Kangaroo - Smart Wi-Fi Video Doorbell with Chime Kangaroo’s Video Doorbell offers a remarkably flexible solution for renters, apartment dwellers or homeowners. I liked being able to have it up-and-running in just over a half-hour, with a temporary install, battery-operated, and with a full suite of desirable features. I especially like knowing I can make it permanent, provide a permanent power source using the existing doorbell wiring, and even add it to a fully monitored security system if I choose, sometime later. Hard to find anything to complain about, but let’s take a closer look. INSTALL: Kangaroo provides a very readable fold-out brochure that orients you around the camera and pushes you onto the right path to get this video doorbell installed. Download the App. Follow the step-by-step instructions that someone at Kangaroo accurately aligned with the hardware’s install activity. (If you think that’s how installation always is, you don’t setup much technology.) Kangaroo gives you 2 pathways, battery operated, or wired into your existing home bell wiring. I’m starting with battery, but that doesn’t prevent me from changing my mind later. You’re led through the WiFi connection for the video doorbell, and later an even simpler connection of the indoor chime. My first effort failed to connect, but I was then cycled back around to the connection initiation, which now worked perfectly. Nothing was wrong. Just needed a second effort. PERFORMANCE: Annoying stuff first. Kangaroo would love you to sign up for their cloud storage and monitoring and it’s very low priced. Good for them. However, the screens for signup are an initial obstacle course that might leave you feeling there is no way around it. You’ll need to select BASIC operation if you don’t want a subscription. All the features I’ll discuss are available; no subscription required. Confusing stuff next. I got wonderful responsiveness from both the video feed and separate chime. The delay seemed to be measured in10ths of a second. But, occasionally I got awful responsiveness from the video feed, with the delay measured in many seconds. Odd. I attribute it to my doorbell sometimes connecting to a distant WiFi node. This may be unique to my setup. Good responses far outnumbered poor. A great set of useful and very usable features. With either battery or hard-wired installation, an On-demand livestream is available. WIRED, it is apparently available for full time viewing. If you are depending on a battery operation. the live stream will warn you and then quit after a limited period. Motion and sound detection are sent via notification that I can adjust or stop in the App. The picture is in full color most times, with color night vision, until the light is too low, but a detailed B&W image continues until sufficient light returns. . Two way talk is enabled in the App. A Chime is provided that can be plugged into a USB outlet or power supply. We have ours located 20 feet away, but closer to our living space. It receives a WiFi signal originating from the doorbell. It chimes in both the room and on my phone. SUMMARY: This is a very nicely priced video doorbell, loaded with useful features, totally flexible, and easy to set up. For those of us who hate subscriptions, we can still get a great security device. I would prefer the subscription promotion be more subtle. The Kangaroo will capture pictures of a visitor. We can initiate a capture of videos or still pictures from the doorbell. In the absence of a subscription, videos or pictures are saved for only 24 hours. But, like noted earlier, you can alway download to your camera roll. I’m impressed with how much technology I can have at me doorway for a modest price. Recommended.

TLDR: Easy to setup and install. 2.4Ghz WiFi but works on MESH networks. image and audio quality is great (night is very impressive). External chime design a little bulky. Works without subscription but subscription plan ads features + insurance. Which is a nice touch. I wasn't familiar with the Kangaroo brand of security products when I got this, so had no expectations - it's not as known as some the other brands out there. In the box you get the: - Kangaroo Video Door Bell (with 3M Mounting Tape) - USB A Wall Plug - External USB Chime (plugs into the above wall plug) - Micro USB Cable - Mounting Screw - AC line-in adapters so you can connect the camera to power (but it's rechargeable via micro USB) Setup was easy. There is a big yellow warning label telling you not to remove the battery tab until you have the app setup and installed. For once, I followed directions and installed the app first. The Kangaroo app asks for a LOT of information on registration, name, address, phone number, etc. I found this a little invasive. This is so (on premium plans) they can notify law enforcement etc of issues. I wish they didn't ask for so much up front. But after registration, you can the QR code on screen with the camera and it pairs, the 'Chime' extension pairs separately. Everything uses 2.4Ghz WiFi and I had no issues with my Google Mesh WiFi setup. Video quality is very good (1080p). I tested using 5G away from home (so no WiFi on my phone) and quality was clean and audio responsive. Night tests were very impressive, the video stream goes to black and white/gray. I didn't try the Alexa/Google Home integration, but Kangaroo offers that as a feature. The Camera unit is compact, looks nice, and feels well built. What is odd is the Chime is rather bulky and sticks out. I kind of get why, as the power adapter for the Chime is dual use (you can charge the camera). But it makes it ugly on a wall (see photo) and I can't help but think there has to be a better way. On charging, the camera is battery powered, but not sure how long it lasts. Kangaroo should not this somewhere on the packaging. The rechargeable battery may be user replaceable as I did unscrew everything to check inside. It's impossible to review the Kangaroo Doorbell Video camera without also talking about the app. Aside from all the personal details it captures during setup, it's not a bad app. There are premium features you can unlock (30 day cloud video storage) and SMS alerts for an added subscription fee - starting at about $25 a year. This is very common for most cameras, but a nice touch of Kangaroo is the fee also includes insurance for package theft, etc. I can't comment on the insurance, just letting anyone else know.

