The Swann Buddy 4K Video Doorbell greets visitors, so you don't have to
Scott Hocking
STACK Senior Editor
An ideal entry-level video doorbell with pro features and a unique point of difference, the Swann Buddy 4K ensures that you’ll never miss a delivery again.
Video doorbells generally have similar feature sets – real-time video streaming and motion detection alerts sent direct to your phone, night vision, two-way talk with visitors, and video recording to the cloud and/or an SD card.
The wireless Swann Buddy 4K doorbell has all of the above, along with a battery-powered indoor chime and a unique point of difference: an AI-powered voice assistant that can interact naturally with visitors on your behalf.
But before we explore this cool feature, let’s take a look at how well the Swann Buddy 4K performs general functions.
Motion detection
Heat and motion is detected via a dedicated sensor at the bottom of the doorbell.
When set to maximum, motion detection is highly sensitive and can trigger a lot of unwanted alerts – we found the sweet spot to be around 75%.
False alerts can also be managed using the Detection Zone setting. Simply highlight the areas in the camera view where you want it to detect movement – this can help avoid alerts triggered passing cars or trees swaying on a windy day.
Camera and video
The camera has a 165° viewing angle and 1:1 aspect ratio, with head-to-toe vision of visitors when mounted at chest height.
The 4K-video clarity for live streaming is impressive, even when viewed on a smartphone, capturing fine detail in things like brickwork and garden foliage.
Night vision is captured in black and white, but is still clear and sharp enough to easily identify visitors.
Storage
The Swann Buddy 4K conveniently comes with a 32GB micro SD card already installed to save video clips, which are also saved to the cloud free for up to seven days.
However, should you want longer cloud storage and access to more advanced detection features, such as identifying pets, cars and packages left, a subscription is required following the free 90-day trial period.
SwannShield AI voice assistant
Like most video doorbells, the Swann Buddy 4K has an inbuilt microphone for two-way conversation with visitors, or you can let the SwannShield AI voice assistant do it for you.
When enabled, Swann’s cool new AI concierge service will answer a ring and then interact naturally with visitors and delivery drivers on your behalf, should you be out, too busy to respond, or don’t feel safe answering the door.
Once the doorbell is up and running, enabling SwannShield is as simple as opening the Swann Security app, selecting Devices and the doorbell’s assigned name, then tapping SwannShield Preview. It’s also important to first check that the doorbell is running the latest firmware update.
The SwannShield AI voice assistant operates when Night or Away mode is enabled. Enter your address, the names of the residents (up to five), and the delivery instructions you want it to tell couriers.
‘Demeanour’ let’s you choose how it responds to visitors: Polite, Assertive, or Disinterested. We set it to Polite during Away mode and Assertive at night, in the event of any unwanted visitors after dark.
Selecting the voice assistant’s dialect is the fun part, and there are eight to choose from – including an Australian accent – with soundbite samples: “If this voice doesn’t know how to survive a magpie swoop, it’s clearly not Aussie!”
We went with the Aussie option, of course, which does sound pretty authentic when responding: “Thanks, mate. No prob, catch ya later.”
You can also choose Axon (sharp and energetic), Vortex (deep), Cipher (smooth), Halo (futuristic), Neon (bold and modern), Nexus (clear and reliable), and British (well mannered).
We put our Aussie AI to the test with deliveries, a general greeting, and some suspicious questions (“Go away and try another house,” was the answer), and the AI responded accordingly 99% of the time, albeit following a slight delay.
Being relatively new tech, SwannShield will continue to get smarter via future updates, but we were still suitably impressed by this current version.
It also handily saves transcriptions of all voice interactions in the app for reference, which are deleted from the cloud after two days.
Plus, this clever concierge can detect and respond in multiple languages other than English - we put it to the test with Spanish and the result was excelente.
The bottom line
The Swann Buddy 4K is a quality entry-level doorbell with pro features. The added bonus of SwannShield as a personal AI concierge makes it a great choice for those with busy lifestyles and elderly residents who may not want to answer the door, or have difficulty. And you’ll never miss a delivery again!
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