Ezviz DB2 review: Delivering the goods
(Pocket-lint) – The Ezviz DB2 is an affordable battery-powered video doorbell that comes bundled with a wireless chime and is capable of offline recording. And, at first glance, it seems like a very promising option. However, with so many video doorbell options on the market, the DB2 is up against some stiff competition, including firm favourites from giants like Ring and Google.
Even still, the Ezviz DB2 packs some serious specs for its price point and looks to be a great value proposition.
Future-proof your home with Swann’s connected Wi-Fi Alert Sensors By Pocket-lint Promotion . 28 June 2022
These excellent sensors are perfect for getting alerts when whatever you’re interested in happens. We’ve been putting it to the test over the last few weeks to see how it performs in the real world.
Our quick take
The Ezviz DB2 has been consistent and reliable throughout our testing, which is our primary concern when testing a doorbell. The chime rings with very little delay, and the phone notifications allowed us to receive packages that we otherwise might have missed.
It won’t integrate into popular smart home systems as well as first-party options, and you’ll get a few fewer party tricks included, but it does everything it needs to and didn’t leave us wanting for more. Setting up was hassle-free, battery life is solid and the price point makes it very accessible. Overall, we think it’s a great option for those who want to bring their doorbell into the 21st century.
For
- Easy to set up and use
- Affordable price point
- Long battery life
- Great picture quality
- Wireless chime included
- Can record locally
Against
- Not as stylish as some of the competition
- Quite a large doorbell unit
- Cloud storage subscriptions are costly
squirrel_widget_12854343
Design and installation
- Doorbell dimensions: 150 x 58 x 32 mm
- 5200mAh rechargeable lithium battery
- IP65 dust and water-resistant
- Finish: white only
On first impressions, we were a little surprised at the size of the doorbell unit – it’s quite a chunky beast.
However, this can definitely be a positive thing. Most people who purchase a video doorbell are looking for an additional layer of home security, and the prominence of this device is sure to deter anyone who’s up to no good.
Pocket-lint
The size also means that there’s room for a large battery pack, and Ezviz claims that you can get up to 115 days from a single charge. Pretty impressive.
We haven’t been testing for long enough to confirm these claims, but things are looking promising so far. Of course, battery life will vary massively depending on how busy your front door is, so take estimations with a grain of salt. The design is inoffensive but less attractive than mainstream offerings, in our opinion.
Still, at the very least, it looks like a doorbell and will minimize confusion with your postie.
Pocket-lint
The doorbell body is made from smooth white plastic which feels sturdy and robust. There is a large button at the base which will illuminate when pressed or when the camera detects a person. It charges via micro-USB, which feels a little old-fashioned in 2022, but is perfectly functional.
In the box, alongside the doorbell itself, you’ll receive a wireless chime unit, multiple mounting plates, a USB cable for charging and assorted accessories such as screws and a drilling template.
Pocket-lint
Installation was really easy, even for amateur DIYers like ourselves. It’s simply a case of deciding where you want the doorbell to go, choosing the appropriate mounting plate to get a good view, drilling some holes with the stick-on template and affixing it to the wall. Basically, if you can put up a shelf, you can install this doorbell without much hassle.
Since there’s a wireless chime included and no hard-wiring to the electrical circuit, everything is as easy as can be. However, if you have a pre-existing doorbell chime that you’d like to use, there are two terminals on the rear of the doorbell unit that allow you to do so.
Pocket-lint
We don’t have a traditional doorbell chime, so, instead, we’re relying on the wireless chime. This just plugs into a standard power outlet and will wirelessly communicate to the doorbell.
The microSD card slot is located on the chime unit, instead of the doorbell, which is a big plus when it comes to security. When it comes time to charge the doorbell, it can be removed from its mount by pushing a pin into a hole on the underside, just like ejecting a SIM card from a smartphone. It’s nice and easy to do, but it wouldn’t be obvious to a potential thief.
Plus, you can enable an anti-tamper alarm for added peace of mind.
