The best video doorbell cameras for 2024

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 to show you who’s at the door without you having 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.

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 best advice is that if you have existing doorbell wires, use 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 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/Certified-Transformer-Doorbell-Compatible-Doorbells/dp/B07YDN4Q96?tag=theverge02-20″>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.

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.

The Nest Wired is also the best video doorbell that works with Google Home, and the best for protecting your packages. Its proactive package watch feature tells you when a package arrives and sends another alert when it’s gone. In my testing, it worked very well.

Unlike many competitors — such as Ring and Arlo — Google doesn’t charge for smart notifications. The Nest Wired will tell you if it’s a person, package, animal, or vehicle at your door for free. You also get free activity zones to cut down on unwanted notifications, and three free hours of event-based recordings, thanks to local storage and local processing.

But three hours isn’t enough to be particularly useful, and to get recorded video, you need a Nest Aware plan (starting at $8 per month, $80 per year). This does cover all your Google Nest cameras, though, and it adds Nest’s excellent Familiar Faces feature, which tells you who is at your door.

If you want 24/7 recording, you need Nest Aware Plus ($15 per month, $150 a year), but again, this subscription applies to all Google Nest cameras you have.

On paper, the Nest doesn’t have the best specs; the Ring Pro 2 is technically better. But it does deliver a 960 x 1280 pixel resolution with a 6x digital zoom, and video quality is very good, thanks to some digital trickery. Its 3:4 portrait aspect ratio and 145-degree field of view are very good and let me see my porch from top to bottom and a fair amount from side to side.

On-device ai makes the Nest speedy with notifications, and it delivers rich alerts to both your phone and watch. These are interactive, allowing you to press and hold the video to see a clip and activate one of the three preset quick responses. It’s also quick to call up live video.

Nest’s doorbells and cameras work with Nest and amazon Alexa smart displays for viewing a live feed. Google also now lets you have a live stream pull up automatically on your Google TV when someone rings the doorbell — a super handy feature.

There are a few quirks. There’s no reliable way to snooze notifications from the doorbell, and if you use multiple Nest speakers or displays, they’ll all announce your visitors. Not great if you have a Nest Mini in your kid’s nursery.

Google recently announced that it’s bringing a new search and description feature to its cameras, including the doorbell, in 2025. This will send an alert describing exactly what’s happening in a clip, giving you more context before opening the app. You’ll also be able to search through footage for specific events — like kids on bikes. This will require a subscription.

Read my full Nest Doorbell wired review.

Video quality: 1536 x 1536p, HDR, color night vision / Smart Alerts: Person, package ($) Aspect ratio: 1:1 / Field of view: 150 degrees horizontal, 150 degrees vertical / Power options: Battery, wired trickle charge, solar / Wi-Fi: 2.4GHz / Storage: Cloud and local (with Ring Alarm Pro) / Subscription fee: $4.99 a month / Works with: amazon Alexa, Samsung SmartThings

If you really want a battery-powered buzzer, the Ring Battery Doorbell Plus is the way to go. At $149.99, it’s cheaper than the Ring Battery Pro while still offering a head-to-toe view and high-quality video resolution to give you a clear picture of what’s going on at your door.

Unlike the $100 Ring Battery Doorbell, the Plus uses removable, rechargeable batteries, making it easier to keep your doorbell charged. Just have a second on hand charged and ready to swap in when you get low. Most other doorbells require you to take them down to recharge.

The Plus also has color night vision and was more responsive than any other non-Ring battery doorbell I’ve tested. It pulled up a live view in under four seconds, compared with upwards of 10 seconds for most others.

As with other battery-powered doorbells, there’s no preroll. If catching people as they approach your door — not just at your door — is crucial, consider the Battery Doorbell Pro ($229.99). This adds preroll and improved motion detection using radar, which significantly cuts down on nuisance alerts.

It’s only really worth spending the extra $80 if you have lots of trees or passing cars in front of your door and/or you want to make sure you see the whole event when someone approaches your door. The Pro is also compatible with 5GHz Wi-Fi, which could mean faster responses if your front door is close enough to your router. The Plus is 2.4GHz only.

Battery life isn’t great on either doorbell. They last around two months with all the features turned on except for extra-long recordings (the default is 30 seconds, but it can go up to 120). You can tweak settings to reduce power consumption, but then you have to give up features like HDR (which makes it easier to see faces) and snapshot capture, which takes a picture every five minutes to give you a better idea of what’s been happening at your door.

