honorable mentions
Photograph: Simon Hill
We've tested several other video doorbells. These are the people who have narrowly escaped from getting a place at the top.
Doro Hemma Doorbell for £150: A simplified smart doorbell for seniors is a solid idea, and Swedish manufacturer Doro gets quite a bit of that with the Hemma. It's a battery-powered doorbell that's easy to set up and use, offers a 1,440 x 1,440-pixel resolution with a decent frame rate (30 fps), local recording via a microSD card, and a plug-in ringer that Loud enough to hear. all over the house. It worked reliably during testing, and the app is intentionally simple, with a handy option to pass a call to a trusted friend or family member (they'll also need the app). Two-way audio works well, there's a handy zoom function when you livestream, and there's a siren to scare people away. It's designed to be simple, so there are no privacy zones or package alerts, and it can be very sensitive to busy front doors, although you can set it to alert only when the doorbell rings. Battery life is good, although the battery is not removable, so you'll have to take the doorbell off or use a portable charger to charge. Sadly, it is only available in the UK and Europe.
SimpliSafe Video Doorbell Pro for $170: If you're looking for a solid security system, SimpliSafe is likely on your radar, and for those with a SimpliSafe setup, the Video Doorbell Pro fits in nicely. Former WIRED reviewer Medea Giordano found it sensitive at first, but, after an update, she says it works almost perfectly, sending alerts fast and offering a nice clear view of her porch. The footage maxes out at 1080p, but the camera supports HDR to eliminate glare and has a 162-degree field of view. It has to be wired, and you need a $5 per month subscription to record video, but SimpliSafe also offers the option of professional monitoring (from $32 per month), which is rare for a doorbell and if you have So it would be understandable to have complete security arrangements with them.
Ring Battery Video Doorbell Pro for $230: The best battery doorbell from Amazon's Ring brand comes close to earning a full recommendation. It delivers high quality, clear video with HDR support and color night vision. Notifications were fast and accurate, and two-way audio was of relatively high quality. I appreciated the option to set multiple speed zones, including a potentially useful birds-eye zone that lets you define the range. The preroll feature captures a few seconds before each clip (albeit at a lower resolution), which can be helpful. Because there's no local recording option, you'll have to subscribe to Ring Protect at $5/month ($50/year) for one camera, but that gives you 180-days of video storage, rich notifications, and person and package tracking Also available. But all these bells and whistles come at a premium, and battery life was disappointing (three weeks). You can mitigate this by buying a second battery to swap out, as it's removable, or opt for the Wired Doorbell Pro instead (though we haven't tested it yet).
TP-Link Tapo (D230S1) Smart Battery Video Doorbell for $120: For people looking for a local storage option that doesn't require a subscription, this Tapo Doorbell is worth a look. Notifications come through fast and include a steady image, video quality is excellent even at night, and the indoor hub takes a microSD card and doubles as a doorbell. The downside is that it's thick and the onboard AI (which is supposed to recognize people, pets, vehicles, and packages) is flaky.
hard to recommend
Photograph: Simon Hill
We didn't like every video doorbell we tested. These are the ones we don't recommend.
Reolink Video Doorbell (battery) for $146.: We liked Reolink's wired doorbell listed above, so I was excited to try its first battery-powered model, but it was disappointing. It offers up to 2K footage with a 1:1 aspect ratio that gives you a full view of the porch, but it lacks HDR and has a relatively low frame rate (15 fps). I like the option of being subscription-free, but it means inserting a microSD card into the doorbell itself, and removing it is relatively easy. Reolink suggests up to five months of battery life, but mine drained in less than two months, and the rechargeable battery inside can't be removed, so you have to take the doorbell off to recharge it. A slightly confusing app, relatively slow loading times and connection glitches, and it's impossible to recommend.
Ezviz EP3x Pro for £133: This is a far better-looking doorbell than previous models from Ezviz, and it's nice to see solar panels as an option for the doorbell, though you'll need a porch capable of catching some rays. Video quality is good, and you get a split view (as in Eufy above) that includes packages or cats waiting at your door. Distortion correction works well, and there's optional color night vision with a built-in light, though it only works at very close range. I appreciate the 2FA with fingerprint login and 32GB of onboard storage (cloud storage is an optional extra). Sadly, if you use solar panels, you can't connect to your wired chime. The lack of HDR is disappointing, human detection was a bit difficult (it frequently pinged for my cat), and I had problems with alerts failing on some Android phones (even after following Ezviz's instructions, they didn't work on my Never worked reliably on Xiaomi 14 Ultra). This model is not yet available in America.
BotsLab Video Doorbell 2 Pro for $170:The flaky setup process required a few restarts, and the physical installation was no better, as the supplied screws were so cheap that one of the heads actually broke off. The camera has a fisheye effect, but you can correct it with different views. I liked the VR mode, which provides a 180-degree view of your front porch. It comes with an easy-to-plug-in chime, the alerts sound reliable, there's an HDR option, and you can record locally (32GB included) or to the cloud. You can also set a detection range, which can be useful for street cameras. But the app is confusing, with an AI tab that lists different skills available for purchase. It has a login history and a limit on signing in to two devices simultaneously, but no 2FA, making it impossible to recommend. It is versatile but also relatively expensive.
Wyze Video Doorbell Pro for $100: The Wise Video Doorbell Pro (7/10, Wired Review) was our budget recommendation, but with caveats. It alerts reliably, offers clear video, and has accurate AI for detecting people, but you need a Cam Plus subscription (from $3/month). This camera model was not one of those affected by The security flaw that Wyze failed to fix Or report customers for three years, but only recently after repeated security breaches on the part of Wyze Exposing thousands of camera feeds to other customersIt's hard to recommend its cameras anymore.
Swan SwanBuddy Video Doorbell for $150: This doorbell comes with a wireless battery-powered ringer and the option for local storage, but the positives end there. The video quality is poor, the app is very slow to load and glitchy, and the doorbell often fails to register motion. I found the battery life disappointing. I also have to question the decision to provide local storage via a microSD card inserted in the doorbell (the chime would make more sense and be more secure).
Ezviz DB2 Video Doorbell for $180: An affordable video doorbell that comes with a plug-in chime, the Ezviz DB2 works quite well, but it's very bulky and ugly. The video footage is detailed, but I had problems with bright areas when the sun was shining. The app is solid and fast to load, pressing the doorbell places a call on your phone, and you can record locally by inserting a microSD card into the doorbell. Sadly, it only offers a very limited option for defining motion zones – which is a big problem if you live on a busy road. I also found the battery life to be below average, and it's difficult to drain.