WUUK Wired Smart Doorbell 2K Review
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This product was purchased for this review.
Tested with scoring system 1.0
What do these scores mean?
Learn about our data-driven scoring system.
Pros
✔ Excelletn video clarity both day and night✔ Highly accurate motion detection
✔ Local storage with continuous recording
Cons
✘ Only delivers text notifications✘ No package detection features
✘ Limited privacy controls
The Verdict
The WUUK Wired Smart Doorbell 2K (model Y0110) delivers fast, accurate motion detection, super crisp video images, and subscription-free local storage at an incredible price. It’s also one of the few video doorbells that offer continuous 24/7 recording without needing to be part of a full CCTV setup.
My tests produced excellent video clarity results from the 2K camera during both day and night conditions, and the onboard smart object detection works extremely well to differentiate people from background movement to ensure you only get notified when it’s important. With pre-roll recording you’ll get the full motion event every time, even at longer ranges and the sensitivity of the motion sensor resulted in virtually no missed events at all.
The audio quality in both two-way talk and on recorded clips has improved considerably over WUUK’s earlier model but still suffers from some light distortion and low frequency response. This makes it quite usable out to medium range for holding conversations but falls short of more expensive offerings.
The biggest disappointment is a lack of thumbnails. Notifications are delivered very quickly, although lack any sort of rich content so you’ll need to open the app every time to see what’s going on. You’ll also not have much in the way of privacy controls, but from a security perspective the ability to capture everything on a local memory card could well make up for that.
Type: Wired video doorbell
Subscription: Optional for cloud storage and some smart features
Price Segment: $$$$$
Test Results
Each doorbell I review is put through a series of repeated test cycles over a 30-day period. These tests give me 32 data points that make up the 7 overall category scores above. These scores rate each doorbell key performance requirements like video and audio quality, motion capture performance, smart detection accuracy and the overall user experience.
Here’s how this video doorbell ranks compared to the average of other doorbells I’ve tested:
| Data Point | ||
|---|---|---|
| Video Quality | 8.9 | 7.8 |
| Night Vision Quality | 9.6 | 6.9 |
| Dynamic Range | 5.6 | 6.7 |
| Two-Way Talk | 6.6 | 7.6 |
| App Audibility | ||
| Outdoor Audibility | ||
| Recorded Audio | 5.6 | 9.0 |
| Notification Delay | 10.0 | 7.5 |
| Thumbnail Average | ||
| Doorbell Average | ||
| Text-only Average | ||
| Thumbnail Effectiveness | 0.0 | 6.9 |
| Day Success | ||
| Night Success | ||
| Missed Events | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| Day Misses | ||
| Night Misses | ||
| Camera Wake Delay | 9.6 | 8.1 |
| Frame Remaining Day | ||
| Frame Remaining Night | ||
| Event Capture | 9.9 | 5.8 |
| Record Start Day | ||
| Record Start Night | ||
| Package Monitoring | N/A | 5.6 |
| Package Features | ||
| Detection Success | ||
| Smart Detection | 9.8 | 6.9 |
| Smart Features | ||
| Day Accuracy | ||
| Night Accuracy | ||
| Live View Response | 7.5 | 8.6 |
| Live View Time | ||
| Doorbell Ring Response | ||
| Privacy Features | 6.9 | 8.2 |
| App Usability | 6.4 | 7.8 |
| Battery Performance | N/A | 7.9 |
| After 30 days | ||
| Time To Dead |
The Basics
Tech Specs
Power: Wired onlyRemovable Battery: No
Can Use Wired Chime: No
Connectivity: 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi
Resolution: 2048 x 1536
Storage: MicroSD or Cloud
Weather Rating: IP65
Field of View: 108 degrees
Compatibility: Alexa, Google
Smart Detection: Yes
Footprint (WxH): 8cmx12cm
Notable Features:
- 3s Pre-roll
- Face Detection
- Quick voice responses
- Continuous Recording
WUUK’s wired doorbell offering, confusingly also called the Smart Doorbell Pro, delivers considerable performance improvements over the battery powered sibling while also adding some very welcome features. Notably, this model can do 24/7 continuous recording when using an onboard memory card (not included).
In addition to this headline feature, WUUK has also added more smart object detection capabilities, including animal and vehicle detection, and a face recognition feature which they claim works entirely on device for privacy.
The doorbell is fairly compact compared to battery powered models and comes with both a flat and wedge mount in the box. Both of these also include 3M adhesive backing for no-drill mounting on suitable surfaces, but the usual screws and wall plugs are also included.
