Lorex Doorbell Camera Review

Lorex Doorbell: Initial Thoughts

There’s nothing particularly special about the 2K’s design. It’s rectangular, with a square camera face and a ring button that emits a faint greenish glow. Pretty average. Its nearest lookalike is the Wyze Video Doorbell Pro, and while there’s nothing wrong with Wyze cameras, Wyze is a more budget-friendly brand than Lorex. Still, the 2K is slimmer than the Ring Video Doorbell 3. Plus, the 2K comes in a choice of black and white. That may not sound like a big deal, but few camera companies offer any choice of color.

Lorex Doorbell Camera Box

Since we mentioned cost, we might take this opportunity to point out that Lorex equipment generally falls in the mid-range of industry pricing. The wired model of the 2K – the one we tested – is priced at $149.99. The wireless version comes in at $179.99. For comparison’s sake, you can pick up a Wyze video doorbell for around $45. Lorex’s pricing is more on par with the stylish and feature-rich Nest Doorbells ($179).

Keep in mind, though, that Lorex cameras are more affordable than Nest over the long term. That’s because they don’t require any monthly fees. Once you’ve purchased the 2K itself, you never owe another dime. Most of the more popular doorbell cameras on the market require you to purchase a monthly cloud storage fee, at least if you want to record footage. That includes SimpliSafe, Ring, and Nest. In contrast, Lorex always offers local storage solutions. The 2K stores videos on a microSD card that you insert into the doorbell camera itself. Free video storage can actually pay back the cost of the entire camera over time.

Installing the Lorex Doorbell

This isn’t our first Lorex rodeo, so we knew what to expect when it came to installation. The doorbell’s box included a QR code, and once we’d scanned that, Lorex’s app took over. Well, we had to do the physical labor, but we had step-by-step instructions that made the whole thing a snap. Can’t find the box code? You’ll find another one on the backplate of the doorbell itself.

We chose a hardwired version of the camera, and as you might expect, it presented more challenges than the wireless, battery-operated model would have. To be fair, the problems we encountered weren’t really about the unit or the instructions. Lorex goes out of its way to make everything simple, and even includes all the tools you’ll need to get your doorbell installed. Our house is pretty old, though, and the existing doorbell cables aren’t really in the best shape. If you’re in the same boat, you might want to carve out some time in your day for this installation.

Since the unit is so narrow and needed to be flush with our door frame, we had to do some strange hand contortions to secure our cables to the camera, and then bend and twist all those cables between the camera and the mounting plate. From there, we endured a couple more hits and misses before we had power going from the chime to the doorbell.

Having small hands proved very helpful here; so did the extra cable connectors that Lorex includes in the box. Might we (strongly) suggest, though, that you turn off the power to your doorbell before you get to the wiring? Electrical shocks are no fun. Better yet, call in an electrician.

Installing the Lorex Doorbell Camera

One of the nice aspects of this unit is that it includes a chime kit. That means you can completely replace your existing doorbell. Of course, it also means that you have to include the chime kit as part of your installation. You can skip this step. Lorex doorbells will work with your existing bell. We wanted an upgrade, though, so we took the extra time to work through the process. Luckily, the chime kit was an easier install than the doorbell itself.

We set aside an afternoon for this project. We’ve done plenty of doorbell installs that took entire afternoons. This one, though, wound up taking us just under two hours. Lorex includes a complete instruction manual, and it’s easy to move through it if you take it one step at a time. We have come across easier installs. Ring’s Doorbell Elite pops neatly into place and takes about half an hour including the wiring. Even so, we were pleasantly surprised to have extra time to sit on our porch swing and catch up on a little reading.

Lorex Doorbell Camera Chime Kit

We’ve tested (and installed) dozens of video doorbells. The installation process varies wildly. We’ve installed battery-powered doorbells that snapped into place in seconds, but the fact is wired doorbells take a little time. We set aside the whole afternoon to take care of ours, though it didn’t take that long. It helped that Lorex included a detailed manual and provided all the parts we needed for installation.

All in all, we spent just under two hours getting the whole system online. That’s definitely longer than the time we spent installing Ring’s Doorbell Elite, namely because Ring’s hardware was sturdier and popped into place more easily.

Lorex Doorbell Camera

Our Full Experience with Lorex Doorbell

With the installation process complete, we were able to turn our attention to Lorex’s equipment and technology itself.

