Nest just announced two new things: a home security system and a video doorbell. Both are very interesting to me.

I'll first compare the Nest video doorbell to the Ring video doorbell that I've already got on my house. In short, the Nest is a direct feature-for-feature copy of the Ring, leading to the question of which is cheaper and which is better. My first-generation Ring seized up last week making my ringer buzz. They ultimately shipped me a new one, free of charge, after diagnosing that a firmware update they sent me screwed it up. (Wow.) The only thing that I'll give Ring over Nest's doorbell is that the Ring comes in a variety of different finishes, which makes it look better.

If the Nest video doorbell is cheap enough, particularly in the cost for storing all that video in the cloud, then I might be interested. I hope it can do the same hack as the Ring in charging itself from the 20V doorbell wiring that I've already got. On the flip side, if it's another $200 for the gear and it's a similar monthly charge, then why change from the Ring? It works and their customer service demonstrably took care of me when I needed it. Conversely, my first-gen Nest thermostat has a big red line going down the display. Can they fix/replace it for me? Sorry, out of warranty, but here's a discount coupon for a new one. No thanks.

Now, the Nest security system is a very different animal. It's very similar to the ScoutAlarm system, so I'll compare it to that. Both have the idea that the sensors stick to your doors with two-sided tape and are powered by internal batteries. Both use a keyfob rather than making you remember a PIN. ScoutAlarm puts the keyfob sensors directly in the door-mounted boxes, while Nest requires you to have a separate keypad, which seems to need to sit on a table. No wall-mounting option. On the flip side, if you want motion sensors, that's a separate add-on product for a ScoutAlarm system, whereas the Nest door-opening sensors also have motion sensors built-in. That's attractive.

Since I've already got Nest thermostats and Nest fire alarms, there's the possibility of additional benefits by going with a grand-unified Nest system, since each fire alarm has a motion sensor built in, meaning I would instantly have a whole network of motion sensors. The idea that Nest cameras can integrate with Nest's alarm system is also kinda neat, since you can potentially collect recordings from all these devices at the time of an alarm event. Seems convenient.

Once again, the question is cost, both up front and monthly. Also, a perennial complaint about the ScoutAlarm system is that it burns through batteries. You're constantly replacing them, although they send them to you in the mail, gratis. If Nest had virtually identical look and feel to ScoutAlarm only with better battery life, that would be a big deal.