Review on 🚪 DS-HD1 Hikvision USA Original 3 Megapixel HD WiFi Video Smart Doorbell - Wireless Intercom Camera, Motion Detection, Night Vision, Video Recording, 180 Degree Ultra Wide Angle by Randy Basque

DS-HD1 is designed to replace your old doorbell/intercom. Before a working intercom could be dismantled, it had to be demonstrated that the new proposed solution would work properly in a fully functioning laboratory. The aim was to use the DS-HD1 at the front door, configured with an Android smartphone in a typical configuration, along with two other devices to display the front doorbell camera, as well as other cameras already installed on site. The second display device should replace the intercom. A control panel and a 10.4 inch Android tablet for wall mounting with an IVMS 4500-HD system are used for this purpose. The third viewer is an existing Windows workstation with an IVMS 4200 system monitoring all cameras viewed on the phone and tablet, as well as additional local and remote cameras. Because I created a working lab environment prior to the physical installation, I was able to skip the mechanical installation and go straight to setup and operation once the DS-HD1 was properly powered. The three videos Hikvision posts for installation, setup, and operation are pretty good. . . Installation was uneventful, but it's a lengthy process with many steps of QR code scanning and cloud authentication. It worked, but I'd rather skip scanning the QR code and use the web interface to set it up manually. After setup everything worked fine. The response to the doorbell is almost instantaneous for a customized smartphone. The quality of the live sound and video is pretty good. The 128GB SD card is great for recording and playback. With 99% of consumers going to use a doorbell-to-phone device, this is an impressive product, especially given the responsiveness and video quality, and the fact that local recording and playback doesn't require a monthly fee. The device becomes even more attractive because you can control the doorbell camera simultaneously with Android tablets with IVMS 4500-HD and PC with IVMS 4200. In addition, after setting up DS-HD1 on your smartphone, more HD1 parameter settings can be easily made with the IVMS 4200 settings remote control function than with the Hik Connect software on a smartphone. I would recommend doing the following immediately: 1. Change the device's default password. The default verification code is the one on the Quick Start Guide2 sticker. Change the device's default WiFi encryption mode from the highly vulnerable WPA to WPA23. Even if you are using the DS-HD1 as a standalone device, I would also recommend installing the IVMS 4200 software on a PC for better control of camera settings and for viewing and playing back recorded video on a large screen. At the moment it is noticeable that the doorbell chamber on the back of the camera feels very hot. Most users will never notice this since the device is usually fixed to the wall before turning on. I'll keep an eye on that to see if heat becomes a reliability issue. For its price, performance, and compatibility with other Hikvsion software, this device is rare in its class and easily earns a five-star rating.