Today, I received my Nest Hello…Nest’s take on the video doorbell and will compete directly with Ring’s doorbell pro…
I preordered this last year and they have originally stated the shipping date on February. Mid January though, they charged my credit card and I was thinking…Wow, I’m going to get this earlier than expected…but it wasn’t and I have to call customer service which they said that they prematurely charge some people’s cards and they will be refunding…which they did…
Ok, now on with the unboxing…the camera is a 1/3 inch 3 MP (2K) color sensor with 8x digital zoom…it is HD video 1600 x 1200 up to 30 frames per second.
It has a 160 degree field of view…
and with night vision, it has 850 NM infrared LEDs.
Now, you need to have an existing wired doorbell and chime that runs on a 16-24 volts AC and a 10 volt amp transformer.
You can connect this camera in either a 2.4 or 5 GHz Wifi network.
This camera is the same as their outdoor one which records 24/7 and it needs a minimum upload speed of 2 Megabits per second.
So, let’s open this up…
We have the doorbell camera itself…which looks pretty nice…camera on top and doorbell button on the bottom..it has pretty good sounding click when you push it…
On the back, are 2 screws to connect your doorbell wires… and also it has a micro USB slot.. and you will see the speaker holes in the very bottom…
So, what else is inside the box… we have some paperwork…or lack there of…
we have a little sticker… and we have this 1 page setup guide…basically all the instructions will be on the app… at the back is what you should expect ot find inside the box…
Now, we have the chime connector..which we will need to install and wire in the chime unit of our existing doorbell..I’m pretty sure it is the same wiring like the Ring’s Pro power kit…it has a mounting tape to stick it inside or near the chime.
Then, we have a small box with a drill bit, a couple of extension wires…
A release tool… to remove the camera from the wall plate.
A couple of screws…
plastic anchors… and that’s it..
Almost the same as the Ring’s..but it doesn’t come with the orange screw driver…
Next, we have the wall plate..and the angled wedge attachment..
The camera will snap into place and to remove it, you will need the release tool…so this is to secure the camera in place…
Time to set it up…
Let’s open up the app..or you need to download the app and sign up for an account if you haven’t done it yet..click on the gear icon on the upper right corner…
scroll down to the bottom and click add product.
Scan the QR code located on the back of the camera..
The app will guide you to setup the doorbell and make sure that the Nest Hello will work with your existing doorbell’s voltage..
It will forward you to the installation video..click next.. make sure we have a power drill, philips screw driver and the WiFi passowrd.
Click Next.
We need to install the chime connector first. The wires are grey and white and should be an easy install…
Turn off the power from the breaker box. Go to your existing door/bell or chime unit.. and take note of the wiring…how many wires are connected to the chime..you can take a picture of the wiring just to make sure and go back to the app and follow the instructions…
I have 2 wires connected..and just by following the app, you can easily wire the chime terminals…BTW, this is exactly the same way I have to connect Ring Pro power kit except that it is a bit bigger and I am not able to put it inside the chime but have to stick it to the outside.
Now, time to install the Nest Hello unit outside….So, I have to remove and uninstall my Ring Pro…You already know guys that I’ll be doing a comparison video between these 2 doorbell cameras in the near future…I have no issues with the Ring and we will see if Nest Hello will replace it after the testing…
We have to install the wall mount first and I”m pretty sure I need to drill a hole..at least one hole…
I’m going to install the wedge attachment just because it is included and my wall is at an angle… I was still able to see what I wanted to see with my Ring Pro without any wedge so we will see if there is any difference.
We just need to screw in 2 screws to secure the wall mount…
It is ironic that I have to use the Ring’s phillips screw driver to install the Nest… the nest didn’t come with any screw driver..Sorry Ring…
We then need to screw in the 2 wires on the back of the Nest it doesn’t matter which one goes to which screw..click it in place on the wall mount and turn on the power.
Go to the app to finish setting up…the camera will look for WiFi network which you need to select and type in your password.. Click next.. and you should see the live view from the camera… The nest will be recording 24/7 so everytime you open up the app…it will automatically show you the live view…
To remove the camera from the wall mount, you will need to use the release tool that was included … there is a small hole on the bottom of the mount that you need to press with the tool so as to release the lock..
