Best Video Doorbell Cameras of 2024

1. Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 - Best Overall

SecurityScore:

9.2 /10

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Ring has an impressive range of video doorbell cameras. But if we had to pick one, it would be the Ring Wired Video Doorbell Pro, also known as the Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2.

It offers a 160-degree field of view, features infrared night vision, and has 1080p HD video quality. However, our favorite feature is person detection. It can recognize regular visitors and alert you when they are heading to the front door so you can greet them or hide behind the couch and pretend you’re not home.

Here’s some more quick specs:

3D Motion Detection

The Wired Video Doorbell Pro boasts some of Ring’s latest technology, including 3D motion detection. It’s a step-up from the PIR motion detection we see in most doorbell cameras, because instead of infrared lights, it uses radar to detect movement. That allows the Wired Video Doorbell Pro to detect, map out and track the movement incoming guests quickly. And if a doorbell can do that, it can start recording as soon as a guest – especially an unwelcome one – crosses a threshold you’ve set. We personally want our doorbell camera to record as soon as someone is about 10 feet away from the door.

Bird’s Eye View Feature

Now, about the ability to track a visitor’s movement, the Wired Video Doorbell Pro can offer a simulated birds-eye view of your front yard to offer more insight on the comings and goings of guests.

In our tests, Ring mapped out our Amazon delivery guy’s journey up the driveway, reflected as a dotted line on a map. These details can come in handy in case of an attempted break-in, as it paints a clearer picture of how the culprit got all the way to your front door. You can use that information to address weak points and blind spots to spoil future break-in attempts.

Alexa Greetings

A video doorbell that lets you speak to guests through your smartphone is useful, but one that greets guests for you is even better. Thanks to Ring’s close ties with Alexa, the Wired Video Doorbell Pro offers Alexa Greetings.

When someone rings your doorbell, Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant will greet them after a short delay. Alexa can either take a message or deliver instructions on where to leave packages. Unfortunately, those are the only two things Alexa can do for now, but they can be immensely useful in combating package theft.

To enable Alexa Greetings, you’ll need a Ring Protect plan, which is the same subscription for Ring’s cloud storage service starting at $3 per month.

2. Wyze Video Doorbell - Most Affordable Video Doorbell

SecurityScore:

8.7 /10

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The Wyze Video Doorbell isn’t much to look at, but it packs a punch. Beyond the standard 1080p resolution and 120-degree diagonal viewing angle, it offers clear color night vision with the help of its Starlight CMOS sensor.

It’s also reasonably priced. You can pick one up for $35 and get 14 days of free cloud storage. Even Wyze’s premium cloud storage plan is $2.99 per month per camera, which is cheaper than Ring’s offering and another reason why we picked Wyze as our budget-friendly option.

Cost

It’s hard to complain about a video doorbell costing only $35. In fact, compared to some of the other products on this list, you might be suspicious about picking up a cheap device. But just because Wyze is a bargain, it doesn’t mean it’s not reliable.

Even Wyze’s cloud recording plans are cheaper than some competitors. The Basic Plan is free and gives you 14 days of cloud storage for 12-second motion clips. It won’t record anything longer, and it will wait five minutes before recording a new video.

If you prefer access to longer recordings and want features like person and package detection, you’ll want to upgrade to Wyze Cam Plus. It’s only $2.99 per month per camera. If you have more than four Wyze security cameras protecting your home, we recommend paying $9.99 per month, which covers unlimited cameras.

High-Quality Images

The Wyze doorbell may not be as fancy as the other doorbells on this list, but it more than meets our video quality standards. Its 1080p HD resolution impressed us, much like when we reviewed the Wyze security cameras. The color night vision, provided by its LED light, was also a nice touch, although we much better preferred using the infrared night vision.

The 3:4 aspect ratio was also noteworthy, as it gave us a full head-to-toe view of anyone standing in front of our door. The girl scout selling cookies who couldn’t have been more than four and a half feet tall was captured from head to toe in the frame, and so was our six-foot nine-inch friend who visited from Florida.

Our one gripe, however, was the side peripherals. Unlike the Ring Pro 2, Wyze had blindspots, so if someone were to creep to our front door very close to the wall, it would be easy for the camera to miss it. Our advice is to supplement the doorbell with another affordable camera from Wyze, the Wyze Cam v3. It can record through a window or even live outdoors thanks to IP 67 weatherproof rating. And fortunately, Wyze Cams are some of the most affordable security cameras, so you can use multiple cameras without breaking the bank.

