Review: Marmitek Buzz LO video doorbell and wireless Bell ME chime

In this review we will know everything about Marmitek Buzz LO video doorbell and wireless Bell ME chime. So lets get started with the Buzz LO. The Buzz LO is Marmitek’s new video doorbell. We also look at the Bell ME wireless chime.

A few weeks ago you could get acquainted with the Smart Me range from Marmitek in our extensive review . However, the company has even more smart products in its range that work via the Tuya platform . We started working with the Marmitek Buzz LO and the Bell ME WHT, a smart video doorbell and a wireless chime, respectively. The video doorbell has a suggested retail price of 99.99 euros. The wireless gong will cost you 19.99 euros.

Marmitek Buzz LO : What is it?

The Marmitek Buzz LO is a doorbell with camera and motion detector. Images are recorded in a 1080p resolution at an angle of 145 degrees and the video doorbell also has a built-in speaker and microphone for two-way communication. You receive notifications on your smartphone via the Smart Me app and can therefore communicate directly with your visitors. The Buzz LO also has night vision and you can save images locally on an SD card (not included) or via the cloud (subscription required). According to Marmitek, the video doorbell works on the connection of your existing doorbell and you do not need a gateway or software. Strange, because I think the Smart Me app is really a software application. So you just need the app.

The video doorbell has an ip54 certificate and is dust resistant and splash proof. So you don’t have to worry if it is raining hard outside. The video doorbell continues to work well between -20 and +50 degrees Celsius.

You can simply connect the Marmitek Buzz LO to your existing mechanical gong, but you can also opt for the Bell ME WHT. The Bell ME is a wireless chime that you can easily connect to the Buzz LO video doorbell via the app. You can connect multiple Bell ME gongs to the video doorbell, so that you can hear when someone rings the doorbell throughout the house. It also works the other way around. You can connect multiple video doorbells to one Bell ME chime.

Design of the Marmitek Buzz LO

The Marmitek Buzz LO has a fairly neutral design and consists mostly of matte black plastic. The camera and motion detector have a glossier black front. The dimensions are 115 x 45 x 28 millimeters. This makes this video doorbell smaller and less noticeable compared to many other brands.

The doorbell button itself has a blue light ring and presses well. We sometimes see doorbells passing by where you have no idea whether you have rung or not. At the Marmitek Buzz LO, every visitor will know whether they have printed correctly. The speaker of the video doorbell also emits the sound of a doorbell as soon as your visitor has pressed. That of course also helps.

At the back of the doorbell you will find the space for the SD card at the bottom and also a USB connection. The video doorbell comes with a holder on the back. You first attach this to the wall. You then place the video doorbell itself in this holder, after which you can fasten it with a screw. Would you rather adjust the angle of the camera to the left and right? This is possible with the supplied wall mounting bracket. A wall mounting set with screws is also included, as well as a quick guide and a connection kit for your existing mechanical gong.

Installation

According to Marmitek, you can simply connect the Buzz LO video doorbell to your existing doorbell connection (8-16V 50 Hz). You do not have to run cables, install a transformer or purchase a hub. It turned out not to be that simple in our practice, which may be because we have a pre-production copy with cures. Once connected, the old mechanical gong went off continuously, but luckily Marmitek supplies a connection kit that you can connect to your old gong to prevent this. Once connected nothing happened at all, while I still have a normal doorbell (8V). The red light on the doorbell stayed on continuously, which made it impossible for me to continue. Unfortunately, everything here in the meter cupboard in my rental apartment is hidden in pipes and walls,

A visit to the parents was planned on the weekend, so the doorbell went along. They have a video doorbell themselves, so I know that the cabling is at least okay there. And once hung on the existing doorbell connection, it also worked immediately. Installation is very simple and after entering the WiFi network you will immediately be asked whether you want to use the old mechanical chime or the Bell ME WHT wireless chime. So if your cabling works, this entire installation and setup process will only take a few minutes. However, you can only select your 2.4 GHz band and we miss support for 5 GHz. We saw the latter in the Ring Video Doorbell 3 .

When I got home I made another attempt with an external power supply and a transformer. This time it was no problem and the Buzz LO was quickly installed. It is unclear exactly where the problem lies, but it could be that our pre-production sample had some problems. Incidentally, the Buzz LO also has a USB connection. This allows you to easily plug the video doorbell into the socket with a USB cable and plug. This also gives you full functionalities, but you cannot hang up the Buzz LO. The cable is then in the way. The Buzz LO is of course also not connected to the mechanical gong via this way.

After publication of this review, Marmitek once again guaranteed us that the doorbell must be able to work on your existing connection in every situation. We will receive a new doorbell soon and will update this review as needed.

