Google Releases New Nest Doorbell (Wired, 2nd Gen)

Google announced the Nest Doorbell (Wired, 2nd Gen) with a fresh design, improved video quality and new recording features.

Last year, Google released the Nest Doorbell (battery) while promising a refresh of the then three-year-old Nest Doorbell (wired) at a later date. Now, more than a year later, the second generation Nest Doorbell (wired) is here.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it looks a lot like the aforementioned wireless model, albeit a bit shorter and thinner. This still makes it bigger than the original Nest Doorbell (battery) aka Nest Hello. It also comes in four colors: snow, linen, ash and ivy.

The main and quite obvious difference from the battery-powered version is that you need to connect it to the mains. This allows the second generation Nest Doorbell (wired) to record 24/7 for a period of 10 days when you sign up for a Nest Aware Plus subscription. Otherwise, it will record 3 hours of footage at no extra cost.

Google’s new smart doorbell can also record up to an hour of footage to local storage if your Wi-Fi goes down.

So is Google making claims on Nest Doorbell (Wired, 2nd Gen) recording quality. It’s obviously done away with the distorted fisheye effect you often get with such smart cameras, while the HDR implementation evens out shadow and highlight areas.

The company cites tests conducted by DXOMark, which found the second-generation Nest Doorbell (wired) to be “the best camera doorbell we’ve tested so far in terms of image quality.”

Google’s expertise in intelligent image processing doesn’t stop at image quality. It also helps the new Nest differentiate between people, packages, pets and vehicles.

The Google Home app has also been upgraded with a brand new user interface, bringing features from the old Nest app like Nest Cam, allowing you to easily access your Nest video feeds.

The Nest Doorbell (Wired, 2nd Generation) is available for purchase now in the US and Canada for $179.99. No news yet on wider distribution.