What you need to know
- Google and Amazon have unveiled their Halloween themes for the Nest and Ring video doorbells.
- The seasonal themes include spooky tones for both buzzers and quick replies for the Ring Video Doorbell.
- Nest Doorbell's ringtones will stick around until November 1, with more seasonal ringtones arriving for Thanksgiving and the Christmas season.
Google Nest and Amazon's Ring have announced new seasonal themes and customizations for some of the best doorbell cameras just in time for Halloween, giving your guests creepy greetings and chimes the next time they knock.
New eerie ringtones such as an evil laugh, skeleton dance, spooky raven, boooo ghost, howling werewolf, and cackling witch are among this year's Halloween-themed features from Nest. These ringtones are available on the Nest Doorbell (wired) and Nest Doorbell (battery) even without a Nest Aware subscription from October 1 to November 1.
You can also see who comes to your door by viewing the doorbell's feed, which is streamed through your Nest display. Simultaneously, your Nest Doorbell will emit a Halloween ringtone through your Nest speakers. If you want to entertain your guests or give trick-or-treaters goosebumps, simply say "Hey Google, let's get spooky" to your Google Nest speaker or display, and it will play a playlist of creepy songs for an hour.
The new ringtones, like the seasonal ringtones Nest has offered in previous years, are set to disappear after Halloween, leaving you with the default tone. Google, on the other hand, promised to release more seasonal ringtones in November for Thanksgiving and in December for the Yuletide season. You can enable the ringtones by going to the Nest Doorbell (battery) settings in the Google Home app or the Nest Doorbell (wired) settings in the Nest app.
Amazon is also rolling out its own style of Halloween fun for Ring Video Doorbell users, including new spooky chime tones, quick replies, and fancy faceplates.
Ring offers a wide range of chimes for the Halloween season, including bats, ghosts, howls, screams, organ tones, a creepy laugh, a screeching cat, and a creaky door. When someone approaches your door, these chime tones begin to play. To learn how to set your Ring chimes, click here.
In addition to these tones, your Ring Doorbell can answer the door for you using one of six pre-recorded responses. For example, you can greet your guests with "Just a minute! Feel free to park your broom" or scare them with "Tell us what brings you here...or we'll put a spell on you!" Click here for instructions on how to set up quick replies.
And you can decorate your Ring doorbell camera throughout Halloween with 16 different faceplate designs that include bats, spiderwebs, and pumpkins. Last year's Halloween faceplates included spooky ghosts, pumpkins, and candy corn.
If you want to get into the Halloween spirit, the new themed faceplates can be had for $15 via the Ring online store. The faceplates are available for the Ring Video Doorbell 3, Video Doorbell 3 Plus, Video Doorbell 4 and Video Doorbell 2.
Ring Video Doorbell Interchangeable Faceplate
Ring's Halloween-themed faceplates and chimes inject some whimsy into a smart home security staple. The most recent design features festive pumpkins, bats, and spiderwebs.
