- Aldi has launched its own video doorbell, and could be a contender for a budget-friendly option to Amazon’s Ring lineup
- While it doesn’t pack the most advanced features, it has two-way talking, water and dust resistance, and SD card support meaning you don’t need a subscription
- It’s not available to purchase online, but you can get in in-store for £16.99
Aldi’s middle aisle just got more interesting, as it’s now stocking a new smart home device which could be a great entry point into the world of smart home security.
The retailer has launched a new battery-powered video doorbell which comes in at a budget-friendly price of just £16.99. The best video doorbells are one of the basic devices to kick-start a smart home setup, and thanks to pioneering brands such as Ring, Blink, and even Google’s own Nest devices, their popularity has grown exponentially.
Now, Aldi is upping its own smart home tech game, and while its new video doorbell lacks some of the features of bigger brands (which is expected given its price point), it looks like a decent buy.
Subscription-free
You read that right. Unlike leading video doorbell brands that require you to pay a monthly subscription for advanced features and additional storage, Aldi’s version does not, thanks to its support for micro SD cards (up to 32GB).
In the case of Ring’s own battery doorbell, subscription plans range from £4.99 to £15.99 a month depending on which tier you opt for. But even then, video history will only be saved to your cloud for up to 180 days before it vanishes, meaning that with Aldi’s video doorbell, you can hold onto as much footage history as you need given that you switch out the SD cards yourself.
Basic features, but ideal for smart home beginners
Aside from its subscription-free nature, Aldi’s video doorbell isn’t quite up to par when it comes to the features offered by its competitors, but this shouldn’t be too big an issue if you’re looking for a basic model without AI smarts to get you started.
Compared to the Ring battery doorbell’s 1440 x 1440 HD quality, Aldi’s falls behind offering a resolution of only 480p. It’s poor to say the least, but as mentioned, that’s expected given its price point. With that said, Aldi’s video doorbell packs a plethora of other basic functions including night vision, two-way talking, and water and dust resistance (IP rating yet to be determined) – which you can read more about on the product’s listing.
It’s far from a groundbreaking piece of smart home tech, but for £16.99 I’d say it’s worth trying. We haven’t had the opportunity to try it out for ourselves yet, but we plan to do that soon.
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rowan.davies@futurenet.com (Rowan Davies)