Continuous Power

Let’s face it: Recharging your video doorbell every six or so months is not fun. And since video doorbells play a vital role in home security, you wouldn’t want dead batteries to be the reason you lose critical video evidence in case of a break-in. With the Wyze Doorbell, which connects right to your existing doorbell setup, you wouldn’t have to worry about running out of juice. Yes, you might have to spend a few extra minutes setting up the doorbell’s wiring, but it’s set-and-forget once it’s there.

If you really want a battery-powered doorbell, though, the Wyze Video Doorbell Pro is a good option from Wyze. It’s more expensive, retailing for $93.99, but it runs on battery with up to six months of battery life, and it features a 1440p Full HD camera. It also boasts a wide viewing angle (150-degree) with a 1:1 aspect ratio, which means it’s similar to the Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2.

3. Nest Doorbell - Best for Google Assistant

SecurityScore:

9.0 /10

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Ring has impressive hardware; Wyze has impressive pricing. What does the Nest Doorbell have? Impressive artificial intelligence. It’s the only doorbell camera we tested with facial recognition, which comes in handy at the front door. It told us whenever our dog walker swung by so we could open the door with our smart lock. The caveat is that you need a Nest Aware subscription, which at $8 per month for all your Nest cameras and 30 days of cloud storage is relatively affordable. As a bonus, the doorbell camera works well with Google Assistant and all Nest Home hardware like the Nest Hub Max.

Google Functionality

Our Nest Doorbell worked great as a standalone device, but because it’s from Nest, it also worked as part of our larger Nest camera system, including, for instance, our Google Nest Hub smart display and our Google Nest Mini smart speaker. And because Nest is part of the Google family, it’s set up to work seamlessly with Google Assistant voice commands. All we had to tell our phone was “Google, what’s on our doorbell?” and the app popped open with streaming live video.

Facial Recognition

Google Nest didn’t pioneer doorbell cameras (Ring did), but it’s at the forefront of facial recognition in security cameras. So how did it work at the front door? First, we introduced a bunch of people we know to the algorithm. Every time they swing by, we tag their names in the app. Over time, the Nest Doorbell got good at recognizing them.

Next, we set up notification rules. For example, we have a house cleaner that comes by every Tuesday, during which we are often at the office. The Nest Doorbell recognizes her, and we get notifications whenever it sees her. That way, we don’t need to check our live feed to see that she’s at the house. Of course, the Nest Doorbell also tells us when it sees a stranger. Only when it does do we really check our Nest Doorbell footage.

The downside is that you need a Nest Aware subscription to enjoy facial recognition. Nest Aware is Nest’s cloud service, which also enables cloud recording. And since the doorbells don’t record video without Nest Aware, we strongly suggest getting a subscription. Your options are the Nest Aware for $8 per month or Nest Aware Plus for $15 per month.

Clear Day and Night Vision

We were impressed by the Nest doorbell’s video resolution of 1600p HD, above the industry standard. It also had a 160-degree field of view. But the video wasn’t just clear in the daytime. The Nest Doorbell’s infrared night vision uses 850 nm LED sensors allowing us to see whatever was happening, no matter what time it happened.

4. Arlo Video Doorbell - Best Smart Motion Detection

SecurityScore:

9.1 /10

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The Arlo Video Doorbell is another impressive option for smart front door monitoring due to its person, vehicle, and package detection. You can activate those features for as low as $7.99 per month. We liked package detection in particular, not only because it alerted us whenever a package has been dropped or picked up from our front porch, but also its accuracy. We buy a lot of home security devices for testing and throughout the month we had the Arlo Video Doorbell installed, it never missed to alert us of deliveries. Not even once!

The Three Ps

The Arlo Doorbell has artificial intelligence that allows it to detect what we like to call the three Ps: people, pets, and packages. Thus, real-time alerts didn’t just let us know the camera had detected movement but also identified exactly what kind of movement it detected. That’s infinitely better than getting random alerts throughout the day and having to pull up footage to find out what’s going on at home. Plus, we always knew when a package had arrived, so we could take measures to outwit porch pirates, like having our neighbor store it until we got home.

Doorbell Options

Arlo actually offers two video doorbell options – the Essential Wired Video Doorbell and the Arlo Video Doorbell. The Essential model is cheaper, but it requires a wired setup and only offers a 1080p HD resolution. On the other hand, the Arlo Video Doorbell can either be wired or powered by batteries. You can also choose between the HD model (1080p HD resolution) or the 2K model.

