The doorbell market share shows an increasing demand trend along with people’s awareness to provide the first security check point for their property. Google and Arlo do not want to be left behind in taking this large market share into their flagship products line. Google with Nest doorbell and Arlo with Arlo doorbell compete strongly in this market segment.
If you need to find head to head Arlo vs Nest doorbell, you come the right place.
Google Nest doorbell
Previously, Google has released nest hello, the wired version of nest doorbell which is quite high in demand, and so has Arlo. Previously, Arlo released a wired doorbell model and today you can find the battery power version doorbell, the wire-free Arlo doorbell. See also Ring doorbell vs Arlo essential which also discusses Arlo doorbells differences.
The first version that Google released to the market was Nest Hello which is a wired model of doorbell introduced by Google. Then after releasing the wire-free version, nest hello changed its name to nest doorbell (wired), and the latest battery power version is nest doorbell (battery).
Nest doorbell (wired) vs Nest doorbell (battery)
In general, if a vendor releases a new version of the product, the price is more expensive than the old version one. Not so with Google doorbells, both nest doorbell (wired) and nest doorbells (battery) are tagged with the same price around $179.99, and it also wonders that the price is also the same as its competitor from netgear, Arlo doorbell essential wire-free version.
The two nest doorbell models cannot be determined which one is better, because in terms of specs and features, each has advantages and disadvantages, depends on which view point you rate both models have the same value. It’s up to you to decide which one is suitable to your need, the price is the same.
I have presented table 1 below you can use as reference in comparing nest doorbell (wired) and nest doorbell (battery).
Camera
Nest hello comes with a security camera with higher resolution (1.9MP), wider viewing angle and the image orientation is landscape with 4:3 aspect ratio and it also comes with 8x digital zoom. On the wire-free version the nest doorbell (battery) the resolution is lower (960 HD), 6x digital zoom but the orientation is portrait with 3:4 aspect ratio. With the 3:4 aspect ratio (portrait orientation) allows you to see someone standing at your door from head to toe. If you compare with Arlo, arlo comes with 1:1 aspect ratio.
Power
One of the main differences between the two nest doorbell versions is that the new version is battery powered. With battery power, your doorbell is wired-free unless you need to activate the existing chime that does require existing wired connection. No need to be connected, you can still get notifications from your Google assistant and also alerts to your mobile device when the doorbell button is pressed.
With battery power, there is an advantage if the power goes out, your doorbell can still provide video snapshot alerts and can still record events, but nest hello can’t.
Alerts
Both models can detect human and motion detection, but the nest doorbell (battery) provides additional features with package, animal and vehicle detection.
In addition, Google also provides a paid subscription Nest Aware option with more complete features. With this service, nest hello has additional familiar faces detection, packets and voice detection features. The nest battery only gets additional familiar faces because it is complete already.
See more detail on the following comparison table for nest hello vs nest doorbell.
Table 1 Nest hello vs Nest doorbell
| Nest doorbell version | Nest Hello Doorbell (Wired) | Nest Doorbell (Battery) |
| Camera sensor | 1/3” 3MP color image sensor | 1/3” 3MP color image sensor |
| Zoom | 8x digital zoom | 6x digital zoom |
| Field of view angle | 160° diagonal with 4:3 ratio | 145° diagonal with 3:4 ratio |
| Night vision | 850nm IR LEDs | See up to 10 feet 4 850 nm infrared LEDs with IR cut filter |
| HDR | Yes | Yes |
| Resolution | HD UXGA 1.9MP (1600 x 1200) up to @30 fps | HD, 1.2MP (960 x 1280 pixels), up to 30 FPS |
| Encoding format | H.264 | H.264 |
| Audio | Two way with built-in high quality speaker and microphone | High-quality speaker and microphone Two-way audio with noise cancellation |
| Wifi | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4GHz/ 5GHz) 2×2 MIMO WEP, WPA, WPA2 encryption supported 802.15.4 (2.4GHz) Bluetooth Low Energy | 802.11a/b/g/n (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) Wi-Fi WEP, WPA, WPA2, WPA3 encryption supported Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) |
| Power | 16V AC–24V AC; requires a 10VA transformer and wired doorbell | Built-in rechargeable Li-Ion battery, 6 Ah, 3.65V. Or use existing wiring for chime and recharging – Voltage: 8–24VAC – Power: 10VA – Frequency: 50-60Hz |
| Weather resistant | IPx4 rating | Weather resistant IP54 Relative humidity range (20% to 85%) |
| Alerts | Motion, person detection | Motion, person, package, animal and vehicle detection |
| Alerts with Nest Aware | Familiar faces,2 package, and sound | Familiar faces |
| Storage | 3-hour event history – still images; Up to 60 days of event video history with Nest Aware; 24/7 video history with Nest Aware Plus | 3-hour event history – video clips ; Up to 60 days of event video history with Nest Aware; 24/7 video history with Nest Aware Plus |
| Records during a Wi-Fi or power outage | N/A | Yes |
| Dimension | 1.7 in x 1.0 in x 4.6 in (43.2 mm x 25.4 mm x 116.8 mm) | 1.8 in x 0.95 in x 6.3 in (46 mm x 25.1 mm x 160 mm) |
| Weight | 4.28 oz / 121.6 g | 7.3 oz (206 g) |
| Chime | Yes | Yes, available when wired |
| Price | $179.99 | $179.99 |
Now, it’s time to discuss comparison between Nest doorbell and Arlo doorbell.
