Review: ecobee Thermostat Premium: NOT your average smart thermostat!

**Get one here: https://amzlink.to/az0YFLqGma81U **

Why is ecobee entering the smart doorbell ring when there’s so many strong contenders with more far more experience? Not only does the company want to flesh out their ecosystem, but they also want to use their expertise in product design and apply it to other categories like the doorbell in hopes of enticing customers to give their ecobee thermostat a bestie. And make no mistake, the ecobee Smart Doorbell is indeed the ecobee Smart Thermostat’s bestie and you’ll notice it from the packaging to the unboxing, to the shared ecobee app, and finally using it!

*Affiliate link
*A note about Affiliate Links: My YouTube channel is supported by our viewers. Occasionally I will include affiliate links in my reviews. I do this partly for convenience of the viewer (since I'll almost always include a link to the company website or similar anyway) in case you want to read more or purchase, but I also may get a small commission from the click, which helps me keep the blog and YouTube channel running. If you choose to use an affiliate link I thank you greatly for supporting my content. There's no obligation or cost to you for using these links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.


~Get My Newsletter: http://www.techgadgetscanada.com/news...

*Read more: http://www.TechGadgetsCanada.com

*Follow me on Facebook:   / techgadgetscanada  

What’s in the Box?
Being the eco-friendly company ecobee’s known for, ecobee packaged their Smart Doorbell in a small box made of recycled material and complete absence of plastic, glue, and dyes. Lifting the tab reveals the doorbell itself and underneath lies a wedge mount, a small paper pouch containing the screws and accessories, and a chime adapter.

Installation
ecobee thermostats are often praised not only for their ease of installation, but their extensive documentation covering numerous scenarios and the ecobee Smart Doorbell is predictably taking the same approach. However, the packaging doesn’t include any form of printed manual or even quick guide. The ecobee app guides you throughout the installation process and for those who are still in the fence of buying this doorbell, ecobee has an entire site portal filled with installation guides, a friendly installation video, and wiring diagrams.

Yes, wiring is involved with the ecobee Smart Doorbell because the doorbell does not run on a battery. ecobee made this choice to allow the doorbell to reliably operate under extreme temperatures. Since doorbell wiring involves working with transformers and voltage rating, ecobee recommends hiring a professional to do the installation if you don’t have the experience and ecobee offers a “Find a Pro” service to assist you. If you can’t find someone, ecobee also offers live chat support.
The first steps involve removing your old doorbell if you have one and connecting the included chime adapter to your chime box. The adapter will work with most digital and mechanical chimes made by over 40 manufacturers, but there are a few exceptions laid out in their chime compatibility page.

Features
In some aspects, the ecobee Smart Doorbell Camera feels like a first generation product, but it doesn’t show up empty-handed coming out with some big swings and a couple of stings. Let’s ring them in!
Design and Build Quality
The ecobee Smart Doorbell Camera is quite big and shares some of the curvature design elements the ecobee Smart Thermostat possesses. Even the shape of the large button to ring the doorbell and LED light outlining it resemble shape of the thermostat. Overall, the doorbell has that premium visage backed by an aluminum alloy casing for durability. The doorbell is IP65 certified for weather resistance withstanding a broad temperature spectrum ranging from -13 to 113°F.
Camera
This isn’t the first time ecobee released a product with a camera as that award goes to the ecobee SmartCamera. The doorbell’s 5-megapixel camera continues their streak of good image quality capable of recording at Full HD 1080p resolution with HDR support so the colors have good saturation and the integrated sensors help maintain color visuals even during dusk or dawn. Infrared video quality is decent too with good contrast.

Detection

Smart Home Integration
Smart home integration is one area where ecobee breaks a trend. Unlike the ecobee thermostat products, the ecobee Doorbell doesn’t have the tightest integration with Apple’s ecosystem. HomeKit Secure Video is unsupported, but you can still access the Live View in the Home app and use the two-way talk feature.