As with all Ring doorbells, there are no animal or vehicle alerts, only people and packages. These require a Ring Home plan starting at $4.99 a month, which also includes 180 days of recorded video.

A new ai-powered search feature lets you search recorded footage for things like animals, vehicles, and even the color of the coat you wore when you left the house. It’s handy for understanding what’s been going on around your home, but you still can’t get an alert when your cat is sitting on your porch.

Other free features include pre-recorded quick replies, the option to set a motion alert schedule, live view, and two-way audio. The Plus can announce visitors on Echo speakers and automatically initiate a two-way audio/video call on an Echo Show. It won’t work with your existing chime unless you wire it (which also trickle-charges the battery), but Ring sells a plug-in chime.

The Plus also works with Ring Edge, a local storage and processing option that requires a Ring Alarm Pro smart hub and a Ring Home Premium subscription ($20 a month). This adds cellular backup through its built-in Eero Wifi system, so it can keep your doorbell online if both the power and internet go out.

Note: Ring recently changed its subscription plans from Ring Protect to Ring Home. The changes went into effect on November 5th. See more details here.

Video quality: 1080p / Smart alerts: None / Aspect ratio: 16:9 / Field of view: 135 degrees horizontal, 80 degrees vertical / Power options: Wired or battery / Wi-Fi: 2.4GHz / Storage: Cloud or local with a Sync Module / Subscription fee: $3 a month / Works with: amazon Alexa

The Blink Video Doorbell is the best cheap doorbell with a no-subscription option. And while it works as a wired doorbell, it’s also a good option for a battery-powered buzzer, as it can go up to two years on two AAs. I don’t love this doorbell, as video and audio quality are not great, but it’s cheap, it gets the job done, and that battery life is phenomenal.

The Blink doesn’t have smart alerts or quick replies, and it only records 1080p video at a standard 16:9 aspect ratio). But the basics are here: motion-activated recording (with a max of 30 seconds), alerts, live view (with caveats), night vision, motion zones, and two-way audio.

If you want to pay $50 (often less) to have a camera at your door and be done with it, get the Blink. Cloud storage is also a bargain at $3 a month ($30 a year), or you can do local storage with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/Introducing-Blink-Doorbell-Two-way-enabled/dp/B08SGC46M9?tag=theverge02-20&ascsubtag=__vg1021awD__22718595__________________https://voxmedia.stories.usechorus.com/&tag=theverge02-20″>the Sync Module 2 and a USB stick. You need the Sync Module to initiate a live view through the camera in the app (or you have to pay for the subscription). Without it, you can only see video if there’s a motion event or someone rings the doorbell.

The Sync Module is sold with the doorbell as a “doorbell system” for $70, and should pay for itself compared to a monthly subscription.

The biggest selling point for Blink is the feature that makes its similarly inexpensive security cameras so attractive: up to two years of battery life on two AA lithium batteries. The company has developed a super energy-efficient chip that will power its cameras longer than any other doorbell I’ve tested. (I managed almost a year with very heavy use). 

Uniquely for a battery-powered doorbell, the Blink can also be a true hardwired doorbell. When wired, it will activate an existing chime (something neither the sub-$100 Ring nor Wyze doorbells can do) and provide constant power — not just trickle charge. This means it can wake up faster than a battery-powered buzzer and catch your visitor as they arrive. Wiring also adds on-demand two-way audio and live view (otherwise, you can only see the stream if there’s a motion event at the doorbell or someone presses the buzzer.)

The Blink comes in white or black and, because it uses just two AA batteries, isn’t as huge as most battery-powered doorbells, making it a more discreet option. However, it is a giant pain in the neck to install; make sure to follow the video instructions Blink provides closely to save a lot of frustration.

The biggest drawbacks are lower video quality and poor audio quality (it can be staticky, and it’s push-to-talk — not full duplex), short recording length, and no smart alerts. The app is also a bit tricky to navigate. It doesn’t work with Google Home, but it works great with Alexa, and you can see a live view on Echo Show devices and use any Echo speaker as an indoor chime.

Video quality: 2K HD (no HDR) / Smart alerts: People, packages, pets, vehicles (free) Aspect ratio: 4:3 / Field of view: 180 degrees horizontal / Power options: Battery, wired trickle charge / Wi-Fi: 2.4GHz / Storage: microSD card or cloud / Subscription fee: $2.79 a month / Works with: amazon Alexa, Google Home

You can use any doorbell on this list without a subscription, but you may sacrifice features like smart alerts, recorded video, and 24/7 continuous recording. If you want these but don’t want to pay a monthly fee, TP-Link’s Tapo D225 is an excellent choice.

