Announcing the Arlo Audio Doorbell and Arlo Chime

[DawnM]

Today we are announcing the all-new Arlo Audio Doorbell and Arlo Chime, built to work as a smart audio doorbell solution or to pair with Arlo wire-free cameras or Arlo smart light for a more complete view of the entryway. For more information on the Arlo Audio Doorbell and Arlo Chime, see our doorbell announcement and press release. 

We encourage you to post questions here regarding this exciting announcement, we'd love to chat with you about our new Arlo Audio Doorbell and Arlo Chime!

[DeLaCruz10]

Is the response time much shorter than when you speak with the camera?

[Rhoman]

Any plans to include a camera in this setup rather than require a camera sold separately?

[Estevenz]

Was really hoping a future Arlo doorbell was coming but really wanted it to have a camera! I personally don’t like to have a camera in the front of the house. In the back and sides I do. I want my family and friends to walk to the front without it being a surveillance kind of feel. So a doorbell with camera is a more subtle way of viewing the front of the house.

[jesstifer]

We don't have an existing chime system to wire into. Will the Doorbell still work  for ringing phones and/or a Chime?

[LoganMarshall1]

Do you guys know the dimensions? Is this the smallest smart door bell on the market?

[aumis93]

Will the external button require wires or can it work off just the batteries?

[alwayscur1ous]

Without the camera it's pointless. I have a camera but it can't get a good look at someone's face without being positioned in the doorbell itself. If there was a robbery there would be no way to identify an intruder from my existing cameras as they are perched 8 feet high and looking down.

[Estevenz]

Plus the camera will only start filming once the doorbell is triggered. It would be better to have a camera on the doorbell so it can trigger emotion from far away.

[SJohannsen]

I feel a little different than many. I think this may be fine without the camera. I have two cameras on the front door already, from different angles. I have a Ring currently as well. I find the Arlo cameras much more responsive, and I know someone is coming to the door before they get to the doorbell. UPS/Fedex/USPS rarely 'ring' anyway. As a single solution this ma not be the right thing, but as an addition to an Arlo based system, I think it is a good start. When it comes out, I will likely replace my Ring with it to see if it is better. The Ring I find virtually useless for what it is designed. The recording is fine, but it takes so long to connect and bring up the app, bell ringers often give up. Certainly if I am home I can get to the door faster than I can access the audio/video in the app, Android or iOS. That's going to be the key here. Does this work quickly and consistantly enough to speak to someone more like an old wired intercom.

[jguerdat]

Agreed. This is part of the Arlo system and many folks already have porch/front door cameras. As such, there are lots of options for recordings and notifications that don't rely simply on the doorbell or the camera(s). Sounds like some/many of these folks don't have anything monitoring their door in the first place.

[Estevenz]

OK.. so let’s make everybody happy. Let’s have one doorbell with a camera and one without. Even if it’s a little more expensive with the camera people will buy it. It’s good to give your buyers options. I’m sure they’ll both sell amazingly well! I really don’t want to use a competitor’s doorbell.

[Murphdog856]

With Nest Hello, Ring. and Skybell video doorbells this seems pointless to me. Maybe I'm missing something. Regardless....how about fixing the mound of Arlo Q issues. It almost unusable. Can't see buying another Arlo product.

[Estevenz]

Pointless? Arlo is the only company that offers one week video viewing for free!

[jesstifer]

It took me months to get my system functioning properly, mostly due to a bad camera. Once that was replaced, it's been fine, and I'm obviously invested in the product. I too already have cameras on the front door, so one on the doorbell would be extraneous. I look forward to to finding out the price point. If it's a deal compared to camera equipped bells, I will happily give it a try.

I also look forward to someone from Arlo answering a question or two here.

[oldstoneface]

I agree with the camera and cameraless options. I do have an Arlo Pro watching my front door, but was really hoping that they would create a doorbell camera so I could move this Pro to another part of my house. Like others have said, while the camera works for notifications/recording, it is difficult to get a good face shot of whoever is being recorded and it's not convenient to mount the Pro in an inconspicuous way that would accomplish the same effectiveness as a doorbell camera. It seems Arlo is so focused on complimenting their existing cameras, they are making products that are solutions looking for problems. Ring is already dominating this market and with Arlo failing to compete head to head, I can see Google also taking some of their market share. 

[SteveMonty]

Or more over, does the audio work at all? My Pro cameras are useless when it comes to audio.

[GimmeCoffee]

I can easily see why Netgear would want to add this product to their list.  They have the best offering going with the (7) days of free video and that was sheer wisdom that attracted me to their products. The plug-in door bells are an excellent idea for areas of the home where hearing a single chime might not happen.  An advanced doorbell today must include a camera for me to purchase it and excellent audio would be equally important.  Without both, this new product is a non-starter for me.

