The Ubiquiti G4 Doorbell is a mixed experience. It integrates seamlessly into UniFi Protect with good picture quality, handles existing doorbell wiring better than the Ring and Skybell it replaced, and—critically—requires no monthly subscription for cloud storage since recordings go to your local Protect storage. But persistent software limitations undermine the hardware. Protect treats it like a camera rather than a dedicated doorbell, so you must stay actively signed into the app to receive notifications—and the app will sign you out. Cold weather kills reliability below freezing, WiFi signal through exterior walls is a constant struggle, and the optional chimes are disappointingly quiet. My advice: treat it as a camera that happens to be mounted at your front door, not as a reliable communication device.

The Good

Protect Integration: The G4 Doorbell ties seamlessly into the UniFi Protect ecosystem alongside other cameras. One interface for all your video feeds, unified recording settings, consistent playback experience. If you’re already running Protect, this is the obvious doorbell choice.

Picture Quality: The video is good. Clear enough to identify visitors and capture package deliveries with useful detail.

Text Display: The small screen on the doorbell can display text messages to visitors. It’s a nice touch for leaving instructions or letting delivery drivers know where to leave packages.

Power Flexibility: The G4 is more accommodating about input power than the Ring or Skybell. Existing doorbell wiring that wouldn’t power the competitors works fine here.

No Subscription: This is the headline feature. If you’re running Protect with recording enabled, there’s no monthly fee to access your doorbell recordings. Ring and others charge ongoing subscriptions for cloud storage. The G4 uses your local Protect storage. Over years of use, this adds up to significant savings.

The Bad

Cold Weather: The doorbell doesn’t work well below freezing. In climates with real winters, this is a serious limitation. Your doorbell becomes non-functional precisely when you’re least likely to want to open the door to check who’s there.

Signal Strength: WiFi signal through exterior walls—brick in my case—is challenging. The doorbell frequently drops its connection and reconnects after a few seconds. You’ll see gaps in recordings and occasionally miss the first moment of motion events, depending on how close your access point is.

Chime Volume: The optional extra chimes are disappointingly quiet even at maximum volume. If you’re counting on hearing the doorbell from another floor or across a large house, you may be waiting for visitors longer than expected. That said, they tie into the wifi network, not directly to the bell, so the range can be extended via access points, and you can have as many as you want.

The Biggest Flaw

The critical issue is in the software. Protect treats the doorbell like a camera rather than a dedicated doorbell device. The practical consequence: you must stay actively signed into the Protect app to receive doorbell notifications on your phone.

This is not a set-it-and-forget-it experience. The app will sign you out. You’ll miss doorbell presses. You’ll need to manually log back in regularly if you want reliable notifications. For a device whose entire purpose is alerting you when someone’s at the door, and potentially allowing you to communicate with them from a remote location, this is a significant failure. If you’re signed out of the Protect app on your phone, you won’t get the notification at all, and signing in takes a multi-step 2FA challenge. The entire process is far too slow to be useful in seeing who is actually at the door before they wander off thinking you’re not answering.

Ring and Skybell, for all their subscription fees and other limitations, handle notification reliability better. You install the app, you get notifications. With the G4, you have to actively maintain your login state.

Compared to the Competition

Despite these flaws, the G4 Doorbell is still an improvement over the Ring and Skybell it replaced. The Protect integration is cleaner, the picture quality is competitive, and the lack of monthly fees is a real advantage. But “better than Ring” is a low bar, and the notification reliability issue is hard to overlook.

Verdict

The G4 Doorbell is a generally functional video doorbell without a monthly subscription fee, and that’s a genuine win. But the cold weather limitations, connectivity issues through exterior walls, and the need to constantly babysit your app login temper the enthusiasm.

If you’re already invested in the UniFi Protect ecosystem and live in a mild climate with good WiFi coverage to your front door, the G4 makes sense. If you need reliable notifications without thinking about app login state, or you experience real winters, the limitations may outweigh the subscription savings.

My advice is to treat this device like a camera, not a doorbell. Don’t rely on it to communicate with people at the door. With the chimes in the right place, you’ll hear if they ring (assuming you’re at home). Look at other options if you need more than that.