A wired and battery-powered doorbell, the D225 offers free smart alerts for people, packages, pets, and vehicles and can record locally to a microSD (purchased separately) without paying a subscription. There is an optional cloud service if you want to store your video offsite that also adds rich notifications (where a clip or image shows in the notification), but no other features are locked behind a paywall.

To get the free recording of motion-activated events, you just need to insert a microSD card (up to 512GB) into the doorbell. While it can run on its built-in 10,000mAh battery, you will need to wire it up for continuous 24/7 recording. This will also trickle charge the battery, and the doorbell will still work and record video, even if your power and Wi-Fi go out.

There are a few hoops to jump through to get 24/7 recording working, which can be a bit confusing in the slightly cluttered Tapo app. However, once set up, it will capture everything that happens. This is a great option, considering Nest charges $15 a month for 24/7 recording.

The D225 also provides good video quality, a decent zoom, and a nice 4:3 aspect ratio that clearly shows your entire porch from top to bottom and a good view from side to side. There is no HDR imaging, though, so if your porch is covered, it can be hard to make out faces in some lights.

The doorbell can work with your existing chime (although, oddly, not if you enable 24/7 recording) but also comes with a plug-in chime. If you don’t wire it, you’ll have to remove it to charge, but the large battery can last up to eight months. The downside is that it is a huge, chunky doorbell, which may not meet the spousal approval factor for a good-looking doorbell.

Another neat feature of the Tapo is doorbell calling. When someone rings your doorbell, the alert comes in like a phone call, making it less likely that you’ll miss it. This is something first offered on Arlo buzzers, and Ring says it’s bringing it to its line.

As Tapo also offers a wide range of smart home products — including security cameras, smart lights, and robot vacuum cleaners — you can tie your doorbell into smart home routines.

If you have lots of devices, the Tapo app can get a bit cluttered. But it’s easy enough to use and packed with features, including quick replies, a privacy mode that turns the camera off, and the ability to schedule notifications, set detection zones, and specify the type of alert you want to get from each one (e.g., only notify me if you see people in this zone and packages in this zone).

Read my full Tapo D225 review.

Video quality: 1536 x 1536p, HDR / Smart alerts: Person, package ($) Aspect ratio: 1:1 / Field of view: 150 degrees horizontal, 150 degrees vertical / Power options: Wired / Wi-Fi: 2.4GHz and 5GHz / Storage: Cloud and local (with Ring Alarm Pro) / Subscription fee: $4.99 a month / Works with: amazon Alexa, Samsung SmartThings

The Ring Pro 2 — previously my top pick — is the best-wired doorbell camera that works with amazon Alexa and integrates with Ring Alarm and other Ring cameras. It’s more expensive than the Nest Wired — which also works with Alexa — but its video is higher quality and much brighter.

It has an ideal square aspect ratio for a full front porch view, speedy notifications, and impressively accurate motion detection using three separate sensors — radar, video analysis, and passive infrared. It also has a nice slim design and multiple faceplate options to fit your decor.

But there’s no free video recording, no option for 24/7 recording (yet), and the smart alerts are limited to people and packages. However, you can now search for things like vehicles and animals after the fact with Ring’s new Smart Video Search feature. This makes tracking down my cat or checking which delivery driver came by a little easier.

The Ring Pro 2 also works with Samsung SmartThings, and while it doesn’t support Apple Home, it can be integrated with extra hardware. There’s no support for Google Home.

A true wired doorbell, while the Ring Pro 2 is one of the most responsive doorbells I’ve tested, delivering notifications immediately. It also has the best range and connectivity, and built-in, full-color preroll helps ensure you don’t miss any crucial action.

The Pro 2 has good color night vision, dual-band Wi-Fi, and smart responses (which let your doorbell talk to your visitor for you). The Ring app is best in class, and there are pages of settings you can tinker with. Plus, the timeline view for scrolling through your recordings is very good.

The Pro 2 will work with your existing doorbell chime, plus Ring sells a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/Ring-Chime/dp/B09L45VFCN?tag=theverge02-20″>plug-in Chime and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/Ring-Chime-Pro/dp/B07WML2XTD?tag=theverge02-20″>Chime Wi-Fi extender that can help boost connectivity while providing a selection of fun doorbell tones.

As with most doorbell cameras, the Pro 2 can use Echo smart speakers to announce when someone is at the door. As a Ring doorbell, it can also automatically pull up a live feed of your front door on an Echo Show or Fire TV-enabled television when someone presses the doorbell.

