, I’ll just screen record my phone. Or pay for the subscription temporarily to get footage of a crime
Thank you for this video I was really looking into the kasa doorbell because I use there plug sockets and light bulbs but sadly with it not working with Google nest hub i don’t really want to upgrade my hikvision one just yet
I use the doorbell with Google... I can say, "Hey Google, show me the front door on the living room tv" and it shows up. I think there have been some updates since this video posted.
Nice review. I have a nest, and one thing that is indirectly impacting me is the amount of traffic my nest products are taking from my 1 TB per month on my Xfinity plan. I suppose having a local ssd relieves that issue and could be less of a security problem hosting videos in their cloud. But ultimately picture qualify is the most important because the one time you need it when something bad happens it has to be clear.
I returned my KD110 after 48 hours. Found it useless. Endless unwanted notifications from the street even after setting activity zones. The KD110 was able to use a 256GB microSD card, but none of the footage is accessible. Also didn’t work with my existing chime. You get what you pay for. I’m gonna go with the Nest Wired since I already have a Nest thermostat and Nest indoor cam that both work extremely well.
several red flags going up. - they upload footage to the cloud - they make you pay to get your own footage back those are 2 reasons NOT to buy their products.
@@SmartHomeSolver Is it really worth it if anyone wanting to do harm can just smash the device and break the sd card? Was there any mental cage or reinforcement around the sdcard slot that you could see?
With that image quality , lack of compatibiity with existing chime and no google support it is already 60$ too much. I would take it for free maybe if it integrates with HA as a spare extra camera.
Nice overview. Interesting option. Regarding Nest doorbell, doesn't it also require a subscription, even for activity zones and access to video recording?
An update now allows you to save videos without going through the paywall. This video should be updated. Got 2 of these and so far I am happy. I am converting from Nest doorbells. I’ve had the Nest 1st generation wired doorbell and it was only good for notifications and viewing live video. The google home and nest apps suck otherwise. Had the subscription and it was still hard to view videos.
Great video! I'd love to see your review of the new Belkin Wemo Video Doorbell. I know it's mainly a homekit doorbell, but you do great videos and seeing a consistent comparison of the other doorbells at your front door has been great.
My whole house is Ring and Kasa equipment... glad that the Ring doorbells are good, but never great to see a company you trust (Kasa) release a crap product
Annnd Amcrest is still top dog with NO pay walls and I have unfettered control over data and storage. I had a Google Doorbell before, ditched it for the Amcrest when I found out Id be forced to pay for basic local features that I felt shouldn't be charged for. To me, that's worth the slight bump in price and slight dip in image quality (Amcrest's newest doorbell isn't the greatest but it compliments any cameras you may have pretty well... oh, and their app UI and UX feel a little... 'college project-y' than a feature rich polished thing. But again, for not being forced to pay for every little thing (only cloud storage) I'll gladly deal with Amcrest's pitfalls.)
Could we get a video about home assistant dashboards? I've seen a lot more dashboards popping up and custom cards like mushroom which really change the look of home assistant.
I wonder if they can fix some of the the picture quality deficiencies w/ over the air firmware updates. better to have 1080p w/ better quality images than higher resolution.
Just purchased the doorbell; there is no paywall of any kinds and files on the SD card are accessible and not encrypted. No idea whether things changed when this video was released one year ago but it seems some things are no longer accurate. Max size of the microSD card is 256GB.
Bought two of these with SD cards. At the same time, both started with delays in notifications and both doorbells recorded videos became inaccessible. I agree that it seems like ransom ware! Trying to get Kasa is a pain. Amazon reps are desperately trying to help me with this. KasaCare is only for subscribers too.
Thanks! We’ve enjoyed your videos and like how your reviews point out things that help us make decisions. And you’ve given us lots of automation ideas. Though I still don’t have a red light on my home office door connected to my TEAMs account…
We are in need of an easy and reliable doorbell and camera setup that won't break the bank for my mother-in-law. It needs to have the ability for us to see the cameras/doorbell remotely. She has been hit be scammers and it has been for enough money that they are coming back for more. They even have someone locally that has come to her house. Any ideas for a setup so that we can keep her safe and try and get a video of these people if they don't just give up? TIA.
Something gives me the feeling that producing the doorbell costs more than $60 and they are shoving the monthly subscription down our throats to try to make up for it. Just raise the price!!
