Performance: All smart doorbells need a strong Wi-Fi signal to work well. Some come with hubs that act as Wi-Fi repeaters for a better connection. Remember that performance outside the home when accessing your phone’s ringer will be greatly affected by the quality of your phone’s Internet connection. All of the video doorbells we’ve tested have a slight delay, but you should be able to see the live feed in near real-time and have a two-way conversation. While streams should load in two to three seconds, occasional delays in loading the live stream are common and we have yet to find a perfect ringtone. Video doorbells tend to load faster in their native app.
Wired or battery powered: Smart doorbells require more power than traditional doorbells. You may need a new transformer and will probably want to hire an electrician for safe installation. The main advantages of wired doorbells are that they will not need to be touched again after installation and will ring your current doorbell. Wired doorbells also tend to be a little cheaper and slimmer than battery-powered models.
Battery-operated smart doorbells are easy to install yourself and can be mounted wherever you want. The main disadvantage is that you have to remove and charge the battery every few months, which means some downtime unless you buy a replacement battery to power it. Also remember that your regular doorbell ringer won’t work with a battery-powered smart doorbell, so you’ll probably need to purchase a wireless doorbell device to plug in somewhere in your home, although you can also set up smart speakers to act as ringtones.
Most battery-powered video doorbells can also be wired, which may be the best solution if you’re worried about power outages. Wired doorbells generally alert faster and are more reliable than battery-operated doorbells.
Resolution and HDR: The higher the resolution, the clearer the image, but keep in mind that higher resolution video also requires more bandwidth to transmit and takes up more storage space. If your porch is exposed to direct sunlight or deep shade, we highly recommend opting for an HDR-compatible video doorbell as it helps prevent bright areas from appearing dull or shady areas from being too dark to see.
Field of view and aspect ratio: If you want a head-to-toe view of the person at your front door, think about the field of view and aspect ratio your potential choice offers. A wider field of view will capture more, but may cause a fisheye effect. Instead of a traditional horizontal aspect ratio, you may prefer a square or vertical view to ensure you can see the visitor’s face and any packages that may be on your porch.
Local or cloud storage: If you don’t want to sign up for a subscription service and upload video clips to the cloud, make sure your chosen doorbell offers local storage. Some video doorbells have microSD card slots, while others record video to a hub device inside your home. You can expect to pay between $3 and $8 per month for 30 days of storage for a video doorbell.
Advanced Features: Many video doorbells offer features like package detection and person recognition. These features can be useful for filtering alerts so that you only receive useful notifications. Please note that you may need a subscription to access advanced features.
Choose a brand: If you already have a security camera system or are planning to purchase one, it makes a lot of sense to stick with the same brand for your doorbell. That way, you can access everything in the same app and get a single subscription if necessary. If you have a smart home setup, check that the doorbell is compatible with your preferred ecosystem and voice assistant.
Security: A couple of things we recommend looking for are two-factor authentication (2FA) to ensure that someone with your username and password can’t log into your doorbell, and encryption to ensure that anyone accessing the manufacturer’s servers cannot You can view your Wi-Fi login details or view uploaded videos.