Digital Door Viewer | Review

Summary:

An affordable digital door viewer with a 3.5″ display & 120° viewing angle.

The brand: N/A (This is a generic device that is sold under different names).
The model: N/A (This is a generic device that is sold under different names).

Links to purchase this digital door viewer:

Via Aliexpress:

AliExpress.com Product – High Quality 3.5 inch LCD 120 Degree Peephole Viewer Door Eye Doorbell Color Camera

AliExpress.com Product – 3.5 inch Digital Door Camera Doorbell LCD Color Screen 120 Degree Peephole Viewer Door Eye Doorbell Outdoor Door Bell

Via Amazon:

Specifications:

What’s inside the package?

• Indoor unit (monitor) * 1
• Outdoor unit (camera) * 1
• Screws * 3
• Metal bracket (cover for the back of the indoor unit) * 1
• User manual in English & Chinese

The pros:

Affordable price – I paid for my unit approximately $25 (including shipping), which seems to me like a fair price for a gadget that has a 3.5″ LCD & a camera.

But keep in mind that the price issue is a relative thing, because of the following reasons:

• Among the digital door viewers, this model/design is one of the least expensive.
• The specific device I purchased doesn’t have any brand name on it, so it might be more expensive it will be sold under a “label”.
• The Digital door viewer is much more expensive than a simple peephole.

Quick & simple setup – As you can see in my video, installing this device is intuitive and should take not more than several minutes. Just make sure you have the right tools to do that.

Easy to operate – Once you install the device, it is ready to use, and you don’t need to go through any setup process. There’s only the power button at the front of the indoor unit, and all it does is turn the LCD on & off.

The display – Although the video quality isn’t perfect, it isn’t bad either. Although a 3.5-inch screen might sound small because it is about half the size of a modern smartphone, and a resolution of 480 * 320 pixels isn’t even close to the HD/FHD/UHD that an average screen in 2019 provides.

But I’m able to see a clear picture and recognize who’s the person on the other side of the door. I would say that as long as there’s light outside, then I’m able to recognize people and objects up to a distance of 10-20 meters.

Battery life – power indicator is the only indicator shown while the display is on, and it consists of 3 battery levels (1/3, 2/3 & full).

To operate the device, I used four brand new AAA rechargeable batteries. The power level showed 2/3 because they weren’t 100% full.

Usually, I use the door viewer for approximately 10-20 times per day, and each time the display works for the whole 15 seconds before shutting off automatically.

After one week of use, the battery level didn’t change, which is a good sign. Over time I will know exactly how much & how long the batteries can last.

The cons:

Display at dark – The camera doesn’t offer “night vision” capabilities, so if there’s no light outside, then you won’t be able to see much.

No wireless connection – There’s no WiFi or Bluetooth connection in this device, so you can’t monitor or operate it wirelessly.

Can’t save video/photo files – This device is sort of a security camera, and I consider it as a smart home & home security device.

But if something happens outside your door and you can’t document it (by recording a video or taking photos), then there is a loss of evidence & potential protection.

Doesn’t support smart assistants – Unlike the more advanced digital door viewers (Google Nest, Ring, Blink), this device doesn’t support Alexa, Google Assistant, etc.

Power sources – The device operates only using 4 * AAA external batteries. It doesn’t support other alternatives such as power adapter, USB connection, or built-in rechargeable battery.

Battery compartment door – When it has batteries inside, the compartment door sticks out a bit.

It isn’t a deal-breaker, because it doesn’t affect the operation of the device. It is almost unnoticeable once the viewer is in its place.

User manual: