Best camera for replacing doorbell?

[hallow sand]

I'd like to find a PoE camera that has 2-way audio functionality to use add home instead of a doorbell. I do not need the 'doorbell function' of someone pushing a button and talking to me through it. There will just be a piece of flat metal in place of where the old, traditional doorbell was.

I'm starting up my first HA system here and I have not found a good wifi doorbell and I'm not interested in a PoE one.

My only real priority is to have a camera with decent quality (at least as good as the Google Nest doorbell which isn't that high of a standard) and that will integrate with HA and Frigate. If the 2-way audio isn't that great that's not a deal breaker. I care more about seeing who's in that area immediately than talking to them.

[raven summit]

FYI: 2-way audio is not supported though home assistant currently. no matter the device.

in general for cameras though I would recomend Reolink. the integration documenation has a list of models that have been tested HERE thats probably a good place to start.
I own a "E1 Outdoor Pro" and that works great. can be powered by DC or PoE

[unborn juniper]

Fully agreed with Reolink

[eager cave]

Okay now whats the best doorbell for home assistant then 😅 need to buy one soon

[raven summit]

lol, believe it or not... Reolink is probably what i would suggest 🙂

[eager cave]

As a doorbell with camera?

[raven summit]

yeah that or ubiquiti make one too i think but it will be more expensive than reolink

[unborn juniper]

But hey, be aware that 2-way audio is currently not supported in home assistant 😉

[eager cave]

https://amzn.eu/d/0BbshcD so this is a good one?

[eager cave]

Yeah thats not a problem

[unborn juniper]

https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/reolink/

https://reolink.com

[raven summit]

as a rule battery powered ones are going to be less compatible.
although this one is noted in the documentation in this section
The following battery-powered models have been tested and confirmed to work through the Reolink Home Hub/NVR:
so maybe you can get it working but may need additional hardware

look at the documentation for more info on better compatable devices.

[eager cave]

I wont use the battery one, i think there is wired version aswell

[raven summit]

yeah wired are more compatible: PoE or power adaptor and wifi

[alpine blade]

I have the wifi model powered off the original low voltage AC wiring. Works great. I don’t use the 2 way audio though, except to test it with the app and it worked fine.

[chrome kelp]

The advanced camera card on HACS supports two way audio through HA but officially yes it’s not supported

[hallow sand]

Thanks!

If I cared to try, would it theoretically work to have that camera use Reolink software (I assume they have a phone app to allow the 2-eay talk?) and (if necessary) not integrate it into HA but have it as a free-standing device?

Using the E1 outdoor pro for example ^^^^

[wind cargo]

Only with the Reolink doorbell AFAIK! I have a Reolink camera with 2way audio and it does not work in Frigate/Advanced camera card

[chrome kelp]

I believe the camera has to support ONVIF Profile T to support two way audio

[alpine blade]

Yes you can do exactly that. Can work across internet too if you enable the UID setting.

You can freely do both and use the app and integrate it with HA at the same time, which is exactly what I do.

[raven summit]

yeah the reolink app is not awful. and as mentioned above you can mix and match for whatever functions you want.

[alpine blade]

On this Internet nonsense (it’ll never catch on) I have my doorbell allowed out so if I absolutely had to use the 2 way audio remotely I could, but the garden PTV camera can’t. I can still view the feed through HA and control the camera PTV etc through HA. Not that I don’t trust Reolink (I believe they are reputable and have had fantastic support from them on a product I returned) but it’s not necessary for me to use the phone app remotely with that camera. Just trying to illustrate that Reolink products can adapt to what you want, not the other way around. Quite rare I think.