SwannBuddy 1080p Video Doorbell and chime kit (review)

The SwannBuddy Video Doorbell and chime helps you to know if it is worthwhile answering the front door. Well, that and for added security, as it can even link to your phone or voice assistant for remote viewing and answering. In theory, anyway. In practice, we experienced some issues.

There are many of these types of devices – Arlo, Google Nest, Ring, Eufy and many hardware store brands. Your choice should not be based on budget but on what features you want. At $199.95 (shop around – it is as cheap as $151 at some stores), the Swannbuddy is at the value end and not as fully featured as others costing another $100 or more – but that may be all you need.

Our consumer advice for buying a doorbell camera is threefold.

First, assess your total Wi-Fi video security needs. Do you need a video doorbell and chime or a security ecosystem where everything works together – indoor and outdoor cameras, baby cameras, motion/door and other sensors, local and cloud storage, and Voice Assistance? Swann is ahead on value and has App-connected cameras etc, but others, particularly Arlo, have far longer signal transmission distances (for its smart hub connected products).

Second, it needs to be wired to a 12-24V AC power transformer unless you want to charge batteries frequently (6-hour charge). You can use the wire from the existing wired doorbell, but you need to change the ‘ding-dong’ DC transformer. That is usually an electrician’s job that could cost a couple of hundred dollars. Warning – don’t assume you have the right voltage as connecting DC to an AC device can burn it out in seconds.

Third, Wi-Fi signal strength is the most critical issue

To check your Wi-Fi signal (Android only), download the free Network Cell Info Light from Google Play. Allow the App to have all permissions. Switch your phone to the 2.4Ghz home Wi-Fi network. Stand outside your front door and measure the Wi-Fi strength. Anything below -50dBm is usable for up to 1080p video and half-duplex (push to talk) audio. Anything higher (>-50dBm) is unusable and will cause frequent dropouts, long lags between activation and notification, and low-quality or stuttering vision. In that case:

  • Move the Wi-Fi router closer to the door if you can do so without affecting other Wi-Fi clients (maximum 2.4Ghz transmission distance is 20m indoors). See our guide Fix Wi-Fi blackspots fast and often at no cost
  • Chuck your cheap NBN ISP supplied router and invest in a new Wi-Fi AX Mesh system (that could set you back from $500 to $2,000) to distribute strong Wi-Fi to the whole of the home
  • Or Arlo has a Wired (or battery) video doorbell that wirelessly connects to the Arlo base Station/Smart Hub. This keeps its devices off the often-unreliable home Wi-Fi and considerably extends the range (we have cameras a good 50m away). The Catch 22 requires installing its Ultra 4K or Pro 2K/1080p cameras to get the smart hub.

A Bunning’s expert stated there is an extremely high rate of video doorbell returns [all brands] for two main reasons. Low-to-no Wi-Fi signal at the front door and the frustration at having to charge batteries too frequently – as much as weekly instead of 2-3 months – because a doorbell can have thousands of activations a month.

SwannBuddy Video Doorbell and Chime kit

WebsiteProduct Page
Price$199.95 (remember online stores usually charge freight on top) plus in-app purchases for cloud storage
FromJB Hi-Fi, Good Guys, Bing Lee, Bunnings
Warranty12-months ACL
Country of OriginChina
CompanyAussie David Swann started Swann in 1987. It was bought out in 2014 by US-based Infinova Group and has offices USA, Canada, Australia, UK, Hong Kong and China and a presence in over 40 countries on six continents. It was a pioneer of Do-it-Yourself security cameras.
MoreCyberShack Swann news and reviews and CyberShack TV S27:Ep7 – Swann Buddy Doorbell  

First Impression – big

Swannbuddy is 140 (H) 55 (W) x 32mm (D), larger than your current push-button doorbell. And that is a good segue into connecting this to mains power. If you have a push-button doorbell with wires connected to an old (Friedland) ding-dong chime, you can replace the DC transformer with a new AC one and use the wiring to power the device – highly recommended. Unfortunately, the ding-dong chime won’t work on AC, so Swann includes a Wi-Fi chime to replace it.

The video doorbell is IP56 waterproof (dust and heavy rain resistant) that attaches to a mounting plate. A small Philips head screw (screwdriver not supplied) secures the camera to the plate so you can remove it for recharging.

Setup

Swannbuddy needs to be at chest height – 1.6m from the ground – and as close to the door handle as possible. While it has a 180° field-of-view, the smartphone image crops to reduce the fisheye effect. A flat mounting bracket and includes wall-plug/screws. Or you can use the self-adhesive pads (not on masonry), but that means it is easier to steal the device. You may want to angle it towards the door by packing out one edge of the mount.

Download the Swann security app for Android (tested) or iOS. Follow the instructions and add the device. After scanning the QR code, it did not auto-pair for us, but it was easily manually paired. We strongly suggest you do this after fully charging it and near your router, and you can move it later.

When successfully paired, it will show two Secure+ in App purchase options – skip these for now as you have a 90-day free trial to whet your appetite. See Local Storage and App later.

Wi-Fi test

Swannbuddy uses 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi (for a maximum Wi-Fi 5 N HT20 144.4Mbps half-duplex rate) which in theory has a 30m maximum distance from the router. But you can about halve that for every wall/floor it passes through. Swann state up to 20m to be safe.

The App has a Wi-Fi signal strength indicator (%) showing no Wi-Fi at our front door, about 8m away and down open entry stair vault but through a concrete brick wall). As mentioned earlier Network Cell Info Light app showed -79dBm – unusable – so try that before you buy the device. We stress that you need around a maximum of -50dBm for decent video and audio performance.