Nest vs Arlo doorbell
With the same price, these two doorbell models will compete very tightly considering that both brands have been very popular in the market. Arlo, which is a brand attached to the leading wire-free security camera products, will be a tough competitor for Google Nest doorbell.
Let’s see the spec and features comparison shown in the following table 2 below.
Camera features
From the aspect ratio, Arlo doorbell camera gives 1:1 aspect ratio which gives you a very wide view not only from head to toe but also the same wide view at the right and left side. Certainly it gives a curved view like the results of a fish eye lens when you are familiar with DSLR camera. Unlike the nest doorbell which only provides portrait view with 3:4 aspect ratio, a normal view.
Both cameras give you digital zoom feature you can control via your mobile device with the app, digital zoom is not as good as optical zoom. So far no doorbell camera comes with optical zoom feature; sure it is too much because the object is in front of your door, close enough.
Doorbell Alerts
In a normal operation without service plan option, both doorbells demonstrate different alerts in reacting to the motion detection. Nest doorbell (battery) features person, package, vehicle and animal detection. When you subscribe Nest aware, your doorbell adds familiar faces feature. With nest aware plan, you can teach your nest doorbell to recognize faces you know, and later the camera gives alerts when the camera sees faces of people you don’t know.
On the other hand, Arlo in normal operation without service plan the doorbell features normal motion detection. You can subscribe Arlo secure service plan with the addition of person, package, vehicle, & animal detection.
Nest doorbell is more advantage compare with Arlo doorbell regarding the alerts without service plan paid subscription.
Comparison table
Table 2 Arlo doorbell vs Nest doorbell
| Doorbell model | Arlo essential wire-free AVD2001 | Nest Doorbell (battery) |
| Image sensor | 2.3MP image sensor | 1/3” 3MP color image sensor |
| View angle | Wider 180° viewing angle | 145° diagonal |
| Zoom | 12x digital zoom | 6x digital zoom |
| Resolution | 2.3MP (1536×1536), 1.1MP (1080×1080), 720×720, 1:1 ratio | HD, 960 x 1280 pixels, up to 30 FPS with 3:4 ratio |
| Encoding format | N/A | H.264 |
| WDR | HDR (digital WDR) | HDR |
| Night vision | Night Vision, high powered Infrared LEDs (850nm) with IR Cut Filter | 4 850 nm infrared LEDs with IR cut filter range up to 10ft |
| Audio | Two way communication with built-in speaker and mic. SIP audio/video call initiated at doorbell press. No answer guests can leave voice message | High-quality speaker and microphone Two-way audio with noise cancellation |
| Alerts | Single Motion Sensor, 110 degree horizontal | Motion, person, package, animal and vehicle detection; Familiar faces with Nest aware services |
| Siren | Built-in siren, triggered automatically with motion detection or you may trigger manually from mobile app | N/A |
| Smart Home | Works with Amazon Alexa and Google assistant; Ok Google and Smartthings | Google assistant |
| Connectivity | 802.11b/g/n wifi standard @2.4GHz single radio band | 802.11a/b/g/n dual band Wi-Fi WEP, WPA, WPA2, WPA3 encryption supported; Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) |
| Power | 8V AC ~ 24V AC and existing doorbell and chime electrical wiring for continuous battery charging | Built-in rechargeable Li-Ion battery, 6 Ah, 3.65V. Or use existing wiring for chime and recharging 8~24VAC |
| Dimension | 1.84 in x 5.6 in x 1.44 in (46.9 mm x 143.0 mm x 36.8 mm | 1.77 in x 5.11 in x 0.98 in (45 mm x 130 mm x 25 mm) |
| Weight | 0.55lb (249g) with battery & 0.25lb (113g) without battery | 7.3 oz (206 g) |
| Price | $179.99 | $179.99 |
With the same price, Nest doorbell (battery) offers you more advantages either with or without Nest aware service plan. Arlo with arlo secure service plan gives you more comprehensive alerts. Read more details on the link below in Amazon (#ads).
Click here to read more details Arlo doorbell in Amazon
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