Now, let’s test it out…
Take note of the delay when you hear my doorbell and when Nest notified me on my phone..
It was around 10 seconds…but it is hands free communication and you don’t have to press and hold or press the mic again to listen like their outdoor cam. My son and I can hear loud and clear…
Now, let’s check out the settings…click on the gear icon on the upper right corner…
There is the on/off toggle switch for the camera.
There is quiet time if you want to turn off your doorbell chime but you will still get notified on your phone.
There is the Home/Away assist which I think you are not going to use for this doorbell camera anyways.. It needs to be on all the time…
Same thing with scheduling… but it is there just in case.
We have notifications.. I use push notification. When to send..always..
activity..people or you can click all other motion…
Also, you can get notified when the camera picks up loud noise.
It has the familiar face feature which you can set the camera to recognize a person and your notification will be more customized.. I had one commenter told me that in certain states this is illegal..so check your local laws about this…
The camera captures all these screen shots of me when I set this up.
Then we have visitor announcements..if you have Google Assistants like the Home mini which one came with the camera, you can turn it on so that it will also notify you when your doorbell is pressed. I’ll demo it later on.
Then we have the Nest Aware..which this camera needs a subscription to store recorded footage. I think the camera will function as a doorbell and still will notify you and view live footage without the subscription but if you want to check out recorded footage, then you need to have a subscription which starts at $50 dollars/per year per camera.
Next we have quality and bandwidth. The camera adjusts its settings to give the best quality video for the internet speed you have.
Then, we have the night vision settings which you can set to auto, off and always on…
Camera sharing if you want your footage shared across your family..
Then, we have the status light..a little green light on top which you can turn on or off.
A chime duration option if you have an electric chime…I have a mechanical chime so I don’t need to turn this on.
Then microphone recording option which I need it to be turned on and also the audio recording.
Spoken language – the doorbell has some prerecorded messages which I’ll show you later on but you can choose which language to use.
WiFi connection if you want to update or change your WiFi settings.
Then we have the location and technical info..
At the bottom of the main camera page you can choose video history which depends on your subscription, I’m on 30 day trial which gives me 10 days of video history for a month..
Then, we have the filter..if you want to filter the information on the time line..
We have the mic if you want to turn on 2 way communication..
New clip if you want to select, share and download footage..
Then people for facial recognition feature…
Pushing this icon will switch the timeline to show events or push it again to show the sight line..
There is also the motion zones which you can only setup via your account on their website..
You log in to your account…click on the camera you want to set up.
Click zones on the bottom right corner, click create..then a dotted square will show up where you can drag the dots to customize the motion zones you want to monitor. Click done to save it.
You can also save footage from the site by clicking clips.. you can create a clip or a timelapse.. then you can adjust the shaded blue area to which part of the footage you want to download or share…then click save..
If you want to view the footage click clips again and select view clips.
This is where you can play, save, download and share your footage to social media outlets.
Let’s check out some sample video and audio footage…take note that it just records the audio from the camera and not the other person talking on the phone’s side.
Here is sample footage of night vision mode…it is pretty decent but I have to cover the IR LEDs of my other camera that faces the door because it causes glare.
Even covered, you will still see it glowing behind me.
I always have my porchlight on at night and if the night vision is setup in auto mode, my light is not bright enough to turn night vision off but this is what it looks like when the night vision is turned off and my porch light is on.
It does a pretty good job in full color as long as there is light.
If you turned on visitors announcement on the app and if you setup your Nest with Google assistant…this is what it can do…and this is your notification on your phone.
Lastly, the camera has prerecorded messages if you want to use it instead of you answering the doorbell…
Nest Hello can directly be purchased at their website – nest.com/doorbell/nest-hello/overview/
Or Best Buy or Home Depot.
Ring Doorbell Pro Review – youtu.be/IL294WxLkNo
Ring Doorbell Pro – amzn.to/2FT3QF7