TECHNOLOGYtech

19 Best Doorbell Cameras to Guard Yourself Against Home Intruders

Best Doorbell Cameras

Ding dong! The familiar tone of your doorbell summons you to your door to receive your guest. Except you aren’t expecting anyone. And it’s 3 AM. Would you open the door just to know who it could be? This is why you should reinforce your doorbell with a doorbell camera. With it, you can see exactly who is at the door before you even open it. In this article, we show you 20 of the best doorbell cameras you can get to protect yourself against home intruders.

 

19 Best Doorbell Camera Devices to Reinforce Your Home

The Arlo Video Doorbell is a simple yet stellar doorbell camera. It feeds live HD footage to your phone, letting you see who’s at the door without getting up. Moreover, it is compatible with Amazon Alexa, perfect for integration into your Alexa-based smart home.

Arlo is also easy to install and provides cloud storage for $3/month. This subscription also grants you advanced features like smart alerts for packages, people, animals, etc. 

The August Doorbell Cam Pro functions well as a doorbell camera, capable of recording detailed HD video footage and even detecting motion in its field of view. It also comes with in-built two-way audio that lets you hear every word your guest/intruder has to say with clarity. As a bonus, the camera also has Hindsight recording and colored night vision to give you the fullest profiles of your doorstep visitors. 

Unfortunately, the August Doorbell doesn’t support IFTTT like many other doorbell camera devices. You also need to subscribe to a $4.99/month service to view previously recorded videos.

The Blue by ADT doorbell camera is a well-rounded option, coming packed with features like motion detection, facial recognition, HD video, live alerts, and two-way audio. With it, you’re sure to ward off intruders and ensure the safety of your home.

Furthermore, Blue works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, letting it integrate snugly into your smart home setup. 

Like its competitors, Blue operates on a subscription basis, imposing a $2.99/month fee for 60-day storage—quite a steal given the quality of the video output it generates

Byron is an underrated doorbell camera, but it most certainly shouldn’t be. This is because it is packed full of fantastic features, including a 160° field of view, FHD video recording, two-way audio, and infrared night vision.

Furthermore, this doorbell camera also includes motion detection and can connect to your existing wiring. If you don’t like wired connections, you can get its wireless version instead.

Byron doesn’t come with any sort of cloud subscription, as it lets you store video files locally with the included memory card. Alternatively, you can also link the device to other cloud services like Dropbox.

The Eufy T8200 also does away with subscriptions, coming equipped with 4 GB of in-built storage—good for 30 days’ worth of footage. 

This doorbell camera also delivers a stellar performance, starting from the good video quality it records footage in. It can also detect people and mark convenient monitoring zones. And if you’re away when guests come a-knocking, the Eufy T8200 can leave them with voice messages so that they aren’t left hanging.

The Eufy T8200 is set back by the fact that it only works with a proprietary doorbell chime, meaning that you cannot add it to your pre-existing wiring.

Battery-powered, 2K resolution, smart home integration—the Eufy Video Doorbell 2K has it all. It also comes with night vision, two-way audio, and even 16 GB of internal storage.

With this camera, you have the flexibility to choose between a wired and a wireless version. If you feel like the 16 GB of internal storage is insufficient, you can top up with cloud storage for $2.99/month.

The Ezviz DB1C Wi-Fi Video Doorbell is versatile, has great quality, and is relatively affordable. It comes equipped with both local and cloud storage, giving you the choice between one or the other. Furthermore, its viewing angles are wide, providing you with detailed videos of your doorstep.

Apart from these, Ezviz is also convenient because of voice assistant integration. It works with Alexa and Google Assistant, and even supports IFTTT and other smart devices. Unfortunately, it does require wiring, so skip it if you want something wireless.

The Lorex 2K QHD Wired Video Doorbell is a beast when it comes to delivering high-quality videos. That’s because it provides QHD videos with HDR and even has colored night vision to help you record footage at night. It can also detect people as a bonus.

Apart from these, the Lorex doorbell camera conveniently comes with local storage for easy file management. It also works with Alexa and Google Assistant. However, it doesn’t support IFTTT, HomeKit, and third-party smart devices.

Are you looking for a wired doorbell camera that’s simple to use with a wide view? Then you should consider the Maximus Answer DualCam. It has two cameras: one on top and one on the bottom. This allows for 180° vertical viewing for better security.

Both cameras record high-resolution video, with FHD on top and HD on the bottom. Moreover, it’s fairly easy to install, even for the non-tech-savvy. 

This camera does come with a pretty expensive subscription service, costing $4.99/month for a seven-day storage capacity. It also isn’t very good at recording audio, with users complaining of its soft volume that makes it hard to hear anything.

