Having a doorbell security system is becoming much more popular as technology rapidly advances in this day and age. This newer security is super handy too! However, which one is better?
Which security doorbell is better: Nest Hello or Arlo? The Nest Hello Doorbell streams the video 24/7, accessible on an app. Continuous recording can slow down internet. The Arlo Doorbell can be set up to only record footage when motion is detected, using less bandwidth. However accessing video with Arlo is not user-friendly. The Nest Hello system is better when it comes to being user-friendly, and Arlo is better when it comes to internet bandwidth usage.
Both the Nest Hello and Arlo doorbell security systems are great for these reasons and many more, but it ultimately depends on whether you want extremely easy access to the video footage or having footage of everything, costing your fast internet.
Or, do you want to keep your great internet speed and save a ton of video storage space, compromising your ease of access to the video footage? Let’s look at these security systems more deeply before you jump to a decision, though.
The Nest Hello
The Nest HelloThe Nest Hello is a Smart Doorbell security system that has features such as video recording and easy access through your phone. It streams video recorded footage from a little camera in the device to your phone so that you can check who is at your door, what they are doing, or even have a warning if something bad is happening or about to happen.
This device helps with not just better security but helps to provide ease of access and information.
Features
- 4:3 HD Video (full body image)
- HDR Video (sharp details in bright and dark areas)
- Night Vision
- 24/7 Streaming
- 160-degree field of view
- Quiet Time
- Person, motion, and sound alerts to detect visitors
- Recognize Family and Friends and send a special alert
- Pre-recorded quick responses
- Wi-Fi Connectivit
- HD Talk and Listen
- Noise and Echo Cancellation
- Alerts without ringing Doorbell
The Nest Hello is a really great doorbell security system with all kinds of really awesome features, listed above. It has just about any feature you would want this smart doorbell to have!
But, Despite all of these, it doesn’t mean it is without flaws. Below, I have compiled lists and explanations of exactly what I think are the Pros and Cons to this awesome device that should be considered before buying it.
Pros
One of the great things about this Smart Doorbell is its amazing video quality. It has all kinds of great features that make it truly exceptional. One of these is the 4:3 HD Video and 160-degree view which makes it so that you have a very broad range of view from the small camera in the device.
You can see a full body image and complete wingspan. You can see anything and everything going on around your front porch with this broad view camera.
Another great video quality feature is the clarity from the HDR Video feature. With this, you not only can see a very broad range from the camera view, but you can also see a very clear view of everything as well! No fuzzy camera image quality. It’s as clear as day!
Another Pro to this security system is the cool visual features. One of the great features is its motion detection. This camera will detect when someone or something is walking around outside your door and will alert you when it detects the motion.
This can pick up anything in milliseconds as well because the camera is always taping and streaming it to your phone so it catches everything.
Another great visual feature is Night Vision. This makes it so that you can see what is going on even on the darkest of nights.
The night vision helps to see everything going on in the dark so that you don’t miss anything, even if someone tries to come causing trouble at night when they think they won’t be seen as easy.
The joke is on them! They will be caught just as easy as if they were doing it in the middle of the day due to this awesome camera feature!
My all-time favorite visual feature of this smart doorbell, however, is facial recognition. This advanced technology can recognize when your friends or family are coming up to the door with its facial recognition features.
You can set it up so that these familiar people will have their own doorbell chimes so that you can differentiate, without having to physically check, who is coming to the door and whether or not you know them! Talk about getting ahead of the game!
This device also has some great sound features. Aside from the differentiated doorbell chimes, It has a lot of other great features such as motion alerts.
From the motion detection features, this will trigger alerts that you will get sent straight to your phone without your visitors even having to ring the doorbell. You will be able to know when something is going on outside without even having to hear anything!
Another great sound feature is noise and echo cancellation. With this feature, it picks up sounds with the video that are relevant such as people talking but it will cancel out irrelevant and unnecessary noises such as leaves blowing by or wind.
This helps so that if something does happen, you’ll be able to hear what is actually important and not the weather.
My favorite sound feature is the HD talk and listen in which you can use the doorbell as a walky-talky of sorts and communicate with whoever is on your porch without having to get off the couch, for example.
This feature also consists of pre-recorded responses so that you don’t even have to put the effort out to talk through the microphone every time. You can simply click on your desired pre-recorded responses and you won’t have to put out an ounce of effort to do so!
The Quiet Time feature is amazing as well. You can set it so that if someone rings the doorbell then the sound won’t chime inside the house during that time period.
This is super helpful for those with babies or that work night shifts because the doorbell won’t disturb that oh-so-precious slumber necessary for sanity!
One of the last great thing about this device that I will talk about is the ease of access. This smart doorbell connects to your phone through the Wi-Fi and streams the security footage 24/7.
You can have access to this video footage at any time from the click of a button. The HD talk and listen and pre-recorded responses features are also super helpful and make things much easier on you.
Instead of having to walk across the house to tell the UPS guy where he should put your package or to come to retrieve it, you can simply give them instructions from the talk and listen to set-up features.
Cons
Despite all of the many amazing features that this device has, it does have its flaws. One of these flaws is that it REALLY slows down your Wi-Fi connection. This is due to the constant video streaming from the device to your phone and also having to store all of that information.
