29 thoughts on “Google Nest Doorbell Review 2nd Gen, Wired (2023)”

1. 5krunner – site about sportwatches. And doorbells

   1. site about things that interest me 😉 includes the occasional bit of bike kit, various potions to make you go faster and home automation. (not forgetting a bit of geopolitics https://the5krunner.com/2022/09/12/garmin-country-risk-investment-thoughts-opinion/) 😉

2. Important to note that the battery version of the doorbell can be wired by this wiring only serves to charge the battery and not power the doorbell directly. It is -3°C today and the doorbell is not charging even though it is wired because it is too cold. During the winter this will cause the battery to fully drain and the doorbell will turn off until the weather warms up. You could charge indoors by removing it from the wall but when it is wired in you then have to remove the wiring too. For this reason if you can wire yours in I would recommend the original wired version.

3. You pretty well need a subscription of cloud to keep the history of what happened thru the day. Without this the camera will record events the first event of the day and will keep running until you have used 3 hours of time. Then you will have nothing It neededs its own SD card.

   1. yes. but it’s an improvement on the previous version and does add something of importance albeit a rolling few hours of recording.

4. Thanks for this.

   I have a wired gen 1. I’ve had issues with 2 of them with WiFi dropping a lot (even with a access point 30 cms from it) and also the frustrating lag (when it’s connected) to open the app and talk to who is there.

   In your view, do you think either have improved on the 2nd gen?

   One other frustration on the 1st gen was te plastic coating that covers the front. It started to peel of after a few months in the sun and looked terrible. Google had to replace one and the replacement did the same. Really poor on a black device when it looks like skin peeling.

   I’ve a lot of other nest protects (thermostats, hubs, protects) but also a lot of Amazon. Weighing up if its worth trying the 2nd gen on ebay or going to another brand.

   1. yep
      if you look at the photos above you will see the covering peeled off of my gen 1…mine was over two years old but google replaced it for free (I sold the replacement and bought the gen 2)
      yes i think gen 2 is better.
      wifi dropping – check you have it wired correctly. (I didn’t with gen 1 even tho it still mostly worked). with gen 2 it looks like if it’s not wired properly it just doesn’t work (mine didn’t at first)….forcing you to sort the wiring/power supply out. Gen 2 seems more reliable but there are still some delays that are just intrinsic to how Google works (Apple and Matter work differently but with different downsides)
      Nest – yes i have other nest products and i think they are good (Thermostat, Protect and various Home speakers and I have Google WiFi Mesh). i have no experience with amazon. as per the article everything is going toward the MAtter standard and the Nest devices can be made to work with Apple Homekit using Starling’s Hub (in the even that google doesn’t upgrade your items to Matter)

      If my MEsh WiFi isn’t upgraded to Matter I will be seriously hacked off (it might not be)

5. The Nest Hello (wired) has a major design shortcoming: It relies on an internal Lipo battery for proper function, even though it is hardwired to power via the chime circuit. This battery has a life expectancy of 2-3 years. You’ll know when the battery starts to go away, because the unit will go offline for a minute after someone pushes the button. The real flaw- the unit is not designed for battery replacement!

   I found a single thread on a Google support forum with over 1000 replies on this topic.
   Solutions:
   1. Turn off the house chime in the settings, and rely on your phone and/or a smart speaker to make announcements. Something about activating the house chime drops voltage enough to cause a unit brown-out;
   2. Replace the unit, just as we may have to do with any modern cell phone;
   3. Replace the battery, which is possible but difficult. The correct battery can be found online.

   It would be nice to know if the 2nd Gen unit has any improvements in this area.

   1. thank you Patrick
      You describe EXACTLY what happened to my gen 1 product. I thought it was my wifi causing the problem (a Google Mesh wifi btw!)
      i presume google will have fixed this if there are thousands of complaints.
      i suppose the problem with any long-duration issue from any supplier is that we don’t find out about the problem for a long time.

      still happy with the gen 2 product as of today !

6. Hi,

   Thanks for the article!

   The official requirement page for Nest Doorbell (wired, 2nd gen) says: “You need a transformer that is rated for 16-24 V AC, *10-40 VA* to provide enough power to your doorbell”.

   But you wrote: “You must have an *8VA* transformer (12V – 24V)”.

   Does it mean it worked for you with a 8VA only transformer?

   Also, did you set it to 24V? And in that case, are you using a 24V chime?

   I’m asking because I have a 12V chime and a 8V – 24V 8VA transformer set to 12V, and I don’t know if:

   – 8VA will be enough
   – I must set the transformer to 24V
   – I must replace the chime for a 24V one or use a Nest Mini speaker in replacement for the chime and the chime puk

   (I live in Ireland).

   Thanks!
   Alex.

   1. i used the honeywell ding dong (yes really) https://amzn.to/3J2sC7t. and i used the Bell transformer as shown. it is wired at 12v. I’ve no idea if 8 will be enough. 24v also worked for the Nest but when i put the chime in i changed it to 12v as that is what the bell required.
      it dings and dong but not very well. that could be the crappy wires i used but it serves the purpose for me as the chime next to where i normally sit and works in the eventuality that the various home speakers don’t instead ring.
      i think that answers your question!! not sure. use your home speakers! google speakers will not be a problem you’ll have to get starling.io if you want to go through homekit

      1. Thanks!

         I find really interesting it works with 12V and 8VA when Google asks for 16V and 10VA minimum.

