When we reviewed the original Remo+ DoorCam, we were impressed with its sharp video quality and easy installation, but not with its nighttime video quality, odd camera angle, and inability to fit on certain types of doors. The new DoorCam 2 ($199) brings a number of improvements including a higher-resolution camera, better night vision quality, free video storage, and support for IFTTT applets and Alexa and Google voice commands. However, it still can’t be used on certain door types, and the camera angle is still less than optimal. Our Editors’ Choice, the Wyze Cam Outdoor, is a more affordable outdoor camera solution—it’s also completely wireless and easy to install, and it offers free cloud and local storage, voice control, and support for IFTTT applets, all for under $50.
Design and Features
The DoorCam 2 consists of a weather-resistant (IPX4) exterior camera component and an interior enclosure with a removable cover. The two components are connected by a ribbon cable and a thin adjustable metal bracket that lets you hang the device over the top of a door with the camera on the outside and the enclosure on the inside. It’s designed to work with most, but not all, push-in and pull-out doors (more on this later), and comes with a hex wrench for adjusting the bracket, a pair of mounting screws, a quick start guide, and a window sticker.
The exterior enclosure is white and black and measures 2.5 by 6.4 by 2.6 inches (HWD). It contains a 1080p camera that captures video at 30fps and has a wide 160-degree field of view, and it has two PIR (passive infrared) motion sensors, an ambient light sensor, a speaker and microphone, and a pair of infrared LEDs for black-and-white night vision.
The interior enclosure measures 5.3 by 5.2 by 1.7 inches and holds three D cell batteries (included), a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi radio, and an adjustable Wi-Fi antenna. It has two status indicators, a Wi-Fi antenna, and two LED status lights. When we reviewed the original DoorCam, it required a subscription to access recorded video, but with the DoorCam 2 you get three days of free rolling video storage. If you require more storage you can pay $3 per month or $30 per year for a 30-day plan.
The DoorCam 2 uses the same mobile app (for Android and iOS) as the RemoBell S video doorbell. The main screen contains icons for each installed device, and below that is a list of recent activities with the date, time, and video thumbnail of each event. Tap any thumbnail to view the event-triggered video clip. When you tap the icon for the DoorCam 2 camera, it opens a live stream with Talk and End buttons. There’s also a full-screen button in the upper right corner. When motion is detected, the live screen displays Accept and Decline buttons. If you tap Accept you’ll see a microphone icon for two-way communication, a Mute button, and an End button to end the stream. Tapping the Decline button also ends the stream.
Back at the main screen there’s a three-bar icon in the upper left corner that takes you to a menu where you can access device settings. Here you can adjust video quality (Best, Average, Low), configure motion sensitivity (High, Medium, Low), and set motion zones. Other settings allow you to add viewers who can share access to the camera, subscribe to a cloud plan, and change your account information.
Installation and Performance
I had the DoorCam 2 installed in minutes. To start I inserted the three D batteries, downloaded the mobile app, created an account, and opened the Devices screen. I tapped the plus button in the lower left corner to add a new device, selected the DoorCam 2 from the list, and selected my time zone. I used my phone’s camera to scan the barcode on the back of the device and allowed the DoorCam 2 to connect to the app. I selected my Wi-Fi SSID, entered my Wi-Fi password, and after a few seconds the device was added to my account.
When it came time to install the camera on a door, I ran into some of the same problems that I encountered with the first DoomCam. I have interlocking weather-stripping on my front and back doors, which interferes with the DoorCam’s mounting bracket, making it impossible to fully close the door. Additionally, I have storm doors, which is fairly common here in the Northeast, so even if I was able to fully close my door, the camera view would be mostly blocked by the storm door.
That said, the DoorCam 2 fit easily on my side door, which uses regular foam weather stripping and doesn’t have a storm door. I simply slid it over the top of the door, adjusted the bracket for a snug fit, and secured the device to the top of the door using the included screws.
The DoorCam 2’s 1080p camera delivered sharp, colorful daytime video, while nighttime video was adequately illuminated and showed no evidence of the purple tinting that we saw with the original DoorCam. The camera did produce some barrel distortion, but without the storm door in the way I had a nice wide view of my entire doorstep area and beyond.
Motion detection worked well, and push alerts arrived instantly. Additionally, two-way audio came through loud and clear. Alexa testing was problematic at first, as I was unable to get the camera to stream video to an Echo Show smart display. My Alexa voice commands to display video were always met with a response to check the camera’s network connection. After a quick email with a Remo+ representative, this was resolved on their end (the Remo+ engineers had to increase the timeout value to provide enough time to prepare for streaming) and the camera had no trouble streaming video to the Echo Show in subsequent testing.
Conclusions
If you’re looking for an outdoor camera that’s easy to install and will provide a wide view of your yard, the Remo+ DoorCam 2 will get the job done. Just hang this camera over your door, pop in a few batteries, and you’re ready to go. The camera delivered sharp 1080p video in testing and motion alerts arrived quickly. While the DoorCam’s design makes for a quick and easy installation, it can’t be used on doors with interlocking weather stripping, and if you have a storm door, a large portion of your camera view will likely be obstructed. If an over-the-door camera solution doesn’t work for you, consider our Editors’ Choice for affordable outdoor security cameras, the Wyze Cam Outdoor. It’s a $50 weather-resistant 1080p camera that offers free cloud and local video storage, works with Alexa and Google voice commands and other smart devices, and can be taken along with you wherever you go. If money is no object, the $500 Arlo Pro 3 (also an Editors’ Choice) offers 2K video, an integrated spotlight and siren, and color night vision.
