Google Nest Hello (wired) review: Still a great video doorbell?

(Pocket-lint) - Say hullo to the Nest Hello (wired) - a rival to the Ring Video Doorbell 4 and the wired video doorbell enactment successful Google's portfolio, sitting alongside the newer Nest Battery Doorbell model.

When the Nest Hello launched successful 2018, Nest said Hello was the archetypal video doorbell capable to some observe radical and connection facial recognition, but its features aren't constricted to conscionable letting you cognize erstwhile grandma is astatine the door: there's besides two-way communication, speedy responses for the transportation antheral and compatibility with Google Assistant-enabled speakers, among different things.

Can Nest Hello locomotion the locomotion arsenic good arsenic speech the speech though and is it the amended enactment compared the battery-operated Nest Battery Doorbell? We've had the Nest Hello (wired) video doorbell installed connected our beforehand doorway since 2018 to spot if it is the champion apical bargain successful the connected doorbell market.

• Google Nest Hello (wired) vs Nest Battery Doorbell: What's the difference?

Design and installation

• Requires 16V AC-24V AC, 8VA transformer, chime and a wired doorbell
• Uses existing doorbell wires
• 430 x 117 x 26mm; 120g
• IPX4 upwind rated

The Nest Hello (wired) video doorbell has a slim, sleek and blase plan with a achromatic shiny look and a integrative achromatic body, keeping successful enactment with the remainder of Nest products. Hello is larger than the mean doorbell, but importantly smaller and much discreet than the likes of the Ring 4. 

The Nest (wired) doorbell tin beryllium installed connected the broadside of a doorway utilizing the included wedge oregon connected the doorway itself - conscionable similar the Nest Battery Doorbell. We primitively opted for the centre of our doorway to springiness america the champion imaginable presumption from its camera, but aft replacing our beforehand door, we moved the Hello to the broadside of the doorway connected the brickwork with the wedge. Both positions were large and we alternatively similar its standout glossy finish, adjacent if this constituent hasn't aged well.

At the bottommost of the oval-shaped doorbell is the main button, which has an LED ringing astir it that lights up bluish erstwhile pressed, portion a glass-covered camera lens is positioned astatine the apical with an LED presumption airy supra it. This is the aforesaid layout arsenic the Nest Battery Doorbell, though the second is overmuch larger and has a white, matte finish, which makes the camera portion basal retired more.

Nest Hello is simply a wired instrumentality truthful determination is nary request to interest astir recharging immoderate batteries, but if determination isn't presently a wired doorbell disposable from which to bargain existing wires, things are a small analyzable erstwhile it comes to installation. We didn't person a wired doorbell erstwhile to having Nest Hello, but we did person a powerfulness socket adjacent to the doorway that the installer was capable to use.

Installation successful our lawsuit took astir 2 hours and resulted successful a ligament primitively moving from the centre of the wrong doorway to 3 wall-mounted boxes. Since changing doors, the wires present tally connected the wrong wall, making for a neater finish. These boxes are for powering the doorbell, an physics chime, and the transformer. Thankfully these boxes are covered by a portion of furnishings successful our home, but it's worthy noting that portion everything looks fabulous from the front, down the doorway is little pretty, depending connected your circumstances.

For those with a wired doorbell, installation should beryllium comparatively straightforward. But for those without, it's decidedly worthy considering the Nest Battery Doorbell instead, and if that doesn't onslaught you enough, we'd counsel opting for the Hello with the installation included for the other £100. It's a batch of other wealth and 1 of the Hello's biggest downsides, but if you privation the goods past you'll request a pro with extended electrical knowledge.

Camera and hardware

• 160-degree angle-of-view HD camera; 8x integer zoom
• Night imaginativeness and HDR (high dynamic range) imaging
• 1/3-inch, 3-megapixel colour sensor (2K resolution)

Nest Hello has a HD camera with a 160-degree field-of-view, making it bully and wide-angle, truthful anyone approaching the doorway tin beryllium seen from caput to toe, oregon caput to waist erstwhile they are connected the doorstep ringing the bell. By comparison, the Nest Battery Doorbell opts for a taller presumption with a antithetic facet ratio, allowing you to spot packages connected the floor.

With Hello, we're capable to spot anyone approaching down the way itself, arsenic good arsenic the naughty postman who ever takes a shortcut crossed the tract and this is inactive the lawsuit adjacent aft moving the presumption to the side.

Results are fantabulous nary substance what clip of the day, too, and amended than the Nest Battery Doorbell. The HDR imaging gives a wide and distinguished representation adjacent erstwhile determination are shadows, portion nighttime imaginativeness provides a elaborate UV representation adjacent erstwhile it's transportation achromatic outside.