The first thing our tests uncovered is that the 2K transmits images nearly instantaneously. That’s a crucial feature of any security camera, but especially doorbell cameras. We happen to live in an area that sees a good deal of package theft. Maybe we should say it this way: these thieves are practiced, and they have their techniques down cold. To stand any chance of catching these porch pirates in the act, you have to act fast. As far as we could measure, alerts arrived to our phones instantly. It takes a second or so to open the app, but that means you’re not likely to miss much.

Lorex Doorbell Camera Device Log

The other crucial component for any camera is video quality. No matter how fast an image arrives on your mobile device, it won’t do much good if you can’t make out the details. The 2K’s resolution is…well…2K. Sort of. That’s the max resolution anyway, and that’s a pretty impressive number. It’s more than twice the industry standard of 1080p. Turns out, Lorex has an even more powerful video doorbell, the 4K. We haven’t had a chance to get our hands on one yet, but we’re guessing you can count the individual hairs on the back of your neighbor’s dog with that kind of resolution. Very few home security companies offer 2K cameras, let alone 4K.

Of course, 2K is the max resolution. Lorex’s 2K video doorbell works through a Wi-Fi signal. High-definition video can overload a network and then you get no images at all. To prevent this, the 2K’s footage fluctuates between standard and high definition. This is pretty common in the security camera industry. We came across it, for instance when we reviewed SkyBell’s Video Doorbell. It means footage isn’t always 2K, strictly speaking, but we still managed to get good clarity.

Two-way audio is increasingly becoming standard for video doorbells. It allows homeowners to respond in real-time to anyone who happens to stop by. The 2K uses full duplex two-way audio so we had no trouble hearing or being heard over the system. When a salesman stopped by selling magazine subscriptions, we were able to tell him no without revealing the fact that we weren’t actually at home.

As an aside, our tests of the Lorex device happened to coincide with a pretty legit snowstorm in our neck of the woods, leaving us with 6-8 inches of pretty white stuff when all was said and done. We thought the scene would make for some calming, tranquil footage, even without a human involved. We think we were right.

Of course, it helped that the doorbell is rated to temperatures as low as four degrees below zero Fahrenheit. For those in warmer climates, it’s also rated up to 122 degrees Fahrenheit. As a bonus, it also has an IP65 rating. That means it’s dust tight and can resist low-pressure water jets. In other words, it could have handled much worse than our weather.

Check out this short video of the Lorex doorbell:

Person Detection

Lorex Motion Detection

Like the wireless Lorex security cameras we’ve reviewed previously, the Lorex Doorbell includes a mode for person detection. This is becoming a standard camera feature, especially among video doorbells. Even so, we’re glad to see it.

With person detection turned on, we were alerted only when someone was at the door. Not when a car passed by, not when a tree branch blew in the wind, not when a stray cat crept across the walkway looking for food. That meant every time we got an alert, we knew it was triggered by a person. Studies have shown that too many false alerts cause homeowners to let their guard down.

We spent a little time testing out the camera’s other three modes, too. Lorex never missed a beat. Again, many home security cameras are offering multiple detection modes now, but Lorex impressed us.

Lorex Doorbell Camera Video Quality

164-degree Field of View

How much coverage a doorbell camera provides depends largely on the camera’s viewing angle. Of course, this varies from brand to brand. The Lorex 2K Doorbell is above average with its 164-degree angle. We have seen larger angles though. When we reviewed Blue by ADT’s doorbell, we discovered it provides a whopping 180-degree angle. That’s as wide as possible. Still, 164 degrees definitely sets Lorex apart.

Having a nice, wide video is certainly a plus — especially when you’re trying to track packages and other deliveries. In that regard, Lorex really nails it. Note that you will need to fiddle with it some to get the angle just right. You do want it to be pointing down slightly so you can see when items arrive:

But to put things in perspective, we’re used to seeing 120- to 140-degree fields of view from Lorex’s competitors, so 164-degrees felt like a luxury to have.

Color Night Vision

As a brand with a huge selection, Lorex has been in our testing repertoire many times over. Their outdoor Wi-Fi camera was an early favorite of ours, namely due to the impressive color night vision.

