My Nest Hello Doorbell (Wired) Is Bricked
The next day after publishing my Installing Nest Hello Doorbell To HDB BTO Doorbell post, my Nest Hello Doorbell decided to give up on me.
I received the Nest Hello Doorbell (Wired) on 7th September 2021, and on 9th September 2021, the first problem occurred. There is no ring light around the Nest Hello. I restart the Nest Hello by switching on and off the transformer plug, and it works great after that.
Fast forward to 13th September 2021, when the post is published, the problem switches to no status light, but the ring light is present. Again, a power cycle solves it.
On 14th September 2021, the status light started blinking non-stop, and a power cycle did not solve it. I also could not even factory reset it after many attempts at different intervals. I concluded that the unit is now bricked.
I remember reading Domotics review on Eufy Doorbell 2K (Wired), and the author, Mike, also encountered the same thing with his Nest Hello Doorbell (Wired). He eventually gave up and bought a Eufy Video Doorbell 2K (Wired).
I decided to Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) with B&H Photo Video since it is within the 30 days window. Because of this experience, I opted for a refund instead of a replacement. I think the replacement might have the same issue again.
B&H Photo Video service is fantastic. They accepted my RMA, and they covered the shipping back to the US via DHL. I was not expecting it. I am prepared to go to SingPost and pay for the shipping back to them.
As of this post writing, I am still waiting for my refund. The Nest Hello Doorbell has already reached them. And as of 5th October 2021, they have processed my RMA, so I just need to wait for my bank to credit the refund.
Since Mike already tested the Eufy Video Doorbell 2K (Wired), I went ahead and bought the same doorbell from their US website as the Singapore Eufy online stores don’t carry the wired version.
I paid US$115.48 (S$156) for it as they have a US$40 discount from their retail price of US$155.48. Shipping from my freight forwarder, HopShopGo, to Singapore is an additional US$19.96 (S$27) via DHL.
At first, Mike told me, he suspected that it was due to a wifi issue as one of the wifi channels is not supported in Singapore. However, my wifi mesh system, eero, is from the US, so that rules it out.
I told him I suspected it was the transformer issue, but he told me it wasn’t since the same transformer works well with the Eufy Video Doorbell 2K (Wired).
I am deeply disappointed with the Hello Doorbell (Wired). I was expecting it to be better. I have had a Nest Cam running 24/7 for the past four years, and it works so well that I thought the same could be said with their doorbell. But clearly, I was wrong.
Because of this, I am also afraid to get the Hello Doorbell (Wireless) which is their second-generation Nest Hello, as I am afraid the same thing might happen again.
So I am still not sure what happened. I know there are a few people in Singapore who got it working for many years. So I am not sure what is so unique about their setup. Or both Mike and I are just unlucky to get a lemon set.
I will do another post on Eufy Video Doorbell 2K (Wired) soon.