Nest Doorbell: Everything you need to know
The Google Doorbell is here, an upgrade from the Nest Hello, here are all the details on the newest way to answer your door
It’s been a busy day for Google, with the Nest Cam Battery also revealed today, there are a lot of options currently to make your home smart.
Read on to find out all the details about the latest Nest Doorbell, including all the specifications, features and where you can buy one.
Prices and availability
The Nest Doorbell is available to preorder today and will be released to buy on the 24th of August. They’re priced at £179.99/$179.99/€199.99 and can be found on the Google Store, Argos, Curry’s and John Lewis, as well as some other outlets.
They are currently available for preorder in 18 countries, including the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany and Italy. The device will be available in Japan on the 26th of August.
Where can I install the Nest Doorbell?
There’s nothing worse than buying a smart product and realising that you don’t have the necessary wires in place to install it where you want to.
Thankfully, the Nest Doorbell includes a built-in rechargeable battery, which means you can install it completely wire-free. Everything you need should come in the box, including a 20-degree wedge, so you can install it anywhere near your door.
You can use a Nest speaker or display to play a chime when your doorbell is pressed, so you should be alerted that someone’s at the door wherever you are in your home.
If you think you’ll struggle to remember to keep it charged, there’s also the option to connect it to any existing doorbell wires and connect it to your existing chime. This method will require an 8–24 VAC, 10 VA, 50/60Hz transformer.
What are the specifications of the Nest Doorbell?
The Google Nest Doorbell features an HDR-quality camera, including night vision and a 6x zoom for clear images in all types of weather.
The 3:4 ratio gives you a view of any visitors from head to toe and can see as close as eight inches away from your door, so you should be able to catch any stray parcels sitting outside.
If you’re unlucky to have a power cut or have your Wi-Fi go down, the Doorbell will keep up to an hour of video locally due to its local storage and battery system. When the internet comes back on the device will upload the recordings to your timeline, so you shouldn’t miss any action.
Plus, the Doorbell’s camera runs an ML model up to 7.5 times per second, with a TPU chip that should ensure accurate and reliable video feed. The camera has also been trained on over 40 million images to help it be as accurate as possible when identifying people or objects.
The Doorbell is made of durable plastic that should stand the test of time even in harsher weather.
What features does the Nest Doorbell have?
Google included a new feature in the Doorbell, four different types of alerts so you know exactly what’s happening outside. The four alerts are for people, animals, vehicles and parcels, so there should be no confusion on who, or what’s at the door.
There is also three hours of event history, letting you go back in time to see what’s happened, and the ability to set up Activity Zones, where you can focus on specific areas that are important to you.
To make sure you’re using the Nest Doorbell respectively, you can check out Google’s support site for advice when setting it up.
The Nest Doorbell will also let you know when it’s processing or streaming video with a green LED light. It will also use encrypted video and two-set verification so your information and media are kept private.
All of the Nest’s require a Google account, so you’ll want to set one up if you’re considering buying a Doorbell. You can also download the Home app, available on iOS and Android, which lets you see a 24/7 live view and the ability to view your event history and filter through your feed to find specific clips quickly.
To access even more features, you can subscribe to Nest Aware for £5 a month, or Nest Aware Plus for £10 a month. The Nest Aware subscription will cover all Nest cameras in your home for 30 days event history, with the Plus subscription giving you 60 days video history and 24/7 video history for 10 days.