The downside is that the Pro 2 is expensive. Its subscription fee starts at $4.99 a month (or $49.99 a year). This adds recorded footage, smart alerts, and an extra six seconds of preroll video, which, in lieu of 24/7 recording, provides plenty of time around motion events to catch all the action.

The Pro works with Ring Edge for local storage and video processing, plus the option of cellular backup. But you need a Ring Alarm Pro and Ring Home Premium subscription for this, which costs $20 a month and no longer includes professional monitoring of your alarm (that’s now a $10 add-on).

Ring recently announced it is finally bringing 24/7 recording to its wired cameras, and that feature will be included in the $20-a-month plan. While this isn’t coming to the wired doorbells at launch, Ring has said the feature will expand to more devices soon.

Read our Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 review.

Note: Ring recently changed its subscription plans from Ring Protect to Ring Home. The changes went into effect on November 5th. See more details here.

Video quality: 1080p, 8x zoom, color and IR night vision / Smart Alerts: Person, package Aspect ratio: 3:4 portrait / Field of view: 187 degrees diagonal / Power options: Wired / Wi-Fi: 2.4GHz, 5GHz / Storage: Cloud / Subscription fee: $5 a month or $50 a year  / Works with: amazon Alexa, Apple Home

The Ecobee Smart Doorbell Camera is a great wired doorbell camera and the only one that can use an Ecobee thermostat as a video intercom — a neat feature. It sends fast, accurate alerts for people and packages, and thanks to radar detection and computer vision motion detection, it never once sent me a false alert.

The Ecobee has a comprehensive 187-degree diagonal field of view that lets you see top to bottom and side to side and offers decent 1080p HD video. A subscription is required for viewing recorded video, $5 a month / $50 a year, but alerts for people and packages are free. A newer feature is the ability to control your Yale or August Wi-Fi-enabled door lock directly from the Ecobee app, so you can more easily unlock the door for someone from afar.

One quirk is that while the Ecobee records all motion (if you subscribe), it only alerts you if it sees people or packages. This does cut down on the number of alerts you get, but I’d like the option to turn motion alerts on, mainly so I can know when my dog has gotten out and is sitting at my front door (especially because there are no animal or vehicle alerts). The doorbell does record all motion events for up to two minutes, so you can go back and view them, but you won’t get notified.

The Ecobee works with Apple Home and can ring a HomePod as a chime (as well as your existing chime), plus pull up a live view on your Apple TV. But it doesn’t support HomeKit Secure Video, so you have to pay Ecobee’s subscription fee if you want recorded videos. It also works with amazon Alexa, but there’s no Google Home integration. If you have an Ecobee thermostat in a convenient location, this is an excellent option.

Read my full Ecobee Smart Doorbell Camera review.

Video quality: 1080p, HDR, 5x zoom / Smart Alerts: Person, packages, facial recognition Aspect ratio: 3:4 / Field of view: 178 degrees vertical, 140 degrees horizontal / Power options: Wired / Wi-Fi: 2.4GHz and 5GHz / Storage: Cloud / Subscription fee: 99 cents a month, iCloud / Works with: Apple Home

The new Wemo Video Doorbell is the best doorbell that works with HomeKit Secure Video, an Apple Home feature that stores recorded video in your personal iCloud account, so you don’t have to pay any additional subscription fee. You do need an iCloud Plus plan (starting at 99 cents per month) and an Apple Home Hub in order to view any captured clips.

The Wemo doorbell is fast and secure. It has decent HD video quality (Apple Home doesn’t support anything higher than 1080p), HDR, and a circular view that shows the whole porch (although with a rather discombobulating fish-eye effect). But it’s better than the other wired HomeKit option, the Logitech Circle View.

The Wemo is easier to install than the Logitech. Both share the same simple software setup. (The Wemo relies entirely on the Apple Home app, so there’s no compatibility with the Wemo app or any other smart home platform). Thanks to HKSV, the doorbell recognizes multiple motion events (people, packages, animals, and vehicles) and can also identify faces and announce who is at the door on a connected HomePod or HomePod Mini. However, there’s no option for 24/7 recording.

While daytime footage was good, night vision wasn’t, and I had some issues with it missing motion events and sending false alerts for people due to its reliance on pixel-based motion detection (others use PIR and radar detection). However, the Wemo was very, very quick, with the speed from a button push to a notification to pulling up the live video being under five seconds. It’s even quicker if you use the interactive notification on your device (through which you can talk to the visitor). And that speed makes up for some of its failings. 

