Are you looking for a digital door viewer for your armoured door and want to find out more about its features, prices and how to use it?
You have come to the right place.
If you do not know me yet, let me introduce myself: my name is Mauro Semonella, owner of Ariete Security Doors and an expert in security doors and locks, and in this article I will tell you about one of the best-selling accessories of recent years: the digital door viewer.
Together we will discover how it works, how it is fitted, what it costs and, at the end of the article, I will tell you which is, in my opinion, the best digital door viewer of 2022.
Ready? Let’s begin
Digital Door Viewer for Armoured Doors
Sadly, we all have the feeling that our cities and our neighbourhoods have gradually become more and more dangerous and less safe for our own wellbeing and that of our family.
Whether this is actually true or not, I cannot say, but it is certainly the feeling most people have, and to feel calmer and more reassured it makes sense to think about ways to keep a better eye on what happens on our property.
To protect ourselves from the petty crime we perceive as growing, and to keep safe in particular our elderly relatives who live alone and our children, fortunately there are now plenty of solutions that new technologies can offer us.
Here I will tell you about an innovation that lets you monitor and protect your private spaces both when you are at home and during the times when you have to leave it empty: the digital door viewer (also commonly called an electronic peephole).
Let’s start straight away by listing what are, in my opinion, the best door viewers of the past year.
Best digital door viewer 2022
Here is the list of what are, in my opinion, the best electronic peepholes for armoured doors of the past year.
What you see is not a ranking, but a list of products selected by taking into account a few key factors such as: reliability, value for money and customer support.
Brinno
Brinno door viewers are usually black, simple, understated and functional.
Brinno is often praised for the option it offers of pairing the device with an automatic motion sensor.
The sensor is fitted on the outside of the armoured door and gives you all the benefits I mentioned earlier.
This company’s devices also allow the recording of the captured images, with all the advantages that come with it.
The products are powered by ordinary AA batteries that you can find practically anywhere.
Brinno too offers models at different levels, so you can make a focused choice based on your needs and your budget.
Yale
Yale door viewers are probably among the best-selling models in the category
They are products that are easy to use and look good, with a simple, elegant design and a black finish.
Here too the company offers several options; you can buy the following versions:
- Basic;
- With more memory;
- Electronic door viewer that records;
- Digital door viewer with automatic recording.
They are very simple devices to fit and the image they produce is very clear and sharp.
Vitel
A very solid model is the VITEL E0551: it is a wi-fi door viewer with a touch display that makes it easy and intuitive to use.
The device lets you set up the view remotely too by downloading a very simple free app onto your smartphone or tablet.
There is also the option to connect in real time to see what is happening outside the house and, if needed, there is a loudspeaker function that lets you talk to whoever is at your door.
Vitel E0378-40, on the other hand, offers a larger display, ideal for anyone who likes very clear, well-defined images and for people with impaired sight.
Ezviz DP2C
I have saved for last the product that, in my view, deserves the most space because, in my opinion, it is probably the best door viewer on the market right now.
Ezviz, with this model, offers a complete product with a sizeable 4.3-inch touchscreen.
The viewing angle is fairly wide and the video is reproduced in HD.
This electronic viewer also allows night vision and, with automatic day-to-night switching, lets you always receive clear, well-visible images up to a depth of 3 metres.
It is a wi-fi digital door viewer with a motion sensor that detects any movement near the entrance, and you will also be able to talk to the person standing in front of your door whether you are at home or remotely straight from your smartphone.
The model has two charging options: via an external battery charger or with mains power.
The lithium battery is genuinely remarkable, however, as it lasts up to 2 months with low power consumption.
If you decide to buy this product, you will receive a kit with everything you need.
The price is not exactly trivial (it is around €200) but I think it is worth it if you weigh up all the technical features this model has.
What is a digital door viewer for an armoured door?
Electronic door viewers, which are used in particular for armoured doors, are really very similar to the traditional ones you know and have certainly always seen and used.
From outside your home, in most cases, it is very hard to spot the tiny differences and tell a digital door viewer for armoured doors apart from a traditional one.
These new devices are also often designed to fit your door perfectly just as it is.
Once you have removed the old door viewer, in fact, you can simply use the same hole to fit your new electronic door viewer, with no need for awkward adjustments and without having to buy a new door.
Inside your home you will have, instead, a monitor from which you can watch what is happening on your landing or outside your home.
The view of what is happening is certainly clearer and sharper than what you could make out through the classic peephole you used to rely on.
In many models, what is more, there is also the option to select different zoom levels and to have a particularly wide wide-angle view and, as I will explain later, sometimes you can also have night vision or record what happens around the property.
Electronic peephole: how does it work?
On the market, as you will see, there are truly a great many models, and quite different from one another, but I will now try to summarise briefly the main features of this device and help you understand how a digital door viewer works in essence.
The device I am telling you about can be defined first of all as an electronic appliance, usually powered by batteries, which, once fitted, gives you a very sharp view of the people who turn up at your door.