The included wireless chime will be necessary if you want to have something inside the house as the doorbell doesn’t support the use of wired chimes. Jumper wires are included to bypass this if you have one already to ensure the doorbell works correctly. You can just rely on the app notifications for effective alerting if you prefer.
Video Storage
Onboard MicroSD card (up to 256GB) or 30-day event clip storage in the WUUK cloud for a monthly fee.
Chime Options
Included wireless chime only.
SD card slot on the rear
Bottom speaker and mounting clip
Indoor plug-in chime
Camera Performance
WUUK’s 2K camera claims have delivered good results for me in the past, and the wired Smart Doorbell 2K is no exception. At 2048 x 1536 we get a simple 4:3 aspect ratio which aids in capturing more a vertical view in front of the door. The image is crisp with good color saturation, and the video playback is consistent in spite of the 15-fps limit of the recording.
I was able to get a good read on the test chart out to 7.1m (23 ft) which puts it in the top 3 test results for this category.
At night WUUK has delivered some of the best night vision video I’ve seen. Infra-red illumination is good, and the camera picks it up well even a longer range. There was some variability here due to temporal compression artifacts causing the fine details to shift. Ultimately the best read I could get on the test chart was at 6.7m (21 ft) which puts it at the top of the pack, an excellent result.
There is some grain present in the image but there is minimal ghosting on moving objects as some night vision cameras do. This means you’ll be able to see what’s going on without issue, even when the object is moving across the camera.
On the dynamic range test the results were a little mixed. The swatch score off the OECF 36 test chart was only a 7 but this included a partial read on 2 of the darker tones, which is unusual. I noted some tendency for overexposure in bright lighting, and we can see that somewhat in the test image and also in the day video sample above.
Ultimately, the results give good definition in shadow close to the camera, so there is no loss of detail or underexposure of faces where it counts.
OECF36 test chart results
Audio Performance
Using the two-way talk feature was straight forward with the connection to the doorbell activated with a simple tap on the microphone from the live view in the app. There was a slight delay between speaking and having the output come through, but it was not so severe as to impact conversation.
Outdoors the speaker could be understood out to 6m (19 ft), which is not bad. The voice could be heard easily out to the full 10m of the test run, but beyond 6m it became difficult to understand due to a combination of limited speaker volume and some light distortion in the audio stream.
The app user also experienced the same distortion, but better microphone pickup allowed for a longer usable range of 8m (26 ft). At close ranges conversation was easily understood for both parties, making this feature perfectly usable under normal circumstances.
The audio recorded in motion event clips suffered from a similar level of light distortion and some compression artifacts. There was also a notable presence of slight static in the background, but this was not overly intrusive. Interestingly the Wired Smart Doorbell 2K was not as susceptible to wind noise as most doorbell I’ve tested, which helped balance things out.
While the audio capture is usable for the most part, the combination of distortion and compression would make picking outspoken words at moderate range impossible. This could limit its usefulness in a security camera role.
Notification Performance
Notifications for motion events were delivered very quickly, with an average of 3.6 seconds being recorded during testing. This result was also very consistent, with only a 1.2 second variance being observed at the outside of the range.
Doorbell ring notifications are even better. These aren’t notifications in the typical sense but are treated as phone calls. You’ll get a call-like alert with the ability to answer or decline on your phone screen. These were delivered on average in only 2.2 seconds after pressing the bell and were also very consistent, with only a 0.3 second variance being observed throughout testing.
The wired WUUK Smart Doorbell Pro, unlike its battery cousin, does not offer any kind of rich content in notifications. The ability to see quickly what a motion notification is about is a significant convenience factor for smart cameras and allows you to quickly filter out things you don’t need to act on.
These occurrences make up the vast majority of motion notifications, even when filtered to only alert you to people. Delivery drops, family members, door knockers and so forth can typically be ignored, and being able to quickly vet these occurrences at a glance saves a lot of time and makes notifications far more effective. Without these you’re likely to start ignoring notifications since you have to open the app every time to check.
For these reasons, thumbnails are considered an essential feature and scored separately for their effectiveness. The lack of this feature results in a score of 0, as it’s a significant detriment to the usability of the doorbell and a feature that most competitors provide.
Motion Detection Performance
At high sensitivity, WUUK managed to an almost perfect score on motion detection. At this level it does detect everything moving and records it all. While this would be bad on a battery-powered model, with wired power the only concern is storage space.
Only one test resulted in a partial success in that the doorbell didn’t send a notification for person detection but still recorded the event. Given the number of test passes, this equates to a 0.02% miss rate, which is exceptionally good.
