Tapo D205 vs D210 is an easy call for most doors: get the D210 for color night vision and a chime in the box, or the smaller D205 if phone alerts are enough. Both save clips to a microSD card you buy separately or to Tapo’s paid cloud storage, called Tapo Care, and both need 2.4GHz Wi-Fi at the door.
| Doorbell | Indoor chime | View (side to side, top to bottom) | Night vision | Also needs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tapo D205 2K Wireless Video Doorbell | No chime in the box | 145°, 83° | Black-and-white infrared | A microSD card or a Tapo Care plan, plus an Echo, a Google speaker or a Tapo Hub (H100, H200 or H500) to ring indoors |
| Tapo D210 2K Wireless Video Doorbell | Tapo chime included | 135°, 109° | Full color, lit by built-in spotlights | A microSD card or a Tapo Care plan |
Tapo D205 vs D210 for your door
Five questions about your home and entryway decide which of the two to get. Go down the list and stop at the first yes. That line names your pick.
- Do you want an indoor chime but own no Echo, Google speaker or Tapo Hub? Get the D210 for the chime in its box.
- Do packages land on the mat right below the doorbell? Get the D210 for its taller view.
- Is your porch unlit at night? Get the D210, whose spotlights give color video after dark.
- Does rain hit the door straight on, with no porch roof? Get the D210, since it has the higher weather rating.
- Is the trim beside the door narrow, or is your porch wide? Get the D205, which is smaller and takes in more from side to side.
How do you hear the doorbell inside?
With the D210, the included chime rings indoors. The D205 has no chime, but it can ring an Echo, a Google speaker or a compatible Tapo Hub instead. Either way, a press of the button also reaches your phone as a call in the Tapo app.
The D210 can’t connect to chimes from other brands. Tapo says its chime rings even when the app shows the doorbell as offline, as long as the doorbell is on Wi-Fi.
The Tapo D205 pairs with the Tapo H100, H200 and H500 hubs. Tapo’s chime setup guide says a hub can work as a chime on its latest firmware, so update the hub before pairing. For an Echo, link the Tapo service in the Alexa app, find the doorbell and turn on Doorbell Press Notifications.
How the Tapo D205 and D210 frame your doorstep
Both cameras record 2K video (2304 × 1296) at 15 frames per second, with 10x digital zoom and a 160° view measured corner to corner. They split that view differently, though. The D205 covers 145° side to side and 83° top to bottom. The Tapo D210 gives up 10° of width to cover 109° top to bottom.
So the D210’s view is 26° taller, almost a third more than the D205’s 83°. If you mostly watch for boxes on the step or visitors standing close, choose the D210. If people reach your door from the side across a wide porch, the D205’s extra width helps more.
Tapo D205 vs D210 after dark
At night the D205 records black-and-white infrared video, lit by two LEDs that reach 25 feet. The D210 has infrared too, but its built-in spotlights let it show the scene in full color. Tapo’s D210 FAQ says the spotlights turn on automatically in low light.
On an unlit porch, color helps because it lets you tell a red jacket from a blue one when you play a clip back.
What both doorbells do in the Tapo app
Without a subscription, both alert you when they spot a person. Activity zones you draw in the app keep those alerts to the part of the scene you care about. When someone’s at the door, you can talk through two-way audio with noise cancellation or send a quick reply you’ve set up in advance.
Clips save to a microSD card of up to 512GB or to Tapo Care, Tapo’s cloud subscription, which keeps 30 days of history. An alert with a snapshot in it also needs a Tapo Care plan. Both doorbells work with Alexa and Google smart displays such as an Echo Show or a Nest Hub. To compare storage on the D205, the D210 and five other doorbells, read about choosing a video doorbell without a subscription.
Which doorbell is better for a door exposed to the weather?
The D210 is. It carries an IP65 weather rating, against the D205’s IP54. Both are rated to work from -4°F to 113°F, so neither has an edge in cold or hot weather.
Is the Tapo D210’s battery bigger than the D205’s?
On version 1, yes. Hardware version 1 of the D210 has a 6,400mAh battery, against the D205’s 5,200mAh, but TP-Link gives a different figure for version 2. The D210’s US product page now shows version 2, and its listed battery size doesn’t match the 6,400mAh in Tapo’s D210 FAQ. On Amazon, the D210’s listing says 6,400mAh without naming a version.
Tapo rates the D205 and both D210 versions at up to 180 days per charge. Each of those figures assumes five minutes of recording and live view a day. That adds up to 15 hours over the 180 days. The rating is the same for all three, so don’t choose the D210 expecting longer battery life. Tapo also notes that real battery life varies with settings and use.
D210 version 1 has two motion sensors and a light sensor. Version 2 has one motion sensor. TP-Link’s version guide says a Tapo device shows its hardware version in the Tapo app when you tap the gear icon and then the device model.
Charging, mounting and size
The D205 can charge while still mounted, from a power bank plugged into the USB-C port on the bottom. Taken down, it fully recharges in 6 hours with the included USB-C cable. TP-Link’s D210 pages give no charging time. The D210 FAQ says to charge the doorbell with a 5.0V 1.0A adapter. It adds that the doorbell can also charge from Tapo’s A201 solar panel accessory.
Both stick on with 3M adhesive or screw to the wall. Each comes with a wedge that tilts the camera toward the area you want to watch. The D205 is smaller in every dimension: 5.51 × 1.81 × 1.19 inches, against 5.91 × 1.97 × 1.52 inches for the D210.
Skip both if you want a doorbell that runs off your existing wiring, because TP-Link lists no wired power option for either one. If that’s you, start with our wired vs battery video doorbell comparison.
Tapo D205 vs D210 questions
Can the Tapo D210 ring chimes in more than one room?
Yes. One Tapo D210 can pair with several Tapo chimes, or Tapo Hubs on their latest firmware, so you can hear it on every floor. Two or more D210s can share one chime too, as long as it’s within range of each doorbell. Add each chime or hub under Paired Chimes in the Tapo app.
Does the Tapo D210 record around the clock?
No. The Tapo D210 runs on its battery, and TP-Link says it doesn’t support 24/7 recording. It saves clips to a microSD card or to Tapo Care when an event sets it off. Nonstop recording calls for a Tapo camera that supports it.
What internet speed does the Tapo D210 need?
The Tapo D210 needs an upload speed of at least 3 Mbps on your 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, according to TP-Link. With a Tapo Care plan, the minimum rises to 5 Mbps. Test the speed at the front door, where the doorbell connects, rather than next to the router.
Can you mount the Tapo D210 sideways?
No. TP-Link advises against mounting the Tapo D210 horizontally, and its FAQ says doing so will affect the doorbell’s detection. If the doorbell can’t point straight at the area you want to watch, aim it with the included wedge rather than turning it on its side.