The Doorbell You've Been Waiting For: The NSC-DB2

If you're in the market for a video doorbell, there are a number of problems that you're going to run into with most every other model out there. Well there's a new video doorbell in town, the NSC-DB2, and it just may be your solution to these problems. It's the video doorbell you've been waiting for. Beautiful video, simple DIY installation, seamless integration with the EZVIZ mobile application, and so much more.

In this post, we're going to take an in depth look at the NSC-DB2 video doorbell and tell you everything you need to know about installing it, setting it up, and using it. If you'd rather watch this review than read it, then check out the Unboxing & Review video below!

The Problem with Most Video Doorbells

When you start to look around at all the video doorbell options available to you, you'll quickly start to notice a couple of recurring theme: fees and limited storage. Most products out there look great, until you notice the footnote or the fine print telling you that you'll have to pay extra money every month if you want access to recorded video. Even then, you only have limited access to those videos that you paid extra money for. After 30 or 60 days, depending on the company, those videos disappear into cyber space.

You see, these companies can charge big bucks for cloud storage because people will pay for it. Video recording is a feature that most people want with their video doorbell security cameras, and it's also something that a lot of people don't understand. That's why they're willing to throw down $300 a year for 30 days of recorded footage

But here's the bottom line, and if you don't take anything else away from this post, take this away: you don't need to pay for cloud storage. Cloud storage is not only overpriced, but it's also not totally safe. Sure, your data will be stored and protected on highly advanced servers, so you don't have much to worry about there. But the point is, your data will be stored on their servers. It doesn't belong to you. It could be thousands of miles away, although you'll probably never know physically where your footage is stored. There's no guarantee that those servers will even be there tomorrow. But if you store your footage locally on an SD card or a hard drive, you will always know where that footage is. You will have complete control over that footage. Enter the NSC-DB2.

With this video doorbell, there is no fine print. There's no hidden fee, no storage restrictions. Once you buy this doorbell, it's yours. The footage you record belongs to you. We even give you the option to choose how you want to control your storage. You can use this as a standalone camera with a MicroSD card or you can connect this to an NVR to store directly to your recorder's hard drive.

The NSC-DB2 Video Doorbell as a Standalone Security Camera

The NSC-DB2 has a MicroSD card slot underneath its faceplate. It can hold up to 128GB of storage on the camera alone. Since it will only record video when it senses true human motion with its PIR motion detector (if you don't know what that is, we'll get to that in a bit), you can hold a lot of recordings with 128GB.

Is This For Me? You may decide to use this video doorbell as a standalone camera with a MicroSD card if...

• You don't have any other cameras at your house and you just want a simple doorbell security setup
• You don't need a ton of video storage
• You're not interested in continuous recording
• You'll only be accessing your camera's feed from the EZVIZ mobile application

The NSC-DB2 Video Doorbell as an Expansion of Your Current Surveillance System

In addition to a MicroSD card, this camera is ONVIF compatible. That means you can connect this video doorbell to your Network Video Recorder (NVR), as long as it's ONVIF compliant (which both our H-Series and R-Series recorders are). Once you add this to your NVR, you're only limited by your recorder's hard drive. You can now access and record your camera's feeds just like you would your other cameras.

Is this for me? You may want to consider adding this camera to your NVR if...

• You have other security cameras and extra channels on your NVR
• You require more than 128GB of storage space for your recordings
• You want to take advantage of continuous recording
• You will need to access your doorbell's feed outside of the EZVIZ mobile application

These Video Doorbell Features Will Blow Your Mind!

The NSC-DB2 already blows its competition out of the water with its MicroSD card and ONVIF compatibility. So at this point, you might be thinking something along the lines of, this video doorbell is already just too good to be true. I'm sure the other doorbell features are nothing to write home about. Well to this we say, get your envelopes and stamps ready, because we haven't even started talking about this doorbell's incredible specs.

