In just a few short years, video doorbells have exploded on the scene. It makes sense in a lot of ways, as it is another security feature that is relatively inexpensive. Many people already have home security cameras set up, but this is half security camera, half doorbell.
With a market that is quickly becoming crowded, I tried out some of the top options available right now. What I quickly realized is that there isn’t a concrete answer for this question. Fortunately, there are a few brands putting out great options for people to consider depending on their situation. Here is a look at the best video doorbell options currently on the market today. I go over what I liked and didn’t like, and then in the end, give my best recommendations.
Ring has really stepped up their advertising, but I had to see if they lived up to the hype as one of the true leaders in video doorbell options. This is their second version, and they have touted some big changes to keep up with a growing list of competitors.
Buy the Ring Video Doorbell 2 Here
Installation: 10/10
The best feature on this video doorbell is the fact that you don’t have to deal with electrical wiring. That’s right, the Ring Video Doorbell 2 has a removable lithium ion battery that makes it easy to install and recharge when needed. You can, of course, opt to install it with wires, but the versatility is just not there with other options.
Installation itself only takes about five minutes as well. Again, I can’t stress enough how nice it is to not deal with wires. No other major video doorbell option offers this ability to not deal with electric wiring, and take it from someone who is not handy: it saves a lot of headache.
Compatibility: 9/10
Setting up the video doorbell was easy, and I was able to access the live feed and controls from my iPhone, work laptop and home laptop without any issues. I found the app to be helpful, especially when customizing recording preferences. Connecting to the live feed was fast both on the same wifi and away from home.
The Ring Video Doorbell 2 is compatible with Alexa, which adds the element of voice control for those looking for a more connected smart home experience.
Design: 8/10
From a design standpoint, Ring makes the best effort out of the video doorbell leaders to make sure that there are color options to mesh well with the exterior of a home. Every Ring Video Doorbell 2 comes with a few different color finish options. The more options the better in my opinion, since the doorbell needs to match the exterior of a home.
Branding is important, but if I can nitpick a bit, I’m not a huge fan of the print they use on the bottom of their video doorbells. Maybe it works well in keeping people with bad intentions away since it’s hard to miss what brand the video doorbell is.
Video: 9/10
I was pretty impressed overall with the video quality from the Ring Video Doorbell 2. It also did a great job recognizing when it needed to do recordings. There are so many video doorbell options on the market that end up recording plastic bags or other “incidents” that are nothing. During my test, it recorded what it should, and ignored what it should.
Field of view is solid at 160 degrees, but lagging a bit compared to the competition. It does have the sharpest video quality on the market, with 1080p resolution. Day and night video was extremely clear.
Storage: 7/10
Cloud storage is fairly affordable at $3 per month, with 60-day storage. Each purchase comes with a free trial, which is what I tried to make sure everything worked well. It was extremely easy to access the live feed basically whenever I wanted to.
Singing up for a monthly fee is something I’m not crazy about, so the score for storage will take a hit on every option looking to nickel and dime.
With a starting price a little higher than most, it might be tough for some to jump on the Nest Hello. It’s a crowded market for sure, but I found enough from them to justify the difference in pricing.
Buy The New Hello Video Doorbell Here
Installation: 6/10
There is no way around working with your home’s electrical wiring when installing the Nest Hello Video Doorbell. If you don’t have any experience, it is probably best to hire someone. You also need an existing chime box, which not everyone has on their home already. These two roadblocks to a smooth installation process will keep some away from even giving Nest a try. If you can get past those issues, once installed there is virtually no maintenance.
Compatibility: 9/10
Out of all the video doorbells I tried, this one had the best smart home support. It has great versatility, working on a variety of platforms like Alexa, Google Assistant and Nest itself. It also offers the best online support available, which is a plus for first-time users who might have a lot of questions.
I like the flexibility of the Nest Hello for the future. It is a Google-owned company after all, so they are the most likely to get some cool new features. Some might be free, and others will come at a premium, but still a good overall video doorbell.
Design: 10/10
The Nest Hello Video Doorbell is small, sleek and professional looking. Branding is there, but not in your face. I really like the look as it blends into any type of exterior design without any issue.
Doorbells of yesteryear were pretty simple, and that seems to be what Nest is going with in regards to their design. It works well and looks the best out of the ones reviewed in this article.
Video: 10/10
The viewing range is average (160 degrees), but everything else regarding video quality for the Nest Hello Video Doorbell is of the highest quality.
Video is so sharp that Nest offers a Familiar Faces feature for their users. The device is able to learn and detect frequent visitors over time. Couple that with quick responses in multiple languages, and Nest just seems a little ahead of the competition with bonus features built right in. Of course, so features come at a price, but the company is doing a great job showing what they are capable of.
Free person detection is another great feature that isn’t offered by the competitors at this point, but it is definitely useful. It doesn’t have the ability to tell you who is at the door, but it will alert someone that they saw a person.
Storage: 7/10
For an upgrade fee of $5 per month or $50 per year, the company offers the Nest Aware cloud subscription. This allows a person to access saved video recordings, and it adds some of their most innovative features. To a lot of people, this might not be needed, but having that option, even if it costs extra, is a nice bonus. Video history can be increased for higher priced plans.
This second-generation smart buzzer from August hits all the major selling points. The HD live-streaming looks great, you get motion alerts instantly and the two-way audio works great. However, for some reason, the way they handle visitors at night left me a little puzzled.
