August adds a smart doorbell to its growing product roster

It's a busy day for startup August, maker of the $250 Bluetooth-enabled August Smart Lock and $50 Wi-Fi-enabled Connect accessory .

First, the team, along with design giant Yves Behar, introduced a second-gen lock that's compatible with HomeKit for $230 (while bumping the price of the original model down to 200 bucks while supplies last) and an $80 keypad accessory for folks who either don't have a smartphone or simply prefer phone-free access to their front doors. And if that weren't enough, they also unveiled an entirely new device, a $200 (roughly £130 and AU$275 at the current exchange rate) Wi-Fi video doorbell, dubbed the August Doorbell Cam. It's available for preorder now at August, BestBuy and Amazon and expected to ship within the next 2 months. (The doorbell is US-only for now, but August says international availability is "certainly coming in the future.")

August isn't the first brand to add a smart doorbell to its repertoire, though -- we've reviewed a variety of options so far, including the now-defunct DoorBot , its Ring successor, SkyBell 2.0 -- and have Doorbird , a more recent industry entrant, in our current review queue.

While these models differ in terms of particulars like video resolution and design, all of them share the same basic functionality -- they come with built-in cameras that let you view who's at your front door from your phone.

Enlarge Image

Now, all of the models have achieved that with varying degrees of success. The standard-definition DoorBot had serious issues with lag time and overall video quality; Ring is more polished, but its 720p HD video might not perform all that well if your Internet has trouble reaching your front door; and SkyBell allows for live streaming and some other advanced features, but absolutely has to be hardwired to work properly -- a drawback for anyone without a current wired setup who either doesn't want or can't have a wired doorbell (as in some apartment and condo complexes).

Like SkyBell, August's Doorbell Cam has to be hardwired, but its square design probably won't fit on a lot of doorframes, where many existing wiring setups are located. As for the specs and features, it's an HD cam with live-streaming capabilities, motion sensors, two-way talk, a 140-degree field of view and an upcoming subscription service for cloud-based video-clip storage. (August hasn't released price tiers for this yet, but says it should be competitive with what's already on the market.)

The Doorbell Cam is also equipped with an MFi chip, just in case Apple decides to extend its HomeKit and related Siri voice-control capabilities to security cameras, but HomeKit-compatibility is not live at launch. You should also be able to access all of August's devices, including the new doorbell, from the existing Android and iOS apps so you can answer and unlock your front door all in one place, similar to Nest's app functionality .

The August team says that its new preorderable products -- the $200 Doorbell Cam, the $230 HomeKit-enabled Smart Lock and the $79 Smart Keypad -- are expected to ship within the next four to eight weeks. We've also asked for review units, so check back soon for our hands-on impressions.