You would be surprised how cheap it is to make some of these things. I'll bet the biggest expense was the software development. I would be surprised if one of these devices cost more than $30, maybe $40 to make. still low margins, would have to be very high volume product. Probably worth it to get you in to their ecosystem.
the paywall is ridiculous, I bought the device and I own the SD card, and its my data... they are literally denying you your own property... who ever came up with that stratergy should be fired...
yea but it's cheap as hell though. One could say the customer is being greedy by not getting a more expensive product w/o a subscription. Lets face it, if it was twice the price and no subscription, we would be complaining that a $120 door bell has crappy video quality and slow notifications, poor audio, etc. Really, i don't think this product was meant for someone who considers this price cheap and doesn't want subscriptions. There are a lot of people willing to pay lower up front cost so they can afford the device and pay monthly fees. Think about home loan and student loan's interest rates, etc. Essentially subscription fee.
Hi there. I have a couple questions.... I have Several devices I use with the Kasa app & I was going to buy the Kasa doorbell until I watched your video & learned that it needs to be connected to a existing wired doorbell. (our house is very old & before we moved into it, it has been "remodeled" & if there was a doorbell, there is no sign of there ever being one). Here's my questions: Is there a budget friendly doorbell like the Kasa one that can be controlled using the Kasa App? Thank you so much for your time & for the fantastic video... It was super helpful! I am hoping you can help me. ~Sarah
Just put in a transformer in the attic or closet/garage and run the two wires to where you want the doorbell camera. It's very easy. You don't want a battery powered doorbell camera, as you will be constantly removing it to charge it up. Finally you will throw it away.
@@4tomclark Thank you so much for your reply 🫶 Can you please tell me how I would go about getting a transformer for a doorbell? The only transformer I've ever heard of are the ones on the power poles for electricity.
There must be homebrew solutions that can hook up a small computer/Pi that can record on local storage AND stream to cloud service of your choice, and give minimal latency!
I did NOT pay subscription AND I -SIMPLY- download Videos & Pics immediately to my Android phone. SEVERAL ways to get videos or Pics downloaded, simple, No hacks or tricks. Where did you get your "info", Smart Home Solver? 🙂 BTW, there is NO battery to Charge every 2-3 days like on Other Cameras like NEST and Replace batteries when they fail to charge properly. - I HATE CHARGING BATTERIES CONSTANTLY FOR LIFE!! BTW, my camera audio sounds MUCH better than yours for some reason. MY Kasa is REALLY great! Please update your video to reflect real world. Good video though, helpful!!
If you can't download the footage without a subscription, is it really "local storage"? Sure, the footage isn't going to some server somewhere, but it still isn't yours!
If I were a robber or stealing packages and new this, i'd bring a little hammer and smash this to pieces till i see a broken sd card. Can probably do it with few good hits. Now you have broken doorbell and useless "local storage" anyway. I never understood why people found it more secure to have local storage directly on the device itself for products that are meant to be for security. atleast give option for hub to store in the house.
IT'S NOW 2.28.24...and this review is still half right and half wrong and misses most of the good. Personally, I dislike hate seekers then again, I keep my glass always half full! Most of the complaints stem around fees, yet in 2024...the cloud is your friend and good security is worth paying for...$9.00 per month. The other thing is Kasa is now part of TP-Link, so you can't ask for a better router...quick and dependable. TP-Link also has great cameras and the set-up for all these devices are so simple. The doorbell cost me $44 from Amazon after a $6.00 coupon...such a deal. I've used WYZE since 2019 and gave it a toss after reading about and now having installed the Kass/TAPO/TP-Link solution. WYZE's install was layered; it updated hardware every other day and for no reason would cause re-installs. It was super cheap in 2019, now more expensive than most for what it offers.
This is the second home in which ru-vid.comUgkx0jZ_lGlDVJhDnmagEU8gn47cmfPNlLQU we've replaced our "regular" doorbell with a Ring video doorbell and we really enjoy it. It is very easy to install and it works very well, with a clear picture through the app and good in-home use (we added the chime, which is also easy to install and doesn't require another thought to use).
Good on you for not putting your kids faces on camera. You have them helping out without exposing them to the dangers of the internet or consent issues because of their age.
Very disappointed with my Kasa. Bad out of the box, tech support took two weeks to decide to issue and RMA and then 2 more weeks to deliver the RMA product. Sounds like crap, motion zones do not work. Notifications take too log or none at all. New unit sounds like crap on Two Way Voice, cannot understand each other. Waste of Time and Money. Should have sent it back to Amazon instead of waiting for the RMA.
