Best video doorbell 2022: ranking the best doorbell cameras we’ve tested

In our opinion, Arlo's first video doorbell is the best available on the market right now. If you already have other Arlo devices, it's a no-brainer; if not, it should still be top of the list of considerations. 

Slim and stylish, it displays super-detailed footage. Thanks to the camera's 180-degree field of view and 1:1 aspect ratio, you can view the full length of the person at your door, including any packages on the ground by their feet.

This is a mains-powered unit, so we'd recommend it's professionally installed, but Arlo does offer a battery-powered version called Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free (opens in new tab).

It's one of a handful of doorbell cameras that integrates with Alexa, Google Assistant, and HomeKit. However, you'll need to subscribe to the Arlo Secure service to get the most out of the doorbell, including features such as going back and viewing who was at the door if you missed the call and giving callers the chance to leave a message for you.

Read our full review: Arlo Video Doorbell (opens in new tab)

The Ring Video Doorbell Wired is the brand's most affordable video doorbell and offers excellent value for money. Like other Ring smart doorbells, it records clear Full HD video and audio but has a slightly narrower 155-degree field of view. 

That said, this is such a slight difference, we found you didn't lose much from the picture, and it's a more than acceptable compromise to keep the price so low.

The Full HD color footage from the doorbell camera looked clear and detailed, and while the video recorded after dark was in black and white rather than color, it was still easy to see.  

There's no option to use this Ring Video Doorbell on battery power and to make installation as simple as possible. It will stop any existing chimes you have in your home. Unfortunately, this means they won't sound when the doorbell is pressed - if you want an audible alert in your home to signal someone's at the door, you'll need to either link the doorbell to an Amazon Echo Smart speaker, if you have one or purchase the Ring Chime or Ring Chime Pro. However, while the doorbell offers Alexa integration, there's no support for Google Assistant or HomeKit.

You'd need to subscribe to Ring Protect to review who was at the door if you missed the original alert. Still, it also offers other smart features, such as setting zones, so you're only alerted about activity in these areas.

Read our full review: Ring Video Doorbell Wired (opens in new tab) 

Ring's almost top-of-the-range video doorbell comes a close second to its Arlo rival - with footage that's just as detailed and in the same 1:1 aspect ratio so you can see the full length of anyone on your doorstep and any packages they might have with them - although, at 150 degrees, it is a slightly smaller field of view than Arlo's rival doorbell offers. 

Where it betters, its rival is with colorized night vision. The camera takes ambient light areas within its field of view and applies a simulated color to them – tinting the sky blue, for example. Of course, it doesn't create a full-color picture, but in our time with the product, we certainly found that it made night-time footage easier to decipher. 

To get the most out of the Ring Doorbell Video Pro 2, you'll need to subscribe to the Ring Protect service, whose features include the ability to review who was at the door if you missed the alert. 

Full integration with Amazon Alexa means you can use an Echo speaker (opens in new tab) to announce a doorbell press and converse with whoever is on the doorstep, rather than using your smartphone. If you're in the US, the Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 even lets Alexa "answer" the door for you, taking a message as part of its Alexa Greetings (opens in new tab) feature. However, it won't integrate with Google Assistant or HomeKit, unlike the Arlo Video Doorbell above. 

The Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 doesn't come cheap, and if you're on a budget, it's worth considering its predecessor, the Ring Video Doorbell Pro (opens in new tab), which is still available through some outlets. While it doesn't have as high a resolution or a 1:1 aspect ratio, it's still an excellent wired doorbell. 

Read our full review: Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 (opens in new tab)

With not one but two cameras, one of which faces the ground, this video doorbell is ideal for anyone that gets lots of deliveries. Not only does the second camera pick up any parcels that might be at the feet of anyone at your doorstep, but handy features, including pre-record messages that can be broadcast when anyone approaches said package, are good for deterring any would-be opportunist thieves.

Like the Eufy Video Doorbell 2K (Wireless), which appears further down in this list, the Video Doorbell Dual is battery-powered, making it suitable for renters or DIY novices. Even better, it ships with a base station that offers 16GB of local storage for videos recorded by the doorbell, so no subscription is required to get the most out of it. 

However, it's bulkier than many doorbells on this list, and the battery isn't swappable, unlike on the Ring Video Doorbell 4 (below), so the doorbell will be out of action when it needs recharging. Also, while it integrates with Alexa and Google Assistant, Apple fans will be dismayed to hear there's no HomeKit support. That said, this doorbell could prove invaluable if you get regular deliveries when you're not at home. 