We like the Arlo Video Doorbell HD version in particular because it costs only $79.99 – the same as the Essential Wired Video Doorbell – but offers wired or wireless setup. If you’d rather go with a higher-resolution doorbell, just add $50 for the 2K version. In any case, you’ll enjoy a wide field-of-vision, up to 180 degrees.

Do It Yourself, Even With the Wired Model

The installation process will depend on whether you wire your new doorbell camera to your existing setup or use battery power instead. But no matter the setup, we’d say that Arlo’s doorbells are easy to install. Even wiring the doorbells is easy. Pop out your existing doorbell, twist a couple of wires together, and you’re done. Just make sure to read up on electrical safety, but if you’re not confident you can do it, better call the pros. Safety first always!

5. Logitech Video Doorbell - Best Video Doorbell for Siri

SecurityScore:

8.4 /10

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Logitech has impressive hardware. It has a 1200 by 1600 resolution with a 160-degree viewing angle. That puts it in the same league as the Ring doorbell from earlier and the Nest Doorbell. It also has echo cancellation and color night vision. What’s most impressive though is that it’s one of the few doorbell cameras that work with HomeKit, Apple’s smart home ecosystem. It can use iCloud for video storage too. It can store videos up to 10 days without counting against your iCloud limit.

Straightforward Installation Process

Logitech offers the option to professionally install the doorbell camera for an additional $100. That’s very thoughtful, considering that it’s a wired doorbell. Although it’s not that hard to install a doorbell even for first-timers, some might not be comfortable handling wires and electrical components.

We went with a DIY installation though. First, we connected the doorbell’s powerline by plugging in the micro-USB end to the doorbell and the 5-volt, 2A AC adapter to our existing doorbell setup. After that, we simply attached the included chime kit to our existing transformer. Once all the wiring was done, we simply turned on the doorbell and connected it to Wi-Fi, and then finalized the installation by snapping the unit onto the mounting plate. All that took us about 15 minutes.

Color Night Vision

When we looked at night footage from the Circle View, we were impressed with the detail captured. Infrared night vision is the norm, but sometimes that footage looks grainy and blurs out important details. The Circle View used an LED light at night, which illuminated our whole front porch and even parts of our driveway. The feature turned on automatically there was motion and shined a bright beam of light onto visitors. We got quality footage in color, even when the sun had set.

Specific Motion Detection

We were most impressed with the Circle View Doorbell’s advanced motion detection. We pulled our car into the driveway just as a stray cat darted through our yard and a branch fell out of our neighbor’s tree. The Circle View reacted quickly and accurately to the series of events. It could tell what was a vehicle, an animal, and an inanimate object. We saw the series of events mapped out on a scrolling timeline within the app. We thought the mapping feature was really neat, and understanding an event in such detail would definitely come in handy for something more serious, like a burglary.

6. Lorex Video Doorbell - Best Video Doorbell with Local Video Storage

SecurityScore:

7.5 /10

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The Lorex Doorbell Camera is great for anyone who prefers a hardwired system that’s also completely DIY. Oh, and it also happens to be about half the price of most other video doorbells, costing just $129.99. That meant we could secure our house without having to break the bank. And did we mention it has a 2K resolution (4K on some models) and free local storage via a microSD card? It’s not as budget-friendly as Wyze, but it’s a great buy for what it offers.

Low Price

A Lorex Video doorbell can be had for just $129.99, about half of what the more expensive examples on this list cost. It’s true that Lorex doesn’t come with some of the high-priced extras you might get elsewhere like cloud storage. But its 1080p HD video resolution matches the industry standard, and it offers a wide 160-degree field of vision. It also includes infrared night vision, two-way audio, and free local storage. That’s a heck of a lot of features to get for such a low price.

Sleek Design

The Lorex Video Doorbell is small and fairly unobtrusive, four inches by 1.7, and only one inch wide. That meant it didn’t give our front door a cluttered look. In fact, it didn’t look all that different from a traditional doorbell. The faceplate is a stylish black and silver, with rounded features within a rectangular casing. All-in-all, it told visitors we like our technology, but we also like it to blend well with our signature style.

Hardwired Setup

In general, we prefer hardwired video doorbell systems for one simple reason: no batteries required. Unfortunately, purchasing a wired system often means hiring a professional installer. Lorex, however, was completely DIY. We connected a few wires, attached the faceplate, and were done. It was hardwiring without the hassle!