Camera and hardware
- 176-degree field-of-view
- 1/2.7-inch, 3-megapixel CMOS sensor (2K resolution)
- IR night vision
- H.265 compression
The 3-megapixel sensor on the DB2 puts it roughly on par with the Google Nest Doorbell (wired). The visibility angle, meanwhile, is slightly superior on the DB2, offering a 176-degree field of view. It’s a nice wide image, which makes it easy to frame all the important areas, and its 4:3 aspect ratio means that you’ll be able to see doorstep packages without chopping anyone’s head off.
Pocket-lint
With its 2K video resolution, there is plenty of detail to the image, and H.265 compression does a good job of ensuring that you don’t fill up your SD card (or cloud storage) too quickly.
It’s a contrasty image, which helps it to appear sharp and detailed, but it lacks some dynamic range. Most of the time this isn’t an issue, but during the early evening our driveway is backlit by the sun and it results in some pretty shadowy faces. It’s not so bad as to create a full-on silhouette, but it does make it challenging to see who’s at the door from time to time.
Pocket-lint
At night, the infrared lights kick in and do an admirable job of illuminating our particularly dark driveway.
Since it’s a doorbell, the IR beams are designed to illuminate the near-field primarily so it does a better job with subjects in the first couple of meters before tapering off. This is the area that’s likely to be of interest anyway, so that works just fine for us.
Features and software
- Human shape and PIR detection
- Long-distance video two-way talk
- Sound and light anti-tamper alarm
- AES-128 bit encrypted cloud storage
The DB2 is controlled by the Ezviz app and for the most part, it’s a fairly user-friendly experience. The only things we didn’t like are that some of the icons require an extremely precise tap in order to function, and some of the icons are fairly cryptic, requiring you to tap on them to figure out what they do.
For instance, when you have the live view of the doorbell open, there’s a symbol that looks like it should take you to a full-screen view but it’s actually for sharing the device with family members. In practice, though, you get used to these symbols fairly quickly.
Pocket-lint
Compared to some of the competition, the detection features are fairly rudimentary, but they do work well. You can either activate a PIR sensor or use AI-based human shape detection to trigger the camera and, as far as we can tell, it worked spot on every time.
You don’t get the ability to exclude zones from detection, it’s simply low, medium or high sensitivity. You won’t get fancy things like facial recognition, either, but those kinds of features are pretty much reserved for products with twice the asking price. There’s also the option to integrate the Ezviz doorbell with third-party systems like Google Home and Amazon Alexa.
The majority of our smart devices are controlled by Google Home, and integrating Ezviz products is nice and easy. Unfortunately, once you’re set up, the support is fairly limited. You can ask Google Assistant to show you the live view from the DB2 on a Nest Hub or Chromecast, but that’s about it.
You won’t be able to make the doorbell ring via the hub or anything like that, which is something offered by Google’s own doorbells.
Pocket-lint
When it comes to storing recordings, however, the DB2 has a significant leg up over any of Google’s options. The wireless chime unit can support microSD cards of up to 256GB, allowing you to store your recordings locally and eliminating the need for subscriptions. Of course, if you’d prefer, Ezviz offers cloud storage, too.
This will give you AES-128 bit encrypted backups for an added layer of security, but unfortunately, the subscriptions come with a significant price tag – and the cost increases if you have multiple Ezviz cameras. squirrel_widget_12854343
To recap
If you’re looking to invest in a video doorbell but have been dissuaded by the high entry price and costly subscriptions, then the Ezviz DB2 is a great pick. It’s worked reliably throughout our testing, was very easy to set up and lets you record on inexpensive microSD cards. It’s got fewer features than its pricier competition, but it does what it needs to and does it well.
A global leader in smart home security, EZVIZ is dedicated to building next-level security solutions powered by intelligent video, advanced AI and cloud infrastructure. With footprint in 130+ countries, we’ve been trusted by millions of families who enjoy visual protection and tangible joy provided by our products. Writing by Luke Baker.
Editing by Conor Allison.