Having seen how poorly the Arlo Skill works with various Amazon "current" products, the purchase of any additional Arlo products would have to remian on-hold for me.  I'm a new customer with over $1K invested in this solution when you count all the stuff I had to buy that doesn't come with the packaged offerings.  Netgear has some great things going, but they are ruining their reputation with customers by not addressing onging issues.  This forum and the Amazon Arlo Skill reviews forum are prime examples of having many customers crying out for a fix and nobody from Netgear even telling the customer that they are "on it".  That is basic customer support communications 101 and I'm amazed that they don't seem to know it.  Never allow your customers to just "swing in the wind" with important unresolved issues.  It sours the customer on future purchases and makes for poor referrals to other potential customers.

So for me, Netgear can create whatever whiz-bang producty that they want, but I'm not buying more of these products until I see some tangible evidence that they are providing reasonable post-sale support of these products.

[Jonjonajamieson]

Here’s my two cent.

Currently the audio set up on the pro cameras are as reliable as the Toy WalkieTAlkie watches you can get for $€5, in other words it’s just a gimmick that’s not worth the hassle.

The audio set up on these doorbells will need to be flawless. Somehow I doubt this will be the case especially considering Arlo still hasn’t managed to sort out its CVR.

Personally I think arlo needs to create a signal booster which will reduce the issues people have. In fact if arlo had a dedicated signal booster I’d probably invest in more cameras, doorbells.

[Trigger78]

@DawnM, why did you say, "We encourage you to post questions here" and "we'd love to chat with you", when evidently no one from Arlo is reading and answering the questions?

[GimmeCoffee]

I agree. From what I can tell, the "Community Managers" are basically middle-people that can't speak for Arlo the company.  The underlying problem that Arlo has is that they give the impression that they are talking/listening to you (here) and then disappear.  They have a whole lot to learn about seriously communicating to the customer. 

IMO, this "Doorbell" post was really a "news item" statement and not any serious attempt at taking the pulse of customers.  If it was, Arlo has a strange way of telling people that they listen to feedback about the products they are developing.  From my perspective, the lack of effective communications is pretty pervasive with Arlo regardless of what important issue a person wants to pick around here.  User-to User support appears to be what they count upon.

[JamesC]

I would like to thank the community for the great questions so far and apologize for the delayed response. As more of these questions come in, we will compile an FAQ article and make it available closer to the doorbell release.

Q: Any plans to include a camera in this setup rather than require a camera sold separately?

A: No information on this yet. But our team is always looking for ways to add to and improve the existing Arlo systems.

Q: Is the response time much shorter than when you speak with the camera?

A: Conversation through doorbell would be full duplex with minimum delay. Conversation through camera is half-duplex (push-to-talk) with some delay.

Q: We don't have an existing chime system to wire into. Will the Doorbell still work  for ringing phones and/or a Chime?

A: Arlo doorbell operates on 2x AA batteries upto a year. Wiring to existing chime is optional, and if one does not have it, that’s okay, one would still get phone call when someone rings the doorbell. To enhance the experience one can always add wire-free Arlo Chime.

Q: Do you guys know the dimensions? Is this the smallest smart door bell on the market?

A: Doorbell is small enough to fit in your palm. 92x45x27mm

Q: Will the external button require wires or can it work off just the batteries?

A: Batteries are required for operation. Wiring is optional. 

Q: Why is a camera not integrated into the doorbell?

A: Arlo Audio Doorbell and HD camera gives you the flexibility to place it anywhere so you can see and hear more of who’s at your door. Unlike other doorbells in the market, which send a push notification when someone presses the doorbell, Arlo instantly calls your phone so you don’t miss it. And if you still couldn't pick it up, the guest can leave a message that you can see later. To achieve this, underlying software technology has been built from the ground up to give you snappy experience. 

[shoreguy311]

This seems completely useless without a camera built in.  All of the competition has one in it.  Why would you make one without it?  I have Arlo cameras but they're mounted up on top corner of the house to detect anyone coming onto the property.  How would I get a look at there face at my front door when they ring the bell?  I was really looking forward to buying a smart doorbell from Arlo, but I'm going to wait until they make one worth buying.  I love your guys products, but you really dropped the ball on this one.

[GimmeCoffee]

I believe the clue to why the Arlo door bell lacks a camera is in the repeated statement they make concerning "half duplex" operations of their products when video and audio have to be processed.  I've noticed that the audio in my Pro 2 cameras is always disjointed (late coming) from the video. 

So, if Arlo's intent (as they are saying) is to provide a "snappy experience", their current technology for audio and video is not "snappy".  That (I think) is the reason why they are not embracing what their competitors are doing with audio and video.  I won't be buying one of these video-less solutions from them because it doesn't accomplish anything state-of-the-art in today's world.  What Arlo should have done was design a full-duplex audio/video product that is "snappy" and that would have sold well. 

The answer in the above Q&A to this question was certainly not reassuring in any way.  It feels more like the answer is "when pigs fly" we might see video in their doorbell product.  It is unfortunate that Arlo would not understand that their existing stand-alone cameras are not going to fill the void of not having video capability on this doorbell product.  Whoever was developing this product should have first consulted their customers to see if "this pig would fly". 

[jguerdat]

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.