The 3MP video resolution will give you crisper and clearer video than most other products out there. For some perspective, all the top video doorbells on the market shoot video at FullHD 1080p, or 2MP. Ring, Simplisafe, Nest, they're all 2MP or less. What about Ring's top-of-the-line $500 professional doorbell camera? 2MP. Simply put, our video doorbell has 1,072,128 more pixels than all the other leading doorbells. Not only will your video appear clearer, but you'll have more detail when you zoom in and pan around. Speaking of panning around, you'll be able to do a lot of that because...

This camera has a Super-Wide 180° Vertical Field of View. What does this mean? Well for starters, you'll be able to see just about everything that happens on your porch, from the ground to the sky. When a person stands in front of a door, you'll be able to see them from head to toe. What about the other doorbells out there? Most have a 160° horizontal field of view. This is still pretty wide, but since it's horizontal, you won't be able to see an entire person. You'll only be able to see them from the waist up.

The 16 foot IR range and starlight sensor in this camera will ensure that you still have incredible footage at night. This camera does have Infrared LED lights, so even in pitch black darkness, the doorbell will always be able to see at least 16 feet out. However, one of the unique things about this camera is that the IR is totally optional. You can turn it off in the app to enjoy the low-light sensor, also called a starlight sensor. This camera is pretty good at picking up on ambient light, such as from a porch light or a street light. If you live in a pretty well-lit area, you might find that you get a better nighttime image with the IR off.

Other awesome features that you'd expect to find in a doorbell camera include...

• Simple DIY installation: The doorbell comes with everything you need for a quick and simple install using the wires already there for your current doorbell. It can connect to all mechanical chimes and most digital chimes.
• Fully adjustable PIR Motion Detection: The camera detects motion using Passive Infrared radiation. As humans move around, our body heat raises the IR radiation around us. This is how the camera knows there's movement happening. So your phone and your storage won't be blown up with false alarms from leaves blowing in the wind.
• Push notifications: When someone approaches your doorstep and when someone rings your doorbell, you'll be the first to know. Get notifications straight to your mobile device for PIR and button-pressing events.
• Full duplex 2-way talk: Easily communicate with whoever is standing at your door. Invite people inside, tell people to go away, warn intruders that you're watching them. You can do it all with simultaneous 2-way audio as if you were standing right there.
• Dual Wi-Fi: The camera can connect to a 2.4 or a 5 gHz Wi-Fi connection.

There's so much more to talk about this camera, but the best way to do it is just to show you. So for the rest of this post, we'll walk you through opening your doorbell for the first time, installing it at your front door, setting it up with the EZVIZ mobile application, and using and enjoying your new video doorbell camera.

The NSC-DB2 Unboxed

There's actually quite a lot that comes included in the NSC-DB2 box, and it can be a bit overwhelming. But never fear, the first thing you'll see when you open your box is the Quick Start Guide. In here you can find descriptions of all the included pieces, as well as all the diagrams you'll need for installing and wiring your video doorbell. Check out the picture below to see everything that comes included with the NSC-DB2.

1. Three Colored Faceplates to easily blend your doorbell into your home's aesthetic.
2. The NSC-DB2 3MP Video Doorbell
3. A Drill Bit for holes perfectly sized for the screw anchors
4. Four wire connectors that you'll use to connect the new doorbell to your current doorbell's wiring
5. Two U-Shaped wires to screw into the back of your video doorbell
6. A Power Kit which you'll add to your current chime
7. A wire harness which you'll use to connect the power kit to your chime
8. A level which clicks right into the mounting plates for a quick and accurate installation
9. A fuse wire which you'll only use if you're going to be using this doorbell without a chime
10. A two-sided screwdriver which you'll use on your Phillips head screws and the security screws which will secure your doorbell's faceplate
11. Three wedge mounting plates so you can decide which configuration works for you; also included, but not seen in the picture, is a foam sticker for stabilizing the mounting plate on a rough wall
12. Mounting hardware for installing the mounting plate into the wall at your front door; also included, but not seen in the picture, is the mounting hardware used for fixing the wires into your doorbell, screwing your doorbell onto the mounting plate, and securing the faceplate onto the doorbell.

