Skybell HD WiFi Doorbell Camera 1080p Color Night Vision Bronze by SkyBell

Don’t buy this doorbell. Old technology fails after a few years: (1) the response detection motion or pressed button would come to my phone very late - significant delay from a few minutes to over a day! (2) the battery i side the doorbell would overcharge and be bloated with air forcing the unit out of electrical contact. Skybell refused to accept responsibility for this defect when contacted a few years ago and I had to buy a lithium battery replacement myself; (3) the battery started to bloat again after about one year of use - signifying that the electronics keep overcharging the battery; (4) after about 4 years’ use, the doorbell failed with boinking yellow light on the button but red light on top - a color code not in any if their troubleshooting manual, and emailing their customer service with thus issue did not get any response at all!I could live with non-instantaneous alert on my phone, only if the doorbell works! Now it is a useless decor on my stucco wall outside my door! AVOID and get something else!

I got a Skybell HD over one of the competitor’s bells for a handful of reasons: 1.) No subscription required 2.) 30 frames per second video versus the 15 fps most other bells (and the Skybell Trim) had and 3.) Compatibility with my old mechanical bell with a simple installation.The no sub required is true, which is great. You get 7 days of recordings and can download any you wish to keep, without too much trouble (though Google won't sync the videos as it detects them as an unknown type). 2 and 3 were where I ran into issues:Although attaching the bell wiring was easy, mounting the bell properly to the mount plate was a nightmare. No matter how hard (or gently) I tried, I could not get this flush with the mount. The side where the contacts touch to get power to the bell was just pushing a bit away. After talking to Skybell support multiple times, they assured me this would not be a problem and that I could leave it as-is. A couple months later, my bell began powering itself off because of this mount issue.Tech support had me buy a new mount, but first wanted to place the blame on my bell transformer. After going back and forth on this, I bought a multi-meter to test and verified my bell was at a steady 18 V, between their recommended 10 - 36V. The tech then told me the 16V transformer should get me around 20, so it's probably the transformer that’s my issue. Seemed odd considering the specs call for 10 - 36 and I'm getting 18. Sounds to me like I'm getting plenty for the bell, even if my transformer could output more. At that point, they moved on from there. I have yet to install my new mounting plate because the bell seems to be sitting just right as of now. I will replace it in the next week and update on that.Another issue I experienced was poor bell resolution and framerate. Initially, I thought the bell was 1080p. To keep this part shorter, the camera is 1080p but records 720p. I think it’s purposely misleading on that front, but I could have found that out if I read more carefully before purchasing. What I couldn’t have easily called out as BS was the framerate. On nearly every article, review and even on Skybell HD’s FAQ site itself, the bell is listed as a 30 frame per second bell. This means much smoother motion than competing bells, which was important to me. So back and forth I went with tech support. What was to blame first? My wireless network. Using my phone on the 2.4 Ghz radio (same as the bell), I tested well above their only Wifi minimum req, which was 1.5 Mbps (I was getting between 2.5 and 5). They then had me reset the bell and finally set it to a static IP. No change with any of this. Next, they thought I might need an extender. I bought one, set it up and placed it within 1 or 2 feet of the bell, just on the other side of the wall where the bell is. Bandwidth and signal were rock solid. No change in video fps. Since the extender wasn’t helping, I returned it before my 1 month return expired. After that, I physically moved my wireless router within 10 feet of the bell with a straight line of sight, not including the wall between the bell and the router. No change in framerate. Tech support had me sending them video examples throughout this, of course. I showed them the reported fps from standard video players as evidence. After that, they tried to baffle me with BS by posting the video encoding routine the camera uses, as if that matters or I would care when the bell is supposed to get me 30 fps. They then told me future firmware would help with motion stability. I then flat out asked if the bell recorded 30 fps or not, at which point they told me it did not. So then why put me through weeks or testing, buying products and back and forth of email if you knew up front it was a giant lie? I’m sure the next reply I get will be that the 30 fps is only for broadcast and not recording, at which point I will ask why I’m not currently getting that for broadcasts either (all you need is a pair of eyes to tell the difference between 10 and 30 fps). They will certainly tell me I need to upgrade my 250/5 internet service, which I will obviously not do.Long story longer, the Skybell HD does not perform as advertised and tech support’s main objective is to push back on you by any means necessary, abdicating any responsibility on the company, tech support and the product. In all honesty, it’s some of the worst customer support I’ve endured in many years.

powered by current chime's power of 20v AC. Two source wires connect to the base with screws. Screw on base must match the video unit exactly to power the unit as you push the base and video unit together.. 1) the two screws are too close to be safe. 20v high amperage is nothing to sneeze about. 2) then to match contact points as you try to stuff all the wires inside the unit's housing is a task too far. Extreme poor design. I finally did it. Features are standard (good). After 2 years, unit was dead, un-revivable..video will not connect even after re-installation. ...disappointing. I am certainly going to get a different replacement.