How to Use a Nest Doorbell

What you need to know about the Nest Hello

By
Tyler Hayes
Tyler Hayes
Tyler Hayes
Writer
    Tyler Hayes is a former Lifewire writer covering Apple, Google, Spotify, and more. Tyler has written for Fast Company, Digital Trends, and Paste, and others.
    lifewire's editorial guidelines
    Updated on February 21, 2020

    After you’ve installed the Nest Hello doorbell outside your front door, you’re ready to start using it. The first step will be connecting the Nest doorbell to your Nest app, which should happen immediately after it replaces your old doorbell. Then, you can start using all of its features, like making it seem like someone's home or monitoring people and motion outside your house. After getting the Hello setup, you’ll be able to dig into all the extra additions.

    How to Setup a Nest Video Doorbell

    Setting up the Nest Hello doorbell requires the Nest app, which you can download for Android and iOS. If you already have a Nest product, you’ll use the same app to manage all Nest devices.

    1. After your Nest Hello is connected to the wall, launch the Nest app. It will ask which door your doorbell is located at.

    2. If this is your first Nest product, enter your password. If you have other Nest products, the doorbell will try to get it automatically.

    3. Next, the app will test the video quality.

    4. Press the doorbell to check the wireless chime. You should hear it and receive a notification.

    5. Finally, pick a language for visitors to hear from the doorbell.

      You'll be asked to try Nest Aware for free for a limited time. The trial will expire without charging you, so there’s no reason not to try it.

    What You Can Do for Free With Nest Hello Doorbell

    Nest products that record video, such as the Hello doorbell, have two different levels of functionality. You can use the device for free, but with limited capabilities, or you can pay for Nest Aware and give your Nest camera a productivity boost. 

    Nest products with cameras are able to take advantage of all capabilities if you pay monthly or yearly for the Nest Aware service.

    Not everyone will want or need the full capabilities Nest Aware provides. Here are the basic features everyone gets for free:

    • 4 hours of recordings
    • Basic motion detection
    • Sound detection
    • People seen (versus objects moving)

    What You Can Do With a Nest Aware Account

    If you decide to pay for the full feature set, you’ll be able to take your Nest Hello a little bit further with these enhancements:

    • Between 5-30 days of recording history (depending on the plan)
    • Familiar faces to detect people you know
    • Smarter motion detection
    • Ability to set motion activity zones

    Two of the most important features are Familiar faces, which will recognize people you know at your front door, and the feature to save clips of events the doorbell recorded.

    How to Set Up Familiar Faces

    Familiar faces will ask you if you know people that have come to your door. This allows you to get a sense of who is at your door, right from the notification. To turn this on with a Nest Aware subscription, you'll need the Nest app.

    The Nest app will not automatically tell you the name of the person, just that they are familiar and that you’ve indicated you know them. You can dd their name if you'd like.

    1. Launch the Nest app, then tap the gear icon in the top right-hand corner.

    2. Tap Familiar faces, then tap the Familiar face detection toggle to enable it. The toggle should turn blue.

      Familiar face alerts, Familiar face detection toggle ON

    3. The app will now keep a list of people’s faces for you to confirm whether or not you know the person.

    How to Save Video Clips From the Nest App

    A video clip saved from the Nest app on a mobile device can be 2-5 minutes long, while a clip saved on a desktop computer can be up to 60 minutes long.

    Using a mobile device will likely be the most common way to use these two features, but know you can create more detailed and custom clips using the Nest website on a desktop computer, as well as create a time-lapse of an entire day.

    1. Open the Nest Hello camera. With the video feed showing, scrub through the video to where you want the clip to start.

    2. Tap New Clip to create a new video clip.

    3. The app will automatically detect when the activity in the video stops and create a clip of the event recorded.

    4. After creating a clip, you’ll be presented with a shareable link for social networks, as well as a way to save the clip to your photo library.

    Was this page helpful?