Whether you want to improve your home’s security or simply know who’s at the door, the latest generation of smart doorbells will help put your mind at ease
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Doorbells have evolved. Today, they watch us as we approach, let the people inside the home know we’re coming sooner than our finger can hit the button, and give them a good look at our faces before they open the door. They’re essentially security cameras with a chime function.
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If you haven’t already installed one of these handy tools, there’s a huge array available. Choosing the best video doorbell can be a bewildering task, with various factors to consider, including how much of your doorstep you want to see and whether you’re prepared to pay for a subscription. To help make the decision a little bit easier, I tested 11 popular video doorbells to find the best.
Best video doorbell overallRing Battery Doorbell Pro
Best budget video doorbellBlink Battery Doorbell 2K+
Best for Google Home usersGoogle Nest Doorbell (battery)
Best subscription-free video doorbellEufy Video doorbell E340
I’ve been testing products, including everything from vacuum cleaners and robot lawnmowers to computers and games, for various publications for more than three decades. I’ve also owned a video doorbell for several years, so I am well aware of their strengths and weaknesses. It gives me a good understanding of what I’m likely to be looking for in the next one I buy.
The only way to test a doorbell is to stick it next to your front door and see how well it works. To this end, I’ve mounted 11 doorbells to various rigged-up contraptions over the past 18 months or so. With these, I can compare several doorbells at once, seeing how they all react to the comings and goings of my doorstep. Delivery drivers were rightly suspicious of the number of buttons and cameras that appeared as new models were reviewed, and struggled to work out whether it was them or the doorbells that were being tested.
I’m not sure whether my neighbours noticed them all or spotted the number of times I lapped my drive at various times of day and night to test the movement sensors. If they did, they were too polite to mention it.
I compare the doorbells by measuring how close I can get to the door before the motion detection is triggered, how much video is recorded and how useful that footage is. I time how long it takes for notifications to reach the doorbells’ apps on a smartphone and how long it takes for the doorbell to send an alert or ring a chime (if included) when its button is pressed. I also test the apps, examine the prices and consider the additional cost of subscriptions.
All the doorbells that didn’t need to be returned to the brands after testing are being donated to the British Heart Foundation.
When this article was first published, it included an older version of Amazon’s Ring Doorbell Pro, which has since been discontinued. I wasn’t overly impressed with it for a variety of reasons, but Ring has pulled out all the stops with this newer version, addressing most of its weaknesses and leapfrogging its rivals with a host of useful features.