         My guess is it’s because your BG transformer is really close from the Nest Doorbell and also because mechanical chimes in the US may require more power.

         I have the following:
         – Garo 8/12/24 8VA transformer: https://bit.ly/3J0CCxP
         – Garo 12V chime: https://bit.ly/3l0Lyve

         So I’m going to stick with 12V and see how it goes (1). If it’s doesn’t work then I’ll try to wire the transformer at 24V, disconnect the 12V chime and replace it with a Nest mini (2).

         I’m still not sure about 2) since I’ve read people are doing it, but at the same time Google seems to say having a chime and using the chime connector/puk is mandatory.

         Alex.

      2. hmm yes, good point at the end.
         this definitely was NOT the case with the gen 1 product and i definitely had it working without the chime in gen 2. however whether that might have caused longer term damage idk

      3. So I tried with a 12V setup, and I’m getting the “Insufficient power” status, despite the multimeter indicating 12V at the doorbell. The status light slowly blinks yellow, even when disconnected from the wires, and for some reason I can’t restart or reset the doorbell, so I don’t know if the doorbell is even working ????.

      4. It won’t start without enough power. Genn1 would kinda start but with probs

7. Update: I figured out the transformer was set to 8V instead of 12V (my multimeter wasn’t accurate and was indicating 12V! I set the transformer to 12V, and all good now 🙂
   Alex.

8. Hi

   Thanks for the post. I’ve a 1st gen doorbell and bought a 2nd gen wired.
   I’m having issues in the wiring and setup.

   I have a bell transformer as you have. For the 1st gen, i had the 24v output going direct to the nest. On the 12v I had it going to the chime connector. Then the that connected to the bell and again back out to the nest.

   Does the nest 2nd gen need more power? Had read it needs 16-24v so was thinking it’s my transformer not giving enough at 12-24v. But then I see in your post you have it running on that.

   At the min the nest 2 gen just blinks yellow to say not enough power. The interesting thing is even after i removed it completely its still blinking? I guess there is some internal battery keeping this blinking 15 mins after no power?

   1. Here is a photo of my current gen 1 setup

      https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vOBFF0_0Q0-WK059w5mmOg1c983csCON/view?usp=drivesdk

      https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vTNjdpc8sNbau49gUTlbmcJ9E_j8Ox0Y/view?usp=drivesdk

      Red/Black wire and Red wire run direct to doorbell

      Transformer out
      Red/Black wire is in 24v
      Black wire is in 12v

      Transformer in (white cable)
      Brown/live on top right
      Blue/natural on top left

      Chime
      Black wire to bell
      Black wire to Transformer
      Wires then complete circuit on the bell chime

      1. Forgot to add, Ive a Byron 772 chime. In the photo the terminals on it are

         Bottom left = 0
         Bottom right = 3
         Top left = 1
         Top right = 2

      2. So long as it’s recommended wiring it should work

      3. Got it sorted. My wiring was the issue.

         Have it working now, apart from the bell chime. It worked during setup but now doesn’t ding.

9. I’ve come back from the USA and picked up one of these devices as they still haven’t released it in the UK.

   I have two questions if anyone can help. I was going to get this transformer, https://www.comatec-hitech.com/en/36_2/product.php?id=36 which seems to be at the upper limit of what the device requires.

   I also have a wired to wireless doorbell adapter, how would you connect the byron device to the google next chime part?

   1. get the transformer i listed above. it’s cheap and on amazon.co.uk and it works.
      this version of the bell *IS* DEFINITELY more sensitive to the right power spec coming into it than the previous one.

      adapter-you’d have to ask the people who make that on how it should be wired. if it simply works like a chime then wire it the same way

10. Thanks, yes it does work as a chime just converts the signal from a wired to a wireless ringer.

    It is actually a Honeywell – https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/DCP917S.html

11. Thanks for this article, it gave me the reassurance that I needed before importing one from the US. I have it working fine with Honeywell D117 Chime and Prokek BT8-24 Bell Transformer (set to 12V – 8VA). Note that even though the requirements state a minimum of 16V – 10VA, it is working fine at 12v – 8VA 🙂

12. My main question with the Gen 2 Wired is that: Can you not go onto the web and save/edit/create clips? Like we could with the Nest on the first gen camera… the time lapses and saving of clips was super helpful. Can you still save clips with the Google app? (With having a subscription of course, the nest aware)

    1. i’m in that position

       i link it to apple home with starlinghome.io

       1. so in apple home i can’t see any clips (and that’s what i mostly use)
       2. i think you can go through a convoluted series of actions and see history in the google home app.
       i’m unsure about the ability to save and edit the clips. i dont think so.

       and i agree it’s very useful to have those kind of features arnd freakin annoying that your £200 doorbell want to charge you for them

       i spoke with the starlinghome.io guy and in theory he could envisage a mechanism where the clips could be stored (for Apple) but he thought that he didn’t want to get involved with Google’s lawyers 😉

13. I recently purchased the Google Nest Doorbell 2nd Gen and am impressed with its high-quality video and easy installation process. It has made my home more secure and convenient to monitor visitors from anywhere using my smartphone.

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