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With a smart video doorbell, your front door’s communication skills go from 1980s landline to a modern smartphone. Combining a motion-activated camera with a microphone, speaker, and buzzer, a doorbell camera sends alerts to your phone, allowing you to see who’s at the door without needing to open it or even be at home. Whether you’re curled up on the couch, hard at work in your office, or sunning on a beach in the Bahamas, a video doorbell keeps you in touch with what’s happening on your doorstep.
What I’m looking for A nice design Collapse This is on your front door, and it needs to look good and / or blend in. Affordable (or free) video recording Collapse All video doorbells should offer a live feed from the camera, but in order to see visitors you missed a cloud or local storage option for video recordings is important. Some companies offer free local storage, and some have free cloud storage, but most require a monthly fee. Good motion detection and alerts Collapse Fast and accurate motion detection is essential to know when someone is at the door. Smart alerts for people, animal, and vehicles are helpful to cut down on nuisance notification. The option to add custom motion zones helps with this, too. Some doorbells offer package detection, which is an important feature if porch pirates are an issue. Good video quality Collapse At least 1080p HD video with the option of HDR will help you see faces clearer if your doorway is backlit. Color night vision is a bonus, but not that important if you have a porch light. Head-to-toe aspect ratio Collapse If you’re concerned about keeping an eye on packages, a head-to-toe view will let you see the space in front of your door from top to bottom. Other aspect ratios have uses, though. Read my FAQ for more on this. Useful smart home integrations Collapse Compatibility with the major smart home platforms adds features like having lights turn on on your porch when motion is detected or unlocking your front door while viewing a live feed from your doorbell. Doorbells that work with smart displays like an Echo Show or Google Nest and smart TVs like an Apple TV or Fire TV can automatically show a live feed when someone rings the bell, a handy feature. An indoor chime Collapse It’s important to have some way of alerting you to the doorbell ringing inside your house (not just through your smartphone), either through being compatible with your existing doorbell chime or through a smart speaker or separate plug-in chime. Wired power option or removable batteries Collapse I always recommend using existing doorbell wires if you have them; you’ll never have to worry about charging your doorbell (see my FAQ for more on this). Battery-powered options will do if there’s no way to wire; removable or replaceable batteries are important here — taking your entire doorbell down to charge it every three months is a pain.
I’ve tested more than 35 video doorbells, and while there’s no one-size-fits-all, like a smartphone, it’s a personal choice, I have thoughts on which are the best of the best and which work well for specific use cases.
My top advice is to use the existing doorbell wires if you have them. Wired doorbells are generally cheaper, work better, and are more compact, so they tend to look nicer.
If you don’t have wires and don’t want to pay for an electrician to run them, try using an AC power adapter (Ring and Google Nest sell their own; you can also find generic ones). But if all else fails, I’ve got recommendations for good battery-powered buzzers. Just plan to pick up an extra battery when you purchase, or factor in removing it from your door every few months to charge it for a few hours.
Best doorbell camera
Nest Doorbell (wired) $ 120 $ 180 33 % off $ 120 With 24/7 recording, facial recognition, reliable smart alerts, and some free video recording, Google’s wired doorbell is the best option for most people. Read More $120 at Google
Video quality: 960 x 1280p, 6x zoom, HDR / Smart alerts: Person, package, animal, vehicle, and facial recognition ($) Aspect ratio: 3:4 / Field of view: 145 degrees diagonal / Power options: Wired / Wi-Fi: 2.4GHz and 5GHz / Storage: Cloud and local / Subscription fee: $8 a month / Works with: Alexa, Google, SmartThings
The Nest Doorbell Wired (2nd-gen) is one of only two video doorbells in this list that can record 24/7. Scrolling through a continuous timeline view of everything that’s happened at your front door is super helpful and means you won’t miss anything. This, along with a good price, great video quality, the ability to tell you what and who is at your door, and some free recorded video, make it the best doorbell for most people.
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