Gabe Turner: Hi, folks. This Gabe at Security Baron. Do you want a doorbell to go through
with your Vivint system without any of the work? Well, we might have just the option
for you with a look today at the Vivint video doorbell.
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Gabe: In today's review of the Vivint video doorbell, we're going to go over some pros
and cons, its design, its feature set, the installation process before diving into its
mobile application to make sure you have all the information you need to make the right
decision.
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Gabe: If you would like to see a list of our favorite video doorbells, Google, "Security
Baron best video doorbells." If you've a question about today's review, leave us a comment and
I'll get back to you.
Let's dive into our review of the Vivint video doorbell. Before we do so, I do want to make
it clear that the Vivint video doorbell is only available to those with a Vivint subscription.
This is not a standalone doorbell.
Let's go ahead and look at some pros and cons, beginning with the pros. It has 180 degree
field of view, so it's capturing everything that's happening on the block. It has crystal
clear two-way audio so you can have a nice engaging conversation with your visitors,
and smart platform integration.
On the con side, it only has 720p video resolution, so it's not capturing things in that standard
1080p that we've become accustomed to here at Security Baron.
That's a look at some of the pros and cons for the Vivint video doorbell.
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Gabe: Now that we've gone over the pros and cons of the Vivint video doorbell, let's talk
about its design.
It's a petite little device. It has a flat face plate, and it's surrounded out in silver.
I like it in terms of the flush. You know me I'm a big stickler for things being pretty
flush and the camera, the microphone, you're all fine flush, and the button does protrude
a little bit. If you decide to press it, a little LED light lets you know that you are
beckoning the resident of that home.
The speaker is found on the bottom. When it comes to durability, it can handle rain and
snow. Overall, I'm a fan, aesthetically speaking, of the Vivint video doorbell.
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Gabe: Now that we've gone over some pros and cons and the design of the Vivint video doorbell,
let's jump into its feature set.
It has 720p high definition video which, for us, is a little bit substandard. We're used
to seeing at least 1080p from any camera or video doorbell here at Security Baron, but
where it excels is the 180 degree field of view. It's absolutely blowing everyone else
out of the park with how well it performs when it comes to how much you can see in front
of your home.
Finally, the night vision actually works really well. With just two infrared LEDs, we didn't
feel like we were losing out on capturing anything in the dark.
When it comes to the two-way audio for the Vivint video doorbell, we found it to be really
good. You may have some issues with lag depending on your WiFi strength and your connection,
but when it comes to the actual quality of the audio, both the visitor and the visitee
should experience no problems.
We found it really easy to be having an engaged conversation with those at the front door.
Man: Yeah. The speaker on my end is sounding really great. Yeah, I think I'll go ahead
and come inside.
Gabe: When it comes to saving clips, you can save 30 second clips for 14 days at $5 a month
with Vivint. If you want to have 24/7 continuous live recording, you can do so with an investment
in Vivint Smart Drive which is priced at $249.
Looking at smart platform integration with your video doorbell, you want it to enhance
the primary functions of your video doorbell, namely letting you know people are there.
Fortunately, with the Vivint video doorbell, it does integrate with Amazon and Google's
virtual assistants to help you in that endeavor.
If you're thinking about artificial intelligence, well, it does come with person detection.
If someone just walks by your home or they're snooping, you're going to know with person
detection. That's really fortunate.
What I like about that is it helps you to cut down on unnecessary motion events. With
a lot of video doorbells, it's going to tell you any time something happens, a car goes
by. With person detection, you know it was a person who came within the vicinity of your
front door, which is really useful.
That's a look at the feature set for the Vivint video doorbell.
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Gabe: Hold on. I hope you're enjoying today's review of the Vivint video doorbell. If you
want to be kept up to date on the newest in video doorbells, Smart Home security, cyber
security, Bluetooth trackers, and more, subscribe to our channel, Security Baron. We're dropping
new content weekly.