All things considered, it’s the best choice for a wired doorbell that’s compatible with HomeKit Secure Video. However, Ecobee’s video doorbell is a better wired Apple Home option overall, if you don’t mind paying a subscription fee.

Read my full Wemo Video Doorbell review.

Video quality: 1080p / Smart Alerts: Person, facial recognition and person, facial recognition, packages with HSV, / Aspect ratio: 16:9 / Field of view: 162 degrees horizontal / Power options: Wired or battery / Wi-Fi: 2.4GHz / Storage: Cloud and local / Subscription fee: Seven days of free cloud storage or 99 cents a month with iCloud / Works with: Apple Home, amazon Alexa, Google Home

If you don’t have the option of wiring and/or you really want 24/7 video recording, then Aqara’s G4 is a good option for Apple Home users. It’s the only battery-powered doorbell that’s compatible with Apple Home, and it works with HomeKit Secure Video.

It runs on six standard AA batteries and can be hardwired to support 24/7 video recording (through Aqara’s app, though, not in Apple Home). It’s jam-packed with features, but it’s probably best suited for those who live in apartments as its landscape aspect ratio means it can’t really see packages at the doorstep, and it’s not very weather-resistant.

At $120, it’s the least expensive HomeKit option and pairs with the Aqara U100 smart lock (which also works with Apple Home and Home Key) for a nice, fully Apple Home-compatible setup on your front door. As a bonus, you can easily unlock the door from the same screen as viewing your doorbell footage.

Downsides include a 16:9 aspect ratio (a problem if you want to see packages on your porch), no HDR imaging, which delivers pretty bad video quality, and a finicky chime box that has to be plugged in inside and near the doorbell. That chime also houses a microSD card, which is required for 24/7 recording. Unfortunately, the G4 can’t ring an existing electronic chime, but the chime box is plenty loud, and you can customize the heck out of the sounds.

The G4 shares all the same HKSV features as the Wemo, including smart alerts for people, packages, animals, and vehicles, facial recognition, and the option to announce who is at the door on a connected HomePod or HomePod Mini (you need an Apple Home hub to use this in HomeKit).

It responded just as fast as the Wemo to doorbell rings and motion alerts, but I had some connectivity issues. Plus, occasionally, I got an overheating warning while testing in May 2024 — and that was before the heatwave we experienced in South Carolina this summer.

A benefit over Wemo and the other HomeKit Secure Video options is that Aqara has its own app, which has a ton of innovative features, including custom ringtones for different people, a voice changer, and the option to have your smart home devices react depending on who is at the front door.

The Aqara app adds access to 24/7 video, a nice feature to have, especially for free. But the implementation is spotty, and video quality is not great, but it will do in a pinch.

The Aqara doorbell works with Google Home and amazon Alexa, unlike the Wemo, which can only be set up through the Apple Home app.

Read my full Aqara Video Doorbell G4 review.

