The new ecobee video doorbell lets you answer the door from your thermostat

It seems to be a highly competitive time for video doorbell brands at the moment. In only the past few weeks, there have been exciting announcements from eufy, EZVIS and Yale, all of which are giving the best video doorbells a run for their money. Well, we're back with another one today, and it's not what we were expecting...

Yesterday, ecobee launched its first video doorbell, the ecobee Smart Doorbell Camera. ecobee, best known for its thermostats, has had its product range grow in recent years, expanding into other smart home products such as a security systems and sensors. Now, a video doorbell is the latest addition, featuring a pretty special feature that lets users view the camera feed live on an ecobee thermostat.

Before you find out more, check out the 6 things you should know before buying a smart home video doorbell. It's pretty interesting!

With a sleek design and unique features, the Smart Doorbell Camera is already proving to be a hit. Featuring an extra-wide 175° vertical field of view, it allows users to get real-time notifications for people and packages whether they're home or away. It automatically tracks, pans and zooms in on important activity at the front door in full 1080p HD quality with built-in radar and Smart Focus. 

"We set out to make a doorbell camera that would stand apart from the rest. One that could see what others can't–like visitors from head-to-toe and packages right up against your door–even in extreme weather. Our new Smart Doorbell Camera gives homeowners the full picture with crystal clear vision, day or night," said ecobee founder & CEO Stuart Lombard. 

"The new Smart Doorbell Camera works even better with the rest of our ecobee smart home devices and Smart Security service, from showing a livestream of the camera right on the ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium to detecting the difference between people and packages on your doorstep."

Smart Detection, powered by multiple layers of intelligence and advanced radar verification, means users only get notified for people and packages, so your phone doesn’t send false alerts from passing cars or blowing leaves. 

Unlike a lot of other video doorbell brands, ecobee users don't need a subscription to get the basic benefits, enabling them to receive live view and historical snapshots without paying. The standard Smart Security subscription ($5 per month) adds 30 day video history, package detection, and rich push notifications for one camera. The complete plan ($10 per month) enables these features for unlimited cameras. Additionally, with the complete plan, RapidSOS agents can verify an emergency before securely sharing critical data with 911, including video evidence captured by Smart Doorbell Camera. Package detection is also only available to those with a subscription.

The video doorbell can be controlled with the ecobee app, Apple Watch, Alexa or Apple HomeKit, and support for Google Assistant is coming soon. Homeowners can also hear their doorbell from anywhere in the home with whole home chime, projected through any ecobee, Alexa or HomeKit device with a speaker.

The ecobee Smart Doorbell Camera is available on the ecobee website for $159.99.