SkyBell wants to help you secure your front door

SkyBell’s $200 Video Doorbell goes way beyond the traditional doorbell call of duty (converted, roughly £125 in the UK and AU$230 in Australia). When someone rings your front door, SkyBell’s Wi-Fi-enabled doorbell is supposed to send you a real-time alert on your Android or iOS device and pull up live video footage of your visitor via the related app. A built-in speaker and microphone even make it possible for you to have a conversation without having to open the door, or, in fact, be home at all.

In addition to these video and intercom capabilities, this multitasking doorbell is equipped with a motion sensor. So, if someone approaches your door and pauses there for at least 10 seconds, the Video Doorbell will swoop in and send you an alert — whether the person rings the bell or not.

SkyBell also has night vision and lets you stream video on demand and save screenshots of what you see, on top of any standard motion- or doorbell-ringing-related alerts that automatically initiate the live footage feature. That way you can access the video feed any time, just because. The camera has a 120-degree diagonal field of view and a 640×480-pixel resolution. There are no monthly fees associated with the Video Doorbell.

The Video Doorbell can supposedly handle temperatures ranging from -40 to 150 degrees Fahrenheit, requires a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi connection and must be hard-wired; there’s no battery-powered option for folks who’d rather skip a more electrical-experience-required install.

Families with more than one Android or iOS device can use the same log-in to monitor a Video Doorbell and multiple Video Doorbells can be associated with a single log-in, differentiated within the app by name, like Front Door, Back Door, Vacation House and so on.

This $200 doorbell doesn’t offer a Web app and isn’t currently compatible with any third-party company products, but SkyBell was listed as a HomeKit-compatible brand at Apple’s WWDC 2014, so some upcoming home-automation integrations may be in the works.

BOT Home Automation’s $200 Doorbot, a competing smart doorbell, also offers 640×480, night vision and alerts. SkyBell distinguishes itself from Doorbot by design and its motion sensor and Doorbot does have an appealing battery-powered option, where SkyBell is limited to wired setups.

Unfortunately, Doorbot had some serious performance concerns. Its 640×480-pixel resolution returned poor-quality video, making it very difficult to actually see who was at your door. It’s two-way talk feature also struggled to keep up, making shouting through the door a preferable alternative.

Doorbot has since been scrapped and BOT Home Automation has announced a brand-new product called Ring, complete with a new design and a 720p resolution. I have requested SkyBell and Ring review units, so expect to see upcoming comparisons of the two soon, as well as how they differ from the now-defunct Doorbot.