Best video doorbells 2024: Reviews and buying advice

Your front door is the front line of your home’s security. If you don’t already have a video doorbell there, you should consider adding one. In addition to making it easier for your visitors to let you know they’re on your porch, a doorbell camera lets you safely see who’s on your porch, even if you’re not home at the moment. They’re so useful you might want to mount one next to every entry point into your home: side entrances, at your garage door, and the door to your backyard, for example.

Whether you’re watching for trouble-makers, monitoring for parcel deliveries, waiting for friends to visit, or hiding from that weird neighbor who keeps asking to borrow your lawn mower, video doorbells are becoming essential security tools.

Why you should trust us

TechHive’s editors and contributors have been testing video doorbells since 2014, and we continuously evaluate the latest devices along with their accompanying apps. We’ve checked out a wide range of video doorbells, including hardwired and battery-powered models; high-end and budget units; doorbells that can detect motion, people, and packages; and video doorbells and peephole cameras for apartment dwellers. You can trust us to guide you to the right video doorbell for your needs and budget.

Updated April 30, 2024: We’ve added a link to our Aqara Smart Video Doorbell G4 review. On the bright side, this doorbell–made by one of the stronger smart home hub builders in the market–has a remote plug-in chime; supports Apple’s HomeKit smart home ecosystem, including HomeKit Secure Video; and offers the option of local storage option via microSD card, which eliminates the need for a cloud storage subscription. On the downside, it doesn’t seem to be very well protected from the elements, stating in its user manual than it must be installed in a location with “no condensation.”

Our top picks in video doorbells

What to look for when shopping for a video doorbell

Here’s a guide to some of the key operation features in the video doorbell market. Be sure to keep these features in mind as you shop.

Aspect ratio

If you want to catch porch pirates in the act, make sure to pick a video doorbell with a square or vertically-oriented aspect ratio.

Such a “head-to-toe” view makes it easier for the doorbell’s camera to capture activity on your doorstep–like the theft of a package–that a camera with a wider angle might miss.

Motion detection

Most video doorbells come equipped with motion sensors that trigger video recordings when they detect movement.

The best models, however, will also be able to differentiate between random movement in the frame (such as tree branches swaying in the wind, insects scurrying across the lens, or infrared light-illuminated flecks of dust floating in the air) from movement you might be more interested in, such as that caused by people, pets, packages, and vehicles.

Such advanced, AI-powered motion detection will cut down on the number of nuisance video events you’ll need to wade through. That said, advanced motion detection often (though not always) requires a subscription plan.

Also, while some video doorbells rely on the cloud to detect person, pet, package, or vehicle events, others can process motion events locally; such “on-device” motion detection is preferable both in terms of responsiveness as well as privacy.

Motion and privacy zones

Motion zones allow you to designate only specific areas within the frame where motion would trigger an alert; for example, you might set up a motion zone that covers the area in front of your doorstep but excludes the sidewalk or street beyond.

Privacy zones, on the other hand, let you block out an area of the frame where you don’t want any motion detection or recording at all, useful if you want to preserve the privacy of a neighbor’s window.

Night vision and two-way talk

Porch pirates love to operate in the dark, so night vision is a key feature to look for in a video doorbell.

Color night vision is also nice to have, but it usually requires at least some ambient light, or else the footage will only be in black and white.

Two-way talk is another standard video doorbell feature, which is necessary for speaking to visitors when you’re not home or otherwise can’t come to the door.

Local storage

Some video doorbells can store video events locally rather than in the cloud. Local storage usually involves a removable memory card that’s installed either inside the device itself on a nearby smart hub.

Either way, locally stored videos could save you the monthly cost of cloud storage–although subscription plans usually offer other benefits besides cloud storage, such as advanced motion detection and rich mobile notifications.

Another potential benefit to local storage is 24/7 video recording. (Most cloud storage options only store video from detected motion events, not the time periods between them).

Questions and answers about video doorbells

Other recent video doorbell reviews

We’ve evaluated many other video doorbells. If none of our top picks check all the boxes for you, take a look at these other products.

Arlo has some excellent indoor and outdoor security cameras, and if you own some of them, you’ll want a doorbell in the same ecosystem. Fortunately, the Arlo Video Doorbell is not only excellent, it’s also affordable at $150 (just be aware that Arlo’s not-really-optional subscription has jumped in price to $7.99 per month–for a single camera). This is a wired doorbell, however; there is no battery-power option.

Aqara has an increasingly robust smart home ecosystem, including the HomeKit-compatible and subscription-fee Aqara Smart Video Doorbell G4, but the company’s recommendation that it be installed in a location with “no condensation” leaves us wondering how protected from the elements it might be.

Eufy offers several dual-camera security cameras, and now it has a video doorbell with the same feature. The Eufy Video Doorbell Dual (model E340) has a front-facing camera to capture a view of your visitor, and a down-facing camera to capture packages left on your porch. This model can operate on either battery or low-voltage power if you have the wiring in place. Eufy is one of few security camera brands that doesn’t tie you to a subscription (though one is available for cloud storage, if you want it).

The $150 Nooie Cam Doorbell is from a less-familiar brand, but the battery-powered device earned a 4-star review.

Ring brings its radar-powered 3D motion detection and Bird’s Eye View feature to a battery-powered doorbell camera for the first time with the Ring Battery Doorbell Pro. Previously, these features were limited to the Ring Wired Doorbell Pro (formerly sold as the Video Doorbell Pro 2). The Pro packs an excellent camera and it’s loaded with features, but it’s also expensive at $230.

TP-Link’s wired Kasa Smart Doorbell is a great value at $50–it earned 3.5 stars from us–and it comes with a remote chime and local storage (you’ll need to supply your own microSD card). But you’ll need to sign up for a subscription to be able to share video clips from within the app.

People looking for HomeKit compatibility have another option in the Wemo Smart Video Doorbell, a $250 wired doorbell with a dual-band Wi-Fi adapter. It’s on the chunky side, though, and Belkin–the company behind the Wemo brand–has stepped back from its pledge to support the Matter smart home standard for the time being.

Video Doorbells