All right. Let's get back to the video.
Now that we've gone over our feature set for the Vivint video doorbell, let's talk about
the actual installation process and there's nothing for you to do. There's only professional
installation from Vivint for the video doorbell or any of the different products. They send
their own team to your home to make sure that you're set up.
The process I must say is exceedingly professional. You can also ask the technicians any questions
you have, not only on the day of installation but going forward. They give you their numbers
directly. Overall, I had a really pleasant experience having the Vivint video doorbell
installed.
Now that we've got our Vivint video doorbell installed, let's talk about where you're going
to be accessing interfacing the Vivint Smart Home mobile application. People seem to be
loving it on iPhones and Androids alike.
In the Apple App Store, it has a 4.6 out of 5 star rating. In the Google Play Store it
has a 4.5 out of 5 star rating which -- let me be clear -- are some of the highest ratings
we've seen for any Smart Home apps out on the market.
Let's go ahead and dive in on my iPhone.
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Gabe: Here I am checking out the Vivint app for my Vivint doorbell cam. I was going to
jump into that live view. The Vivint doorbell cam is impressive, that it is a 180 degree
field of view.
The trim of my apartment does take off the left side of that perspective, but honestly,
with that 180 degree field of view, I can see almost to the end of my block and I'm
about in the middle. That's really impressive.
I can of course go into landscape mode if I'd like. I can do digital zoom. It's awfully
impressive. It's very loud outside, so I can turn it down. Turn that volume down. I think
they're doing construction as they always are in New York City.
I can take a photo whatever I like. I can talk directly to anyone outside by holding
this button. I hold this button and I can talk to anyone who's outside, and just generally
speaking, it's pretty strong.
Let's go into the events tab. In our events, I can see the various people that are detected.
I can look and see what's gone down, motion detected. There are a lot of things that one
can do directly in the app.
Let's go ahead and get out of here and go to our settings. You can look at your cameras
where you have your doorbell.
Notifications, where you can decide when you want to be notified. If I don't want to be
notified if just a person is detected, yeah, that might be useful, or I won't be notified
if someone actually rings the doorbell, if someone makes a call, if someone is detected
in my front yard or my property.
There are a lot of notifications one can create, and you can even create various rules like
notify me when my home is armed, my home is disarmed. I really like how deep Vivint has
gone here.
They made a really intuitive convenient app because you really want to be able to cut
down on the number of notifications you're getting throughout the day, and with things
like person detection, you're getting that. It's essentially artificial intelligence that
you're having directly into your doorbell cam.
You can of course change your doorbell chimes. You don't have that many options, but it's
good to at least have some options. In terms of our video, it does have high definition
but we have to go to low just because of the level of bandwidth available to us.
Overall, it's a pretty impressive doorbell speaker that is definitely enhanced by the
intuitiveness of the Vivint app which is always reflected in their scores.
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Gabe: All right. We've come a long way with the Vivint video doorbell, but you're saying,
"You know, Gabe, I do have a Vivint home security system, but I'm not attached to it. I don't
have to get it. I can get any of the video doorbells out there."
I'll say this, those video doorbells probably don't have the high rating that the Vivint
Smart Home app does. It's a very intuitive, convenient process that really integrates
your entire home security apparatus, which is where it really impresses us.
It has a 180 degree field of view, so it's catching everything taking place in front
of your home and has that crystal clear two-way audio.
If you want something beyond 720p, sure, you should look at some of the other devices in
the market, or if you're really intent on setting it up yourself with DIY installation,
then you're not going to get that with the Vivint video doorbell.
Overall, especially for those who already have the Vivint home security system or those
who are thinking about it, I definitely think that the Vivint video doorbell is a solid
contender.
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Gabe: That concludes our review of the Vivint video doorbell. If you appreciate today's
video, give us a like and hit that subscribe button. As always, this is Gabe at Security
Baron. Be secure.