Camera wake delay is used to test how long it takes the camera to start recording when motion is detected. This is tested by passing across front of the camera at close range and measure how much of the horizontal field of view is left when the subject is recorded.
Wired doorbells like this one tend to offer a feature called pre-roll recording. This keeps a rolling buffer of video which is attached to the beginning of a clip to ensure the beginning of the motion event is captured. WUUK offers this here, although not specifically stated I’ve measured it to around 3-4 seconds, which is fairly typical.
As a result of the pre-roll, wired doorbells tend to ace this test since they always capture the entire motion event from before the subject enters the frame. In this case, only one night test resulted in a delayed start, which dropped an otherwise perfect score down to 96%.
This test evaluates how much of a motion event the doorbell can capture, which factors in both the recording delay and the motion detection range.
While pre-roll video recording certainly helps this test as well, it’s not a given that it will result in a perfect score. Some wired doorbells still have limited motion detection range which can drag down the total approach coverage they can capture. WUUK is not one of these, again almost acing this test thanks to a very sensitive, long range motion sensor.
The doorbell was easily able to detect motion out to the 10m (30ft) maximum of the test course, detecting my approach every time at this distance during morning and afternoon tests. Night tests gave it a bit more of a challenge, with two tests resulting in a shorter detection range. Only one of these was significant at 6.5m (21 ft).
As a result of these tests, it’s clear that the WUUK Wired Smart Doorbell 2K can provide excellent surveillance coverage within its 108-degree field of view out to a significant distance that easily exceeds my test range maximum.
Smart Detection Performance
WUUK doesn’t offer any package monitoring features in their app and the doorbell field of view doesn’t cover the ground in front of the door at a typical mounting height. As such there is no way to detect or keep tabs on any deliveries unless they are placed a significant distance out from the doorbell. This gives the Wired Smart Doorbell 2K a feature score of 0 and makes this test not applicable.
Feature scoring:
✘ Visibility of the test package directly below doorbell.
✘ Visibility of porch area in front of the doorbell.
✘ More than 30 degrees off center visibility to the side.
✘ Presence of active package alerting feature.
✘ Presence of additional package alerts
Person detection is provided, and the Smart Doorbell 2K expands on WUUK’s previous offering by adding both vehicle and animal detection as well. These object detection features work very well, but animal and vehicle detection are only available with a cloud subscription. Person detection is free and available by default. The use of person detection and custom motion zones allows a good level of control over what you get alerts about and avoids any unwanted noise from the highly sensitive motion sensor.
In addition, WUUK claims to have the first on-device facial recognition system. I’m skeptical about the claim given I’ve tested several doorbells that also claim to do this on-device, but it’s not really relevant given how poorly it works.
This feature is supposed to detect faces that the doorbell sees at close range and allows them to be tagged with a name. A sentry mode is provided to work with this that can play one of various pre-recorded messages when an unfamiliar face is detected.
Detection of faces is very hit and miss. More often than not the doorbell fails to recognize a valid face, even if I pose specifically for it. It also does a poor job of recognizing the same person, ending up with multiple face profiles with no way to merge them together. Once a face is tagged, it shows that person as detected in the event list by way of a small photo. Again, this works poorly, and it only tagged me in, maybe, 1% of events where my face was clearly visible.
The Sentry mode feature is also not really worthwhile. It’s an interesting idea, but the ability to only play one recording makes it fairly limited, and I could only get it to trigger if I put my face literally inches from the camera. At typical doorbell height it would never trigger for an average adult as the face would be too far away.
Feature scoring:
✔ Custom motion zones.
✔ Person detection.
✔ Animal Detection.
✔ Vehicle Detection.
✔ Facial Recognition.
Face recgonition is basic
All object detection types are on offer
Custom motion zones prevent noise
Battery Performance
The WUUK Wired Smart Doorbell 2K (Y0110) requires a wired power supply between 16- and 24-volts AC.
App Experience
Getting the live view to start was reliable and responded in a fairly typical average time of around 5 seconds. There was some variability here, with the normal times ranging from 1.6 second to 3.5 seconds, which is quite acceptable. There was one outlier which dragged out to 38 seconds before the stream started, but I’ll chalk this one up to internet issues. Excluding that one bad result the average comes down to 3 seconds, which is faster than average across my other test results.
The response time to answering a doorbell call was similar, with times ranging from 2.4 seconds to 4.5 seconds. A little slower than starting the stream from within the app but this is to be expected since the app has to be launched first.