Lorex Doorbell Camera Night Vision

We’ve found that in most cameras, the higher the video resolution, the better the night vision. Keep in mind, then, that Lorex’s outdoor cam maxes out at 1080p resolution, which is still excellent HD quality but not quite as spectacular as the Lorex Doorbell.

With the doorbell cam, we get a picture that’s not only in full color, but that’s also sharper than some daytime camera footage we’ve seen. It’s a far better picture than the one we got from SimpliSafe’s 720p SimpliCam, for instance, which doesn’t have color night vision and maxes out at standard definition. But honestly, SimpliSafe is better known for their affordable DIY security system — so if you’re interested in total home security, see our SimpliSafe review.

Of course, some folks aren’t all that concerned with video quality or night vision in a doorbell cam; they just want a quality device to monitor visitors and help them feel safer in their homes. Lorex delivered that for us easily, but check out our full doorbell camera buying guide for even more ideas.

View from the Lorex Doorbell Camera

Smart Home Integration

Lorex doorbells work with both Alexa and Google Home. There was no Apple HomeKit compatibility, but that’s rare in the home security market. We were actually more bothered by the fact that there was no IFTTT support. With IFTTT, you can create all sorts of groovy routines connecting smart home components together. Oh well. We had no trouble pulling up the live feed on our Amazon Echo Show, one of the Alexa-enabled devices in our home, to get a quick peek at who was at our door. So we were happy enough.

One of the cool things about Lorex is that you don’t even need an existing smart platform. You can integrate your doorbell into Lorex’s own proprietary Smart Home Security System. With a centralized hub, that system lets you view and record footage, talk to visitors, and turn cameras on and off with just the tap of a finger. The system also now includes facial detection technology for added security. Plus, you can use bluetooth to connect your home speakers for streaming music throughout your home.

Still, Lorex’s relatively limited capabilities when it comes to integration was a definite disappointment in relation to competitors like Arlo. As we noted in our Arlo Video Doorbell review, Arlo supports pairing with all of the major smart home platforms. So if you’re a smart home aficionado, you might want to look at Arlo instead.

Feature Summary

So overall, the Lorex 2K video doorbell does offer intriguing features. We summarized and ranked the features here in order of their importance and usefulness. If you agree that these are the best features to look for, then the Lorex 2K video doorbell will likely work great for you.

Lorex Doorbell Camera Pricing

The brand’s aversion to monthly fees and contracts4 makes Lorex a great pick for the budget-conscious, and this rings true with their video doorbell, too. Even with an upgrade in video resolution, Lorex still prices their latest doorbell fairly at $199.99. And, it was on sale for $150 at the time of this writing. (They also have a 1080p option for $79.99, if you’re interested.) For all of that without monthly fees, we’d say this is a pretty decent deal.

It’s certainly not the cheapest way to keep tabs on your front door while you’re at work, though. Then again, most doorbells don’t have 2K HDR video. We don’t necessarily need 2K in a doorbell cam, but we do admit it’s a nice picture.

For what it’s worth, Lorex Doorbell is only $10 more than SimpliSafe’s Video Doorbell Pro. We’d consider both devices around the middle range in pricing. You could always go bigger, like the more advanced Vivint Doorbell Pro, for $249; you’ll get a pretty mind-blowing set of features, not to mention an even slimmer design that’s ideal for apartments and small spaces.

And if you’re interested in keeping an eye on more than just your entryway, here’s a quick breakdown of some of Lorex’s security camera offerings:

Our Final Thoughts on the Lorex Doorbell

When all was said and done, we found a few trouble spots in the installation and hardwiring stage to keep us from fully falling in love with the Lorex 2K QHD Wired Video Doorbell. For older homes like ours, hardwiring is already a challenge. But on top of that, Lorex’s equipment didn’t snap into place very easily, so by the time it was all done, we knew we had spent much more time installing this device than other doorbell cams we’ve used.

That said, Lorex still managed to pack plenty of power into its wired doorbell cam, giving us an overall smooth and hassle-free experience monitoring everyone entering and leaving our home.3 More than that, though, we were intrigued by the 2K resolution. This, after all, is not something we see every day, even in the industry’s best doorbell cameras. Combined with color night vision, we enjoyed the view each time we peeked over at our live feed.

We have little doubt this device would give you the peace of mind you’re looking for in a doorbell cam – but prepare for a tricky installation (or hire a handyman!).

Frequently Asked Questions