In this video, I check out the EZVIZ DB2 2K Video Doorbell, which offers local subscription-free storage.
You can buy this intelligent doorbell for:
£99.99 (with a voucher) from Amazon UK → https://amzn.to/3OSnzbb
€110.50 (with coupon) from Amazon DE → https://amzn.to/3OXt1tE
$139.99 DB1C (1080p version) from Amazon US → https://amzn.to/3awALDP
This 2K resolution smart doorbell for your home offers local and remote video storage, with an extremely wide field of view, options to pan and tilt the doorbell, and it has smart motion detection.
In the box, you get a paper instruction manual and additional warranty and promotional paperwork, there’s the video doorbell itself, a wireless plug-in chime receiver, a base plate and two optional angled mounting plates, an adhesive and rubber strip, there’s a paper template for drilling holes into your wall surface and screws and wallplugs for a more permanent install. There’s a USB-A to Micro-USB charging cable, connecting wires, screws and wire clips for an optional wired doorbell install, and finally, there’s a small screwdriver to help with the installation if you do not have one already.
Doorbell Features
Looking over the doorbell itself. At first glance, it can seem quite thick and chunky, but comparing it to the previous doorbell I reviewed, there isn’t that much difference between them. It measures 150 mm tall x 58 mm wide x 32 mm deep, and the majority of the casing is white in colour, with a glossy black circular section at the top that surrounds both the camera and PIR sensor. There’s some subtle EZVIZ logo branding in the middle, and at the bottom, there is a large ring button, with a clear illustrated bell icon.
On the right side of the doorbell, you’ll find the USB charging port, which is also weatherproofed by a removable rubber cover. On the inner side, there is the option to fit a wired doorbell connection to the DB2, otherwise, you can use its built-in 5,200mAh battery that EZVIZ claims to last up to 115 days, with 5 mins of use per day, which is pretty good going I think.
Mounting
It comes with three mounting options. There’s the main base plate itself, and you can choose to tilt the camera vertically or pan the camera to the side by attaching the base to one of the two optional angled mounting plates. Both mounts require screwing them onto the wall, so I chose to go apply the adhesive strip onto the main mounting plate that the doorbell then slides onto.
With the doorbell fixed to the wall, I then had to find a suitable wall socket, that was within 4 metres of the doorbell and plug in the indoor chime. This small plug-in chime also acts as the local storage for captured videos, with its microSD card slot that can support up to 256GB of storage. This makes the whole setup a little more secure and flexible because the storage is not stored in the body of the doorbell, which could get damaged or stolen. EZVIZ also has their CloudPlay service, for unlimited online storage space, which can offer an additional layer of data protection.
EZVIZ Movile App
Once the indoor chime is plugged in and synced up to the doorbell outside, I then turned my attention to its mobile app, which is where most of the interactions will occur when motion has been detected, and most of all, whenever the ring button has been pressed.
From the EZVIZ app, you can create an account, browse and configure the doorbell’s many settings, to connecting the doorbell to your home Wi-Fi network, sign-up to its online CloudPlay service, choose from the many doorbell chimes and alter the sensitivity of motion detections to adjusting its day and night time recording quality. There are plenty of options to tailor the DB2 to your own home conditions and how you want the doorbell to work best for you.
The doorbell camera section of the app is nicely presented with a clear timeline of the current and previous days’ recorded events from the doorbell’s wide-angle camera, along with easy access to key functions, such as viewing the live feed, viewing all past recordings, mute the ring chime and easily view how much battery remains on the doorbell.
Elsewhere in the app, you can view live camera feeds, and view past saved recordings that are all presented clearly in both tile and timeline display format. Snapshots and videos from these recordings can be taken during playback and they are saved to your phone’s camera roll. This helps you save important key events to an alternative storage location on your phone, so they do not get accidentally recorded over on the doorbell’s own SD card storage.
My Impressions
The EZVIZ DB2 Video Doorbell currently retails for £99.99 from Amazon UK, and €129.99 from Amazon DE, and you can check out my links in this article above to learn more about the DB2 Video Doorbell and buy yourself one. If you’re in the US, Amazon only sell the DB1C Video Doorbell, which costs $139.99 and it is a slightly lower spec’d version of the DB2 with 1080P recording, the SD card slot is in the doorbell casing itself, and the doorbell looks a lot slimmer.
My time with the EZVIZ DB2 has been good. Its installation was quick and easy, and its app setup was frictionless and easy to understand and navigate. All video recordings were clearly presented in the app, with easy navigation and browsing of all the recorded clips. With a 128GB SD card installed, after a week I still had 119GB remaining, so an SD card of this size should be easy enough storage for over a month or two of recordings at its 2K resolution.
As for battery life, after a week’s worth of more than regular use for this review, the doorbell’s internal battery was down to 92%. So with more general use, I would expect a few months of battery life before the doorbell will need disconnecting and recharging from its micro-USB port.
I found the video camera quality to be sufficient and very good in both daytime and nighttime recordings. Its 2K resolution helps maintain a good level of detail whilst saving at a relatively small file size on the local SD card. I would have preferred a 30-day trial of its CloudPlay online storage, instead of 7-days. A full month should give you a better idea of whether you need it or not. Otherwise, I found its local storage with a large enough file size to be sufficient and fast enough to browse and view clips from my phone.
I loved its ultra-wide 176-degree viewing angle, which offers much more vertical capture, whilst still not looking totally distorted. Its PIR sensor and motion detection was triggered successfully, although I did get a lot of motion being triggered by passing cars, you do have the option to reduce sensitivity as well as turn on human detection to avoid less important motion alerts, and there is also a loitering mode for consistent motion that’s longer than a set period.
I did find the 4-metre distance between the doorbell and the plug-in chime to be a little limited. This is likely to maintain a good level of connection between the doorbell and also for local storage recording. But on top of this, you also have to have the chime in close proximity to your home WiFi router too. So for some, you might not be as lucky as I was, by having around 1.5m between the doorbell and chime, and a short 4m line of sight from the chime to my WiFi router.
Also, having the chime located so close, if you have a large home, the chime may not be close enough to where you might easily hear it. Luckily, it is a default feature to have the mobile app ring your phone (just like a phone call) when the bell button is pressed, but I eventually turned that feature off. I would have preferred a more subtle push alert notification, and then choose to answer it, than have my phone ringing every time the doorbell was pressed, yet just I couldn’t find a way to do this in the app.
Its price may seem a little higher than the more well-known branded entry-level video doorbell cameras that are out there, but the DB2 packs a lot more for your money. With a decent super wide-angled 2K resolution, a variety of installation options (including a wired connection), human detection and PIR support, and an included plug-in chime that also keeps your videos stored safely and securely, away from the doorbell; your money goes a long way with this DB2 video doorbell from EZVIZ, so I think you won’t be disappointed if you choose to pick this video doorbell up over the more commonly known alternatives that are out there.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – Brief overview
0:21 – Unboxing
0:57 – Doorbell features
1:50 – Mounting options & installation
2:17 – Plug-in chime
2:21 – Local microSD card storage
2:49 – Online storage backup option
2:58 – EZVIZ mobile app setup
3:37 – Browse recordings
4:22 – My Impressions
5:36 – Recording quality
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