The test router is a NETGEAR Nighthawk 12-stream tri-band Wi-Fi 6 AX11000 – it has the most powerful signal strength of any current Australian router. The solution would be to add a mesh extender near the front door (it needs 240V power). The test phone is an OPPO FindX3 Pro which has the most powerful Wi-Fi strength of any we have tested to date. Lesser test devices will have lesser signal strengths.

The image above left top shows -55dBm and that relates to the image on the right showing 70% signal strength. The image above left bottom shows -79dBm at the front door – unusable.

Camera

Swannbuddy has a 1080p, 180° field-of-view camera (fisheye). If you have a strong Wi-Fi signal (under -50dBm or 75%), it should record in that resolution. As the Wi-Fi signal weakens (50-75% approx.), we suspect it drops back to 720p and then <50% to 480.

The image and colour are enough to identify facial features and clothes colours.

It automatically records to the Secure+ cloud. A 32GB internal removal class-U1 microSD card stores video clips during internet outages. It then uploads those images to the cloud when online.

Colour night vision – NO

Despite several reviewers saying it has colour night vision, IT DOES NOT. It has Infrared mono vision up to five metres. But at 100 lumens maximum, it is only practical to about two metres. You really should consider security lighting or a motion detection floodlight if you want colour and detail at night.

Audio

It is half-duplex – push-to-talk (not full-duplex both ways talk). Audio quality depends on Wi-Fi strength – when it is >75% signal strength, the delay is a second or so. It can be a few seconds when it is <75% and very jittery. We had to set the volume on the speaker and mic at maximum – it is not loud.

PIR

A passive infrared detector detects heat and movement up to five metres away. You can vary this distance to reduce false positives from movement like trees blowing in the wind or cars on the street. It is best to set this at no more than two metres to avoid false positives.

The Secure+ Cloud has enough smarts to tell you if it is a person, pet, parcel etc.

Battery

Swannbuddy has a 6,500mAh battery that should give two-three months of typical use. Recharging is via USB-A to micro-USB 5V/2.1A/10.5W (cable but no charger supplied). Charging takes up to six hours. Or you may be lucky and be able to use the existing doorbell wiring, but you may need a sparky to tell you that.

But in our tests, we chewed up about 10% over two days (100 activations) – that is 10-days life.

Chime

The separate ‘mouse-sized’ chime runs off two AA batteries and pairs via 433.92Mhz to the doorbell camera – not Wi-Fi. It has a greater connection distance and is not as affected by walls, etc. It has six melodies, and you can have up to five of these if you need more coverage. Maximum volume is 72dB – not for whole-of-home coverage.

The App

The App can:

  • Access cloud video
  • Set home, night and away modes
  • Show battery % and Wi-Fi signal strength
  • Change Wi-Fi SSID/Password
  • Enables low (480), high (720p) and max (1080p) streaming if Wi-Fi signal is not strong enough – at setup, it defaults to low quality!
  • Change light mode for indoor or outdoor (presumably reduced 50Hz flicker)
  • Flip and or mirror the image
  • Set the mic and speaker volume
  • Mute the Chime volume (it only has Max setting)
  • Change PIR settings – off, close, med, far, max (the more sensitive, the higher the battery drain) but can be handy to reduce false positives from further away
  • Change sleep period between video clips – 30, 60, 120, 300sec
  • Siren duration
  • Format the microSD, factory reset and remove the device

The App has to load every time you use it. As such, the live view takes some time to establish a link to the camera, especially over mobile broadband. We also could not change clip length – approx. Ten seconds is often too short, and it does not seem to include preview walk-up and post-view walk away like other brands. It is supposed to record up to 60 seconds if there is motion.

It can also link to Google Assistant or Alexa. We found the link painfully slow if it worked at all. Voice commands are limited to Show “Front Door” or Stop (defaults to your Google Chromecast video device).

Swan Secure+ plans – in-app purchase

If you don’t subscribe to a Swan Secure+ Plan, you get 1-7 days of cloud storage and local microSD backup. The 32GB card supplied is for off-line (internet down) use only and should give you about 2-days storage.

If you do subscribe, you get (note this is auto-renewal using Google Pay or iTunes)

  • 60-day cloud recording storage (rolling – over-writes old recordings) and at least 1Mbps upload speed. This is limited to 200 clips of 10-60 seconds per camera per day.
  • True Detect+ People (not face recognition), pet, cat and package identification and alerts
  • Upgrades to 3-year warranty with insurance
  • Exclusive Swann member offers

Billed at $3.99 per month (less any special offers) or $39.99 per annum for one device. The unlimited plan is $12.99 per month or $129.99 per year covers unlimited cameras.

Cybershack View – SwannBuddy 1080p Video Doorbell and chime kit is a value product

Knowing who has pushed the doorbell is handy, but the lag between launching the App and getting a live view reduces its effectiveness. Knowing when someone walks past your front door is handy, and the Swannbuddy notifications do that.

While it should allow us to answer the door anywhere over mobile broadband, the App connection time is too slow to be really useful.

So, it gets a limited recommendation if you have decent Wi-Fi strength. A small single-level apartment suits best.

SwannBuddy 1080p Video Doorbell and chime kit

$199.95
7.4

Features

7.0/10

Value

8.0/10

Performance

7.0/10

Ease of Use

7.5/10

Design

7.5/10

Pros

  • Reasonable quality video and audio if Wi-Fi signal is strong
  • Meant for smaller homes or where you have good Wi-FIsh
  • Battery or wired power

Cons

  • Clip length limited to approx 10 seconds (no-pre/post-view)
  • Slow load App (on the fastest phone)
  • Half-duplex (push to talk) can be laggy, and feedback
  • Very slow smartphone load over mobile broadband
  • You really need the paid Secure+ Cloud storage