Often the digital door viewer comes with a sensor on the outer part and, as I mentioned, a screen on the part inside the house.
To activate your door viewer it is usually enough to press a button (normally placed next to the display) so that the image appears on your screen.
Furthermore, thanks to this device, should you feel the urge to check what is happening outside your door, because there are voices or noises that make you suspicious, by pressing a single button you can satisfy that need, without having to go out to check the situation and so risk unpleasant encounters.
More specifically, then:
There are digital door viewers for armoured doors fitted with recording capability: this feature means these devices can store in their memory everything that happens in front of the home’s door.
Among these, some models also let you take photographs, so that you can find out the face of whoever turns up at your door, or near it, even at a later time.
This way nothing will get past you any more and you can have complete control of your home at any hour, whether you happen to be at home or not.
Devices fitted with an internet connection also obviously let you see who is there and what is happening in front of the door or near where you live when you are not at home. But in this case the special advantage is that you can see all of this in real time.
Finally, as a last example, I want you to know that you can also buy door viewers fitted with a motion sensor; in this case the way it works is different: the device activates on its own the moment it detects any movement outside the door and sends you a notification with a photo (or video) of your visitor.
In a moment I will explain in detail all the existing types of door viewer, but for now I would like to focus for a moment on its benefits.
The benefits of having a digital door viewer
I have, in fact, already set out some of the benefits this device can offer you: the clearer and wider view and, for some models, also the option to record, take photos, connect remotely and use a motion sensor.
On top of all this, a huge advantage of this device is the fact that it can also be used easily by children and by people who use a wheelchair, since there is no longer any need to bring your eye up to the level of the peephole; it is enough simply to look at the screen.
If you choose a device with remote connection linked to an app (usually free and easy to download), you will also be able to watch what is happening straight from your smartphone or tablet.
How to fit an electronic door viewer?
OK, but I am neither an armoured-door expert nor an electrician; can I fit it myself or do I need a technician? – you will be wondering.
Well, you should know that fitting these items is extremely easy and quick.
They are usually battery-powered devices, so no electrical wiring will be needed, which would make the job far more complicated.
This is an instructional video in which you can see how to fit the digital door viewer Ezviz DP1 (which I will talk about shortly).
First of all, if you already own a traditional door viewer and you prefer to use the same hole, you will simply need to:
- Remove the classic door viewer, unscrewing it with the right tool from the inside while holding it in place from the outer side of the door.
- Assess whether the space you have is sufficient or whether you need to widen the hole with a drill (in 90% of cases the digital door viewer fits perfectly into the same hole).
- Insert the new door viewer from the outer side, carefully feeding the camera cable from the outside towards the inside.
- Once the cable has been passed through, you will need to fit the adhesive bracket, insert the fixing cylinder by screwing it in, and connect the display, always from the inner side, of course.
You will then check, from the display, that the camera of the armoured-door viewer is perfectly straight and stable and that the whole assembly is working.
These are obviously general guidelines, but for each model you decide to buy there are very clear and detailed instructions that make it impossible to go wrong!
After all, it is not really that much more complicated than fitting a normal, old-style door viewer.
That said, should you find the task difficult or tedious, you can always contact a technician who will easily do the job for you in a few minutes, and in no time at all you will have your new digital door viewer fitted and ready to use.
Types of electronic door viewer with a monitor
As I mentioned, the market today offers you a very wide range of products of this kind, since the technical features you might want in a device of this type are many and very different from one another.
These technical features, clearly, also affect the price the device ends up having.
For this reason it is wise to weigh things up carefully by paying attention to several factors, and this article, in fact, has precisely the aim of making clear what alternatives are available to you and how best to find your way in this sea of possibilities.
One of the main differences you will notice straight away between the various door viewers is without doubt the screen resolution and the size of the screen itself, and therefore of the image as well.
A large screen with high resolution certainly allows a clearer view of the outside, which is essential above all for the elderly and for people with impaired sight.
To this same end, however, there are also models that allow you to zoom in on the image.
But let’s go through all the existing types of electronic door viewer together.
Wi-fi door viewer
Models with an interesting feature are certainly those that can connect to the wi-fi network.
These door viewers offer the convenience of being controlled remotely through one or more personal devices such as a tablet or a smartphone.
What is more, and in addition to what has already been mentioned, the wi-fi door viewer gives you the chance not only to connect live, watching and listening to what is happening outside your home, but it even lets you speak through a loudspeaker fitted specifically into the door viewer itself.
This way you will gain full awareness of what is happening near your property and the ability also to communicate with anyone who turns up at your door, whether they are welcome or not.
You might, for example, need to scare off a burglar approaching your home, perhaps by warning them that the police are on their way, or, much more simply, you might want to tell the courier where to leave the parcel they have to deliver to you.
The fact of being able to carry out all these actions remotely, when you are at work or on holiday, is certainly revolutionary and astonishing.
The videos that are recorded can often also be saved on your smartphone or tablet and can be watched back by you later or shown to whoever you wish at any time, whenever the need arises.
