Tapo TP-Link Smart Video Doorbell Camera, Chime Included, 2K...

Most Helpful Review

"I am a long time Ring camera user and have an extensive Ring home security system as well as front and side Ring wired video doorbells. My recent front door camera was the Ring Video Doorbell Pro model purchased in 2017. This works fine, except that the field of view is slightly smaller than I'd prefer, where I can't see if packages are sitting on the ground in front of the door. I had the same situation on my side door (at driveway), which I addressed a year ago by changing out the doorbell to a newer Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 (now called Ring Wired Doorbell Pro), which offers a wider field of view and fancier motion tracking (which I never use). I bought that doorbell camera during Prime days for "only" $150. I was planning on replacing my front door camera with the same model, however this year a Prime day deal popped up for the Tapo TP-Link Smart Video Doorbell Camera Wired D130 for a little over $40 so I thought, why not try it out and see what it can do? I have installed multiple TP-Link smart switches and they've worked well.I took off my old Ring doorbell camera and was easily able to install the Tapo D130. It comes with wedge mounting plates that let you optionally tip the camera slightly downward and toward the side if needed, which worked out perfectly for my installation. (Note: Ring charges extra for these wedge mounting plates). The Tapo D130 also comes with an electronic chime unit that can be plugged into any electrical outlet and plays a loud "ding-dong" sound when someone presses the video doorbell button. (with Ring, the Chime unit is not included and costs an additional $35). It was easy to set up the Tapo doorbell using their Android app on my phone. Like many of their TP-Link devices, it will initially act as a Wi-Fi site that you connect to with your phone to give the info needed for it to connect to your home Wi-Fi system. Once it's connected to your home Wi-Fi, you're good to go and can tweek any of the settings that you want. I've included pictures from my old Ring doorbell and this new Tapo D130 doorbell so you can see the great improvement in field of view. The image resolution is also great as is the night vision.Now for the best part. My previous Ring doorbell requires a subscription plan to be useable. The only way any Ring video can be recorded (after a free 30-day trial period) is through a subscription plan which starts at $50 per year for one camera ($100 per year for 2 or more cameras). This was not a big deal for me since I have numerous Ring cameras and was already subscribed. Also, with Ring doorbells, only detected events (motion, people, etc.) are recorded. 24/7 recording is not yet supported on video doorbells (although they say they plan to support it in the future). With the Tapo D130 video doorbell, there is a weatherproof slot for you to install a microSD card upon which you can record anything for free. There is no need to sign up for an annual plan to get a usable system. The Tapo app makes it easy to watch the doorbell videos, both live and also recorded. You can set it to record just detected events (person, pet, motion, package etc.) or you can record 24/7 (any detected events will be indicated on the timeline). I installed a Sandisk 256GB High Endurance microSD card (about $25) in my D130 and can record continuously 24/7 for almost two weeks before it fills up the card and starts recording over the oldest prior videos (loop recording). They recommend using a high endurance microSD card, specifically made for such use. The unit will accept up to a 512GB card if you want to keep well over 3 weeks' worth of continuous 24/7 recordings on hand. I'm not sure why you'd want to sign up for a storage subscription. They will only store event videos online (not continuous 24/7 recording). The only real benefit I see with a subscription is that they will include a snapshot of the event photo when they send an alert to your phone. No photo is sent if you don't subscribe, just the alert. They will also tell you what kind of event occurred to trigger the alert (person detection, pet, motion, etc.). Also, having a subscription enables you to access your video online through a web browser. Without a subscription, you need to use their phone app to access things.Speaking of the Tapo Android phone app, it is very nicely done. I've used it before for their smart switches and find it to be much easier to program smart automations compared to the Alexa routines. For instance, whenever the doorbell camera detects motion at night, I have it automatically turn on my porch light for 10 minutes (I use a TP-Link smart switch for the porch light). The live video feed from the Tapo D130 is accessible through my Alexa screen devices, which is nice. You can answer the door or see who is there either from your phone or your Alexa device.Bottom line: This Tapo TP-Link Smart Video Doorbell Camera Wired D130 is very nice and can match or surpass the high-end Ring Wired Doorbell Pro for le"