Next Generation Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro (Gen 2) Review
One of the new features we are seeing appear in smart video doorbells is a widening of the field of view (FOV). Several new smart video doorbells are widening not only the horizontal view but the vertical view. When Google came out with their new video doorbell, it expanded the doorbell’s vertical view so users could see any visitor from head to toe at their door. However, they didn’t expand the horizontal FOV which limits a user’s viewing on the side of their doorway. Vivint’s next generation smart video doorbell, Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro (2nd Gen)nd Gen) solves this problem by offering a wide viewing angle from side-to-side and head-to toe. The company recently sent us a unit to test and here is what we learned from testing it on a real home the past two months.
What is Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro (Gen 2)?
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Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro (Gen 2) comes with lots of new features to secure your doorway
The Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro (Gen 2) is the next-generation of Vivint’s original smart video doorbell, Vivint Doorbell . It comes with a ton of features including 1664 x 1664p video resolution with 2x HDR, 180-degree field of view horizontally and vertically. The doorbell’s night vision has high-powered IR LEDs (850nm) which can help you see images up to 25 feet away. The doorbell also has a microphone with ambient noise cancellation and a speaker that can go as loud as 90 dB.
Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro (2nd Gen) is also a wired smart video doorbell. It requires 12-24 DC or 16-24 AC power but will work with your existing video doorbell wires if it has sufficient power. The doorbell also connects to your home Wi-Fi network using 2.4/5GHz (802.11 b/g/n/ac) connections as well as Bluetooth and NFC connections. The Wi-Fi connection allows you access to your Vivint doorbell from anywhere using the Vivint app.
And speaking of the Vivint app which is available for both iOS and Android mobile devices, there are a lot of new features for you to choose from to help secure your home. Besides setting up notifications and alerts, you can also adjust when to record, night vision, video quality and what chime to play when someone pushes the button. Note during holidays, you can select special holiday theme chimes to play. There is no cost for the holiday theme chimes. Just go to the Vivint app and select the chime you want to play for that holiday.)
Buy Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro (Gen 2)
How does Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro (2nd Gen) work?
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Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro (Gen 2) can detect when a package is delivered to your door.
One of the new features that comes with this new Vivint video doorbell is porch and package detection. This new type of protection keeps your deliveries safe from unwanted guests lurking around your home. It uses the company’s Smart Deter technology in tandem with the smart video doorbell and its speaker to provide better surveillance of your deliveries and visitors.
How does it work? Whenever a visitor is spotted, the doorbell will play a sound through its speaker. Then you can use the two-way communication feature to either scare the person away or welcome them. You can also set up Smart Deter to sound on your Vivint Smart Hub and/or smartphone via the Vivint app.
In addition to setting up Smart Deter detection in the Vivint app, you can also set up detection zones and sensitivity. For setting the zones, you will pinch the screen in the app to create the areas you want to be notified when a person or package is detected. For the sensitivity, you can set it up by moving the bar from low to high. We would recommend testing the sensitivity to determine the right levels that can detect people and not generate false alerts. Some sensitivity settings can cause false alerts, especially when set too high.
How to Store Your Videos from Vivint Cameras and Doorbells
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Store your videos from Vivint doorbell locally or in the cloud using Vivint service plan. This is a picture from a saved video from the Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro (Gen 2)
What do you do with all the videos your Vivint smart video doorbell records each day? This new video doorbell by Vivint comes with SD Card which can store up to 64GB of data (up to 10 days of DVR storage) but does require a Vivint service plan. Having the built-in SD card does enable faster clip loading and scrubbing speeds which gives you less buffering during playing back.
And speaking of Vivint Service plans, you will have to contact Vivint directly since each plan varies based on the devices you install and the professional monitoring services you purchase. (Note: monthly monitoring service plans start around $19.99 per month plus the cost of the equipment.). Note installation is part of the cost, so no need to worry about getting your system up and running. Vivint will handle all that for you.
Learn about Vivint service plans here.
Smart Home Integrations - See what works with Vivint Smart Home
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Use The GearBrain to find devices that are compatible with Vivint Smart Home.
In building a good reliable smart home security system, it’s important to make sure all your devices talk to each other, and you can control them through one app. With Vivint, you get a robust ecosystem of smart devices to add to your smart home security system. You can get smart locks that can be locked or unlocked from the Vivint app while you are speaking with someone through your Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro. You can also add your Philips Hue smart lights or Google Nest smart thermostat. To learn more about which smart devices work with Vivint, visit GearBrain’s compatibly find engine, The GearBrain. It will help you find all the compatible smart devices that you can add to your Vivint Smart Home system as well as allow you to store product manuals and user guides for these and your existing devices for free.
