Link smart home brand Tapo has announced the Doorbell Pro D260, a 4K video doorbell that takes a local-first approach that requires no subscription for features that often call for a monthly fee. It’s available starting Aug. 31 for $200, which is on the pricey end but could be worth it for those who cherish cloud independence
The D260 emerges as the priciest, but also most feature-rich video doorbell that the company offers. Its 4K resolution is twice that of Tapo’s other offerings, and its 180-degree field of view is an improvement over the 160-degrees captured by the $75 Tapo D210. (The D130 matches the D260’s field of view.) Also, it supports both hardwired and battery power, with up to 180 days on a charge—Tapo’s other such cameras can do one or the other, but not both. The company claims the Doorbell Pro D260 can capture sharp details from up to 30 feet away, although I’d be dubious about what that means without seeing it firsthand.
The D260 uses dual PIR and radar for detection, whereas other Tapo models only use PIR, which could improve motion detection. Like the company’s other doorbell cameras, the Doorbell Pro D260 uses on-device processing for person, package, vehicle, and animal detection, and supports up to a 512GB microSD card, though it doesn’t come with one. Facial recognition also runs on-device, too. Some companies, like Ring or Google, will charge for features like those, and much of the processing and storage happens in the cloud. Others, like Reolink, offer a local-first option that’s cheaper than Tapo’s camera, but comes with a lower video resolution.
You can hardwire the D260, but it also
You can hardwire the D260, but it also offers up to 180 days of battery life, according to Tapo. It uses both 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi to connect—5GHz is somewhat rare on video doorbells and smart home cameras in general, and could mean the camera’s live feed loads faster and looks clearer than on those restricted to the 2.4GHz band. The Doorbell Pro D260 is also compatible with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings, the latter of which the current crop on Tapo’s website won’t work with. It has no Matter support, though, so anyone outside of those ecosystems is out of luck.
You’ll find a lot of other pretty typical video doorbell niceties here, like full-color night vision, HDR recording, and two-way audio that lets you talk to the person on the other side of your door before you open it. Tapo doesn’t mention AI-supported video search, although you’re not necessarily missing much there.
Whether the Doorbell Pro D260 is worth considering depends on your smart home platform of choice and how you prioritize keeping things out of the cloud. 4K resolution sounds nice and is rare among video doorbells, but I’ve found that a higher resolution doesn’t always mean crisp, clear footage. Just look at the comparisons between the SwitchBot Smart Video Doorbell and the Google Nest Doorbell Cam, both 2K cameras that produce vastly different-looking footage.
