Eric Ravenscraft
Netgear has a line of security cameras under the Arlo brand, and now the company is expanding with a smart doorbell with a twist: no video camera.
Most companies that are creating smart doorbells tend to add a video camera, like the Nest Hello or the Ring Video Doorbell. They’re also pretty expensive. Netgear is leaving the video camera out of its smart doorbell, instead including support for a separate camera, should you choose to buy one.
So, if there’s no video camera, what are you actually getting? For starters, you can choose to get a notification on your phone when the doorbell rings. You can also add Smart Chimes, which plug directly into a power outlet, into any room of the house. If your existing chime is too far away for you to hear from certain rooms, you can fix it with a simple plug.
The Arlo Doorbell also includes a two-way audio connection. When someone rings your doorbell, you can choose to start a call with them from your phone. You can ask who’s there or, say, give a delivery driver some instructions. If you have an Arlo security camera, you can pull up a video feed of your front porch, but the camera is sold separately.
Since the Arlo Doorbell doesn’t include as many features as its competitors, we’d assume it’s cheaper. However, Netgear hasn’t said how much it costs or when it will come out just yet. All we know is that it will arrive this fall. With video doorbells often coming in at over $200, there’s plenty of room to push the price down in the smart doorbell market.
Source: Arlo
