Best Video Doorbell Cameras of 2024

The second-gen Google Nest Doorbell (battery) and its wired counterpart typically cost $180 (though sometimes they're discounted), and they're a breeze to set up, whether you've got doorbell wiring or not. Along with live video feeds, two-way audio, and alert notifications, the Nest Doorbell 2nd gen includes event recording up to three hours without a subscription. These features won't match the ones you get with a subscription -- with Nest Aware or another service, like Ring's or Arlo's -- but they're a solid place to start if you're hoping to just try out a video doorbell for the first time. A nice bonus? The Nest Doorbell also works well with Google Assistant-powered devices like the Nest Hub.

Privacy-minded consumers will want to take note that Google complies with warrantless requests for footage during rare emergency situations, which you can read more about here. Other companies, including Arlo and Wyze, refuse to share footage without a warrant or subpoena compelling them to do so, while video processed via Apple's HomeKit Secure Video uses end-to-end encryption, which blocks Apple or any third party from accessing it at all.

The Ring Pro 2, with its $260 price tag, isn't the best value on the market, but if you're more worried about features than a cost-benefit analysis, this device won't steer you wrong. The Pro 2 has a superwide field of view, a 1:1 aspect ratio, 1536p resolution and all the basics you'd want your smart buzzer to have. What makes the Pro 2 stand out is its radar sensing and bird's-eye-view mode, which lets you track the movement of an interloper around your yard, to give a clear sense of their route and general activity. Beyond that, the Ring Pro 2 offers end-to-end video encryption.

If you're looking for solid performance and top-of-the-line features, the Ring Pro 2 is a solid bet, but you'll want to familiarize yourself with Ring's policies regarding law enforcement before buying in. The company has a long history of extensive partnerships with police organizations, and it complies with warrantless police requests for user footage during rare emergency situations, which you can read more about here. Ring's optional end-to-end encryption setting is good to have here if you're privacy-conscious -- turning it on will break some of Ring's features, but it'll also block Ring or any other third parties from accessing your footage at all.

Editors' note, Sept. 22, 2023: A reported security breach has affected some Wyze camera users. Out of caution and until Wyze resolves its systems for reporting breaches to users, we've removed our Editors' Choice designation from Wyze products. We will update this page as we reevaluate home security cameras and accessories.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Wyze offers one of the best video doorbells for the price, with its $100 Video Doorbell Pro. Not only is this doorbell cam battery-powered (which usually adds $50 or so to a doorbell cam's price tag), but it also offers 2K resolution, a 150-degree field of view with 1:1 aspect ratio, free cloud storage and much more. Throw in an included plug-in chime and you've got an incredible deal.

The fact that you can use the Wyze Pro wirelessly makes it the best wireless video doorbell on the market, too.

Update, Nov. 29: While Eufy states that none of your data is stored in the cloud if you don't want it to be, there is some evidence that your face and image of your front yard are sent to the cloud regardless of your choice. We are still learning more but keep this in mind before purchasing.

While most video doorbells sit in the same space as traditional ones, the Eufy video smart lock doubles as your home lock too. The video part is about as good as the Ring in terms of visuals; the 1080p resolution is more than good enough to capture faces and the AI can distinguish -- with varying degrees of success-- the difference between someone coming to your door and other distractions happening further away. The porch pirate test (or latency test if you want to use the technical term) we describe in our "how we test" article had mixed results. The doorbell did capture the "thief" in the act but it failed to alert me in time to catch them. It sometimes takes upwards of 8 to 10 seconds to alert me about a change at the door, which is much slower than others we've tested.

This Eufy video lock comes bundled with a wireless door chime that also doubles as a local storage hub so you don't have to worry about those pesky subscriptions. That's not to say Eufy doesn't have a cloud service if you want it; you just aren't forced to pay more. The locking system works almost flawlessly though. The fingerprint scanner recognizes each member of my family and unlocks the door within 2 seconds of them scanning their finger, and I even get a log of who opened or closed the door and at what time of the day. If you do have trouble with the fingerprint scanner there's always the number pad to fall back on too. Each person, along with their own fingerprint, gets their own code and you can even assign guests their own code when they visit.