WUUK uses a long-lasting authentication token to keep you logged in on your device and avoid time consuming repeated logins, which is good. Basic two factor authentication is provided via SMS code, which is a minimum I would expect these days, but it’s not mandatory. It’s good to see this offered as some brands still don’t, and while it’s not the best option it’s better than nothing.
You can share the doorbell with another user by sending them an invite from within the app. This will prompt them to create their own account if they don’t have one which avoid password sharing. You can see the status of the invite and revoke this sharing permission from the user management screen at any time.
Privacy features are, however, fairly limited. You can disable audio recording if you’re in a situation that requires some discretion, but there’s no simple way to pause recording and there’s no privacy zone feature that allows for blocking certain areas from being captured. You can silence the doorbell with a convenient button on the home screen, but that only disables notifications, not recording.
The WUUK app is fairly typical of security camera apps with a thumbnail of each devices last event as a tile on the home screen and buttons to change home/away modes and access the event list. Tapping on the device opens the live view and gives access to further control, including the setting page.
The settings page itself is a simple list of submenus. These are all single level menus and largely self-explanatory targeting the usual settings for a camera or doorbell like motion controls, notifications, audio and so forth. WUUK has a few extras like sleep mode and sentry mode, which offer some basic explanatory text within their respective menus and are easy enough to understand.
The event list itself is a typical scrolling list of thumbnails tagged with the motion type, and time. You can access different days with a tap via the date selection at the top of the list, and the filter button allows you to home in on just the event types you’re interested in, such as people or doorbell calls.
With the doorbell set to continuous recording mode, you can use the timeline across the top of the list to jump to any point in time and view the recording from there. The timeline supports pinch-to-zoom so you can better identify specific events and target those if required. These are only presented as vertical lines, however, so they don’t give you much to go on.
Playing back a recording is fairly reliable, with playback starting within a couple of seconds most times. I did have some issues with recordings failing to play at times and having to retry. This was often enough to drag down WUUK’s score a little here. No other significant bugs were observed, and while the app is basic, it’s pretty solid and gets the job done.
WUUK settings page
The event view and timeline
Event filtering options
Smart Home Features
Access live stream from Alexa or Google smart displays.
Extra Features
Continuous recording - This allows the doorbell to record 24/7 when using a local MicroSD card for storage. Events are still identified and singled out in the event list, so you’re not losing any utility by having this feature turned on. You will use the storage card up much faster though. The maximum supported card size of 256GB will get you a couple of weeks worth of video.
Voice changer - A basic voice changer is provided in the live view and on doorbell calls. This allows you to disguise your age or gender for privacy.
Sentry Mode - This feature plays a selected recorded message when an unidentified face is detected. Unfortunately face detection doesn’t work very well, and you have to be very close to the camera for this feature to trigger, so it’s not particularly useful.
Alternatives
Audio Quality
Reolink Video Doorbell
8.7 Overall Score
Reolink's wired video doorbell provides best-in-class video quality and superior audio quality and range to the WUUK Smart Doorbell Pro. You'll also get the benefit on thumbnails in motion notifications with motion capture that is just a flawless as the WUUK offering.
HomeKit
Aqara G4
8.4 Overall Score
A high-quality, certified HomeKit accessorythe fully supports Apple's HomeKit Secure Video private video recording feature. When used with wired power and HomeKit, the G4 excels with high quality audio, full video thumbnails, and comprehensive smart detection features.
Package Security
Eufy E340
7.5 Overall Score
The E340 provides the best package monuitoring solution thanks to a second downward-facing camera and Eufy's Delivery Guard features that not only alert you to packages, but sound the alarm if they are tampered with and reminds you to collect them.
Common Questions
How do you connect the WUUK doorbell?
You’ll need a 16-24VAC transformer to provide power to the device. These are typical for existing wired doorbell installations, but can be easily purchased and installed if you don’t have one. The doorbell connects to your 2.4GHz Wi-Fi network in order to link to the app on your phone for controlling the doorbell settings and accessing the videos.
Who makes WUUK doorbells?
WUUK doorbell and security camera products are made by WUUK Labs based in East Sussex, UK.
Do doorbell cameras record all the time?
Most video doorbells do not have the ability to record continuously, instead relying on capturing specific events in short video clips. The WUUK Wired Smart Doorbell 2K does offer this feature when using a Micro SD storage card to save recordings locally. The doorbell supports up to 256GB cards, which will give approximately 2 weeks of continuous video coverage.
See my video doorbell guides to learn more about other models, features, and options.
