At long last, 2020 was a big year for video doorbells and SmartThings as a ton of new manufacturers and devices came on board with SmartThings support.
This includes the likes of Nest, Arlo, and more Ring devices. In this guide, I’ve been reviewing all of these devices and pulled together my top recommended devices below.
Why Connect a Video Doorbell to SmartThings?
Video doorbells tend to come with plenty of features and integrations straight out of the box. So, why would you want to connect them to SmartThings? Here are three reasons:
- Receive alerts to your SmartThings devices – You can receive alerts to SmartThings devices when the doorbell detects motion or is rung.
- View camera feed on your Samsung TV – If you have a Samsung TV or other SmartThings device with a screen, you can stream the front door feed straight to it. This is handy if you’re watching TV at night and a visitor arrives.
- Add your doorbell to automations in SmartThings – You can include your video doorbell in automations, Samsung’s equivalent to routines. For example, you could create an automation to pause your robot vacuum when the doorbell rings.
Best Video Doorbells for SmartThings
These are my top recommended video doorbells for Samsung SmartThings:
- Best Overall: Ring 3 Plus
- Runner Up: Arlo Video Doorbell
- Best with Facial Recognition: Nest Hello
- Best Wired Doorbell: Ring Pro
Below are my full reviews of each recommendation along with the pros and cons.
Best Overall: Ring 3 Plus
After many years where only the Ring Pro was supported, Ring and Samsung finally added support for the Ring 3 and Ring 3 Plus to SmartThings so it’s jumped straight to the top of my recommendations.
Ring doorbells are always fast and reliable. This is thanks to the Rapid Ring app developed with speed in mind, there is barely any lag between the doorbell being pressed and receiving an alert on your phone.
The motion detection features have been enhanced over previous generations, with motion detection zones, near motion capability, and more customisation over which motion notifications you receive.
I favour the Ring 3 Plus over the normal Ring 3, it’s not that much more expensive but comes with the pre-roll feature that keeps 4 seconds of footage on loop to give you a more complete piece of footage each time motion is detected.
Runner Up: Arlo Video Doorbell
My second favourite video doorbell for SmartThings users is the Arlo video doorbell. This doorbell is particularly advanced with AI that can differentiate between people, animals, cars, and someone just dropping off a parcel.
When the doorbell is rung, Arlo will call your mobile just like a regular video call from a friend, this is helpful to ensure you don’t miss the notifications and can answer quickly.
All of Arlo’s cameras and video doorbells integrate with SmartThings. You can simply log in to your Arlo account in the SmartThings app to get it all connected.
If you have an Arlo smart hub (purchased separately), you can store all your recordings locally on an SD card or hard drive in your house. This removes the need for an ongoing subscription to the Arlo smart plan. However, you will lose some AI features when you unsubscribe.
Best with Facial Recognition: Nest Hello
It was only in 2020 that Google finally added Nest products to SmartThings so I’m pleased to finally add the Nest Hello to this list.
The Nest Hello is easily one of the best video doorbells, not least because the video quality is outstanding. Their familiar faces feature means it can recognise frequent visitors and announce them by name on a Google Home smart speaker.
The AI was also able to tell the difference between objects, animals, and vehicles so you only receive the notifications that matter. The doorbell can also monitor packages on your doorstep and notify you once they’ve been removed in an effort to combat parcel theft.
Thanks to the new SmartThings integration, you can view your doorbell feed on your Samsung TV without the need for a Chromecast, you can even pull it up on your Samsung smart fridge.
Best Wired Doorbell: Ring Pro
The Ring Pro has been integrated with SmarThings longer than any of the other devices here and it’s still a great product.
It’s a wired doorbell with no built-in battery pack like the Ring 3, this means it’s smaller and slimmer so looks much better on your doorstep.
Like the Ring 3 Plus shared earlier, the doorbell is fast and reliable. It still requires a cloud subscription to make the most of the doorbells feature but this is common across all Ring devices.
The Ring Pro doesn’t have the near motion zone capability to monitor a set distance in front of the doorbell, however, you can still set motion detection zones to monitor certain parts of the camera.
How to Add your Video Doorbell to SmartThings
Setting up your video doorbell in SmartThings is just like adding any other device. In case you’ve not done it before, here are step-by-step instructions:
- Set up the device in the native manufacturer app (e.g. Ring, Nest, etc)
- In the SmartThings app tap the ‘+’ button and choose ‘device’
- Find the brand of your video doorbell and log in with your username and password
- You’ll also need to select the room of your device
