After using a video doorbell at home for the past couple of months, I believe everyone could benefit from having one. New to the Australian market, the Lorex 2K Battery Video Doorbell stands out with a subscription-free pricing model – what a novelty in 2024!
I work from home and, due to the nature of my work, have couriers frequently dropping by to pick up and deliver packages. Prior to trying a video doorbell, I’d frequently miss people calling by, much to my frustration. Because my home office is upstairs, I struggled to hear the old, non-smart doorbell going off, especially when I’d be in the middle of a focus-intensive piece of work.
When Lorex launched a whole range of smart home security devices in Australia, the 2K Battery Video Doorbell immediately caught my eye. Competing brands like Arlo, Ring, and Eufy already have very capable video doorbells available locally. However, many of them require ongoing subscription fees to access high-level features. It wasn’t a commitment I was ready to make when I hadn’t tried the product category before.
I get it – creating a product and supporting it post-launch costs money. Particularly for products that rely on cloud-based technology, the costs add up, and it’s worth paying for something that you benefit from daily. I’m not philosophically opposed to subscriptions; I’d just rather limit how many I have at any given time.
But what if you could have a smart video doorbell that kept your data locally, reducing potential vulnerabilities and ongoing costs? That’s what the Lorex 2K Video Doorbell offers. It’s not quite as comprehensive as some of the other brands out there, but it’s pretty damn good.
Most importantly, I haven’t missed a visitor at the door since.
Lorex 2K Battery Video Doorbell review
First impressions
When trying a new type of device for the first time, you want an easy and frictionless setup. Thankfully, that’s exactly what the Lorex Video Doorbell provided.
Operating via a built-in battery, the doorbell needs charging before you get too carried away with anything else. You can bypass this entirely by using a wired connection if you so choose.
I’m not a fan of the reliance on a Micro-USB connector for charging, though. An annoying form factor, Micro-USB should be retired for the sake of convenience and the collective sanity of humankind. Lorex provides a cable in the box, but it means you can’t just plug in any one of the dozens of USB-C cables you have lying around. So, make sure you keep the cable somewhere safe.
Putting that moment of mild frustration behind me, the post-charging setup is simple. There’s a QR code on the doorbell, letting you easily pair the device in the Lorex phone app. All that you need to do here is follow the instructions and make sure the device can access your Wi-Fi network.
This is an important part of the process because the Lorex Video Doorbell saves footage locally to its included 32GB MicroSD card. Wi-Fi then lets it ping your phone when it detects motion, prompting you to open the app and check the footage.
You then have several mounting options after completing the setup process. Lorex includes various mounting brackets, wedges and screws to install the doorbell where you want. However, I live in a rental, so permanent fixtures are a no-go. Instead, I MacGyvered a temporary solution involving heavy-duty double-sided tape that’s done the trick.
Although optional, there’s a separate chime you can plug into a wall outlet, so you don’t have to solely rely on phone notifications. It’s awkwardly designed though, making it tricky to plug in next to other devices.
Lorex 2K Battery Video Doorbell specs and price
| Field of view | 124 degrees horizontal 164 degrees diagonal |
| Video | 2K (2560 × 1920) Colour night vision |
| Audio | Two-way audio |
| Wireless | 2.4/5Ghz 802.11b/g/n/ac |
| Weatherproof | IP65 rating |
| Price (RRP) | $327 |
| Warranty | One year |
| Official website | Lorex Australia |
Performance
As far as its core purpose of recording people coming to the door and notifying me, the Lorex 2K Battery Video Doorbell is without flaw. There’s far more to smart doorbells in this day and age, of course.
Customisation and convenience are the biggest factors of any video doorbell. Comparing notes with my colleague Adam Turner, who has reviewed Ring’s video doorbells and Arlo’s wireless range, Lorex’s feature set compares favourably.
You do sacrifice cloud storage, placing a strong level of trust in your Wi-Fi network, but that’s one of this brand’s main points of difference. Cloud access may be handy in a pinch, but it’s another potential layer of failure if the company in question has an outage, gets hacked, or goes out of business.
Lorex, on the other hand, saves footage locally and then streams it to your phone purely through a local network. There are other options for saving footage, like a separate recorder that stores recordings from multiple devices. It’s expensive, requiring more of an up-front investment, but evens out in the long run.
There’s somebody at the door
I was also pleased to avoid one of the common frustrations I hear about video doorbells: phantom notifications. Early devices in particular pushed notifications at the slightest hint of motion, like a bird flying past. Through the app, you can adjust the Lorex Video Doorbell’s sensitivity in addition to specific motion zones – anything outside of these zones, you won’t hear a peep about.
When the doorbell does detect motion, it saves a clip of what happened. This helpfully lets you quickly refer to the events leading up to and after the trigger point. In my case, it was usually couriers leaving packages or a family member popping in.
Speaking of couriers, I couldn’t quite see the front porch through the Lorex Video Doorbell. Its horizontal field of view is good, spanning a decent width, but I wish I could’ve seen packages left behind. At the very least, I could see when deliveries arrived. Once dropped off, however, packages sat just below the doorbell’s vision.
I made sure to place the doorbell at a decent height that felt natural to press, in the hope that it’d record the ground at the front door. While this wasn’t the case, it’s entirely possible that my front porch is just oddly shaped.
Due to the nature of saving footage locally, there’s a slight delay when loading footage via the app. It’s not an agonising wait but it’s definitely not instantaneous. I can’t think of many situations where you’d need instant access to footage; the only drawback is the buffering when scrubbing through different sections of footage.
The good news is that the Lorex 2K Battery Video Doorbell supports colour footage at night. It’s not super sharp but it’s clear enough to make out what’s going on. You’re not going to watch this footage on your 4K TV for leisure, after all.
At night, the doorbell lights up upon detecting movement, making it nice and easy to see. It’s also a deterrent, clearly identifying that it’s recording any potential trespassers. If it’s too dark, the doorbell’s light illuminates the subject and reverts to black-and-white footage for clarity.
I didn’t have to rely on it much, but the inclusion of two-way communication is handy. If you can’t make the door when it rings, you can chat with the visitor through your phone. Or, for when you can’t respond at all, you can program pre-programmed responses like “please leave the package at the door”.
Who is the Lorex 2K Battery Video Doorbell for?
Attractive to anyone sick of constant subscriptions, the Lorex 2K Battery Video Doorbell gives you more control over your footage. It’s a bit pricier than some competing products but you’ll save money over time by not paying for ongoing cloud access.
Pre-video doorbell life, I grew increasingly frustrated at missing couriers all the time. Now, that’s an annoyance of the past. If you don’t have one already, take my advice and get a video doorbell for your home. You’ll thank me (and your sanity) later.
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