Installing Your Doorbell

As we already mentioned, this doorbell offers a super simple DIY installation. It's way easier than it sounds. Even if you've never messed with wires before, you'll have this thing set up and ready to go in no time. I'll briefly explain the process here, but be sure to follow the Quick Start Guide included in your box for more detailed instructions.

You'll be working in two locations: your front door and your doorbell chime. Here's a picture of what your doorbell chime looks like. It will probably have a cover over it. It could be next to your door, or it could be in a central location in your home where the chime will be heard the most. When in doubt, simply ring your doorbell and follow the sound of your chime.

Here is what a mechanical doorbell chime looks like.

Now before you get started, you'll want to turn off the breaker that supplies power to your doorbell. Next, go ahead and remove your current doorbell from the wall and take off the wires. Be sure to hold onto these wires, because we'll connect them to our new video doorbell. One of the wires runs to your chime and the other runs to the transformer, which takes the power from your house and reduces it to an appropriate voltage for your doorbell.

Using the fixing screws, screw the black U-Shaped wires into the back of the doorbell. Now using the orange wire connectors, connect the other end of the U-Shaped wires to the wires from your old doorbell. It doesn't matter which wire goes where. And now you're done with this step! Go ahead and move to your chime.

If your doorbell chime is mechanical, you can pay attention to the next few steps, as this process is pretty standard. If your chime is digital, on the other hand, you'll want to refer to your chime's manufacturer manual to see how to do this.

First you'll want to remove the wires from the "Front" and "Trans" hooks on your chime. These are the wires that run to the front doorbell and the transformer respectively. Hang on to these, because you'll be wiring these to your power kit.

Now take the power kit and plug the wire harness into it. The power kit has stickers on it, so you can simply install this right onto your chime. The wire harness has two wires: white and black. Fix the main end of the black wire into the "Front" hook, and use a wire connector to connect the second end of the black wire to the old wire that you just removed from the "Front" hook. Fix the main end of the white wire into the "Trans" hook, and use a wire connector to connect the second end of the white wire into the old wire that you just removed from the "Trans" hook.

I know that sounds way more confusing than it really is, but I promise it's not hard to do. Once you get started, you'll see that it's actually much easier done than said.

Setting Up Your Video Doorbell

Once everything is installed, go ahead and turn your breaker back on. If everything is in working order, you'll see your doorbell's status light turn red. This just means it's booting up. Once everything is on and ready to go, it will start flashing blue. This means your doorbell is on but it's not set up.

To set this doorbell up, you're going to use the mobile application EZVIZ (available for iPhone and Android. Simply launch the app and scan the QR code, found on the doorbell's button under the face plate. I'm not going to walk you through this process, as we already have a blog post for that. Click here to see our setup guide for a complete step-by-step guide for setting up your video doorbell with the EZVIZ application, or just watch the video below.

Final Thoughts

I'll admit that this video doorbel isn't for everyone. Some people enjoy paying monthly or annual fees for limited storage space and for someone else to own footage of their own front door. Others may not prefer to see their doorstep in crisp, clear 3MP video. Not everyone is interested in a super-wide vertical field of view that gives them a complete view of their porch, a beautiful starlight sensor, or a quick and simple DIY installation and setup.

But if you made it to the bottom of this blog post and are reading this paragraph right now, I don't think you're one of these people. You're someone who is not just looking for any old doorbell to throw up on your front door. You understand your front door is more than just a block of wood; it's the main entrance into your home and into your family's lives. If you want the best of the best when it comes to video doorbells, then you've come to the right place.

Click below to learn more about this video doorbell and to purchase yours today.