Read our full review: Eufy Video Doorbell Dual (opens in new tab)

The Nest Hello sports a similar rounded black-and-white design to the Arlo Video Doorbell. However, where it differs is that not only will it let you view who’s at your door, it will even attempt to identify them through facial recognition.

The Familiar Face function captures the faces of all who approach your door, allowing you to assign names to those you know in the app. So, the next time they arrive at your door, the app will offer up a notification identifying them. The more times a person visits, the more extensive the library of shots, thus enabling facial recognition to improve over time.

Of all the smart doorbells reviewed here, the Nest Hello, which is mains-powered, records footage at the lowest resolution. Nevertheless, we still found the image detailed enough to see who was at the door. We were also impressed with just how easy the app was to use.

As with most doorbell cameras, a subscription will be necessary to get anything more than the basics. For example, Nest Hello will save video clips of detected motion and people from the past three hours, but it will delete footage older than that unless you subscribe to Nest Aware. Also, the doorbell integrates with Google Assistant, unsurprisingly, but lacks Alexa or HomeKit integration. 

Read our full review: Google Nest Hello (opens in new tab)

Ring's battery-powered smart doorbell has a larger footprint than the Video Doorbell Pro, but it continues to offer many of the same great features. It can be mains-powered if you'd prefer, and the battery is also removable, which means you don't have to take the entire doorbell off the wall to recharge it. 

Images cover the same 160-degree field of view. Just like the Ring Video Doorbell 3, it records clear Full HD footage and even stores the four seconds of video recorded before the motion detection was activated. Known as pre-roll, this is designed to help you identify exactly what triggered the alert - but it's in color, unlike its predecessor, which only stores black-and-white pre-roll. 

As with other Ring doorbells, subscribing to Ring Protect will ensure you can access all of the smart features, including reviewing who was at the door at a later date if you missed the original alert.

There's full Amazon Alexa integration, too. So, for example, if you have an Amazon Echo in the house, you can set it to announce when the doorbell is pressed or when motion is detected and converse with the person at your door through the smart speaker – but it doesn't work with Google Assistant and HomeKit.

Read our full review: Ring Video Doorbell 4 (opens in new tab)

Google also offers a battery-operated video doorbell for those who want the facial recognition of the Nest Hello (above) but don't have existing doorbell wiring. It's more affordable than its wired sibling, but there are compromises as it records footage at a lower resolution and has a narrower field of view than the Nest Hello. 

That said, we still found the footage recorded during the day and at night was clear, and the battery operating means it's far easier to install than the Nest Hello, too, while the facial recognition is just as effective. 

The Google Nest Doorbell (battery) will save video clips of detected motion and people from the past three hours, but it will delete footage older than that unless you subscribe to Nest Aware. As you'd expect, there's more comprehensive integration with Google Assistant than Alexa (and the doorbell doesn't work with HomeKit at all). 

We were also disappointed the battery isn't swappable, like with some rival doorbells - so it will be out of action when it needs recharging. 

Read our full review: Google Nest Doorbell (battery)   (opens in new tab)

This is one of just two video doorbells on this list that don't require a subscription to review footage at a later date. Both are made by Eufy and come with a base station that offers16GB of local storage, which equates to two weeks' worth of videos. But the base station does need to be connected to your wireless router using an Ethernet cable, so make sure you have a spare port. 

However, Eufy Video Doorbell 2K is more affordable than the Eufy Vuidoe Doorbell Dual - partly because it has just one camera - it's our pick for those looking to keep their bills down to a minimum. 

On test, we found the video highly detailed thanks to the 2K resolution, and a 4:3 aspect ratio means you can see the person's full length on your doorstep.  

The smart doorbell was extremely simple to install. Still, in our tests, we found colors in the footage were more subdued than rival doorbells, and the video could lose detail in very bright situations – but it excelled in darker settings. There's also no Homekit support, but it does integrate with Alexa and Google Assistant. 

Unlike Ring's battery-operated doorbells, the battery in Eufy's unit isn't removable. Instead, you'll have to physically unmount the camera to recharge the battery for around six hours every six months. 

Read our full review: Eufy Video Doorbell 2K (Wireless) (opens in new tab)