A high-tech doorbell at an affordable price. Let’s take a look at this another smart home device from Xiaomi. Not only a wireless doorbell, but a device with a camera that supports face recognition and motion sensors as well. Does it work as advertised or just a gimmick? Let’s find out on this review.
Planning to have an automated/smart home, it’s perfect that I came across to this device while browsing products online. My original plan is to do it myself (yeah I’m an Embedded Systems Engineer and I build IoT stuff like this). But then again, due to lack of time and I was tempted to use these Xiaomi devices instead. Let’s admit it. We all know that Xiaomi devices (like their phones) are cheap, but with an awesome quality!
I bought quite a lot of smart devices from Xiaomi. Let’s begin with this one.
There’s an official Mi store here the in the Philippines. But interestingly, this Xiaomi Doorbell is not officially available here in my country. But then, our friend Lazada comes to the rescue! You can find one, ranging from about 3,000 to less than 4,000 pesos (PHP). It depends on the seller and which model/package you will buy.
Xiaomi Zero Doorbell comes in 2 package versions.
- Xiaomi Doorbell and Receiver combo
- Xiaomi Doorbell standalone
For me, I bought the Xiaomi Doorbell and Receiver combo. It’s about Php 2,699. Even less (10%) because of Lazada vouchers from my Credit Card issuer.
Unboxing
Inside the box you will see:
- Xiaomi Doorbell
- Receiver / Speaker
- Toks with screws for wall mounting
- Pair of screws to secure the body (the other is extra)
- Mini Screwdriver
- Sticker (but in Chinese)
- Instruction Manual
- 4 AA-Sized Alkaline Battery (LR6)
Hardware
The Doorbell Hardware consists of a button for the bell, camera, infrared LED, mic, speaker, and battery compartment. Motion sensors are here as well.
The receiver hardware contains the speaker, plug, and 3 buttons. Actually, I don’t know what those buttons do. Maybe I will try it another day. WIll probably include it on my long term review.
Installation
At the back side of the doorbell is a 3M adhesive tape, in which can be peeled and stick it to your door.
In my case, this doorbell will be on our front gate. I will not use the adhesive, but rather will wall mount the back-plate on the concrete.
From the product info, the doorbell needs an Alkaline battery (LR6). Ordinary batteries like with the Carbon-Zinc can’t be used. I assume this device needs a high capacity battery and also you don’t want to change battery that often right?
As for the receiver, just plug it in a wall socket. My device version have this type-A plug, which is perfect for our outlet at home. The connection between the doorbell and the receiver is up to 50 meters.
Goodies: A lot of features!
This smart doorbell is feature-packed. Of course, its main function is a doorbell – for the guest to press and to notify that there’s someone outside your door. Other than that, here are the additional functions and features:
- Guest photo snapshot
- Photo snapshot upon press of the doorbell
- Motion Sensor Video Recording
- Video recording (up to 6 sec) upon sensing a motion
- Live Video
- Upon pressing the doorbell button, can watch live video and talk to the person
- Mic and speaker on the main doorbell
- Live Voice Changer: Useful for deliveries
- Night Vision
- Using infrared light to capture black and white photos/videos even in the dark
- Mi Home App
- App to view and control the doorbell
- Push Notifications
- Receive notifications on your mobile device
What I like about this device is it compliments our CCTV system. It also acts as a deterrent for thieves. It will only record videos when there’s a motion or when the scene was changed. It saves you time as opposed to CCTVs where you must watch the whole video and manually find the timestamp where the important things happened.
I also like the feature wherein I can access the photos and videos from the Doorbell via Xiaomi Cloud. It notifies me when there’s a person in my door/gate anywhere in the world, as long as there is an internet connection.
Facial Recognition: Just a gimmick?
The device can detect faces if you enable it on the settings. It’s quite not perfect. Yes, it can detect when the person is wearing eye glasses. But most of the time, for the age detection, it is not that close to accurate.
You can label and name the person so that when the doorbell sees this person again, it will indicate the name of the person in your notifications.
Limitations
Battery Life: Not So Good
The Zero doorbell runs mostly in sleep mode. It will just record when the button is pushed or when it senses motion. Live video will only be available on that scenario.
Xiaomi advertises about 6 months of battery life. In my case, it’s just about 1 month. That’s from the included battery though. Quite a hassle to remove the device and replace the battery once a month.
I will write a long term review featuring different battery on this device. So watch out!
Cloud Storage: Limited and will expire after a year
This device includes free 7-day over-writing cloud storage for 1 year. After that, it will be only 2-day free storage. You need to pay it increase the number of days.
Final thoughts
Xiaomi Smart Doorbell is a great smart device. Other than being a wireless doorbell, the main advantage here is the extra security it brings to your home. You can view it remotely even outside your home, as long as you have an internet connection. I recommend this device as it is not that expensive to buy. It is an great doorbell for your home, as long as you don’t mind changing the batteries about every month.
What are your thoughts? Do you already have one in your home? or you have some questions you want to ask? Comment down below and don’t forget to like and share. Will post my long term review soon! See yah!