If you use voice assistants and smart home devices, then this camera is not for you, as it’s incompatible with such devices.

The Nest Hello is one of the more expensive options on this list at $458, but it’s well worth its hefty price tag. For starters, this camera is able to record high-resolution video with a 160° viewing angle, along with crisp and clear audio. The camera also comes with facial recognition functionality to tell you who’s at the door right away.

To use this facial recognition functionality and other advanced features, you’ll need to pair the Nest Hello with Google Assistant-enabled devices and subscribe to Nest Aware for $6/month. Do note that this subscription grants you just 30 days’ worth of video storage.

One of the most feature-rich doorbell camera options here is the RemoBell S ($99 on Remoplus). It provides all the most important features like HD video, two-way audio, and motion detection. But it doesn’t stop there. The RemoBell S also gives you free cloud storage and works with IFTTT, Alexa, and Google Assistant.

To top it off, this doorbell camera is also easy to install and is incredibly cheap. The only downside is that it records everything in fisheye mode and it isn’t wireless.

The Ring Peephole Cam isn’t a doorbell camera per se. It’s more of a peephole camera, reacting to both doorbell rings and door knocks.

With this device, you get a 1080p, 155° viewing with night vision included. It also comes with motion detection and two-way audio functionalities to give you a well-rounded experience. Before getting this device, however, make sure that your door has a peephole and meets its door thickness requirement.

If you want a cheap Ring camera, the original Ring Video Doorbell 2 is a good choice. It holds Ring’s household name and is a high-quality product despite its low price.

For one, it records videos at 1080p with a 160° viewing angle. It also works with Alexa, Google Assistant, Nest, and IFTTT. Coming in wired and wireless variants, the Ring Video Doorbell 2 even comes with customizable motion zones to finetune your alerts. 

Cloud storage is chargeable at $30/year for 60 days’ worth of storage.

The Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus is the upgraded version of the Ring 3. It features a completely wireless design with pre-roll video capture in 1080p. It also supports Alexa and IFTTT and has a dual-band Wi-Fi connection built-in.

Unfortunately, this doorbell camera doesn’t support Google Assistant or Apple HomeKit, and it requires a subscription for you to store and view recorded videos. 

The Ring Video Doorbell Elite is pricier than other Ring doorbells with a tag of over $300. However, this price is justified, given what the Elite brings to the table. 

The Elite has all the basics: a 160° field of view, 1080p video, night vision, and smart home integration through Alexa. Moreover, it also boasts IFTTT support and two-way audio.

What makes the Elite special is its in-built Ethernet connection—this means that you won’t have to deal with choppy Wi-Fi connections. It also has customizable motion detection to ensure that all alerts are accounted for.

The Elite also has interchangeable faceplates, letting you change its aesthetics to fit the design of your house. 

Ring Video Doorbell Pro has a lot going for it. It has basic functions like night vision, a 160° field of view, and 1080p resolution. Apart from these, it supports both 2.4 and 5GHz Wi-Fi. 

Sadly, the Ring Pro doesn’t have a built-in battery, meaning that you’ll need a wired connection to make it work. However, you do get multiple color options and swappable faceplates like the Elite.

 

The Ring Video Doorbell Wired is a more affordable option with all the essentials: two-way audio, 1080p video, night vision, and a 155° horizontal field of view. It can also connect to 2.4GHz Wi-Fi connections.

However, as its name suggests, this camera requires a wired connection to work—something that you may not be too fond of. It also doesn’t work with pre-existing doorbells and needs a compatible Ring chime to function.

If you want a subtle doorbell camera, the SimpliSafe Video Doorbell Pro is the way to go. With its small and unassuming appearance, this doorbell camera fits very well into a minimalistic aesthetic. 

Appearance aside, this little camera performs its job very well, recording video footage in high-quality HDR. It’s also compatible with most existing doorbells, saving you the hassle of reconfiguring and rewiring to make it work.

The Vivint Pro is a high-end doorbell camera that grants you access to a whole suite of premium functionalities: high-resolution videos, HDR, detailed zoom, voice control, and even package detection. It also has a wide field of view with connection support for other Vivint devices and has dual-band Wi-Fi.

The Vivint Pro doesn’t have a fixed price, and you’ll have to request a quote from Vivint’s website to get your hands on it.

Install a Doorbell Camera to Protect Your Home

It’s a good idea to set up a doorbell camera to act as your first line of defense against would-be intruders. To this end, simply decide on your budget, pick out one from our list, and you’re good to go.

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *