I can relate to that feeling, too. I don’t know how many times I’ve thought, “Why aren’t you guys improving the firmware for this thing that I already have instead of rolling out so many new products?” The perfectionist in me wants to make the thing that I’ve already spent time working on better rather than shifting my focus to something else, but I realize not everyone operates that way.
I agree, which is why it’s disappointing that their FAQ touts the ability to use existing smart speakers as additional chimes, but this doesn’t seem to be the case out of the box (and it isn’t the first time Wyze has promoted a feature for a product on their Web site when that product didn’t actually have said feature). That’s not cool.
I hope you can find something that works well for you. For me, this thing came out when I happened to be looking, and the fact that it was advertised to work with a home’s existing doorbell chime (and that part actually does work for me) was what tipped the scales, even though I was hesitant because it’s such a new product.
Since you mentioned the possibility of selecting a different doorbell, I’ll mention my only other experience with these things so far: About a month and a half ago I installed a wired Arlo doorbell (which, incidentally, also triggers the existing doorbell chime) for my sister and brother-in-law because that’s what my brother-in-law bought. I’m a member of their Google Home household because I visit and house- and pet-sit and install and configure things for them sometimes (like the smart switches for their outside lights while I was doing the doorbell). Back at my own home, I can sometimes pull up their doorbell live feed on my Google TV even though they’re in another state, but lately (including today), I haven’t been able to get that live feed even in the Google Home app; it just says “Connecting” (which sounds like your experience with the Wyze doorbell). I know that the device is working, though, because my sister sent me a clip today after the doorbell captured a cat walking up her sidewalk and then sent her an alert that it had detected an animal. I don’t have the Arlo app because I don’t need that kind of access, so I don’t know if that needs any fiddling in order to get the feed working again in Google Home, but my brother-in-law can troubleshoot that if it becomes important to him. Still, that seems similar to your experience with the Wyze device, so that’s why I mention it.
One other note about the Arlo: It’s got a built-in battery which allows it to send a “tamper” notification and video if someone uses the provided tool (or a paperclip) to pop it out of its mount and disconnects the wires, but that same battery means there’s a waiting game when you reconnect it to power. Their documentation says that you should give it 15 minutes for the battery to drain power before it will power up from the wires and reconnect to Wi-Fi. That was a minor frustration for me because the wedge mount they include didn’t give me enough of an angle for the view/coverage I wanted, so I fabricated something else, which meant that I disconnected and reconnected the thing several times over the course of a couple of days…and had to w…a…i…t for the battery/power to reset each time before it would get back on the Wi-Fi.
That’s just my experience with that device. I don’t know if any issues like that would affect your decision, but I wanted to put it out there in case you’re shopping. Now I’ll wrap this up because I’ve gone way off topic.