Buy Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro (Gen 2)
What’s the difference between 1st Gen and 2nd Gen Doorbells?
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A side by side comparison of Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro (2nd Gen) and Vivint's first gen smart doorbell.
There are several differences between the first gen and second gen Vivint smart video doorbells. First one is obvious., the size of the doorbell. Vivint’s second generation doorbell is bigger in size than the first generation. 2nd Gen Vivint doorbell measures 5.7 x 1.7 x 1.4 inches versus 4.6 x1.5 x 1.3 inches for the first Gen. The Second Gen also is heavier and more durable. It weighs 9.7 oz versus 3.8 oz for the first generation Vivint doorbell.
When comparing field of views (FOV), there is not much of a difference horizontally. Both video doorbells have a 180-degree FOV. However, the 2nd Gen doorbell comes with 180-degree vertical FOV too. This provides users with a wide and deep viewing angle so you can see if people are lurking on the side of your doorway and if a package has been delivered at the foot of your doorway. When you combine this FOV and Vivint’s new porch and package protection, you have a solid smart video doorbell camera.
The last difference between the two generations of Vivint Video Doorbells is storage. The 2nd Gen comes with an on-camera encrypted SD card to allow users to store videos locally. The first generations do not have any local storage capabilities. Having local storage capability on the second-generation doorbell does provide improved performance and continuous, 24/7 monitoring and recording.
How much does Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro (2nd Gen) Cost
Vivint’s new smart video doorbell camera costs $249.99 and is available only from Vivint. This is because you are required to get a service plan with this device.
If interesting in buying Vivint's Doorbell Camera Pro (Gen 2), click here.
Performance, How did Vivint’s next generation doorbell do with our testing?
In testing this smart video doorbell on a real home with Vivint Smart Home security in place, we found the new doorbell to be quite good, especially when we compared it to the previous generation Vivint smart video doorbell.
Regarding the video resolution, this new Vivint doorbell had much better video resolution than the first-generation doorbell. Night vision was also clearer. The porch and package protection were a plus. We liked how you can set up when to get notified in the Vivint app. The app had four options on when to get notified: when someone rings the doorbell, a person is detected, a package is detected and when deter is triggered. You can select one or all of them if you want.
For detection zones, setting up and adjusting the detection sensitivity was simple. It’s like the way other smart video doorbell have motion detection setup. Our recommendation would be to make sure you test the detection sensitivity to find the ultimate setting for your home. Since this doorbell camera is quite good, the higher the sensitivity setting, the greater chance of getting false alerts from objects that might seem big to the camera but are quite small and not relevant to the homeowner.
Another new featured we liked in the Vivint app was the Package Detection feature. This feature helps Vivint know where your doorbell is on your house so it can better monitor your doorway. They offer four placements: right of my door, left of my door, on the right adjacent wall and on the left adjacent door. We have never seen this type of feature before and like how it can better inform the camera on where to focus motion detection.
When testing this smart video doorbell camera from Vivint, we experienced no issues. It worked as advertised. We changed the chime for Halloween which the kids loved. Once Halloween was over, we noticed our chime went right back to the chime we used before the holiday. This was nice to see since many of us do forget to change the chime back after the holiday.
The only issue users might have with this new video smart doorbell is the cost and the fact you need to get a Vivint service plan to use this smart video doorbell. We know the Vivint system is not as cheap as a DIY smart home security system like blue by ADT. However, if you are in the market for a good reliable smart home security system with professional monitoring and robust ecosystem, Vivint is a good solution to consider.
Summary
When comparing the Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro (2nd Gen) to other smart video doorbells, we have found it to be one of the better doorbells on the market. It’s one of the few video doorbells that provide a wide FOV horizontally and vertically. You get clear night vision up to 25 feet from your home which many only go up to 16 feet. Customizing detection zones is something we see in other smart video doorbells, but the new Smart Deter Technology and local video storage are new features we don’t see and like a lot. Also, Vivint’s doorbell two-way talk feature works better than other smart video doorbell’s system and Vivint’s porch and package protection is another new feature we don’t see in many smart video doorbells.
Overall, if you are looking for a good dependable smart video doorbell and a smart home security system with professional monitoring and robust smart home ecosystem which can help you build a safe and secure smart home, Vivint Smart Home and their next generation Video Doorbell Camera pro is the product for you. If you are currently a Vivint Smart Home customer and are thinking of upgrading your Vivint doorbell camera, we would also recommend you choose the 2nd Gen Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro. It’s features and ability to integrate with the Vivint system provide a new layer of security which can keep your home safe and secure 24/7.
Pros
- Smart Deter Technology
- Tall and wide field of view
- Porch and package protection
Cons
- Price
- Requires monthly plan
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