Most video doorbells are very good at showing you who stole your package. SimpliSafe would rather stop them before they get that far.

The company has launched the SimpliSafe Video Doorbell Series 2, a $199.99 wired video doorbell that combines a new 2K camera with AI detection and, if you’re willing to pay for SimpliSafe’s higher-end monitoring plans, a live security agent who can step in when something looks wrong.

That last part is what makes the Series 2 interesting.

When connected to SimpliSafe’s Active Guard Outdoor Protection service, the doorbell can detect a potential threat and alert one of the company’s U.S.-based security agents. The agent can view the camera feed, talk through the doorbell and activate its siren. If things get bad, the agent can also request police dispatch while the system records what is happening.

In other words, instead of getting a notification that someone is standing on your porch and deciding what to do yourself, you’re paying SimpliSafe to have someone else watching too.

That’s a significant change from the basic video doorbell model.

A better camera, too

Even without the live monitoring service, SimpliSafe has given the Series 2 some useful hardware upgrades.

The camera now records at 2K resolution and has a wider head-to-toe field of view. That second part should be especially useful for packages since a conventional doorbell camera can give you a great shot of the delivery driver’s face while completely missing the box sitting a few feet below it.

There’s also up to five seconds of pre-event recording, so the camera can save what happened immediately before it detected an event. Enhanced two-way audio handles conversations at the door, and dual-band Wi-Fi adds support for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks.

SimpliSafe has also added what it calls Smart AI. The system can distinguish between people and packages, with vehicle detection promised soon. Activity Zones let you tell the camera which parts of the image matter so you’re not getting alerts every time somebody walks down the sidewalk or a car passes your house.

The hardware itself has been changed as well. There’s a black face surrounded by a white LED ring, with different status lights showing who’s using the camera. Amber means a SimpliSafe monitoring agent is speaking, while blue means it’s the homeowner.

It’s a small detail but a smart one. If a voice suddenly starts coming out of your doorbell, the person standing outside should probably know whether they’re talking to you or a security company.

Security ain’t cheap

The Video Doorbell Series 2 costs $199.99, but getting its most interesting feature costs considerably more.

Active Guard Outdoor Protection is available through SimpliSafe’s Pro plan at $49.99 per month or Pro Plus at $79.99 per month. That’s $600 or nearly $960 a year before considering the cost of the hardware.

You also can’t simply buy the Series 2 and stick it on the door. It requires a SimpliSafe Base Station and Keypad, plus an existing wired doorbell setup with a compatible transformer and mechanical or digital chime.

The doorbell can still be used as part of a SimpliSafe system without professional monitoring, but at that point you’re losing much of what separates it from the growing pile of smart doorbells already on the market.

Still, SimpliSafe is making a good point about where home security cameras are heading. Recording a thief walking away with your package is useful evidence, but it’s not particularly good security.

The Series 2 tries to move the camera from recording an event to actually responding to it.

Whether having a human security agent living somewhere inside your doorbell is worth $50 to $80 a month is another question. When it comes to protecting a $1,000 TV Amazon just delivered, however, that 50 smackers might be worth it.

SteelSeries has been making gaming gear for 25 years, and its latest controller is aimed squarely at players willing to pay for just about every feature you can fit into a gamepad.

The new SteelSeries Aeon Pro is a $259.99 wireless controller for Xbox and PC built around something the company calls its QuickSwitch Dock System. SteelSeries says it is the first system of its kind, but the more useful part may be what sits inside the dock: a second battery.

The Aeon Pro ships with two hot-swappable batteries. Keep one in the controller and the other charging in the dock. When the first battery runs down, swap it for the charged one and keep playing. SteelSeries calls this its Infinite Power System. The name is a little grand, but the idea makes sense. As long as you remember to put the dead battery back in the dock, you shouldn’t have to plug the controller in during a game.

The dock also acts as storage for the Aeon Pro’s interchangeable thumbsticks. Players get standard concave, tall concave, and short convex options, letting them change the feel of the controller without keeping a bag of loose parts around.

SteelSeries went hard on the controls as well. The Aeon Pro uses Hall Effect thumbsticks designed to avoid the stick drift that can develop in traditional analog sticks. Mechanical switches are used throughout the controller for quicker, more tactile button presses, while contoured rear buttons can be remapped for commonly used functions.

There’s even a small OLED screen built into the controller. It lets players switch profiles and change settings without having to jump back into a PC application every time they want to make an adjustment.

For those who do want deeper control, the Aeon Pro works with the SteelSeries GG software on PC. Users can remap controls, adjust triggers, set the strength of the controller’s four rumble motors, change power settings, and set up GG and Sonar integrations.

A wrap-around textured grip rounds out the hardware, and the controller comes in either black or white.

The obvious catch is the price. At $259.99, the Aeon Pro costs considerably more than a standard Xbox controller and sits firmly in premium controller territory. SteelSeries is betting that serious players will pay the difference for hot-swappable batteries, Hall Effect sticks, mechanical controls, an OLED display, and a dock that keeps the whole system together.

At least there’s one problem you probably won’t have to deal with anymore: reaching for a cable in the middle of a boss fight.

The SteelSeries Aeon Pro is available beginning September 8, 2026, for $259.99 in the US, £229.99 in the UK, and €259.99 in Europe.

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