Most Helpful Positive Review
Great tool, decent quality
Set up is straightforward, though there are quite a few steps involved in getting the app up and running. This is due to the physical installation instructions (mounting and testing) being incorporated into the software setup, which I thought was just a little much. I would much prefer to set up the camera with my phone and home network, and THEN worry about the hardware install myself, so bundling mounting etc. with connectivity was kind of annoying (I wanted to test the doorbell in multiple locations before setting it up permanently). Note that paper instructions were also provided covering the physical installation and required tools. That being said, the installation is definitely step-by-step and thorough -- if you choose to follow TP-Link’s installation instructions exactly, you will be up and running by the time you are done with setup, which could be anywhere between 5-30 minutes depending on your physical install choice. The camera is secured with a flat wall-mounted bracket, though an angled wedge bracket is provided if you need to seat it at an angle. These brackets are secured with provided mounting tape. A bonus device provided in the box is the Chime, which you simply plug into the wall and pair with the doorbell at setup time. The chime will emit a much louder ringtone in the vicinity of the chime when someone activates the doorbell. If used, I would suggest this goes into a central location within your home. As far as I can tell, you cannot conduct conversations via the chime. Connectivity to your phone and home network is like any modern Wi-Fi enabled device. You are required to download the Tapo app, which is made by TP-Link. You will create an account, then follow prompts to add a device by connecting your phone to the camera’s own Wi-Fi signal, giving it a name, etc. The final step is connecting the device to your local Wi-Fi. TP-Link has a few customizations available, such as device name and even the icon that appears in your device list. Seemed kind of silly to me, but hey if you want to do that you can. The device features a two-way talk feature that allows a person to ‘ring’ your doorbell and give you the opportunity to both see and talk with the visitor, all from your phone. Pushing the doorbell will trigger your phone’s Incoming Call sound, so it’s hard to miss. The name you provide the device is what you will see on your notifications when someone rings. I found the audio quality to be pretty good, and video (2k Quality, 160-degree viewing angle) is great in broad daylight and the person-detection works reasonably well. The camera has a black and white night mode and color low-light modes that are sufficient for most cases. Something I noticed is that the camera will emit a camera shutter sound whenever the lens opens and close, so this could be a problem if you do not wish for people to ‘know’ they are being recorded for whatever reason. The device comes with a free 30-Day cloud storage trial, but a microSD card (512 GB Maximum) can be installed in the bottom of the unit if you wish to store video locally. The card slot is secured with a standard 4-tip Phillips head screw. If you ask me, this should probably have been a proprietary or unusual screw for added, though not foolproof, security similar to Ring’s star-shaped screws for battery storage. The unit has a built-in rechargeable battery that will go from 0-100% in a reported 7 hours – note that a 5V required USB charger is NOT INCLUDED with the unit! So plan ahead. FYI, the circular LED light around the ringer acts as a troubleshooting starting point-- the various color codes are outlined in the provided manual. So if you are having problems connecting to the device or using it, that’s the first place I would go to start troubleshooting. Also, I did not see anywhere on the box about any kind of replacement program for stolen units. So it’s possible that if your device gets swiped by thieves (SD card and all), you might be up the river without a paddle.