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I am always keen to try out new technology - my drawers are lined with various electronic items that failed to grab me after the initial excitement that they might change my life. But also there are lots of great modern tools that I use all the time and I particularly love anything that can be controlled by my phone.
If you have been following me for a while you’ll know how excited I was that the house I bought in Shepherd’s Bush had a video entry phone. You could see who was at the door without actually going to the door. It was amazing - but not so amazing that I didn’t get rid of it when we had our house done up.
But recently I found out about a doorbell that you get connected to your phone and smart speakers and all sorts, which means you can actually answer it wherever you are in the house. Or indeed the world. Some of the reviews on Amazon were a bit negative about battery life and internet connectivity, but some of them weren’t. And though I worried I might find it difficult to install, due to me having the opposite of manual dexterity, I decided to take the plunge.
And today I installed it on my front door. And it was pretty easy too. I mean obviously I still fucked things up. I initially placed it too close to the big central door handle, which I realised too late meant I couldn’t get the rechargeable battery in and out. But I moved it up and it all looks fine.
And it seems to work pretty well too. You can check what’s going on at your front door at any time and get notifications if anyone comes close or rings the bell. And you can talk to them through your phone.
That’s way better than the way people had to answer the door in the bad old days of the early 2000s. You don’t even have to get up out of your seat to tell Jehovah’s Witnesses to go away!
It is pretty expensive for a doorbell though, so might still only be something that real gadget freaks want to try out until that price comes down a bit…
So I’d give it a cautious recommend, though will see how long the battery actually lasts. I bought a spare so I can have one charged up and ready to go. And I guess if your internet goes down then you don’t have a doorbell. But also you won’t have the internet so it’ll be the least of your worries.
It stores videos of who has come to your door for a day or so, which is quite good fun. And you can pay to have them stored longer, though not sure why you’d want that. Unless you were making an art installation of all the people who came to your door in your life. Actually that’s a good idea. Or if you are perennially burgled and the burglars always come through the front door.
Anyway,
if you want to have a look at it, it’s here. I am not being sponsored by Ring and paid for the doorbell myself. I am also not sure if Ring is a great name for it. What if a scary wet lady with long hair comes to your door and then can crawl through your phone screen and get you?
But I am one step closer to being Captain Kirk who never had to go to the door of the Star Ship Enterprise thanks to this kind of tech.
Loads more RHLSTPs will be announced over next few weeks. We’re doing two more in London in June BUT at Kings Place, not the Leicester Square Theatre. No guests announced for these yet (But I have a very big name who has never been on the show pencilled in to one off them), so book here
Also there’s an extra show in Brighton on April 3rd at 6.30pm. It will be a different guest to the later show, so you can come to both if you wish (if you already have a ticket for the later one). Tickets on sale from January 25th.