This overload of information leads us to our next con as well, that the date takes a TON of video footage and saves it all which means that any storage software you have for this device is going to fill up super fast from the flood of data.
This device could also be considered an invasion of privacy or TOO smart. The facial recognition features might freak some people out because it does use a camera to recognize certain individuals which can be scary.
It also ruins surprises if some of your loved ones are trying to do something nice for you because it will tell you they are there before they have time to do their thing.
If you can get past these two things, then you shouldn’t have too much of a problem with this device, but they are major factors to consider.
The Arlo
The ArloThe Arlo Doorbell is another one of these awesome security companies that sells high-tech doorbells like Ring and Nest Hello. They, however, have a different set up than these other companies do.
With the Arlo doorbell system, you have the normal doorbell by your that people use to notify you they are present and to help pick up sounds and allow you and your guest to verbally communicate.
However, the Arlo system is different because there is no video camera in the doorbell. The doorbell and video camera are two separate units.
With these two units being separate, you set up the doorbell like you normally would by the door and you mount the camera wherever you deem best above the doorway.
These cameras from Arlo’s security system are a great pair with the doorbell and are sure to satisfy your security needs like the Nest Hello.
Features
- Mobile Notifications
- Easy DIY setup
- Remote Communications
- Works with Existing Chime
- Visitor Messaging
- Silent Mode
- Quick-Response Replies
- Compatible with the free Arlo App
- Wire-Free and Weather-Resistant Design
- Includes Rolling 7-Day Cloud Recording
Pros
Something great about this smart doorbell is that it’s a slim build and isn’t bulky and large like the other smart doorbell systems tend to be. This doorbell is very slim and almost completely flush with the wall.
It doesn’t take up any extra room that it doesn’t have to and, therefore, won’t look like an obnoxious monstrosity screwed into your door frame.
A rather unique feature of the Arlo Audio Doorbell is that it is voicemail enabled. When your guests come to your doorstep and you are not home, they can leave a voicemail for you with your doorbell.
This feature is sure to impress your guests and really come in handy, especially if you and your family are very busy and rarely home.
Another positive quality of the Arlo Audio Doorbell is that it has a very installation. You simply have to use two screws to screw the base into the wall or door frame where you want to place your doorbell and then attach the rest of the device to that base. An installation process couldn’t get much simpler than that!
A feature that is more common in these high-tech doorbells that the Arlo Audio Doorbell has is that you can select your own “away” messages to let your guests know that you are out of the house if they stop by.
This feature, though more common, is still very useful and a great addition to these types of doorbell systems.
Cons
One of the major things that I dislike about the Arlo Audio Doorbell system is that in order for your Audio Doorbell to work properly, especially to have the video features that come with every other smart doorbell system, you need to purchase or already own an entire Arlo security system.
You have to at the very least buy an Arlo Base Station which is just as much or more than the price of a doorbell itself. You can’t just purchase the doorbell and have it work. It is an all-or-nothing purchase.
Another feature that irritates me is that you cannot adjust the motion sensitivity if you do happen to purchase the cameras for the security system after all. Your camera will send you notifications for ANY motion that it picks up and you have no say in it.
Along with this annoying feature that will in itself bombard your phone with notifications, they come slower than would be ideal and they get excessive. These notifications come late and every device that picks up on this motion or audio presence will send you a notification.
So, if someone walks up to your doorstep, your doorbell will hear them and your camera will see them as well. The system won’t send you one, slow notification for this. No. It will send you two or three notifications (one for every device that picks something up).
On top of all of this notification hassle, it is hard to finally get to the live feed when your phone sends you a motion detection alert. These alerts come in as phone calls, but after you answer it will then work on opening up the footage on your phone for you to see.
For other systems, it is much easier to use this feature. Other systems send immediately open the live video feed for you on your phone. No hassle, no waiting, and no missing important situations.
Remember how I said this system has a very unique voicemail feature? Well, despite how awesome this feature is, you better want it if you buy an Arlo Audio Doorbell because there is no way to disable or turn off this setting if you don’t want it. You don’t have a say. Your machine controls the decision!
Another thing that isn’t great about the Arlo doorbell is that the batteries that power the doorbell are not rechargeable, so you have to keep buying and replacing the batteries over and over again whenever it runs out of power.
Also, there is NO wired power option, so you are stuck having to buy and replace batteries constantly. What a hassle!
The speaker on this doorbell system is also very quiet, so it is hard for your guests to hear what you are saying to them through the doorbell system unless you are basically yelling at them. And we don’t want to be yelling at our friends all of the time.
Which One Wins? Nest Hello!
The doorbell that wins is the Nest Hello! Though the Arlo system has some rather useful and unique features such as the guest voicemail capabilities and a slim, flush build.
The Arlo system is ultimately less user-friendly tha the Nest Hello is. You would need to buy an entire Arlo security system in order to use the doorbell. For the Nest Hello, all you would have to do is buy the Nest Hello doorbell and you are good to go.
Related Questions:
Is the Nest Hello Google Home compatible? This device is, in fact, Google Home compatible and it can send google alerts to you for its alerts. It also works with Google Home compatible speakers which is great! You can stay WELL connected with this device.
Is Arlo Google Home compatible? This device is compatible with Google Assistant. You can use your voice to operate this hands-free, including actions such as chrome-casting footage on your TV.