Hello records continuously (24/7) truthful it's ever imaginable to spell into the Nest app and spot a unrecorded watercourse of the beforehand of your home. With the Nest Battery Doorbell, the unrecorded watercourse is idle successful the Google Home app truthful you person to pat connected it to presumption it. There's comparatively small lag successful unrecorded streaming connected the Nest Hello (wired) though. For much than a three-hour history, however, a Nest Aware subscription is required, which is cheaper than it utilized to be, costing £5/$6 a month. That covers each your Nest cameras - antecedently you had to wage other per camera - and it volition springiness you 30 days of lawsuit history, but not video history.

There are 3 video prime settings disposable wrong the Nest app, which tin beryllium selected based connected bandwidth and however overmuch information you privation to use. You'll request to beryllium wrong Wi-Fi scope different the doorbell becomes reasonably useless. 

We had our Hello acceptable to the mediate prime which offered precise wide footage. The 8x integer zoom works good astatine this mounting too, though we'd urge switching to higher prime if you privation a clearer zoomed image. 

Hello picks up dependable and question precise good and the app interface is overmuch much idiosyncratic affable than others we person used. It's besides friendlier than Google Home, which is the app that the Nest Battery Doorbell runs connected and the app that the Nest Hello is besides compatible with.

Features and software

• Person and facial recognition
• HD Talk & Listen, Quick Response
• Google Assistant announcements
• Quiet time 

Alongside large representation and video quality, Nest Hello offers some idiosyncratic detection and facial recognition, though the second is lone disposable with a Nest Aware subscription (as it is connected the Nest cameras). Person detection is disposable connected the Ring Pro, but not facial detection, which is wherever the Nest steps things up a notch.

In bid for facial designation to work, Hello has to beryllium taught who is who implicit time, but erstwhile it has a fewer confirmed images of a idiosyncratic collected successful the room and a corresponding name, the app (or Google Assistant-enabled speakers if you person this diagnostic turned on) volition denote erstwhile grandma, grandpa, the postman oregon your neighbour is astatine the door.

For those faces that are acquainted but inactive necessitate other confirmation, Hello notifies you that a acquainted look is astatine the door; for those faces it doesn't recognise, it says an unfamiliar look is astatine the door. All the images collected of radical are stored wrong the People conception of the Nest app, which is wherever users tin corroborate faces. You tin read our Nest Hello tips and tricks to find retired however to bash this, on with different features.

Sometimes the aforesaid look is identified differently, truthful you'll request to manually merge these into 1 during the learning process. Hello took astir a week to larn and beryllium assured successful telling america our spouse was approaching the door, but erstwhile this virtual acceptable of eyes gets it, it gets it close astir of the clip and continues to bash so. 

The strategy tin beryllium confused though. A person intentionally pulled faces successful an effort to get a amended postulation of images into their file, but Hello didn't admit them astatine all. In different lawsuit Hello confused our partner's member with our partner, and our parent with her sister, but the instances are rare, with lone a fewer successful the past 3 years.

Other features see HD Talk and Listen, allowing homeowners to talk to whoever is astatine their door, irrelevant of whether they are astatine location oregon not. Tapping the microphone fastener successful the app allows you to person a wide speech with the idiosyncratic astatine the doorway - but a bully transportation is required, different determination is simply a hold and the speech doesn't travel each that well. Other options erstwhile the doorbell is pressed see disregard and Quick Responses.

Quick Responses supply a prime of 3 pre-recorded dependable messages that you tin prime to beryllium played to visitors. Sadly you aren't presently capable to customise these responses - thing we'd emotion to spot made imaginable successful a aboriginal update.

Nest Hello sends a notification to the Nest app erstwhile idiosyncratic either approaches the doorbell oregon rings it. If you person a Nest Hub oregon a Nest Hub Max, the Nest Hello's video volition automatically watercourse connected these astute displays, allowing you to spot who is astatine the door.

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The chime volition dependable for the duration you person it set, though determination is besides a diagnostic called Quiet Time. This diagnostic allows you to prime a Do Not Disturb time-frame of betwixt 30 minutes and 3 hours, whereby you'll lone get a notification connected the app erstwhile the doorbell is pushed, alternatively than the chime too. We've seen this connected different video doorbells successful the past, but it is simply a utile diagnostic to have. We usage it a batch erstwhile the babe is napping oregon successful the evening.

When enactment is recognised by Hello you'll person an app notification. It's imaginable to customise which notifications you privation to person and when, avoiding being bombarded by excesses if, for example, you are astatine home.

Receiving a notification allows you to pat the video for real-time interaction, portion expanding the representation shows an adjacent wider angle. If you miss a unrecorded enactment past you tin presumption a past of enactment successful a features called Sightline, enabling you to pat connected immoderate of the videos to spot who came to the doorway and when, arsenic good arsenic spot a run-through of each the sounds, question and enactment that's happened successful beforehand of Hello passim the time and night.

Writing by Britta O'Boyle. Originally published connected 20 September 2017.