SwannBuddy4K video doorbell. Ring My Chime (review)

The SwannBuddy4K video doorbell is a full-featured, easy-to-install, Wi-Fi, wireless or wired power, 4K video doorbell & chime. 4K means enhanced clarify and 165° means almost a head-to-toe field-of-view.

Video doorbells have become essential now with the need to see who is at the other side of that ‘knock, knock’. So much so, we wrote a guide, Video doorbells – knock, knock, who’s there? (2025 guide).

You can view who is there on your phone via the app or project it to a TV or monitor with OK Google, Alexa or Siri. It may just give you enough time to ring 000 if the knocker is not friendly.

Some sage advice for all video doorbells.

Don’t look at a video doorbell as the sole answer. It should be part of a Wi-Fi security ecosystem with external and internal cameras, kids cams, sensors, and more. Swann is one of the few that has a total Wi-Fi solution.

Next, consider whether you are happy to charge the device every few months. If not, getting a sparky to wire it in is invaluable.

Finally, a good Wi-Fi signal at the front door is critical. While this only uses 2.4 GHz, you want minimal video load times and lag. So many of our readers have had to install a nearby mesh satellite to ensure good video.

SwannBuddy4k Video Doorbell and Chime kit, Model SWIFI-4KBUDDY

As of 1-/1-/25. Firmware V0.0.00.089

Website	Product Page   Manual
Price	$299.95, but shop around
From	Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi, Good Guys, Bing Lee, Bunnings, and Swann online.
Warranty	12-months ACL
Made i	China
Company	Aussie David Swann started Swann in 1987. It was bought out in 2014 by US-based Infinova Group and has offices USA, Canada, Australia, the 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.
More	CyberShack Swann news and reviews

Ratings

We use the following ratings for many of the items below. CyberShack regards a score between 70 and 80/100 as a fit-for-purpose pass mark. You can click on most images to enlarge them.

• Fail (below expectations), and we will let you know if this affects its use.
• Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be.
• Pass (meets expectations).
• Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good, but does not quite make it to Exceed
• Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader).

First Impression

The SwannBuddy4K video doorbell is 55mm x 32mm x 140mm, 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) and 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.

I am particularly impressed by the 4.6-star rating – you can’t go wrong.

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 (720), high (1080p) and max (4K) streaming depending o the Wi-Fi signal 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
• Change PIR settings – off, close, med, far, max (the more sensitive, the higher the battery drain), but it can be handy to reduce false positives from further away.
• Set detection zones
• 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 can take some time to establish a link to the camera, especially over mobile broadband. We also could not change the clip length, as it determines the length from 10 to 60 seconds depending on the motion.

It can also link to Google Assistant or Alexa. We found the link slow. Voice commands are limited to Show ‘Front Door’ or Stop (defaults to your Google Chromecast video device).

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 165° vertical field-of-view, the smartphone image crops to reduce the fisheye effect. Inbox is a flat mounting bracket and 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 by scanning the QR code. We strongly suggest you do this after fully charging it and near your router, and you can move it later.

Wi-Fi test

Swannbuddy uses 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi N (for a maximum 144.4Mbps half-duplex rate). In theory, this has a 20m maximum line-of-sight distance from the router. But you can about halve that for every wall/floor it passes through. Our test was 15m away through an external wall.

Before you buy the Wi-Fi device, we stress that you need around a maximum of -50dBm for decent video and audio performance. Use the free Network Cell Info Lite & Wifi (Android only) to measure Wi-Fi strength.

Camera

Swannbuddy has a 4K (8MP), 165° field-of-view, 1:1 camera (slight 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.), It drops back to 1080p and then <50% to 720p.

The 4K image easily identifies facial features and clothes colours.

It automatically records to the 32GB internal removal class-U1 microSD card and a 24-hour rolling Swann cloud.

Colour night vision – NO

It has Infrared mono vision up to five metres, but practically 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.

Remote answer over mobile data can be laggy, but that is more about mobile data than Swann.

True Detect

It combines a passive infrared detector for 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.

 Battery

Swannbuddy has a 6,500mAh battery that should give two to three months of typical use. Recharging is via USB-A to USB-C 5V/2A/10W (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 five days (100 activations).

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.

SwanShield Voice Assistant

It is an AI-driven voice assistant. It can give specific instructions for package delivery and monitor all conversations. You can set demeanour (polite, assertive, disinterested), voice style, view transcripts and more.

Swann Secure+ optional subscription

While Swann touts no subscriptions and stores videos locally, this is limited to standard notifications and on-device storage.

The Swann Secure+ plans include:

• Extra: Single camera or recorder kit: $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year
• Unlimited: All Swann devices $14.99 per month or $149.99 per year.
• Payments are via iTunes or a Google account with auto-renewal.
• Terms of use: You grant to Swann and its vendors and licensees an unlimited, irrevocable, fully paid and royalty-free, sublicensable, perpetual, transferable, worldwide right and license to use, store, access, delete, download, receive, collect, retain, analyze, translate, copy, modify, display, and create derivative works from Your Content in any media formats in any media channel.
• Privacy Policy. Swann can sell or share personal information with data analytics and programmatic advertising.

Both packages have

• Extra alerts
• Rich notifications *
• Extra cloud recording **
• Lifetime equipment warranty
• Insurance coverage
• Priority customer support
• Event history summaries
• Special offers 

* Fair Use: 60 days means up to 200 clips of 10-60 seconds duration each day and camera.
** Rich notifications: mean thumbnails with notifications and humans, vehicles, pets, and facial recognition are in development.

Cybershack View – SwannBuddy4K video Doorbell and chime kit is good, solid product

Knowing who has pushed the doorbell is handy, but we advise you again to review all your security needs, as this is part of the answer.

It gets a recommendation if you have decent Wi-Fi strength.

SwannBuddy4K video Doorbell rating

• Features: 80.4K, decent battery life, ease of installation.
• Value: 80. There are some bargains as low as $200 so shop around.
• PerformanceL 80. Its as good as it gets for this style of device but its even better if paired with external lighting for night colour images.
• Ease of Use: 85. Download the app, scan the barcode and mount it on the door.
• Design: 80. Standard candy bar design. Well-made.