Buy The August Doorbell Cam Pro Here
Installation: 8/10
Another video doorbell with wires once again means it can be a bit troublesome for people who aren’t handy. The installation process is pretty much the exact same as all other competitors initially.
The August Doorbell Cam Pro is limited in that this only works with specific door frames, as well as mechanical chimes. It’s hard to say how many people can’t use this because of that, but for example, my parents could not install this video doorbell even if they wanted to.
Compatibility: 6/10
This is pretty much a must-have if you are already using a bunch of other August products, because everything works so well together. If you aren’t using August products though, there might be cheaper options with night vision that are better fits.
No IFTTT Integration does hurt this August product quite a bit. It just seems like August is too locked into their own system to really want to work well with others.
Design: 8/10
The August Doorbell Cam Pro has a nice, futuristic look to it that I really like. It almost looks like an outdoor speaker or something at first glance. To me, it looks the most like a non-video doorbell, if that makes sense. Some people might not want to advertise to the world that they have one, so this is a more discrete look.
The bulk of the August Doorbell Cam Pro might be tough to adjust to if you are coming from something smaller. It isn’t really that much bigger, just seems that way compared to a lot of video doorbells that have a more rectangular shape.
Video: 7/10
Night vision is something almost all competitors use, but August has opted for a LED floodlight for the night time. They market it as allowing consumers to view the feed in color instead of black and white, but the video feed just is not that clear to me. I had trouble making out people when running tests, especially compared to nearly identical situations with the competitors. Maybe others will appreciate the color video at night, but for me, I prefer night vision. It allows me to just see things a little bit better for the most part.
Field of view is also limited to just 120 degrees with the August Doorbell Cam Pro. I noticed when trying it out that it still works really well and you can see just about everything, but the competitors are in the 160-180 degree range. To me it just seems weird that they can’t match what everyone else is doing, since at the very least it looks good on paper.
Storage: 7/10
The $5 per month for cloud storage is a bummer any time I see it, and something to consider long term. It does work seamlessly, but there are free options that work as well. I do like that August makes it easy to hold onto video recordings, but for the monthly fee, you would think that is pretty standard across the board.
SkyBell HD is priced competitively, has a simple, rounded design and a bunch of features others don’t. Is it able to stand out from the competition?
Installation: 8/10
The installation process for the SkyBell HD is pretty standard for a wired connection. It will cost a little extra if you are not familiar with wiring, but the company provides a lot of the needed tools to make installation easy. Once installed, this is a very versatile video doorbell.
According to operating temperature ranges, the SkyBell HD has the largest range amongst all the major competitors right now. So if you live where the weather gets below -10 degree F routinely, this will hold up fine.
Compatibility: 9/10
SkyBell HD works flawlessly with other smart devices, Alexa voice commands, IFTTT and more. The one glaring omission? It’s web app. That’s because, it doesn’t have a web app. It’s weird for a video doorbell to not have one at this point in the game, but honestly, it doesn’t hurt performance much at all.
Design: 9/10
The design is a bit different than other video doorbell options on the market, but I kind of liked the rounded look. It’s a 2.8 inches across, and sticks out from the door less than an inch, which helps keep things pretty low profile. However, not every door frame is going to be able to fit the SkyBell HD, which is something to keep in consideration. Their website helps shoppers as much as possible when it comes to checking beforehand if their doorbell will actually work in each situation.
The look is unique amongst a bunch of rectangles, so it might not be for everyone. Outside of the rounded look though, it is one of the simplest face designs, so it should fit in with all types of homes.
Video: 8/10
It might not have all the bells and whistles some of the other competitors have, but it does deliver 1080p resolution and it works well with a bunch of different third-party integrations. It also has a pretty simple to use app. On top of all that, it has the widest field of view out of the major players, at 180 degrees, which means more can be seen when going through the archives.
I was a fan of the color night video, as I was able to see more of what was going on. What really helped with the recording process is that SkyBell HD actually records a few seconds before a triggered event to make sense of it all. It’s a feature all video doorbells should really start including.
Storage: 10/10
So you like the idea of cloud storage, without having to pay an extra fee like with most options? If that’s the case, SkyBell HD might be exactly what is needed. Far and away, the best feature from this video doorbell is the ability to have free, 7-day event-based cloud storage. That basically means if SkyBell detects motion or the doorbell has been rung, the company will store the event for seven days in the app’s saved video history. All the other major companies charge a monthly fee for this service, so getting it for free is great.
Without question, the free cloud storage is the main selling point for this video doorbell. I am someone who wants to always know what is going on. I want the ability to go back and check on something. What I don’t need in my life is another subscription service.
Final Thoughts
I have a smaller home, and my doorbell slot was able to work well with the SkyBell HD. The free cloud storage for the previous seven days was the feature I felt I would use the most. That’s why for my needs, I went with the SkyBell HD. It helped a little that it was cheaper, but at the end of the day, they are all close enough in price to not really be influenced by that.
Installation and setup and easy, as is the case for all the video doorbells listed above. While I’m not getting a chance to try all of them out for months, I just felt like SkyBell HD offered the best all-around package. After that, I really loved not needing wires for the Ring Video Doorbell 2.
Born and raised in Chicago. Former high school teacher who became sick of getting summers off so I took on a 12-month a year job.