The Marmitek Smart Me app

You use the Marmitek Smart Me app. This is the same app that you also use for the other Marmitek products. So do you have multiple products from this brand? Then you already know the app. The video doorbell does have its own environment. On the home screen, you will see the live view of the camera at the top. Below that you see six buttons to take a photo, talk to your visitor or record images. The three buttons below let you play back recorded recordings, manage the cloud storage and the last button is for the alarm in combination with the motion detection. In the settings (top right of the app) you can change options for night vision, motion detection on or off and set the sensitivity of the motion detection. Unfortunately, you can set relatively little in terms of motion detection. You cannot exclude areas, specify boundaries or select areas.

In terms of motion detection, the Buzz LO is less well equipped, but fortunately you can automate many things. Do you have one of the Marmitek lamps in the hallway? Then you can set according to an if-then principle that when the doorbell rings, the lamp in the hallway should light up. You can easily make these links via the ‘Scenarios’ button in the Smart Me app. You can have all Marmitek Smart Me products work together in this way. And since Smart Me runs on the Tuya platform, this also opens the doors to products from various other manufacturers. Through automation you can also use geofencing, where you can automate things when you leave your house or when you come home. Another advantage of the app is that you can see multiple streams side by side with the Multi-Camera View function. This way you can view the image of the Buzz LO simultaneously with the image of, for example, the View ME or the View Mo cameras in the Smart Me series. If you buy multiple Buzz LO video doorbells, you can also view multiple live views at the same time (up to four streams simultaneously on iOS and six to eight streams on Android).

What we do miss is support for Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. Both voice assistants were supported on the other Smart Me products. Perhaps this will be added at a later time.

Buzz LO in use

As soon as the doorbell rings (or the motion detection sees a movement), you will receive a notification on your smartphone. If you click on this, you will be taken to the live view and you can see who is at your door and possibly speak to them. The sound can be heard well both on the smartphone and via the Buzz LO video doorbell, so there is little to complain about the sound quality. The same also applies to the image. The 1080p display is excellent, but other video doorbells often have a larger picture angle. The angle in width is fine, but in length we would have liked to see a little more in the image. Do not hang the video doorbell too high, because then you can sometimes miss a child at your door.

There is a problem with the notifications. If you have all options enabled, so motion detection, notification when ringing the bell and taking a photo, you will receive three notifications at the same time. These all appear on top of each other in the same place. If you click on the notification of the photo, you will not be taken to the live view. So you will really have to click on the notification that there is a bell, and that means first read your notifications carefully, dismiss the wrong notification and then click on the bell notification to go to the live view. However, this seems to be easy to fix with an update, so let’s hope Marmitek will take a closer look at this. Once you click on the notification, you will be quickly taken to the live view. In a few seconds you can see who is at the door.

As mentioned, you have few options to adjust the motion detection. You simply choose on or off and can adjust the sensitivity if desired. At a higher sensitivity, the motion detection went off almost continuously, even when no one was around. There was a strong wind, so it could be that the motion detection was triggered by moving branches of a tree at a distance of five meters. If you switch the sensitivity back slightly, it works perfectly. You will sooner receive a notification from the motion detector on your smartphone before the visitor even has the chance to press the doorbell. The aforementioned disadvantage therefore plays a role here. The various notifications (movement and bell) overlap.

I am very positive about the Bell ME gong. This chime does exactly what it is supposed to do. As soon as the doorbell rings, it will immediately play a doorbell sound or music. You can choose from four different sounds, namely two doorbell sounds and two music. The music is nice for a while, but you will soon opt for the normal doorbell sound. In terms of design, it is not the most beautiful wireless chime and the white square device has a large plastic content, but it works very well. The Bell ME chime works on three AA batteries.

Conclusion

The Marmitek Buzz LO is an interesting video doorbell to consider if you are looking for such a device. For 99.99 euros you get a reliable video doorbell that works excellently together with the Bell ME wireless chime. The installation process was a thing. We could not easily connect the doorbell to the existing wiring without a transformer, but according to Marmitek our pre-production unit may have had problems, so the company guarantees that the version in the store must work. In a few weeks we will get the final retail version and update this review if necessary. That said, the overlapping notifications are a bit clumsy, we miss a slightly larger vertical viewing angle and there are few options to further set up motion detection.

Once installed, however, the video doorbell does exactly what it is supposed to do. You will receive a notification when there is movement and when someone rings the bell, the Buzz LO provides excellent image and sound quality. The user is given the choice between local storage and the cloud, so you are not necessarily tied to a monthly subscription. The possibility to create scenarios and have the Buzz LO work together with other Smart Me products is also an interesting possibility. The Buzz LO is a reliable video doorbell, but lacks that little bit extra to be truly distinctive. However, the price of 99.99 euros makes up for a lot.