AA batteries power this simple smart doorbell
Want a simpler smart doorbell? Olive & Dove's AA-powered model might do the trick.
The Olive & Dove Remobell runs on 6 AA batteries.
If you're intimidated by the prospect of installing a doorbell, you aren't alone. Fortunately, startup Olive & Dove wants to help. Its $199 smart doorbell, RemoBell, relies exclusively on AA batteries. That means you can't even hard-wire this thing if you wanted to -- with RemoBell, it's AAs or bust.
Check out its specs:
- Requires 6 AA batteries
- Wi-Fi-enabled
- 720p HD video resolution
- Infrared night vision
- Heat-sensing motion detector
- Push alerts
- Two-way audio
- 120-degree field of view
RemoBell isn't the first door buzzer to work over battery power, but it is the first HD video-streaming smart model I know of that opted for AAs over a rechargeable battery.
Olive & Dove says RemoBell should run for up to 4 months before needing a new set of batteries. While the reliance on batteries could be annoying if you don't always have a stash of them on hand, it's definitely faster than waiting for a rechargeable battery to charge fully. It also helps that AAs are easy to find, compared to Netgear's indoor-outdoor Arlo camera, which relies on expensive and hard-to-find CR123 batteries.
I do question the 4-month battery life, particularly if the camera is located in a busy area, but RemoBell's "heat-sensing" motion sensor is supposed to help limit alerts to people only. I've reached out to Olive & Dove for a review unit and hope to test out this functionality soon. The startup doesn't mention any specific smart home integrations with RemoBell, but I wouldn't be surprised if they're added soon -- a blog post on their site discusses the importance of the smart home and home security.
Olive & Dove hasn't yet announced international availability, but the price converts to roughly £160 and AU$265 at the current exchange rate.
