Tapo D230S1 Review

billbond4

With more people returning to the office and the darker evenings upon us it's a good time to add more security to our homes.Tapo has plenty of smart home and security products and I have gotten their Video Doorbell Camera Kit, Tapo D230S1 to review.The D230S1 is an upgrade over the D210 (available from the 3 Accessory Store) with the higher video resolution going from 3MP to 5MP

In the box you get

The Tapo Video Doorbell
Tapo Hub, H200
Rechargeable battery
Charger and cable (micro-usb) for the Rechargeable battery
Ethernet Cable
Adhesive Pad
Mounting Template with screws and wall plugs
Mounting Wedge block
Tool to remove Doorbell.
Quick Start Guide

The Doorbell camera feels quite sturdy and well constructed with dimensions of 146 x 54.5 x 35.5mm.

It's worth charging up the battery before you install the doorbell so you wont need to remove it for a few months, you can see the battery level via the LED on the battery itself, Green is fully charged ( it took me around 3 hours to get it fully charged)
And once you get the doorbell up and running if battery percentage is visible in the Tapo App.
The battery is rated for 180 days of use, if triggered 10 days per day with a 30 second clip)

Using the included pin to remove the rear plate from the doorbell

Battery inserted into the doorbell.
Then I opened the Tapo App on my phone, it can be downloaded here
TP-Link Tapo – Apps on Google Play
TP-Link Tapo on the App Store

The first thing i had to do, was to add the Hub “Hub 200” to my Tapo devices

For the initial setup you need to use an ethernet cable connected to your router to get the hub registered, afterwards you have an option to connect it to your wifi network so that you can place the hub somewhere else (but it will still need a power supply)
The hub is a small light device measuring 71.45 x 71.45 x 31.25mm, it has a status led and will be the main “ringer” for the doorbell camera.

Underside view of the hub you can see there are 4 small rubber feet. It would have been useful if there was a hole so that it could be mounted vertically and also a place to store the doorbell opening tool.

Also it's a pity the hub isn't powered via a micro/c type USB port so that the hub could be charged via a powerbank as a hallway may not have a power socket.

Once the Tapo app has found the hub, you can rename it and you also get an option to change its icon type that's visible in the Tapo app.
I did have to do 3 Firmware updates during the setup so that made setup time a few minutes longer.

Options for the Automatic Update, which can be disabled (if you want)

Next I was given the option of setting up local storage

Rear view of the hub with Microsd card inserted, reset button, Ethernet connection and Power socket, when the hub is fully setup then you can format the microsd card via the Tapo app so it can be used.

Next you will be given an option to connect to a 2.4Ghz Wifi network, it's a pity that smart home devices don't have the capability to also connect to 5Ghz bands, as during setup I had to disable my 5GHz band so the hub could find my network easier.

Hub is now visible in my Tapo app.

Options visible in the hub

Formatting the Microsd card so that the hub can use it.

Plenty of doorbell chimes and the volume of them on the hub can be configured here, as well as the length.
I was able to place my hub like this so the doorbell chime could be heard better upstairs, the maximum volume is 100 dB.

Next step is to pair the doorbell with the hub.

On the rear of the doorbell, you need to press the sync/reset button.

Once the Tapo app has found the doorbell, you will be given an option to change its icon on how it's visible in the Tapo app.
And in the last step you will be given an option if you want to sign up to the Tapo Care Cloud Storage.
Then you will have to choose where you want to mount the doorbell, you can either use the adhesive pad, or use the supplied screws to fix the doorbell

Tapo has good options to suit most locations and the supplied wedge can be used to give a greater field of view, the doorbell itself offers Water & dust resistant level of IP64, so that gives a protection from total dust ingress as well as water spray from any direction.

The Doorbell has an anti theft alarm feature, so you will get an alert if someone tries to tamper with the doorbell ( but you will need to enable this via the app)
Its volume is 96 dB.
And the youtube video guide is useful

Again the Tapo app has plenty of features that you can customise in the doorbell via the app.

Option to interact with the camera. (Phone in landscape mode)
Where you can take a screengrab, record an interaction, enable the microphone, or have a voicecall with the person outside.

Option to interact with the camera. (Phone in portrait mode)

Main Device Setting Menu, where you can select
Detection
In Detection you can select from the below options , where you can select the area where you wish to monitor also another option for Package Detection

Having the detection area is a handy feature as if you have an area of movement that you don't care about like cars driving by, or a footpath across from your home you have that outside the area of detection so you wont get notifications.

Battery:-
Where you select how the camera is started, either on event detected or Doorbell pressed.
If you increase the wake-up sensitivity it will reduce the battery life, there is also more advice here, if you find the battery reducing faster than expected.

Doorbell Options

Where you can configure more options with the doorbell i.e How the Tapo app notifies you when the doorbell is pressed.
Under Storage & Recording, you have options on clip size and whether you want to record audio

Smart actions

Allow you link actions with devices, so you could set lights to turn on when the doorbell is activated during certain hours.
Video & Display

Notification
Here you can choose how and what notifications you will get via the app.

Camera

The Camera on the doorbell is a 1/2.7“ Progressive Scan CMOS Sensor with a Field of View: 166° (Diagonal), 135° (Horizontal), 102.8° (Vertical) having an aspect ratio like this allows the doorbell camera to give a better view of a person.

850 nm IR LED (25 ft / 7.6 m) with Full-Color Night Vision
Its Maximum Resolution: 2K 5MP (2560 × 1920px) with a frame rate of 15 fps

Great feature is having night time colour video capture.

Video Samples
There is excellent integration with your smart home, in my home I have Amazon Firestick and Amazon Echo Show, so the doorbell is pressed the video gets displayed as picture in picture on my TV (when TV is switched on and the source set to the firestick) and on the Echo Show, as well as notification via the Tapo App on my phone.

For an easy setup with an excellent camera and loads of features via the Tapo app to allows you to customize how you want the doorbell to work in your setup and you don't need to pay a subscription, its definitely a smart gadget to have on your Santa list

Available to purchase online
Battery Video Doorbell, 2K 5MP, Colour-Night Vision, Chime Included, Tapo D230S1