The Kangaroo Smart Wi-Fi video doorbell with chime in black is a good doorbell camera for the money but has a small draw back that gives it one less star on the rating. The ease of the doorbell installation is fast and simple, all step by step on the app, takes less than 5 minutes total with creating your account. Install is simple on the wall of your choice either using the 3M heavy duty sticky pad on the holder or even more secure with the screws. There is also a safety screw making it difficult to steal if someone was trying to, you will see them struggling and most likely catch who did it. The camera is a welcome quality for the price range, crisp and clear video and a great field of view. I used this for my backdoor camera faced at my garage for deliveries coming during the day if I am in my office. The speed of notification delivery is about 4 seconds and the video lag is less than 2 seconds, I am very happy with that, it competes with my Nest Camera up front on speed. The included doorbell plugs into either the included charging and/or power block directly or like I did, a USB power bank that I use by my desk so I can hear the doorbell being pressed. The charging of the doorbell is quick, only takes a few hours and it is good to go. I cannot comment on how long the battery lasts but it seems about 2% a day on average unless there is more movement. The reason for the missing 1 star is you have to pay for Google Home integration. I have many other devices and this is not charged for on other brands, I am not impressed I would have to pay for this when this is the only camera or device I would. The rest of the features are not needed, I would rather pay $10 more for the device to just have the Google Home integration for life of the device, this would make it 5 stars and a top tier product. Pros: Easy Setup App works great on newer Android devices Quick notifications Small Form Factor Looks Great Comes with Doorbell Camera Quality Sound Quality Battery Cons: No Free Google Integration Must pay more to open standard features of others close in the price range Ads in the setup for insurance company savings Overall, the Kangaroo Kangaroo smart Wi-Fi video doorbell is a quality product with an easy setup and easy to use app, just needs Google integration built in. I cannot comment on Apple use or integration as we do not use much Apple products in our home.

Really nice for the price. Easy app interface. Renter friendly.

We live in a very quiet townhome neighborhood, usually nothing really goes on around here. But we do have a lot packages coming to our home and have heard neighbors having issues with package thrives. Since we are limited in having cameras set up on the outside of our house due to specific HOA rules, we were allowed to get a camera doorbell device. So, we picked up this Video Doorbell from Kangaroo. I was eager to install it and test it. This was very easy to set up. Charging it up requires plugging it with the Micro usb charger. You have to download the app first and then you set it up via the app. This took about 10 minutes, connecting it to the wifi. There is also a video on the app that instructs you on how to set up the device. As my first time, I found this video to be very helpful. I was surprised to find now way to connect this to a power source when you install it, as the device has a rechargeable battery that lasts you an entire year before the need to recharge. You remove the old doorbell and install the backplate first. Then you slide in the actual camera doorbell while connecting the wires to the back. This automatically caused a chime in our home, and voilà: it’s ready to use. I didn’t remove the adhesive on the back because it comes with two screws to screw into the wall, and a separate screw at the bottom to connect it to the backplate for further security. Seeing the quality video feeds on the app was stunning. It records on 1080p quality, has night vision up to 9ft away, and the motion detector works up to 15ft. My neighbor was clearly seen on this live feed. Choose to live stream or view recorded video to see what your camera sees from anywhere. There is also a Two way talk do that you can speak to anyone outside. Included also is a Chime that plugs in and delivers an audible sound for when the doorbell is pressed. I had no issues with this so far and an thoroughly enjoying this, and at an affordable price, this is a great bargain for home security.