These doorbells serve two purposes: recording footage of people who approach your front door, and alerting you when someone rings your doorbell. Smart doorbells can be very useful if you want to increase your home’s security, but it can also be tough to sift through video doorbells on the market. Also: The best security systems To make your decision easier, we’ve analyzed the top video doorbells in 2022. Here are the models that hold our attention over competitors: The field-of-view covers 150 x 150 degrees, so the camera’s square aspect ratio can covers large porches and reveal anyone attempting to hide in a corner. The Video Doorbell Pro 2 was the first Ring device to feature 3D Motion Detection, which reduces false alerts. When combined with Birds Eye View, you’ll get a map that shows the exact path someone took when approaching your front door. It’s important to note that this camera is wired and requires a Ring Protect subscription ($30 per year) to unlock most of the device’s features. Google recently updated its entire Nest home security lineup, including a new Nest Doorbell. The battery-powered doorbell can function wirelessly or connect directly to existing wiring to trigger your home’s chime. Instead of charging customers for object detection, Nest now includes free person, animal, package and vehicle detection. The downside? You only get three hours of video history for free. If you want to get familiar face detection and alerts, along with extended video history, you’ll need to spring for a Nest Aware or Nest Aware Plus plan, which cost $6 and $12 a month, respectively. Nest Aware offers 30 days of video history, while Aware Plus offers 60 days of history and 24/7 video history for 10 days at a time. Arlo’s Essential Wired Video Doorbell is a more affordable option at $150. The design looks like Nest’s new doorbell, but with an interactive light-up ring around the doorbell button. It stays turned off when no one is present, but as someone approaches your door, it lights up to let the person know where to press. You’ll get full head-to-toe coverage thanks to a wide-angle camera that can even see in a dark environment. You’ll need to have an existing wired doorbell for this particular model, but that means it’ll play nicely with your chime for alerts both in your home and on your phone. You’ll need to subscribe to Arlo Secure if you want to take advantage of object detection, set activity zones and view video history. Plans start at $2.99 a month for a single camera, or $9.99 a month for unlimited cameras. If you’ve decided to invest in Apple’s HomeKit platform, your options for a video doorbell are limited. However, the Logitech Circle View doorbell camera is an excellent pick. It has a 3:4 aspect ratio that offers plenty of visibility for your front porch. Plus, it works in conjunction with face ID technology, using your Apple Photos library to identify visitors. It’s one of the only doorbells that integrates with Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video platform to store video in your iCloud account. That means there’s no need to transmit your clips through a third-party, and you’re the only person with access to the clips. You’ll need to pay for an iCloud storage plan, which starts at $0.99 per month for a single camera. Luckily, doorbell footage doesn’t count towards your storage limit, which is a nice bonus. I used the Eufy Security Wi-Fi Video Doorbell for my home, and I love it. It comes in both wired and wireless, but I prefer the wireless option. You can program notifications to inform you when someone moves in front of your door, and it automatically records video footage for you to review. The AI intelligently detects body shape and face pattern, so you will see everyone that passes by your door. The best part? There are no hidden costs with this router – what you see reflected in the price is what you pay. And as long as you plug it in, you’ll get localized storage in your home. Setup is incredibly easy and takes less than 15 minutes to get working. In addition to great security measures, it features 2K playback quality and offers different ringtones and chimes, so you automatically know who is at your door. It also integrated seamlessly into my Alexa smart home system when I installed it. Resolution and field of view: You should strive to get a video doorbell camera with enough resolution for your needs. Video doorbell camera resolution can range from 480p to 1080p (or even 4K resolution). While 4K resolution is not necessary for most people, 1080p provides a crisp, clear picture if you don’t mind spending a little extra cash on your doorbell camera. In addition, detail and color will be more vibrant, and individuals will be easier to recognize with better video resolution. Motion detection: You should consider motion detection for your doorbell camera. Many doorbell cameras have motion sensors built-in by default, so they will alert you if someone is approaching or leaving your door. Motion detection features are useful if you want to monitor who comes to your home and when. Taking motion detection one step further, most modern video doorbells can now tell the difference between a person, vehicle, animal or package. You can adjust settings to receive alerts when items you care about are detected. For example, you may not want to know every single time a car drives by your house, but you do want to know when FedEx has left a package at your front door. Night vision: Similarly, night vision functionality adds practical value to your video doorbell. Night vision cameras transmit and/or record video in black and white, which allows you to clearly see who approaches your door when there isn’t enough ambient light for color. This can provide better security – for example, it may help you identify someone who attempts to break in while you are away on vacation. Newer cameras are now transmitting color video in low light environments, too. Power source: Doorbell cameras are typically powered through one of two methods: hardwiring into existing wires with your regular doorbell, or battery packs. Battery-powered options are better if you don’t have a traditional doorbell installed in your home already. By contrast, hardwiring is more convenient and secure if you do have a traditional doorbell. Smart home integration and cloud storage: Consider whether you want your video doorbell to connect to your smart home network, especially if you want to control it through voice commands. Smart home network integration is also excellent if you want to store video recordings in the cloud or on other non-SD card storage devices. Through smart home integration, you’ll gain greater control over your video doorbell, including extra features, like permissions and face recognition. Cloud storage is also important to consider. Most doorbell video cameras have optional cloud storage subscription services. These require a monthly or annual fee, but remove the need to replace microSD cards. Features: Before buying a video doorbell, investigate all the advertised features that it provides, such as two-way audio, which allows you to talk to whoever is on the other side of your door. You should also consider facial recognition technology. Most video doorbell owners want to set recognition zones, which can prevent false alarms when leaves blow by. That said, most video doorbell makers offer a bundle that covers the cost of a professional electrician to install your doorbell for you. With local storage, your doorbell camera will only record and store a set amount of footage using its own internal storage. Cloud-based storage is more advanced and theoretically allows for endless recording. This method only works with doorbell cameras that can connect to a smart home or Wi-Fi network. But keep in mind that cloud-based storage doorbell video cameras usually incur a monthly fee to pay for the storage space. We also specifically looked for doorbells that are manageable to install, even if you don’t have a lot of handyman skills. With luck, one of the above video doorbell choices will be a perfect fit for your home.
