Tapo D225 2K QHD Smart Video Doorbell with Chime

Battery life and recharging

TP-Link rates the 10,000 mAh pack at up to eight months in wire-free use, and that headline assumes a quiet door. TP-Link also states that runtime depends on how often the doorbell triggers, how much you use live view, and the environment, so expect less on a busy street.

Recharging is faster than the multi-month interval suggests. A 2026 owner reported taking the doorbell from 19% to 100% in under four hours over USB-C, which keeps a battery install off the door for one evening rather than half a day. The battery is rechargeable but not documented as a user-replaceable part, so plan on charging it, not swapping it.

Wiring, 24/7 recording and the chime

Hardwired and battery modes are not the same product in practice. TP-Link notes that hardwired mode enables continuous recording, and that in that mode the doorbell does not use an existing mechanical chime the normal way. The chime in the box is how you hear it.

That makes the install the part worth getting right. Owner threads describe hardwired D225 units that drew from the battery anyway, or sat uncharged, until the chime wiring, jumper position or firmware was corrected: see drawing power from the battery while hardwired and hardwired but the battery will not charge. If 24/7 recording is the reason you want this doorbell, verify the transformer, the chime wiring and Always-On mode inside the return period. Owners running it correctly do report hardwired setups working well, so the fix is usually configuration rather than the hardware (a 2026 owner recommendation).

Detection and motion range

Person, pet, vehicle and package detection runs on the device, which is why the alerts work without paying anything. Reports on detection itself are mixed: owners mention motion missed at longer distances, and detection that stops working until the doorbell is rebooted (not detecting motion well, detection stops until a reboot). Nobody has published a failure rate for this, so treat it as a known annoyance to tune around rather than a defect: walk your approach path in the app before you mount it, and keep the detection zones tight.

Is it worth it?

It is worth it when local storage, two ways to power it and subscription-free detection matter more than a small housing. PCWorld rated it highly for value and feature breadth, and HomeCamCafe’s 2026 hands-on found the local-storage and on-device-AI combination compelling. Skip it if your existing mechanical chime has to keep working, or if you will not spend part of the return period confirming that a hardwired install charges and holds Always-On mode.

On running costs, there is little to pay: the microSD card and the doorbell itself are the whole bill, and Tapo Care stays optional. TP-Link’s own store showed $89.99 in October 2026, against $99.99 before that. Check the store panel above for current prices.

Which model this is

The TP-Link Tapo D225 v1, the 2K doorbell sold in the US with a chime in the box, in battery or hardwired form. It is a separate unit from the D130, D235 and D325 variants, which are not covered here.

Sources

Manufacturer:

• Tapo D225 product page (TP-Link US)
• Tapo D225 v1 specifications (TP-Link US)

Independent reviews:

• PCWorld: Tapo D225 review
• HomeCamCafe: Tapo D225 2026 hands-on review

Owner reports:

• Hardwired but drawing power from the battery (r/Tapo)
• Hardwired with a battery that will not charge (r/Tapo)
• 2026 hardwired D225 owner recommendation (r/Tapo)
• Recharging the D225 in under four hours (r/Tapo)
• Doorbell not detecting motion well (r/Tapo)
• Detection stops until the doorbell reboots (r/Tapo)