The Video Doorbell That Recorded 400 Videos of My Neighbor's Cat
“My budget doorbell recorded 400 videos of my neighbor's cat and drained its battery in two weeks. Ring's $60 wired model has motion zones, human detection, and doesn't mistake a cat for a burglar.”
XTU Wireless Video Doorbell Camera
5,432 reviews
Pros
- +Wireless — no wiring needed
- +Under $36 for a video doorbell
- +Has night vision (sort of)
Cons
- -Motion detection triggers on leaves, shadows, and existential dread
- -Battery lasts 2 weeks with constant false alerts
- -Video quality makes everyone look like a suspect
- -Cloud storage requires a subscription nobody told you about
Ring Video Doorbell (2nd Gen, Wired)
156,789 reviews
Pros
- +1080p video that actually identifies humans
- +Customizable motion zones — ignore the cat
- +Wired = never worry about battery
- +Works with Alexa for announcements
- +50-day free video history (no subscription needed)
Cons
- -Requires existing doorbell wiring
- -Amazon owns Ring — privacy considerations
- -You will check the app 30 times a day
The Story
I installed an XTU wireless doorbell because I didn't want to deal with wiring. Stick it on, connect to WiFi, done. Home security for $36. I'm basically a tech genius.
Day one: 47 motion alerts. Was someone breaking in 47 times? No. My neighbor's cat walked past. A leaf blew by. A shadow moved. The sun shifted position, which the doorbell interpreted as an intruder. I got an alert every time the wind blew, which in Miami is always.
By day three, I had 400 recorded videos. Not one of them contained a human. Just the cat. Leaves. My own shadow when I walked to the mailbox. One video was 30 seconds of nothing — I think it detected a cloud.
The battery, which was supposed to last 3 months, died in two weeks because it was recording every molecule that moved in front of it. I had to take it down, charge it for 6 hours, and put it back up. Home security that requires biweekly maintenance.
The Ring wired doorbell is $60. It has customizable motion zones so you can exclude the cat's patrol route. It has human detection that knows the difference between a person and a palm frond. It's wired, so the battery never dies. And the video is 1080p — you can actually identify who's at your door instead of squinting at a pixelated blob.
I was a video doorbell early adopter. I was also a video doorbell cat photographer.
The Lesson
A video doorbell without motion zones is just a cat camera. Spend $60 on Ring, set up motion zones, and stop getting alerts every time the wind blows.
Affiliate Disclosure: Links on this page go to Amazon and include an affiliate tag. If you buy something, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This is an honest comparison of products I've actually used. Product details, prices, ratings, and review counts are approximate and may be outdated. This page was created with AI assistance. Not professional product advice — just one guy's experience.
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Glen's Musings — AI, investing, and building things. Occasional. Free.
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