Thanks to wi-fi digital door viewers with a motion sensor you can, therefore, not only become aware of any suspicious person entering your property and speak to them, but you will also be able to provide the police with photos and footage identifying intruders should a break-in occur.
Wide-angle digital door viewer
I have already said how digital door viewers let you have a noticeably better quality view of what is happening beyond your door.
However, very important in this regard is the viewing angle you manage to obtain.
As with traditional door viewers, digital ones too can have different angles depending on the lens used.
We can say that a good-quality door viewer can offer a wide angle from 120 to 200 degrees, which certainly lets you observe every corner of the landing, giving intruders no chance to hide in concealed spots.
This too, therefore, can be an interesting feature to bear in mind at the time of purchase.
Digital door viewer with a motion sensor
The second-to-last feature I could not fail to look at more closely is the presence of a motion sensor inside the door viewer.
What is it?
Such a sensor is able to automatically detect the presence of a body in the area covered by the door viewer’s field and alerts the device owner in real time when a person turns up at the front door, if it is specifically linked to the app installed on the smartphone or tablet.
Clearly, it depends on the model chosen and the amount spent, but usually digital door viewers with this option built in are fairly accurate and if the person is close enough to the device’s camera they always detect them.
This is certainly an extra benefit that I would take very much into account when choosing the product, since, especially when combined with remote connection and the presence of a loudspeaker, it can really prove extremely useful above all when you are not at home.
Infrared digital door viewer
Finally, I would also advise you not to underestimate the importance of the presence of an infrared camera.
This type of camera lets you, in fact, have excellent night vision of what is happening outside your door.
It is certainly an optional extra worth considering, above all for those people who are buying a door viewer mainly for security reasons and who fear intrusions.
Often, in fact, it is precisely at night that attempts at theft or forced entry take place, and it would be foolish to deprive yourself of a clear view of what is happening at this very time of day.
Even if you do not have a motion sensor, this type of camera will still be useful to you should you hear suspicious noises and want to check what is happening outside your home.
This way you would avoid the classic scene of the poor resident who has to go out of the house with a torch to see whether someone has come up their drive.
Of course, if your garden or your landing has enough lighting, perhaps this feature will not be essential for you, but you should weigh up your options carefully and not risk depriving yourself of a sharp view at all hours of the day.
Frequently asked questions
As I said when illustrating a few examples of products on the market, there really are models for every budget but if you want a general idea I would say that for a solid product you will spend from €50-60 for a basic device up to over €200 for the most complete products.
After all, a good motion sensor or the presence of a loudspeaker, a wide angle or high-definition imaging come at a certain cost that we cannot ignore.
As with everything, I advise you to carry out a careful value-for-money analysis and to choose the product that best suits you and your home.
Yes, fitting a digital door viewer is permitted under Italian law, even when it is connected to a monitor or to your smartphone.
It was in fact established by ruling no. 34151/2017 of the Italian Court of Cassation that “The stairs of a block of flats and the landings of communal stairways do not serve the function of allowing private life to be conducted away from prying eyes, because they are, in reality, intended for use by an indeterminate number of people, and consequently the criminal-law protection set out in art. 615 bis of the Italian Criminal Code does not extend to any images captured there”.
A home’s landing is not to be regarded as a “zone at risk” under art. 615-bis of the Italian Criminal Code (the offence of unlawful interference with private life) and it is therefore permitted to fit an electronic door viewer.
For more information, read the dedicated article.
In my opinion, the best electronic door viewer for an armoured door is the Ezviz DP2C, because it has excellent night vision and a very reliable motion sensor.
You can find it on Amazon at a price of around €170-200 depending on the offers.
Conclusions
To conclude, I would like to stress that you should never be frightened by new technologies, but, in my view, you should always approach them positively and let the new benefits and conveniences they bring to our daily lives amaze us and make us realise how pointless it would have been to give up on innovation.
I do not know whether you have already heard it told, but when the fridge was invented many grandmothers of the day thought it was useless, a waste, one more bulky appliance they could, all things considered, have done without.
Well, let’s be honest, could you live without a fridge today?
Truly, a digital door viewer can seriously change your daily life a great deal: not to repeat myself, but, depending on the model you choose, you will be able to see much more clearly who is knocking at your door, you will be able to spot them straight away and automatically, and you will have the chance to talk to that person without opening the door and to keep an eye on what they are doing even when you are on holiday goodness knows where!
Not to mention the video and image recording function and the possibility of letting the device be used comfortably even by people of short stature or unable to stand up.
The arguments in favour are therefore many and in this article I believe I have given you an initial overview of some of the best models on the market today; now it is up to you to make your choice and buy the digital door viewer that best suits your needs.
As it is an electronic device, it is worth keeping an eye on household consumption. You should never underestimate the choice of the right supplier for your utilities; you simply need to contact the customer service of the various suppliers and request a free quote for connection or transfer.
If you need advice, leave a comment below. If, instead, you are looking for more information about armoured doors, come and visit us at one of our showrooms.
Warm regards,
Mauro
One Response
Come prodotto è ottimo