• The Reolink Video Doorbell (starting at $99) is a wired version of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CYGVPLLT?tag=theverge02-20″>Reolink’s battery model mentioned above. It’s worth considering if you can use Power over Ethernet (there’s also a Wi-Fi version). There’s also the option of dual-band Wi-Fi, local storage to a microSD card or FTP server, and 24/7 recording with compatible hardware. I tested the black Wi-Fi version <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/REOLINK-Doorbell-Detection-Storage-Assistant/dp/B0B7S3JSG7/?tag=theverge02-20″>($109.99), which streams good 2K video but only supports person detection (which is fairly inaccurate) and has a more horizontal field of view. The white model has package detection and a more vertical field of view. The battery Reolink adds animal and vehicle alerts and has a better field of view, so it’s the better choice unless you want PoE.
• The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/Tapo-Spotlights-Ultra-Wide-Detection-D210/dp/B0D8M6GNP3/?tag=theverge02-20″>Tapo D210 ($59.99) is a battery-powered doorbell with a similar design to the D225, but there’s no wiring option, so it can’t record 24/7. It does have free local recording with a microSD card and free alerts for people, pets, and vehicles, but there’s no package detection. Its rectangular 16:9 aspect ratio shows less of my porch, and it’s only available in white. While it has a few more features than the similarly priced Blink, it is very big and bulky, has a shorter battery life, and can’t be wired to trickle-charge or ring your existing chime (it does come with a plug-in chime).
• The Ring Battery Doorbell ($99.99) suffers badly from the back-of-the-head problem common with battery-powered buzzers. Other than that, it’s a fine basic buzzer, but it doesn’t have removable batteries. While the redesigned quick-release system makes it easier to remove the doorbell to charge, the Plus is worth the extra money for the added convenience and better video resolution. The one thing the standard Ring has going for it is its slim profile, which makes it a good option if you want something more discreet.
• The Google Nest Doorbell (battery) is worth considering if you are in a Google household and can’t wire your doorbell, but it is big and bulky. Plus, you have to remove it to charge. Specs and price-wise, it’s the same as my top pick, the Nest Doorbell (wired), but it can’t record 24/7, which the wired Nest can. It’s also twice the size of the wired model.
• The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/eufy-Security-Battery-Powered-Detection-Recognition/dp/B099RX62SC?tag=theverge02-20″>Eufy Video Doorbell Dual is a previous pick that doesn’t require any monthly fees and records footage locally. But at $250, it’s very expensive, and there are now better, cheaper options. It’s still great thanks to its dual camera feature that lets you see your porch and your visitor with a wide view, plus free smart alerts, including facial recognition and a neat uncollected package alert. It’s worth considering if you already have a Eufy HomeBase. You can read my full review here.
• The Wyze Video Doorbell Pro is a battery buzzer with impressive features for its price, and if you hardwire it, you get preroll video. However, a five-minute cooldown period between recordings, unless you pay for a subscription, is an inexcusable amount of time that negates its offer of “free recording.” Plus, Wyze has had some major security issues in the past.
• The Ring Video Doorbell Wired is a budget buzzer at just $60, but it won’t work with your existing chime and doesn’t draw the same amount of power from those wires as the Ring Pro 2, making it generally less reliable. Without HDR, its video quality is spotty.
• The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Video-Doorbell-Netatmo-Installation/dp/B08R6FFJ9F?tag=theverge02-20″>Netatmo Smart Video Doorbell has some interesting features, including entirely local storage (to an included microSD card) and free person recognition. It also works with Apple Home (but not HomeKit Secure Video), but a weirdly narrow field of view and poor video quality let it down — not to mention the $300 price tag and recent lack of availability.
• The Logitech Circle View Wired is another Apple HomeKit Secure video option I tested, which, while fast, is expensive, only works with Apple Home, and frequently dropped off my Wi-Fi network.
• There are now doorbells built into smart door locks. I’ve tested the Lockly Vision Elite and the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/eufy-Security-Doorbell-Fingerprint-Detection/dp/B0B2WM1CHR?tag=theverge02-20″>Eufy Security S330 Video Smart Lock, and both are very expensive and work better as door locks than doorbells. But if you have a specific need for this device (e.g., you have nowhere else to put a doorbell camera), then they are useful for at least seeing up the nose of whoever is at your door, if not much beyond that.

• The Arlo Video Doorbell (wired / wireless) is the second generation of the excellent Arlo Essential wired that was a former pick in this guide. (It’s been discontinued, but you can still find it on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/Arlo-Essential-Wired-Video-Doorbell/dp/B07YMV9VMT?tag=theverge02-20″>amazon). It doesn’t have the option of wiring only; instead, it’s a battery doorbell you can wire to trickle-charge the battery. You can choose between a 1080p ($79.99) or 2K ($129.99) resolution, and it has a 180-degree field of view and an integrated siren. This price gives the Blink a run for its money with the added option of vehicle, animal, and package alerts. But these features now require a paid subscription of a whopping $18 a month, and there’s no local storage or 24/7 recording. Arlo has recently introduced some interesting new ai-powered features (including facial recognition) that I’m currently testing. Plus, the doorbell integrates neatly with Arlo’s security system. If you have that and other Arlo cameras and are paying the $25 monthly fee for professional monitoring, you get all the smart alerts and recorded video for a better value. It does work with both Google Home and amazon Alexa but not Apple Home.
• The $60 Kasa Smart Doorbell (KD110) from TP-Link comes with a plug-in chime, 2K video quality, free person detection, and the option of local storage to a microSD card. It’s a wired doorbell with a 160-degree viewing angle and works with amazon Alexa and Google Home.
• I plan to test several subscription-free doorbells from Eufy, including the Eufy Doorbell E3340, C210, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/eufy-Security-Battery-Powered-Detection-Self-Installation/dp/B081C4JN51?tag=theverge02-20″>S220.

Photos by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

Update, December 11th: Updated to reflect current pricing and availability, along with the fact Ring’s new subscription plans are now in effect.