Video doorbells are rather recent technological advancements that are rapidly gaining popularity among consumers. This feature enhances security and comfort since it enables you to monitor and interact with callers at your door even if you are not within the house. While the majority of the video doorbell models allow for video recording, users need to pay for a cloud storage subscription to store these videos continuously. You won’t have to deal with those inevitable monthly fees, however, if you opt for a doorbell camera that saves footage on a microSD memory card.
What is a Subscription-Free Video Doorbell?
A video doorbell without the need to pay monthly fees is similar to a smart WiFi doorbell camera. It can assist you in receiving mobile notifications, watching live videos, interacting with visitors in real-time, and watching recordings. The major drawback is that Ring relies on a paid cloud subscription to review and monitor video history, all the recorded footages are stored in local storage within the doorbell on a microSD card to which you have to supply. Again, there are no monthly subscription costs as all you do is buy the camera at a set price.
Pros of Subscription-Free Video Doorbells
Going subscription-free comes with several advantages:
- Minimize monthly cloud subscription fees which are widely priced between $3- $10 each month
- Obtain both live and recorded video feeds without any further costs after initial investment in a doorbell.
- No possible way for the company or other unauthorized personnel to view your recordings as the footage remains on a microSD card.
- Included a certain level of privacy as compared to cloud storage since videos are not saved online.
Just bear in mind that local storage, especially the storage on the card, generally allows only a limited amount of video depending on the capacity of the card, while on the other hand, cloud plans have almost infinite footage storage.
How can I choose the right doorbell without subscribing?
When choosing a subscription-free WiFi video doorbell, here are key shopping tips:
Make sure that the doorbells come with the microSD card storage option. Some of the most common options are the RemoBell S, Eufy Wired 2K, or Nest Hello. Just to make sure local storage is still available offline and no subscription is needed.
Check video resolution. Sharpness is usually seen to be better as it increases the quality of the video but comes with the disadvantage of occupying more space in the storage per recording.
Introduce one aspect of design, such as the field of view. Video quality is around 1080p with a 135-160 degree wide field of view which I find to be adequate.
Select a doorbell with night vision and it should be up to about 25 feet of adequate light.
Choose a model that can fine-tune the motion sensitivity so that it can minimize false alarms.
Smart features that can be incorporated are; facial recognition, the ability to detect packages, and intruder alerts.
In all, the selected option of a one-time purchase video doorbell that records to local storage enables you to have the best of the smart doorbell at your front door without facing the nuisance that is recurring subscription fees. So you just have to choose the one that would be most suitable for your home needs, your budget, your preferred video quality, and your desired space for storing the recordings. Then feel free and safe to monitor your front door from your comfortable seat!