The doorbell that talks back, and the mailman who saw through it

Grandpa was in the garage, sharpening a mower blade in the vise, when his phone buzzed in his shirt pocket. His granddaughter had installed the new doorbell that morning and made him promise to "use the app like a normal person."

So he did. He wiped his hands, opened the app, and saw Dale the mail carrier standing on the porch with a box. Grandpa pressed the little microphone button and said, in his best answering-machine voice, "Please leave the package by the door. Thank you."

Dale looked at the camera. Then he looked left. Then he walked twenty feet down the driveway and handed Grandpa the box through the open garage door.

"Walt," he said, "I can see you."

Grandpa says it was the most expensive way he's ever been caught standing in his own garage.

What it says it does

A smart doorbell is a doorbell button with a camera, a speaker, a microphone and a Wi-Fi radio built in. When someone presses it, or when its motion sensor picks up movement on the porch, it sends an alert to your phone. You can watch live video and talk through the doorbell's speaker from anywhere you've got a signal. That's the "talks back to the mailman" part.

Many models also offer pre-recorded quick replies, so the doorbell can answer a visitor for you. Most can record clips, though on a lot of models, saving and reviewing past video requires a paid subscription. Some store clips locally on a card or a home base instead.

They come in two power types. Wired models connect to your existing doorbell wiring and its low-voltage transformer. Battery models mount anywhere and need recharging. How often depends on how busy your porch is.

What Grandpa thinks it does

Grandpa's position is that he already owned this product. It was called a front window.

His old doorbell had one button, two wires and a chime that went ding-dong the same way since 1974. It never asked for a password. It never needed an update at 2 a.m. It never told him a moth was at the door.

The new one, on its first evening, told him a moth was at the door. Then it told him again. Then it told him a car had driven past. Then it told him a person was at the door, which turned out to be Grandpa, coming back from the mailbox. The doorbell sent Grandpa a notification about Grandpa.

"It's a butler with no hands," he says. "It'll tell you someone's here, and it'll talk to them, and it'll film them, but it can't sign for a package and it won't hold the screen door."

He also believes the doorbell judges him. He has no evidence for this. He just doesn't like how it looks at him.

Where he has a point

The subscription. Check what the doorbell does with no plan at all. On many models you get live view and alerts for free, but no saved video history. If you'd want to go back and see who took the package at 3 p.m., you're probably paying monthly, forever. The old doorbell cost nothing per month. Grandpa mentions this often.

The battery. Battery models are easy to install and easy to forget. The maker's battery estimate assumes a certain amount of activity. A porch facing a busy sidewalk will drain it faster. A dead smart doorbell is just a very fancy button that doesn't ring.

The Wi-Fi. If your signal is weak at the front door, the video stutters and the alerts show up late. Check which Wi-Fi band the doorbell needs and test your signal on the porch before you buy. If the router goes down, so does the doorbell. If your connection is shaky to begin with, read the home internet numbers that matter first.

The privacy settings. This camera faces the outside world and sends footage to a company's servers. Turn on two-factor authentication on the account, use a strong unique password, and check whether the maker offers end-to-end encryption. Read who can access your footage and under what conditions. If you haven't done a full account cleanup in a while, lock down every account you own in one evening.

Be a good neighbor too. Use the privacy-zone setting to mask off your neighbor's windows and yard. And audio recording laws vary. Some states require everyone's consent to record a conversation. Check your state's rules, and switch off audio recording if you're unsure.

The wiring. The doorbell side of the circuit is low voltage, but the transformer it hangs off is connected to your home's line-voltage power. Shut off the breaker before you touch anything, and confirm it's off. If the transformer needs replacing or you can't find it, call an electrician. Also check that the doorbell works with your existing chime. Some need an adapter, and some won't ring an old mechanical chime at all.

Where he is wrong

Grandpa concedes these with the grace of a man who has been wrong before and survived it.

You can see who's there before you open the door. At night, that matters. Grandma pointed out that she'd rather see a face on her phone than open the door to find out. She was right. He knew it the moment she said it.

You can talk to a delivery driver without opening the door, or without being home. "Leave it behind the planter" beats a missed-delivery slip and a trip to the post office.

It deters, and it records. A visible camera makes a porch less inviting to someone looking for an unattended box. If something does go missing, a clip with a time stamp is a lot more useful than "I think it was Tuesday."

It helps people who can't get to the door fast. After his knee surgery, Grandpa admits, answering from the recliner would have been a blessing. He'd just like it to stop calling him about moths.

Grandma likes watching the grandkids walk up the steps. He has no counterargument for this one, and he's stopped trying to find one.

The verdict

Worth it, with conditions.

It's for the household that gets packages regularly, has someone who opens the door alone at night, or has a family member who moves slowly. It's not for the person who's home all day, knows every face on the street and has a perfectly good window. Grandpa would like that on the record.

Three things to check before you buy:

1. What works without a subscription. Read the plan details. Know exactly what you lose if you never pay, and check the current price of the plan you'd actually need.
2. Your power and your porch. Wired or battery. If wired, check the voltage the maker lists against the output printed on your transformer, and confirm chime compatibility. Then stand at the front door and check your Wi-Fi signal.
3. The privacy controls. Two-factor login, an encryption option, privacy zones, and a clear policy on who can see your footage. If the maker doesn't spell those out plainly, buy one that does.

Set the motion zones the first day, so the street, the sidewalk and the moths stay off your phone. And if you're going to tell the mail carrier to leave it by the door, close the garage first.