Overall excellence with one limitation

A few well-established brands, like Ring and Nest, dominate the smart video doorbell territory. That’s no secret. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t unsung heroes vying for some of the market share. Many of these contenders offer nearly identical specs without the A-list price.

Ecobee, largely known for its smart climate devices like thermostats, released its first-ever smart doorbell last October. This is the brand’s second security camera, following an indoor camera released in 2020. At a glance, the new doorbell stands toe-to-toe with big-name competitors in many aspects — but does Ecobee earn a space among the security goliaths? Let’s take a look.

Price, availability, and specs

The Ecobee Smart Doorbell Camera is available for $160 directly through Ecobee and just about any major electronics retailer. This includes Best Buy, Lowe’s, Office Depot, and Amazon. At the time of this review’s publication, the doorbell is on sale for $150 through Amazon.

What’s good about the Ecobee Smart Doorbell Camera?

Honestly, (almost) everything

The Ecobee Smart Doorbell Camera offers almost everything you want in a doorbell. Ecobee’s first smart wired doorbell offers fiercely competitive surveillance and a clean app experience. The housing is durable and up to withstanding the elements. The camera consistently delivers on clarity and quality, even at night. There’s no color night vision, but video and images are still crisp and legible.

The app allows for activity zones, customized alerts, two-way audio, siren activation, and rich push notifications (you need a subscription for that). The audio output on both ends was impressive and clear, although the person at the doorbell reported a few-second delay when I was speaking through the app. Like several other doorbells, the Ecobee includes a beta feature called Smart Focus, where the camera automatically locks its focus on a person in view. The lens will pan and zoom to follow the tracked person.

While the feature generally worked well, Smart Focus needs just a touch more refinement. Its panning and zooming were often too slow to keep up with a person walking through the frame.

If you’re in the market for a smart doorbell and already have an Ecobee thermostat, namely the premium version, getting the brand’s new doorbell is a no-brainer.

If you’re in the market for a smart doorbell and already have an Ecobee thermostat, namely the premium version, getting the brand’s new doorbell is a no-brainer. Ecobee nailed it in creating a harmonious comfort-security ecosystem; my Smart Thermostat Premium became a security hub for the doorbell. It offered a secondary live view, displaying a real-time stream of the doorbell’s camera when activity was detected and acted as another chime when the doorbell rang. This doorbell also plays nice with Apple HomeKits or Alexa homes; compatible speakers and devices can read out doorbell notifications, show live video, and allow two-way audio.

Package detection was the most reliable I’d ever experienced in a video doorbell, partly thanks to Ecobee’s 175% vertical field of view, which allows the user to see packages placed right up against the door. Package detection is locked behind an Ecobee Smart Security paywall, but I highly recommend utilizing this subscription with the Smart Doorbell Camera.

The two paid plan options are remarkably affordable at $5 or $10 per month, with the upper Complete plan offering professional monitoring and 30-day video storage for unlimited camera devices. Ecobee needs to roll out some exterior security cameras to really make that unlimited storage worth it, but still — $10 per month is unbeatable. There is a free option, but you miss out on most premium features.

What’s bad about the Ecobee Smart Doorbell Camera?

Tethered by its ball and chain

The one con about this doorbell is only subjectively a con, which is that it’s a wired model. Further, Ecobee currently only offers this doorbell camera in a wired model, so customers who need or want a wireless option are out of luck for the foreseeable future. As far as hardwired doorbells go, the Ecobee was still easy to install. The app’s illustrated, step-by-step instructions made sure of that. However, by sheer design, wired doorbells are not accessible to every user, and it seems imprudent not to immediately follow up on a wired doorbell release with a wireless one.

There are a few arguments for a wired doorbell, of course —wired connections mean the new product can communicate with your home’s existing chime, and there’s no hassle with dead doorbells and battery charging. But Ecobee says its camera is hardwired “for a reliable view, no matter the weather,” which implies that users in harsher or more unpredictable climates would derive greater benefit from a wired doorbell over a battery-powered one.

I tested this doorbell in Minnesota, which boasts arguably one of the harshest climates in the continental United States, and Ecobee’s device unseated a wireless Nest doorbell for its testing. The battery in that Nest doorbell lasts three to four months, which feels like a pretty reasonable expectation regardless of climate. Plus, which device would still be online when the power goes out in the middle of a Minnesotan blizzard? Not Ecobee’s.

If a brand wants to use weather and climates to argue the case for choosing a wired security device over battery-powered alternatives, combining the two and offering wired power with a battery backup is the best possible scenario. Generally speaking, harsher climates are more likely to experience weather-related power outages, so choosing a wired solution seems illogical.

Should you buy it?

If you hate charging batteries, this is a great option

While I highly recommend the Ecobee doorbell, I (almost painfully) can’t say it is the right fit for everyone. It’s that hardwired component getting in the way. It has its perks, but it’s not an accessible type of installation for too many people, and this is consequentially the only thing that could make the doorbell a hard sell. In most cases, this kind of rules the Ecobee Smart Doorbell Camera out for renters. But beyond that, with easy-to-follow instructions and a user-friendly app UI, this is a great buy for beginner and advanced smart-homers alike.

While I highly recommend the Ecobee doorbell, I (almost painfully) can’t say it is the right fit for everyone.

There are a few premium features we don’t see in Ecobee’s first doorbell, like facial recognition for regular visitors and color night vision, but this is trivial with the clear infrared night video and geofencing tech that allows Ecobee households to know when a household member is home. And Ecoee doesn’t currently support Google Home integration, but that’s “coming soon,” the brand says.

Maybe we will see a wireless version of this doorbell in the future or a “Pro” generation that introduces those premium features that will make the Ecobee more competitive with the latest from big names (like the Ring Battery Doorbell Pro), but this is still a well-rounded and feature-rich option, especially in the under-$200 price point. It’s easy to install, performs consistently, and seamlessly integrates with Ecobee, Alexa, or Apple smart homes.