Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

UPDATE 2: I now have to unplug and reconnect the chime daily to keep the doorbell working. Connectivity is horrible and the unit is offline almost constantly now. This product does not seem well designed from this aspect. UPDATE 1: As of 11/16/20, the video magically started working in Alexa. I don't know if the Alexa skill has been improved, but I was able to view live video a couple of times. However, this seems to come at a cost as connectivity has become even more of an issue. The chime is plugged into the same outlet as the router, and the doorbell is within 10' of it, yet it will not stay consistently connected. This effectively makes the live stream irrelevant if I can't connect to the doorbell. Bottom Line Up Front: I hate to start with the negative, but there are some fatal flaws in this design that make it almost useless for me. The first one I received was "Dead On Arrival", but Amazon shipped out a new one immediately and I had it 2 days later. As for doorbell specifics, see below: 1. There is no way to send the videos and recordings to a network storage center or download them all at one time. 2. You cannot view the camera live feed from within Alexa/Google Home. **This started working 11/16/20** 3. You have to remove the doorbell to charge it, and that takes about 6 hours, so no doorbell while charging. 4. The chime ONLY works with the doorbell, and not the floodlight cameras. Here is more more in depth information on what I see is wrong with this device: For starters, the fact that I cannot easily get all my videos at one time for off-line review without removing the Micro-SD card from the chime is a total failure. The chime is connected to my network, I should be able to download all the videos to either my PC or my Phone without removing the storage card. Continually inserting and removing the card causes excessive wear on both the card and the chime and could be easily avoided with a simple download option. Follow that with the fact that I cannot view the live stream in Alexa like you can with other Eufy security cameras (except the floodlight cam, which I will review separately) is a very poor decision and needs to be addressed. If I am in the kitchen, with my Echo Show, and my phone is upstairs when someone comes to the door, I can't just pull up the video feed on my Alexa device to see who is there. That leaves me 3 options, stop what I am doing to answer the door, stop what I am doing to go get my phone, or ignore it. None of these are an ideal solution if I am in the middle of something else. at least with live feed compatibility I could see and interact with my visitor without stopping what I am doing. My Ring doorbell was perfect for this, but the subscription was too costly to keep it. Next up, why the charging port is on the back of the camera in a location that REQUIRES removal to charge is beyond me. If you are not going to use easily replaceable/rechargeable batteries, then the charging port should be accessible without removing the entire doorbell. Perhaps putting it on the side or bottom of the device? That would allow the possible option of connecting to a solar panel, or a backup power-bank, or even running a cable to an outlet to charge it without losing your doorbell for 6 hours. A simple solution could be to provide a mounting plate that allows you to move the charging port so that you don't have to remove the doorbell for 6 hours. Finally, the chime is nice, and acts as a "mini homebase" but it ONLY works SPECIFICALLY with the doorbell it came with and will NOT allow me to integrate it with my Eufy floodlight cameras or any other Eufy cameras. I tried to setup my replacement doorbell with the first chime and it would NOT accept the doorbell as it is somehow tied to the one it is shipped with. I don't understand why, this makes no logical sense to me. If you have stayed with me this long, then here are the good points of this doorbell cam: The video quality is great, even at "only" 1080P like quality. I would say that it appears to rival my old Ring camera which was exceptional. The framerate it records at is lower though, so the videos can be a little choppy, but still very good. Responsiveness is fantastic. Notifications arrive quickly and the app loads up fast when trying to view visitors. This is MUCH faster than my old Ring video doorbell. Audio quality is also very good. One drawback here is that it only records one side of the conversation, but that is outweighed by the fact that it is a clear audio stream and not muffled and distorted like my Ring was. Connectivity is okay. I am calling this a positive because it doesn't disconnect as much as my Ring did, but it does still suffer from some connectivity issues. I suspect that this is because of the low power wifi signal used to connect to the chime. I know this is a battery conservation mechanism, but I wish there was an option in the configuration to use a higher powered signal to help keep it connected better. The chime is included. Despite my issues with the chime, the fact that it comes with the doorbell is a big bonus. I had to purchase the Ring chime separately for my old doorbell. I do wish it had more ringtone options, for example, my wife REALLY liked the "Westminster" chime of the Ring, but there is nothing close on the Eufy, and no option to "upload" chimes. Will I keep this doorbell? With no fees for recording, then I have to say yes, until I find something better. The reality is that a lot of the problems with this device simply boil down to poor design decisions that could be easily rectified if Eufy chooses to do so. However, until there are solutions to the problems, I will use it while I keep looking for a better option, then it will go in the trash. I will update this review if Eufy addresses any of the issues I see with this kit.